Rye Beach@Mornington Peninsula (my rating C)

Rye Beach (between Daly Avenue and Shirlow Avenue) is an offleash beach when it's not Day Light Saving.

Looks like it's a popular place for water gliding.

The beach was narrow (not sure if it was because of the tide?)

We brought the beach chairs and toys, but didn't feel like to spend too much time there........... :-(

We had a short walk on the beach though......

 

(The entry to the beach, also where to park)

(on the beach)

 

(we found a jelly, and watched how waves slowly carry it into the water again, so the jelly's life keeping going....)

The cafes and restaurants on Mornington Peninsula are soooo nice, great food and great people...... 

We've tried the ones in Mornington, Rye, Rosebud, Mt. Eliza,  Sorrento, etc.  and none of them disappointed me yet......

Urquhart Bluff Beach@Great Ocean Road (Urquhart Bluff) (my rating A)

Urquhart Bluff Beach is about 6km past Anglesea Information Centre (towards Aireys Inlet).  You'll see the sign "Urquhart Bluff Beach & Car Park - 300m" on the left of the road.  The car park is right next to the beach.  There're toilet facilities at this beach.  There are picnic tables and benches at the car park, next time, we'll bring lunch here. :-)

 The right side of the beach access is offleash all year round.  The left side is offleash between March and November (excluding Easter).  You would enjoy most of it when the tides are low.

 The beach walk can be as fun as possible, as relaxing as possible.......  that's what we had this afternoon.......

The beach walk can be made between Pt Roadknight and Urquhart Bluff.  Pls note that dogs are not allowed at Pt Roadknight Beach.

(View from the Car park)

 

(Urquhart Bluff Beach - marked on the map)

Bald Hill Park@Clarinda (my rating A)

Bald Hill Park is a big park in Clarinda (Clayton South), 40min away from Melbourne City (via M1).  The bike path is very nice.  The adventure playground is awesome!  It has on-leash and off-leash areas.  There're dog exercise equipments in the off-leash area!

The offleash area and the dog exercise equipments is near Eulinga Road (closer to Bunney Road End).

The playground (and the toilets) is near Inverness St (car park  is off Inverness St).

 

(dog exercise equipments)

 

(adventure playground)

 

(adventure playground)

 

(adventure playground)

 (overlooking from the hilltop)

(map downloaded from Kingston City Council website)

******* Extracted from Kingston City Council Website:
This 13 hectare park has walking paths, abundant natives and waterholes for birds. Included are picnic shelters, 4 BBQs, a playground and public toilets (with access for people with a disability). Dog off leash area
********************

Raffey Lake Park@Doncaster (my rating A)

Raffey Lake Park at Doncaster (or Doncaster East?) is definitely on my A list.  It's a huge park with on-leash and off-leash areas, 2 fantastic adventure playgrounds.  The path is suitable for bikes/scooters.  There are several entrances and car parks. 

I were amazed with this park / playground that I forgot to take any photos.

We'll visit this park again for sure!  And I'll take lots of photos......... :-)

 

(map from Manningham City Council website)

Great Ocean Coast Walk: Point Danger - Bird Rock (my rating A)

This coast walk starts from Point Danger@Torquay, end at Bird Rock lookout@Jan Juc.  Dogs are allowed on the beach offleash (but not on the beach of Point Danger) on/after Mar 1, till Nov, except Easter.

According to the Surf Coast Walk brochure, the walk is 3.3km one way.  We walked on the walking track to Bird Rock, and on return, we walked mainly on the beach.  It took us about 3 hrs return, including rest and beach sand/water play.

We parked the car on the esplanade, there are ample car parks.  There are toilet facilities.

You won't tell how breathtaking the view is unless you're there, and reveal it with your own eyes.

The walking track is well formed, and the beach is just soft and smooth.  You must slip off the shoes, and walk barefoot on the beach, let the waves splash onto your ankle.  Jessica loved the splashes.

 

 (Beach@Torquay)

 

(Bird Rock lookout)

 (Jan Juc Beach)

 

(Jan Juc beach)

Somers Beach@Mornington Peninsular (my rating B)

Somers Beach@Mornington Peninsular, it's in Somers, near Stony Point, I had problem finding it on the council map / google map, because on the map, it's shown as "south beach".

According to the council website / offleash brochure, the "all year around" offleash beach is located :

**************************
200 metres of sandy beach, east from bottom of ‘hundred steps’ - off street parking at top of 100 steps

map reference 194 F11
**************************

I hope we went to the right one (east of the steps), I always have trouble telling the direction and compass.

The beach is rather small, compared to the ones on great ocean road.  But the water's calm and peaceful.

Jessica likes here, she went into the water with great ease and pleasure.  The kids love the rockpools too.

But the carpark is small, doesn't offer many spots.  It would be a worry in the summer / hot days.

Hastings Foreshore Reserve@Mornington Peninsular (my rating A)

The Hastings Foreshore Reserve is in Hastings Mornington Peninsular, only 1hr drive from Melbourne via M3 freeway / Eastlink.  There're 2 carparks within offleash areas, 1 small 1 big, enter via Marine Parade.

The Hastings Foreshore Reserve is a gem!  It's huge and neat!  When we were there today (late morning Saturday), there were only 3 cars parked including Amy, our car, guess probably because it's in the popular tourist area.

There's a bike track (must be long, judging from the google map and other bike riding books) running through the reserve.

The reserve overlooks the bay.

I was totally relaxed on the picnic rug while the kids were riding bikes and my Jessica was sniffing and exploring, thus I didn't really take photos.  And the photos below can't describe the beauty of this park at all.