The Templestowe Hill Climb Walk (Doncaster East)
.jpg "The Templestowe Hill Climb Walk (Doncaster East)")
Starting at Manna Gum Playspace (next to Beasley's Nursery and Teahouse), this is a combination of a gentle walk and steep climb up an old car-racing track, there are views, wetlands and bushland to enjoy. Car racing enthusiasts will especially appreciate the old hill climb, once the steepest paved road in Australia.
This 2.7 km walk is one for the car-racing enthusiasts. The walk begins at Beasley's Nursery and Teahouse and follows a boardwalk and open grasslands to a small wetlands in Tikalara Estate. The trail then joins an abandoned car-racing track that was once the steepest paved road in Australia. It includes an extremely sharp but short incline called 'The Wall' - and you might feel like you've hit it part way up. But it is over quickly and the views are worth the climb.
The walk then heads through a new estate to a narrow pathway that opens onto a hilltop walk under powerlines - but not for long. The jeep track takes you back to Beasley's Nursery and Teahouse where refreshments await you.
Facilities include playground, cafe and picnic areas.
Map of Route
Route Description
Your walk begins at the Beasley's Nursery and Teahouse car park. There is a playground here, cafe and toilets. Your walk is the track that borders the playground.
1. Boardwalks are popular throughout Manningham. They assist pedestrian traffic to minimise erosion to fragile habitat. This boardwalk is particularly stunning given its meandering shape designed around the future growth of riverside Manna Gums.
2. The Tikalara Wetlands are a good resting spot while you prepare for your hill climb. The traditional owners, the Wurundjeri, called this area Tikalara, which means 'the spirit of the place'. Wetlands, rivers and creeks provided Indigenous groups with food, water and recreation. Fish and yabbies were good tucker, while animals such as wallabies, wombats and wader-birds could be caught when they came to the water's edge.
There is a shelter with table, two unshaded tables, BBQs and water tap beside the pond. At the picnic shelter cross the road to the sign about the car race. Turn left and follow the sign to the Hill climb Walking Track.
3. The sign ahead is a copy of the earlier one. You need to turn left here. The old road to your right was part of the approach and allowed for a good run up towards the climb. The track does a U-turn up ahead before you meet 'The Wall'. Good luck, see you at the top!
4. Congratulations, you made it! And what a view awaits you. The incline is a 2.5 per cent rating, which is very steep. Many cars didn't make it and instead rolled backwards. The view to the paddocks below is where the spectators would park and watch, binoculars pinned on their favourites.
Now turn to your right and walk straight down this road to the very end of the cul-de-sac.
5. There is a small sealed path leading off into the bush between two end houses. There is also a sensational Banksia spinulosa to the immediate right of the path. Also known as Hairpin Banksia it has a long flowering season from autumn to spring by which time you should see the seed capsule. As you head to your right into the bushland keep a wary eye out for the illusive echidna in warmer months along with Blue-tongue Lizards and several species of snake. They are all protected so take only pictures.
At the end of the path turn right and follow the narrow bush track to a connecting track off to your left. It runs behind the houses.
6. The powerlines do not last long. They are reminders of how these areas have remained green belts and free of housing. Eastern Grey Kangaroos are known to dine on the grasslands that open up on your right.
Stay on the unsealed quiet road all the way back to Beasley's Nursery and Teahouse.
This finishes your walk. Time to relax and plan your next adventure.
History of Templestowe Hill Climb Circuit
This tranquil bushland setting was once the scene of the Templestowe Hill Climb motor-race meetings, where up to 20,000 spectators thrilled to the sound of high-revving engines as drivers tested their skill on the bends and rises of this challenging circuit. After World War II, a general scarcity of race circuits in Victoria led the Victorian Sporting Car Club to enter into a lease arrangement with farm owner Mr 'Andy' Andrews to construct a hill climb track and operate an agreed number of race meetings each year. On these days, the cattle that normally grazed on the property would he moved to a nearby paddock by the Yarn River.
Described in 1951 as Australia's most spectacular hill climb course, the 969-metre-long Templestowe circuit featured an incredibly steep rise at its halfway mark. Known as 'The Wall', this 100-metre section with a gradient of 1 in 2.5 was the steepest bitumen road in Australia, and today can still be walked by the energetic.
The first Templestowe event, held on the unsealed track on 12 March, 1951, was won by Cec Warren with a time of 70.6 seconds. To overcome severe dust and traction problems, the track was sealed for the next meeting in June 1952, won by Reg Hunt in his supercharged Hunt-Vincent with a time of 61.6 seconds.
The Templestowe venue rapidly became the preferred Victorian hill climb track and hosted the Australian Hill Climb Championship in November 1968, which was won by Dick White.
As public interest in hill climbs declined and suburbia encroached, the 'Last Templestowe Hill Climb' was finally held on 6 December 1987, after 6 previous supposed 'last' events.
Tikalara & the Wurundjeri Willam
Tikalara - meaning 'Spirit of Place' - was the name given to this area by the Wurundjeri willam clan of Aboriginal people who were its original residents and land holders before European settlement.
Wurundjeri willam translates as 'white gum tree dwellers' - the white gum being the Manna Gum (Eucalyptus viminalis).
The Yarra River and its tributaries were the life-source of the Wurundjeri clans, who moved along the creeks and across the river flats according to the seasons and the availability of food. The Yarra held special significance for these people as it was the 'Dreamtime Pathway' of their ancestors.
The Wurundjeri willam came frequently to the river flats of Tikalara and lived seasonally at the junction of the Mullum Mullum Creek and the Yarra River, probably in turf block or bark shelters.
In a typical day, the women and children would catch fish and eels using traps and nets made from bark, rushes and reeds. They would also gather and prepare shellfish, grubs, insects, birds' eggs and food plants such as the fruit and bulbs of the Murnong (yam daisy), Cherry Ballart, Prickly Currant Bush and Austral Bracken. Women and children also made baskets, digging sticks and stone tools.
Meanwhile, the men would hunt for kangaroos, possums. wombats, bandicoots, koalas, rats and snakes using wooden spears with bone tips, and trap emus, wild turkeys, waterfowl and birds with nets and snares.
In 1853, many of the Wurundjeri were moved to a reserve at Pound Bend near Warrandyte, then a few years later to the Coranderrk Reserve in Healesville, and then to the Lake Tyers Reserve in East Gippsland.
Today, the Aboriginal heritage of this region is under the custodianship of the Coranderrk Koori Co-operative of Healesville, among whom are descendants of the Wurundjeri willam clan.
Access for Dogs:
Dogs are permitted on lead.
Photos:
Location
195 Warrandyte Road, Doncaster East 3109 Map
Web Links
→ The Templestowe Hill Climb Walk Guide and Map (PDF)
