Westgate Park

Port Melbourne

I’ve been wanting to visit this park for ages, having viewed it from above on the Westgate Bridge many times. We were driving home from the airport and had some time, so decided to detour and have a look. I firstly went the wrong way, heading over the bridge instead of down Todd Road. So after crossing the Westgate Bridge in each direction I finally made it onto Todd Road and into the car park.

The Salt Lake at Westgate Park has been popular recently for its bright pink water, thanks to a rare occurrence with a special, single cell alga combined with a bacterium, described in the photo below. I had seen it’s pink hue whilst crossing the bridge a couple of times, but unfortunately it has now returned to its usual colour and is really just a murky lake.

We decided it didn’t matter, a walk is a walk and I’m always happy to discover new places. So we headed off to see what we could find. The first interesting thing we came across was an example of the bridge cross beam that you could climb up and have a look at. I found it fascinating, as I’ve always been interested in bridges and how they stay up. Kids younger than me would love to climb on it. Really little kids can’t get to the open part. Given that the park is largely there because of the bridge, it’s good to tie in some education using this interesting feature.

We then headed off on the nearby path around the freshwater lake. There are a number of sculptures around the path, which are from Lyn Moore’s Earth Series. They are a combination of wood and concrete and I thought they fitted in beautifully in this natural, but also very commercial area.

There is no escaping the imposing sight of the Westgate Bridge as it looms over you; a constant reminder of its presence. Having never been underneath here from the Port Melbourne side before, it’s a really interesting view of the enormous construction. I really find bridges and engineering fascinating and it is incredible to look at it from a different perspective. The sheer enormity of it is impressive and it’s quite amazing knowing how much traffic crosses it each day. It is one of the highest roads in Australia, 58 metres up from the road and it is twice the length of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. The bridge carries five lanes of traffic each way, and you can hear the constant drone of traffic from below.

Continuing on, we followed the Bay Trail towards the Yarra River, not far from where it meets Port Phillip Bay. It’s a pleasant and flat walk, although a lot of mulch is deposited which can have a strong smell. It’s the time of year for finding mushrooms and other funghi, so below are some pretty (probably poisonous) mushrooms I found. If you know what type of mushroom it is, let me know in the comments.

As we popped around a corner I noticed we could see the Scienceworks building on the other side of the river. I then noticed a mammoth coming in from the right. An enormous container ship, not even fully laden, was heading out to the bay. It looked amazing and I quickened my step so I could have a closer look. I like ships as much as I like bridges, so I was a little over excited for an adult. They are so enormous and interesting to watch. We stopped here for a while, and then continued on past along the river. We went as far as Sardine Street before turning back and walking the other way.

On our way back we walked along an inner path closer to the bridge, then around the freshwater lake. There were more sculptures and a windmill. The park itself is great, with barbeques available and some grassy areas suitable for picnics. We were there on a sunny, winter Sunday and it wasn’t busy. There were a few families riding bikes and people walking around. It seemed a very safe place to be during the day. This would be a great place for a quick walk suitable for all abilities. To extend the walk, you could walk into the city along the river or take the punt across to the other side and walk towards Williamstown.