A Bay, A Kangaroo and A Lighthouse

Jan 13

This blog is about a highly recommended walk on the Mornington Peninsula that we did on a sunny morning during the Christmas break and starts with one of my favourite things: a lighthouse! Specifically the Cape Schank Lighthouse.

Cape Schanck itself is the southern most tip of the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria and overlooks the cold, untamed ocean of the Bass Strait. The lighthouse, which is heritage listed, was built in 1859 out of local limestone and was the second lighthouse built in Victoria. We were there before the lighthouse and it’s supporting buildings opened for visitors so missed being able to see its unique feature: the internal stone staircase. And because we were walking early in the morning, we also missed seeing the light working which still runs on its original clockwork with lenses that were installed in 1915.

From the lighthouse, we planned to do a short walk to Bushrangers Bay which is the start of the Two Bays Walking track. The track is well marked and relatively easy with a steep descent into Bushrangers Bay that was mostly staircase. For women doing the track, the stairs were clearly built by men and designed for a longer stride so they’re a little awkward to navigate in parts.

As we were walking early in the morning, there weren’t too many other walkers so we got to see plenty of wildlife including a small family of kangaroos that seemed completely unafraid of us. We took care to give them plenty of space and got some wonderful photos as our reward!

The track itself is well maintained and apart from the aforementioned slightly steep bit at the end, easily walkable. If walking in the heat isn’t your thing, then I’d recommend doing it in the morning or evening as parts of the track get direct sunlight and are quite dusty.