We Wide to Woolamai

As soon as we saw the blue sky, we decided that it was going to be too good an opportunity not to get back on the bikes. Although we had ridden the Bass Coast Rail Trail many times from Wonthaggi to Anderson, we had not had the opportunity to explore the section between Anderson and Woolamai. Today was going to be our chance.

We first packed the thermos and sandwiches into the pannier, loaded the bikes onto the car and drove to Kilcunda. Soon we were riding up the steady climb to Anderson. This section of the trail rewards with amazing views out over Philip Island and Westernport. Today we could see one of the huge off shore drilling platforms was moored off Rhyll, presumably for maintenance.

After passing the bus stop at Anderson we continued on to the newer section of the trail. This part was completed a few years ago. The old train line used to extend from Cranborne, all the way down to Wonthaggi. Although the train stopped running many years ago, in many places you can still see remnants of the old tracks. Apparently there is a dream to progressively reopen the old train route as a rail trail. If they could ever complete this project it would surely become one of the finest and longest rail trails in the state. Unfortunately, due to the economic impact of the COVID 19 pandemic, I don't think that there will be much funding available for anything in the future.

We were pleased to find that the trail between Anderson and Woolamai was of an excellent quality. The surface was generally smooth and, even after the recent rain, it was well drained and easy to ride on. The countryside consists of rolling green hills, populated by large herds of contented cows and sheep. The more distant views down to the ocean are breathtaking.

About 7 km from Anderson, the trail comes to a dead end at the Woolamai Racecourse. Apart from the racecourse, there is nothing else at Woolamai - no coffee shop, no general store, nowehere to buy food or drink. It is a pity that the trail does not go a few more km through to Grantville, where all of those facilities are available.

We spent some time riding around the Woolamai district, but decided that it was starting to look like the weather was threatening to deteriorate. Since we could not find any tables or seats, we stopped to have our picnic lunch seated on a large fallen tree. In the distance we could see rain starting to fall near Philip Island, so we did not linger too long.

The rain did not eventuate and we were able to get back to Kilcunda without getting wet. It had been a most enjoyable ride and one that we will certainly do again. If we had started at Wonthaggi and ridden to Woolamai and back the total ride would have been around 50 km.Read more