HAVING walked the entire length of it, few people are more generally informed about the coastline of Victoria than Graham Patterson, who has written a book about western end of it.

The guidebook, called Coastal guide to nature and history 3 western Victoria covers the area from the Western head of Port Phillip Bay in Point Lonsdale to the South Australian border, and is the final of a trio of self-published volumes by Mr Patterson that span much of the state’s coast.

As the name suggests, it includes a mix of historical and biological points of interest, as well as geology and plenty of advice for travellers.

The book is arranged geographically from east to west, as if you are walking the coast yourself, and is full of pictures of the plant life, fossils, terrain and spectacular views in each notable place along the way.

Mr Patterson, a retired physics teacher, said he has had a connection with the Victoria’s seaside dating back to childhood holidays in Port Fairy and other parts of the Western coastline of the state.

Then at some point in the late 1980s his coastal adventuring began in earnest, doing small sections on weekends and bit by bit filling in the map.

“Doing it on my own you had to start somewhere and obviously get back to where you left the car, so walking the whole thing twice was not an appealing prospect,” Mr Patterson said.

“I pretty quickly recruited my brother who would drop me somewhere and do a little bit of the walking with me before heading back and driving to meet me at the other end.

“Other times later on I left my bike at one end and would cycle back when I got there.”

After 15 years of ticking off walks when time allowed, in 2002 Mr Patterson retired and was able to commit himself more to some of the lengthier legs and more challenging sections to organise access to.

Surprisingly, he said in this time he has been on a number of holidays inland and interstate.

Finally in 2018, more than three decades after he started, Mr Patterson walked his last steps across unfamiliar sand in Victoria.

“The last bit was on the 90 Mile Beach, and I had to get help from someone who offered to take me out on their boat because it is that big stretch of sand behind the Gippsland lakes.

“I had to paddle a bit of it too, because there’s sections of mangroves that are sort of underwater.”

As for this part of the world, he said it was done in parts across the whole period lining up mostly with holidays in the area over summers.

“The volcanic landscape of places like Bridgewater and Cape Nelson nearby very interesting and unique, and the traces of the Aboriginal settlement was a shell midden scattered around the place as well.”

Although there was much to take interest in, Mr Patterson does have some less happy memories of walking the far south west.

“I’m actually not so much of a beachy person, so you could say Discovery Bay wore me out a little bit…and when we walked Cape Bridgewater Bay it was about 42 degrees, hot and horrible, and every now and then we would dig a hole and bury ourselves in the sand to escape the March flies for a little while because they were driving us mad.”

As for his book, Mr Patterson describes it as less of a walking guide, and more of a good read either before or after a trip, that might help solve some mysteries or pick an interesting part of the coast to visit.

The book is available online at www.coastal guidebooks.net.au, or at various information centres and bookshops in Victorian coastal towns.