It was our final day in the Warnnambool region. We had decided to go to Port Fairy, visiting Tower Hill on the way and exploring coastal reserves on the way bay.
Dad had missed the turn off to Tower Hill, and we had decided to continue to Port Fairy. I suggested we check out Killarney Beach. It had been recommended to me by birdwatching friends and was mentioned in Wildlife of the Otways and Shipwreck Coast. A previous visit had been underwhelming, but a quick look at Google Maps showed that it may have rockpools.
I knew I was taking a chance by suggesting it, but figured it was worth a shot. It ended up being one of my families favourite locations for the trip.
There had been large storms in the weeks leading up to our visit. This meant that the beach was covered in seaweed. This was brilliant for beachcombing and photography.
I wandered along the beach to check out whether the edges of the beach had any rockpooling potential. Mum ended up having a very productive chat with a Killarney local, who gave us lots of tips on the area.
He told mum that we should have been there two hours earlier at low tide. This was frustrating to hear, as we hadn’t been able to discover any kid-friendly rockpools this trip. The low tides were also really early in the morning, which made destinations like Killarney tricky.
He told her about how awesome the nearby caravan park is and recommended other locations in the area. He was apparently impressed with some of the locations we had visited, which I was proud of. I do try to seek out awesome photography and nature locations!
I know mum is definitely keen to return and loves the idea of spending a couple of days at this location. Unfortunately, the caravan park just has sites for tents/caravans and no cabins.
Birds
There was a healthy amount of birdlife here. We saw ruddy turnstones, sanderlings, hooded plovers and kelp gulls. I can definitely understand the attraction to the beach.
There were many birds further away on the rocks, however I only bought my phone on this trip. I did enjoy looking at the different sizes of the bird footprints in the sand.
Marine Life
I think the below is a colonial ascidian.
