Millowl

The western headlands of Phillip Island (Millowl is the name the Bunurong People call the island), beyond the site of its famous “penguin parade” and close to The Nobbies, is a remarkable place. It was once covered in old beach shacks, ugly and treeless, but somehow charming, which overlooked Western Port Bay on one side and Bass Straight on the other. And now those shacks are all gone, thanks to a decades-spanning government reclamation program. The headlands are now wild again, birds of prey and Cape Barren geese roam across the cape during the day (seems fitting that a bird with the word “cape” in its name should do this), and at dusk in summer, short tailed shearwaters and little penguin return to their burrows.

I visited there shortly after Melbourne came out of lockdown; it was the perfect place to go after being cooped up for so long. Relentless wind, the smell and the sound of the ocean, distant horizons, no people… perfect source material for post-apocalyptic story crafting. Also a nice spot for a holiday.