Bicycle Network: Ride On magazine

In April 1843, the English explorer Lord John Franklin climbed Arthurs Seat with his wife Lady Jane. He had recently been recalled from his post as Lieutenant-Governor of Tasmania where he clashed with the gentry for among other things seeking more humane care of the indigenous people. Lord Franklin had previously ascended Arthurs Seat in 1802 with Captain Matthew Flinders, who charted Port Phillip Bay on HMS Investigator. Lord Franklin and Lady Jane inspected the marker that had been left on the earlier occasion, and had a picnic. They then returned to London, from where Lord Franklin embarked on a further expedition to look for the famed North West Passage. He never returned. His fate is the topic of much Canadian folklore, song and speculation.

I wanted to have a picnic at Arthurs Seat in celebration of Lord and Lady Franklin’s picnic. I cycled from Frankston railway station with a couple of friends. The only bike path runs alongside the busy Nepean Hwy. It’s a long and mostly gradual climb. After about 11km, we turned off for Mornington – the bustling main street has ample cafés. The Esplanade from Mornington is one of Melbourne’s lesser known cycling charms. The narrow road runs above the shoreline giving a delightful view across Port Phillip Bay. There is no bike lane as such, and periodic signs caution riders to stick to single file.  Traffic is rarely heavy however, but it doesn’t need to be.  We endured a few impatient honks. This seems to be one of those places where passing a cyclist allows a motorist to drive across the central double lines. 

Rolling down toward Safety Beach brought us to a fascinating waterway that runs over the entrenched road. This bizarre arrangement was apparently to allow the development of a canal residential estate. A cycle lane runs along the foreshore toward Dromana. This seaside hamlet is celebrating its 150^th year according to a large billboard. It’s all happening here!  Dromana has a wide range of shops, bakeries, and a pier. But our turn off for Arthurs Seat was just past the township, so we kept peddling. The well marked road runs under the Peninsula Freeway and alongside it toward the disused chairlift station. Arthurs Seat is 314 metres high and the highest point adjoining the Bay; a useful navigation marker, which is why Flinders chose to mark it. The switchback road is a quite steep 4km up. We left our bikes and walked the direct and even steeper track – although according to Parks Victoria one isn’t really meant to, lest bits of the old chair lift may fall on your head.

We claimed authenticity. Lord and Lady Franklin certainly did not have the road option. But basically it was quicker.

The view from the top is marvellous!  Straight across the Bay is the indistinct skyline of Melbourne, the blue-green water, yachts, powerboats and occasional freighter. It is easy to image Lord and Lady Franklin scrambling up, looking back at the lone sloop rocking on the Bay. At the time this was one of the more remote parts of the globe, where a failed penal settlement had been abandoned only a few years earlier, and Batman and Fawkner only recently had persuaded financial backing in Launceston to try again.  In less than two centuries, Melbourne has become a marvellous city of over 4 million, where residents take gentle bikes rides to what are now pleasant picnic spots. 

At the summit is a car park, café that has seen better days and a newer marker noting Flinders efforts, and the intrepid indigenous folk who had prospered for untold millennia before. We sat and ate some homemade olive bread (I baked it without any machine!), cheese, salami and pickles. 

For the ride home, we reversed track, but at Safety Beach headed toward the Peninsula Freeway – bikes are permitted on this section and it has a broad and smooth stopping lane. The ride back was up hill towards Mount Martha, but again the gentle rise made for easy peddling. The only stops are a couple of service stations, and Santas Place at Moorooduc. Close to Mornington, the Freeway becomes a divided arterial road, with the stopping lane disappearing. A narrow bike path is painted along side, but there was occasional roadside furniture that necessitated riding into the road lane. With 80kmh plus traffic this requires extra peripheral awareness and looking out for that impatient driver again. Just before Frankston there is a long decline, and we whizzed along. The turn off to the Frankston railway station is not obvious, and if you miss it you’ll be heading toward the Freeway and EastLink. Look for the multi-story office block to the north west – the station is close by.

Trip Details

Total distance: 65km

Riding time: 2 hours there and 1½ back

Riding conditions: Good surface, but significant vehicle traffic 

Top speed: 56kmp Average 22kmp (courtesy of IPhone Ap.)

Amenities: Many pleasant roadside cafés, adequate toilets, drinking water.

Rating: Fair to middling

Access: Train from Southern Cross Railway station leaving at 9:53am of a Sunday arriving Frankston around 11:00am.

For more information about Lord Franklin see the link below;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Franklin

To hear that wonderful song about the Franklin expedition by the Late Canadian folk singer Stan Rogers:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVY8LoM47xI

And for charming lament about Lord Franklins endeavors see the link to that quirky Canadian drama, Due South:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocptGwFVRUI&NR=1