Walk number 5 in the ‘Walks of Flinders Island’ book is the Patriarch Inlet walk.
A desolate but beautiful part of the coastline can be found at Patriarch Inlet. A kilometre before the beach you will notice a small car parking area on the left which has views over the inlet as well as a tourist information sign. From this point a short trek can be made out to the coast along the banks of the inlet. A more interesting walk which must be done at low tide is to trek up the bank of the inlet in a westerly direction and after about half a kilometre you should be able to see some white ‘mounds’ towards the northwest. Here lie the remains of a stranded pod of about 80 pilot whales, which beached here in 1979! A trip to the Emita Museum is mandatory, particularly after visiting this site. At the museum you will be able to see the actual newspaper article which recorded this event all those years ago. Watch out for the gooey and sticky mud flats as you make your way carefully across the inlet for a closer inspection of the skeletons. The former Flinders Island lodge has one of these mammals on display. It is amazing to think that these mammals came to be so far inland – well over a kilometre from the coast. A walk out to the east coast beach is relatively straight forward, whether by road or around the shores of the inlet.
This walk is 2-3KM and takes around 1 Hour.
