Truganina Park Trail and Laverton Creek Spit Walk (Altona)

A lovely 4km one-hour loop taking in Altona Foreshore, Laverton Creek and Truganina Park. This expansive coastal conservation area is a haven for birdlife and a brilliant place to walk in nature.

Away from cars and the noise of suburbia, this 4km loop through coastal parkland is great for connecting to nature and birdwatching.

This walk starts and finishes at Apex Park, located at the south end of the Esplanade, Altona. The first section of the walk is on the sealed, shared-use Bay Trail. Look out for speeding cyclists. Once inside Truganina Park, the path is unsealed and may not be suitable for wheelchairs and prams.

Towards Laverton Creek, a large sand spit is visible from the path. The spit has created a sheltered lagoon, which in turn has become one of the prime feeding areas for waterbirds in the entire Port Phillip area.

Hundreds of species of birds use these wetlands to rest, feed and sometimes, breed. Several species of migratory shorebirds fly from the northern hemisphere each year and come to these wetlands to avoid the harsh northern winters. The wetlands are of international importance and listed under the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands.

Truganina Park is a 25-hectare park and has interpretative signage highlighting the threatened species that live in and visit the park.

The half-way point of this walk is the ""The 100 Steps of Federation"" hill. On a clear day there are fantastic views of Port Philip Bay, the wetlands and the city skyscrapers in the distance.

Facilities: Drinking water is available at Apex Park and the 100 Steps to Federation carpark. Public toilets can be found at Apex Park or at Andrew Park Drive, opposite the sports centre.

Public transport: There are two train stations close to the starting point of this walk.
Altona Station to Apex Park, 23 minute walk (1.8 km), via the esplanade and bay trail.
Westona Station to Apex Park, 17 minute walk (1.3 km).


Interactive map

Points of Interest

1. Starting point on the Altona Foreshore
On a clear day, the CBD can be seen across the bay. There is a playground, outdoor gym, toilets and picnic facilities in Apex Park.

2. Laverton Creek spit


A large sand spit has formed, creating lagoons and ideal habitat for shorebirds.

3. Pied Cormorants
The wetlands are a haven for hundreds of species of birds. Cormorants, egrets, herons, spoonbills, ibis and avocets can often be seen here. Other birds which can be spotted here include whiskered tern, common green shank, red-necked stint, sooty oystercatcher, Australian pied oystercatcher, Eurasion coot, chestnut teal, red-kneed dotterel, curlew sandpiper, black-fronted dotterel, silver gull, masked lapwing, red-capped plover, spotted crake, sharp-tailed sandpiper, Pacific black duck, Australian pelican, black wing stilt, hoary-headed grebe, Australasian darter and black swan. There is a large information board showing all these birds.

4. Ramsar Agreement
This park is essential to the survival of migratory shorebirds and is protected by the international Ramsar Agreement.

The Ramsar Convention is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable utilisation of wetlands, which helps in the protection of migratory birds. The treaty was adopted in the Iranian city of Ramsar in 1971 and the convention's member countries cover all geographic regions of the planet.

The convention's mission is "the conservation and wise use of all wetlands through local and national actions and international cooperation, as a contribution towards achieving sustainable development throughout the world".

Our coastal fringes attract various migratory birds that want to feed and rest before the flight back with some venturing 13,000 kms away. Hence the need to spend a lot of time feeding without being disturbed.

5. Views over Laverton Creek


Beautiful tranquillity over Laverton Creek.

6. Remnant tracks from the Explosives Reserve


In the early 1900s, explosives were transported from the reserve to a pier at the mouth of Laverton Creek.

The Truganina Explosives Reserve was established in 1901 to store construction explosives before they were shipped elsewhere. According to one local resident who grew up on the reserve, Noel Grant, once you stepped through the gates of the Reserve, the silent landscape looked surreal with dirt pathways between high mounds of earth. The explosives were ".. hand stacked into bunkers with a big build up of earth areas around them so then if one went up, it was contained virtually within those big walls."

The explosives were carried by horse drawn carriages called 'trucks'. Inside the Reserve, there was no electricity and nothing was motorised in case a spark was created.

When explosives were sent overseas, they were taken down to the 1.5 kilometre long pier once located at the mouth of the Laverton Creek (you can see the remaining pylons on the shore at Doug Grant Reserve). They were loaded onto lighters and were towed by tugs out past buoys to wait for the ship. There was a watchman on board; he stayed until the ship came in - sometimes waiting several weeks.

7. Cross the bridge
Cross Laverton Creek bridge and enter Truganina Park, a 25-hectare coastal park.

8. Parrot Track


Take "Parrot Track" through coastal woodland that is under rehabilitation. This area provides significant habitat for wildlife, including the critically endangered Swift Parrot. There are three information signs about parrots - the Swift Parrot, Orange-bellied Parrot and Blue-winged Parrot.

SWIFT PARROT
The Swift Parrot (Lathamus discolor) is a medium-sized nectar-feeding parrot endemic to Tasmania and south-eastern Australia. It is the world's fastest parrot and one of only a handful of parrots that migrate.

Similar in size to the smaller lorikeet species, the Swift Parrots distinctive red patches on the under wing, slender silhouette, when viewed from below a long-pointed deep red tail, and tinkling "chit-chit" call make it distinguishable from other parrots.

The Swift Parrot breeds in Tasmania during spring and summer before migrating across the Bass Strait to mainland Australia to spend autumn and winter amongst a variety of Eucalyptus forests and woodlands in Victoria, NSW and southeast Queensland. While in Tasmania, Swift Parrots require tree hollows in mature eucalypts that are in range of feeding grounds. Its primary food source is nectar from eucalypts like the Red and Mugga lronbarks, Tasmania Blue and Black Gums, Yellow Gums, and Grey Boxes; but have also been recorded feeding on White Boxes, River Red Gums and Australia's national floral emblem, the Golden Wattle aka Acacia pycnantha. The Box lronbark forests of central Victoria are particularly important feeding grounds for the Swift Parrot.

The Swift Parrot has also been seen feeding on psyllids, small insects found on the foliage of trees, and lerps, the sugary crystalised by-product created by psylids as they suck the sap from leaves. As a result, Swift Parrots are constantly on the move as they identify new feeding areas in response to nectar and insects.

The Swift Parrot is listed as critically endangered under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, and it is estimated the population is down to less than 1,000 breeding pairs (as of 2020). The main threats to the ever dwindling population of Swift Parrots include the destruction of breeding and foraging habitat through logging, illegal habitat clearing, and major wild fire; predation by Sugar Gliders introduced to Tasmania from mainland Australia and collisions with man-made structures e.g. windows and chain-link fences

ORANGE-BELLIED PARROT
One of the rarest parrots in the world is the Orange-bellied Parrot (Neophema chrysogaster); a small, stocky, ground-dwelling parrot that migrates from western-Tasmania to coastal Victoria and south-eastern South Australia. While superficially similar to the Red-rumped Parrot (Psephotus haematonotus) and Blue-winged Parrot (Neophema chrysotoma), the Orange-bellied Parrot is best distinguished by its bright grass-green upperparts and excited harsh buzzing "zzt zzt zzr", when flushed.

Its sole remaining breeding ground is in the moorlands of Melaleuca, in southwest Tasmania, breeding in tree hollows and artificial nest boxes. While in Tasmania it feeds in button grass plains, but as it makes its journey north to mainland Australia, it spends its time on the ground or low shrubs of saltmarsh vegetation feeding on the seeds and fruits from glassworts, saltbushes and sea-heath.

The Orange-bellied parrot starts its perilous journey north across Bass Strait in February, dispersing along Victoria's coastline into South Australia. Occupying coastal dunes and saltmarsh, they overwinter until they make their return to Tasmania by November.

The Orange-bellied Parrot is listed as critically endangered under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, and they risk functional extinction in the wild in the next three to five years as numbers are now down to less than 40 individuals (as of 2020). The situation is so dire that a breeding program including assisted migration is underway to boost wild populations. The major threats to the Orange-bellied Parrot include the lack of females in the wild, inbreeding, disease, habitat loss, noxious weeds, and increased predation from predators like cats and foxes.

BLUE-WINGED PARROT
The Blue-winged Parrot (Neophema chrysostoma) is a small attractive bird up to 24cm in length, found in the grasslands and grassy woodlands that surround you. This parrot has an olive-green head, shifting to a lighter green on its upper body and yellow on its underside. There might be some orange in the centre of the belly, similarly to the Orange Bellied Parrot. Females have slightly duller colours.

They are usually in pairs or small groups, but occasionally in flocks by the thousands during winter. Blue-winged Parrots have complex migration strategies depending on the region they inhabit, population and habitat conditions. Breeding occurs exclusively in Tasmania, southern Victoria and south-east South Australia. Once breeding season concludes their migration routes run from Tasmania into south-east Australia, stretching as far as southern Queensland.

Blue-winged Parrots are part of a small unique group of migrating parrots, including Orange Bellied and Swift Parrots.

You are most likely to see Blue-winged Parrots on the ground foraging for food. They feed on the seeds of herbaceous plants, salt-marsh vegetation and grasses that are abundant around the Truganina Park. Like most parrots they pair up for life and require hollows in trees and stumps, that preferably have a vertical opening. The egg is laid on decaying wood inside the hollow.

Even though the Blue-winged Parrot have a limited distribution they have long been considered a fairly common species. Recent evidence suggests, population numbers are declining and the species could be listed as threatened.

Blue-winged Parrots can be Identified by the dark blue patches on each wing and dark blue strip that runs between their eyes. Blue-winged Parrots feed on saltmarsh plants such as Austral seabllte (Suaeda australls), Shrubby samphire (Tecticornla arbuscula), Beaded giasswort (Sarcocornla qulnqueflora), and Southern Sea-Heath (Frankenia paucillora). As well as herbaceous and grass species like Bldgee-wldgee (Acaena novae-zelandiae) and Australian salt grass (DistIchlls distichophylla). They are also likely to feed on introduced grass seed, as well as invasive pasture weeds.

9. The unsealed path
This section of the walk is unsealed but well signed-posted path.

10. Saltmarsh habitat
Beaded glasswort

11. Towards the hill
Coastal grassland

12. The hill ahead
The cable fence to the left marks the boundary of the Ramsar-listed saltmarsh.

13. Climb the small hill


The hill has been formed on the reclaimed land that was once the former Altona tip.

14. Expansive views from the hill
Looking out at the saltmarshes, wetlands and Port Phillip Bay. The bare white ground is hyper-salty!

At the top of the hill there is the Hobsons Bay Millennium Time Capsule. Some 12,000 messages from the citizens of Hobsons Bay were buried in a time capsule at this site by the Mayor, Cr Dick Murdoch, on Australia Day 26th January 2000. The capsule will be opened on Australia Day 2025.



There are some information signs about local vegetation:

BRACKISH WETLANDS AND GRASSLANDS
To the south and west of this lookout are extensive areas of dry Saltmarsh, Brackish Wetlands and Grasslands, which occur on low-lying coastal floodplains. This habitat is utilised by a variety of birds, insects and reptiles. You may see birds foraging amongst the plants or birds of prey soaring over these landscapes. A significant plant in this area is the Chaffy Saw-sedge (Gahnia filum), home to the threatened Altona Skipper Butterfly (Hesperilla flavescens flavescens).

COASTAL SALTMARSH
To the south and east of this lookout are extensive areas of Coastal Saltmarsh vegetation which occur on marine and estuarine tidal flats and contain various floristic communities depending on the salinity of the environment. Coastal Saltmarsh is important due to its threatened status. Particularly so at Truganina Park where the saltmarsh community adjoins the Point Cooke Marine Sanctuary and Cheetham Wetlands, the latter of which is a listed Ramsar site. Ramsar wetlands are of international importance for conserving biological diversity.

Many rare and threatened migratory and local wading birds use the saltmarsh here for feeding and nesting. Furthermore the critically endangered Orange-bellied Parrot (Neophema chrysogaster) feeds in similar types of ecosystems to those found here at Truganina Park.

COASTAL ALKALINE SCRUB
To the north and east of this lookout you can see some remnant Coastal Alkaline Scrub and beyond that is the Melbourne skyline.

The Coastal Alkaline Scrub vegetation exists on largely stable sand dunes and swales and is typically dominated by Moonah (Melaleuca lanceolata ssp. lanceolata) or Drooping Sheoak (Allocasuarina verticillata). This area has been degraded in the past primarily due to clearing, and is currently dominated by the introduced Southern Mahogany (Eucalyptus botryoides), which is native to the east coast of Australia but does not occur naturally past Gippsland Lakes.

15. View from the peak
The small hill is the highest point between Melbourne and the You Yangs and provides expansive 360 degree views.

16. Heading back
The path home joins the Bay Trail. She-oaks and woodland areas are home to fairy-wrens, honey eaters and many other small birds.

Near the carpark there is a shelter with three tables, BBQ, water, tap and bike repair station next to the trail. There are some Blue Wren signs on posts in this area, and if you follow the signposts, you should see lots of blue wrens flitting about in the vegetation.

17. Spotted Pardalote
In addition to shorebirds, Truganina Park is a haven for a woodland birds.

18. Bay Trail
Look out for speedy cyclists on this section of the Bay Trail.

19. Welcome Swallows
Welcome Swallows can often be seen feeding on insects in flight using acrobatic flying skills.

20. Pelicans
Birdwatching is best at dawn and dusk when the birds are feeding and foraging.

Access for Dogs:

Dogs are permitted on-leash. There is an off-leash area for dogs at Doug Grant Reserve.

Shorebirds rely on our beaches and wetlands all year round for food, shelter and nesting. We can help our shorebirds when you are near their feeding grounds by keeping dogs on leads and away from mudflats and sandbars. Give them some space to raise their family as they breed on our beaches. Their nests and eggs can be difficult to see and can be crushed by humans and dogs. Uncontrolled, off-lead dogs, will scare shorebirds and cause them to abandon their nests.

Photos:

Location

Cnr Wilga Avenue and Queen Street,  Altona 3018 Map

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Web Links

→ Truganina Park Trail and Laverton Creek Spit (Walking Maps)

→ Truganina Park Brochure (PDF)


Truganina Park Trail and Laverton Creek Spit Walk (Altona)Cnr Wilga Avenue and Queen Street,, Altona, Victoria, 3018