Anderson Inlet Walk | Cape Liptrap Coastal Park

Map
Last Visited: 17/03/2012
Length (km): 2 km
Time (hrs/min): 1 hour
Grade: Easy
Return / Circuit / One-Way / Partial Circuit: One-Way (could easily be a return trip, just double time and length).
Region: South-East Victoria
Park: Cape Liptrap Coastal Park
Closest Town: Venus Bay
Car Access: From Venus Bay, head west on Lees Road and park at the dead end. There is only one track leading away from the road, which is where the walk begins.

My lovely lady shouted a weekend at Venus Bay for my birthday, staying at the beautiful Venus Bay Eco Retreat. We did a couple of short walks in Cape Liptrap Coastal Park, which I thought I’d just quickly share with you.

The Eco Retreat is on a property right next to the inlet, so Anderson Inlet Walk was our first port of call. Starting from the track at the end of Lees Road, we strolled through the Teatree and Coastal Banksia to the inter-tidal mudflats.

Coastal Banksia

Luckily the tide happened to be out, so it was fascinating to explore the mudflats. The first thing we noticed was that there were little holes everywhere, which we quickly discovered were inhabited by crabs. Unfortunately we couldn’t get close enough to get a decent photo of the crabs before they would scurry back into the holes, and I didn’t have my zoom lens with me. I was kicking myself about the lens all weekend, since the park also hosts an amazing variety of bird-life.

Tiny crabs on the intertidal mudflats

We made our way very slowly to the carpark at Doyles Road, taking in all the different coastal vegetation and birds. Mae at the Eco Retreat had warned that it was a particularly bad time for snakes, so we decided to walk along the track for most of the 2 kilometres, rather than through the long grass on the mudflats. Even while on the track, we had quite a close encounter with a Lowland Copperhead. They may be a bit deadly, but this was the most beautiful snake I’ve ever seen in Victoria. A nice change from the usual Brown, Black, and Tiger snakes.

We payed our own way during our trip to Venus Bay (and surrounding areas). Even had this not been the case, I would only ever provide honest reviews and recommendations on Bushwalking Blog.

Accommodation Ideas:

Venus Bay Eco Retreat is a gorgeous bush property, which is managed with wildlife conservation as first priority. Correa Cabin is the only accommodation onsite (aside from the owner’s house) and is designed to be completely eco-friendly. It’s a great way to holiday luxuriously, with as small an ecological footprint as possible. Mae, who runs the Retreat, works on bush regeneration programs throughout the year, but most interestingly supports Birds Australia in there monitoring and protection of the nearby threatened Hooded Plover nesting sites. Visitors are welcome to participate in these volunteer activities if they wish.
You might also choose to stay at Venus Bay Caravan Park, or at any of the multitude of holiday rental properties around Venus Bay, but I haven’t stayed at any of these and therefore cannot comment.

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