With many of us having a little more time on our hands, now is the perfect time to get out into the fresh air, make the most of the perfect autumn weather and explore your surrounds. We are so lucky to live on the Bellarine and Surf Coast, and walking is one of the best ways to explore it. Walking is the best way to keep the body moving and allows us to find some stillness when things around may feel a little crazy. It’s also an activity that can be done solo, with friends (at a distance) or better still, with a fury 4-legged friend.
Here we’ve put together a list of some great walks that we have close by living on the Bellarine. There are many to choose from, however these are some of our favourites.
- Ocean Grove Dog Beach. As a dog lover, nothing beats seeing dogs having the time of their life at the beach. When the tide is out this walk can be as long or as short as you want, with the option to walk all the way to Point Lonsdale (10km one way). The new dunes cafe does a great coffee and at sunrise or sunset this walk is especially beautiful.
- The Dell Clifton Springs. Again another dog friendly place and equally as beautiful on sunrise or sunset. The Dell walk takes you along the bay with views right the way across to Geelong and the You Yangs. However walkers beware, if you are up for a glute exercise this is the walk for you, but for those that don’t enjoy stairs or ramps, perhaps stick this one out as there is quite a steep incline to get down and back up to the walking track.
- The Drysdale Recreation Reserve. With the ability to be able to park right out front, and a number of shorter walk tracks available, this is a great option for those that are looking to still get out and about amongst the pine tree surrounds, but don’t want to walk the longer distances.
- Ocean Grove Nature Reserve. The reserve is located just off Grubb road and provides kms worth of trails in and around the reserve. The loop around is 5km, and there are many internal paths that you can take to make this shorter or longer. The Banksia trail is a great single walking track rather then 4WD and takes your right through the heart of the reserve. Dog owners note that unfortunately dogs are not allowed in the reserve.
- Bellarine Rail Trail. The Bellarine Rail Trail runs between South Geelong and Queenscliff. It is 32.5km in total and can easily be don’t in parts. Between Drysdale and Queenscliff the trail runs alongside the tourist railway and this can be a great way to get back to your start location if you want to walk the 16.5km in one direction. The rail trail is not only a great walking track, but also very popular for cyclists
Enjoy spending some time in nature! If you need help keeping your feet active, healthy and happy during this time touch base with one of our podiatry team! (also send in you photos: we’d love to see what you’re up to!)