Mixed Naturist Walk in the remote Bungal State Forest, including the Moorabool River & Waterholes

Enjoy a clothes-free walk through a little known forest, south of Ballan. Cool your feet in the East Moorabool River or jump in for a skinny dip if you prefer.

GRADE | LENGTH | TYPE: Medium 8 km circuit walk along 4WD tracks, animal pads beside the river and through the open forest (graded according to the Leaders Guide – Appendix A: Activity Grading Guidelines). There are a couple of steepish sections, but we will take our time.

ACTIVITY DESCRIPTION: This event is for naturists. We will first meet in Ballan for a coffee, snacks and introductions. After this, the leader will give an outline of the day and we will then arrange car pooling for the 21 km (30 min) trip south of Ballan, to the start of the walk. Cars going into the forest should have average, or higher, ground clearance. Other cars can be left all day in Ballan until we return. Once in the forest we can discard our clothes, apply sunscreen and enjoy a leisurely walk through the open forest to reach the river. Once there we can have a relaxed lunch before exploring more of the river and waterholes before returning through the forest to the cars. We then plan to return to Ballan to the Commercial Hotel where we can relax and have cool drinks /coffee and chips. If you wish you can stay on and have dinner at the hotel.

Afternoon Tea/Drinks: After the walk we will return to Ballan where we can have cool drinks, a beer or coffee at the Commercial Hotel, 151 Inglis St, Ballan.

BOOKING: Preferably by Thursday 14th November. Click on Get Tickets to book.
Unsure if you’ve already booked? Click View my bookings.

MEETING TIME | LOCATION: 10am at the Park Rotunda, 131 Inglis St Ballan. (Inglis St is also known as Old Melbourne Rd). Suggested parking is in Fisken St on the side of the little park. Coffee and eats are available at cafes on the oppposite side of the main street e.g. Zest Cafe. The car convoy to the walk start (about 21 km and 30 minutes) will leave at about 10:40am. Optus mobile coverage in Ballan can be poor. If necessary, try a text.

If you haven’t got transport to the event you could send an email to Russell on LeaderRussellW.thenomadsinc@mail.tidyhq.com who may be able to arrange a lift from Melbourne for you. Otherwise you can use public transport, see details below.

MAP REFERENCE: Google map maps.app.goo.gl/Pkh9x3CEw6PFLAJf7

The walk start is located 21 km SW of Ballan in the Bungal State Forest. We plan to go into the forest along Little Forest Rd.

DISTANCE | TIME FROM GPO: 75 km. Approximately 1 hour 5 minutes.

PUBLIC TRANSPORT: V/Line train leaves Southern Cross Railway Station at 8:14am and arrives in Ballan at 9:16am. The meeting place is 7 minutes walk from Ballan Railway Station.
You could also catch the 9:14am train arriving in Ballan at 10:16am. But in this case you’d miss out on coffee and arrive just in time for the briefing scheduled for 10:25am.

FOOD: Lunch, snacks, water/drinks to take on walk.

APPAREL | FOOTWEAR: Comfy shoes/boots. Sunscreen, sunhat, sunglasses. Small towel to dry off after swimming. Maybe you could carry a fig leaf (or shorts) in your backpack, though it’s very rare to see anyone else in this forest.

COST: $5. Free for financial members of the Nomads Outdoors Group.

LEADER: Russell W. | LeaderRussellW.thenomadsinc@mail.tidyhq.com  if you have any questions. Members can access leader contact details under Members | Leader Contacts when logged in to the website.