Hui the Yogini: Wicked Walks: Flinders Peak Walk (You Yangs)

One thing I love about Australia is how many easily accessible (and best of all, free!) opportunities there are to get fit outdoors. There are so many National and Regional Parks around the country that there really isn't any excuse not to go out for a walk and enjoy everything that nature has to offer.

I do this quite frequently with my walking buddy (none other than my lovely sister), so I thought I'd start a series of monthly posts called Wicked Walks to review the harder, more challenging or just scenic encounters that we stumble upon.

Today, we ventured to the South West of Victoria, to the beautiful You Yangs Regional Park. Neither of us had been there before, but the Flinders Peak walk definitely sounded right up our alley. 450 steps? Steep gradient? Here we come! We do love a good walking challenge, and love attempting high difficulty walks, in spite of my fear of heights.

The entrance

The signage says that it's a 3.5km walk -1 hour return, very steep, formed track, many steps. It took us slightly less than 1 hour to complete the walk and to stop for photo/scenic breaks. We only brought a bottle of water because it was such a short walk, and it served us well.

A mix of wide steps

And narrow steps

The steps definitely make this walk much easier. Sure, walking up 450 steps isn't fun, but trying to find a foothold in a steep mountain-side is way worse. The path is quite sandy, although there are rocky surfaces on the steps and around the path to help your grip. Regular walking shoes should be fine and rainy days won't be a problem.

Beautiful scenic points all along the track

Geoglyph rock formation in the shape of an eagle - tribute to the Aboriginal owners of the land

What I loved most about this walk were the beautiful scenic points all along the path, as you ascended to the peak. There were volcanic rock platforms everywhere that you could peer off, or the built platform structures. Definitely a much more interesting step-walk when compared to the 1000 steps.

The platform at Flinder's Peak

Gorgeous view of Geelong and surrounding towns

Beautiful rustic sceneries everywhere

I would just rate this walk as a moderate difficulty walk, despite the "very steep" warning. The steps definitely make this walk much more accessible, and it's fairly open with no obstacles. The scenery though is worth taking a drive down. It's definitely some of the best views I've seen in a while.

While you're in the area, you could also stop by Serendip Lake Sanctuary, an open wetlands sanctuary for birds. The birds that shelter there vary according to season and depending on their flight paths, but today, there were no shortages of magpie geese.