12/11/2025. Second Beach to Ocean Grove. Grade 3. Hikers. Leaders: Sandra Lawn and Bruce Spittle.
It was predicted to be windy for our hike and boy oh boy was it windy.
Twenty members set out from Marlow Park, locally known as the Dinosaur Park, walking across the playing fields and along a narrow track on top of the sand dunes above St Clair Beach.
After a brief scramble through the trees the hikers came out onto the St Clair beach Esplanade and settled down in the playground for morning tea.
The group then walked on past the saltwater baths, up Second Beach Road and followed the path around to Second Beach which is below an old quarry site and backed by steep cliffs. Some pest trapping and bush regeneration has been carried out by locals in the old quarry site. Club members learnt a new skill at last week’s big, combined effort ‘releasing’ native plants at Future Forests, and it was noted the quarry plantings needed ‘releasing’. A couple of members ‘released’ a plant, and that was enough effort for the day.
The view from above Second beach is pretty good, looking down on a kelp and boulder covered beach and across the bay to the Karetai Track on the headland.
At this point the hikers turned around and started walking back and onto St Clair Beach.
The tide was on its way out, the sand was firm to walk on and the lone sea lion stayed in the water. But the north easterly wind was increasing with sand blowing directly into the walkers faces, mouths and hair.
It was not very pleasant and getting worse. The group left the beach at the St Kilda Surf Life Saving Club rooms and with great difficulty found sheltered spots out of the wind in the Dinosaur Park for lunch.
With the wind increasing and the second half of the walk being on the exposed Chisholm Park Golf course and back along the beach the group decided walking conditions would be increasingly miserable and not fun. Everyone made a hasty retreat to the cars and headed home. A walk shortened by nature but to be completed another time. 6.5km were walked.
Sandra
Link to background information and earlier tramps and hikes in the same area.