January 2026 - Spring Beach to Orford

Kat chose this nice little walk along the coastline of Prosser Bay. Nine of us drove to Spring Beach, gathering there at 10.30am. We were Kat, Philip, Bob, Lyn, Janet, Caroline, Di, Angie, and David.

The day was already warming up as we set off and dealt with the steps which would take us up onto the clifftop. Up there, the breeze was perfect and we strolled along under the sheoaks and coastal bush, enjoying the glimpses through the trees toward Maria Island.

All along this trail there were paths entering at regular intervals, offering different starting point options for this pleasant walk.

On this first headland there was soon a little sign marking a path down to the right, to an historic sandstone quarry dating from the early days of the colony.

We went down the stone steps, to enjoy our morning tea at the quarry site, perched on old logs and sandstone boulders. After climbing back up to the main trail, the walking was very easy. Kat spotted an orchid:

Later on we saw some wildlife:

We passed lots of comfortable looking beach houses and descended to walk along first East Shelley Beach and then (you guessed it) West Shelley Beach.

We spotted some collections of blue stinging jelly fish in places, and the walker who were planning to swim at the end of the walk started to wonder how safe that would be. The jellyfish were identified as Bluebottles and Lions Mane, and there were others types sitting on the beach too.

Half the group (the organised ones!) stopped at the picnic shelter at Our Park, while the other half carried on to the Orford Coastal Cafe to find takeaway focaccia and coffees. Back at the picnic ground the storytelling and chats continued as we cooled down in the shade. Then it was back along the track again, back to Spring Bay, where most of the walkers went in for a swim to cool off.

Sadly there were some stings from the jellyfish, but apparently they weren't very severe, phew! This is a pleasant walk, about 11 km if you exclude the cafe excursion, and probably took us in total about 4 hours, including our couple of stops.