Nunns Walk, Mornington

This walk stretches 5km along the beautiful clifftop foreshore, starting at the Linley Point Lookout at the southern end of Fishermans beach in Mornington, passing Fossil Beach, and Hawker Beach, and ending at Helena Street, Mt Martha. Along the way, there is a multitude of viewpoints over Port Phillip and tracks through to small beaches. Keep an eye out for the three markers denoting historical information about the First European Discoverers, Original Inhabitants, and Landing at Birdrock.

The best place to start is probably the small car park just northeast of the Fishermans Beach Boat Ramp. Before you start, walk out to the lookout at the end of Linley Point for some great views across the Bay to the You Yangs, and to the city skyline in a place where you don’t expect it.

This walk is fairly straightforward and involves following the unsurfaced foot track through the coastal foreshore vegetation between Mornington and Mt Martha. You will look down into some beautiful sandy coves and rocky coastline and if your timing is right, across the Bay to some fabulous sunsets.

There are off-shoot tracks leading down to various small coves and tiny beaches at regular intervals, or to occasional look-out points. Explore these as you like or leave them for another time. At times the track follows the edge of the cliffs, sometimes it runs next to the road, but usually with a wall of dense tea tree, coastal wattle, she-oaks, boobialla, and sweet pea bush in between. If you’re lucky you might see a native bush rat scurrying across the track.

You’ll pass the Dava Hotel and several informal car parks before you come to the end of the track at a drinking fountain next to a vehicle access road down to the beach at Helena Street. Retrace your steps to get back to the beginning or catch one of the hourly buses back along the Esplanade.