Fortescue to Thumbs Point (Waterfall Bay Track)

[dee_legg]

Hi everyone, i'm looking at running a bush walk for my class as part of an assessment at school from Fortescue Bay to Thumbs Point on the Waterfall Bay track... has anyone walked this section before and if so, can you offer information in terms of scenery, track conditions and times? From the maps, it looks about 8 k's each way and doesn't appear to rise or fall greatly anywhere so it should be pretty cruisey but some personal experiences would be a great help.
Thanks!

[whiskeylover]

Hi Dee,
We did this in October last year. It's a great little day walk with lots to see along the way - if they're really quiet they can search along the side of the track along the way and at the right time of year they'll probably be lucky enough to see some penguins. It depends on their ages and fitness how long it would take them. I'd imagine you should put aside 6 hours return by the time you eat, explore and play along the way. From memory there is only a reliable water source at Bivouac Bay so they will need to carry water. The scenery is spectacular but they will need to be sensible in some areas - cliffs, but not too close to the track - a couple of metres away mostly. We also met a tiger snake near the climbers spot - is it the candle stick? It's not too difficult a walk but there are some good hills. Enjoy.

[dee_legg]

Thanks whiskeylover, thats a great help!
The group will be from college so we should move fairly quickly... should be well suited though.
Thanks again.

[whiskeylover]

Oh, in that case shorten the time or alternatively navigate to the falls on the creek that runs into Bivouac Bay or explore a little more along the way - the climbers spot is called something else - maybe the needle? - but it's not that obvious unless you know it's there and I'm never keen on watching people I am responsible for leaning over edges of cliffs to get a better look - but if you look the other way while they explore, it's quite a good spot to take a look at. If you can find anything on the history of the area I believe you might find some interesting stories about Canoe Bay and Bivouac Bay too. Canoe Bay I think is the one with an old wreck in it that was sunk as some sort of breakwater for an industry there (go down the obvious track from up on the Southern side of the Bay).

[sharon]

we did this track in december 2007 actually saw fairy penguins in there borrows near canoe bay.. i think it was??
and the man ferns were spectacular.we camped the night had an absolute blast! excellent views awesome weather.
you are right there are very steep cliffs soo with younger kids you need to be careful! eagle hawke neck area reminds me of the great ocean road in some .parts

[PeterJ]

Here are my times for the parts of the walk (with overnight pack) so use it as a guide
Fortescue Bay to Bivouac Bay 1:50
Bivouac Bay to Dolomieu Point (ADG66 05 79381 52 25256) 0:15
DP to Thumbs Point (05 79407 52 26729) 0:35

[dee_legg]

Thanks everyone, all very useful.

[whiskeylover]

the dolerite column near thumbs point is known as the Moai among climbing circles, there are at least two climbs on it ,one a grade 24 and one an 18 . It is off the side of the track and not easy to see , you could say it is a smaller version of the Totem pole which is on the opposite side of Fortescue bay and much more well known.
If you go down at night with red cellophane over the end of your torch ( the ranger informed us it was better for the penguins eyes ) ,Penguins can be watched coming up thru the bush on the track between Fortescue and Bivouac Bay you can smell the areas that they are regularly in and see the tracks ,sit still on one of these tracks and they come past after a while ,if you move about they don't seem real keen to keep on moving past you .
Mr Whiskeylover