Of magic, mystery and monsters
Linda Cuttriss joins a woodlands walk and finds a new kind of magic in the hills above Grantville and The Gurdies.
Nature's Showtime
The natural world shakes off winter and the season of rebirth begins. Linda Cuttriss celebrates the drama of spring
Sculptures by the Sea
Like the walls of an ancient fort, the Colonnades on Woolamai Beach look impregnable but they too are under siege from the elements, writes Linda Cuttriss.
On sheltered waters
IT IS low tide on a crisp, clear winter’s morning when Linda Cuttriss visits the small fishing village of Rhyll.
Beaches, bays and one fatal shot
Linda Cuttriss visits Ventnor, where Phillip Island’s first European family once hosted members of Melbourne’s social elite.
A wild ride: Summerland scenic drive
Behind the scenes of the Summerland peninsula lies a unique history of tourism, development and wildlife conservation. Linda Cuttriss reports.
Finding Ellen
A family gathering at Inverloch Pioneer Cemetery marked the end of a quest to find the long-lost grave of a young mother and son, buried 125 years ago. Linda Cuttriss reports By Linda Cuttriss October...
Of sand and stone
By Linda Cuttriss THE Woolamai dunes rise behind lines of rolling surf on the south-east coast of Phillip Island. These massive hills of sand stand up to 30 metres high. They sprawl from Woolamai Surf...
Island idyll
“I scarcely know a place I would rather call mine than this little island,” Lieutenant James Grant wrote of Churchill Island in 1801. By Linda Cuttriss IT IS low tide on the first day of winter and...
Cut and Fill
The sight of a beach freshly eroded by a storm can shock, but the sand will return in the natural order of things. At least it has till now. By Linda Cuttriss June 4, 2016 IT IS late afternoon on...
Swell and spray
By Linda Cuttriss I CAN hear the ocean rumbling, telling me there’s a big swell running. The sky is blue, the wind is light. It’s a perfect day to visit The Blowhole at the south-west tip of Phillip...
Beauty and the beast
Beware the beastly easterlies, writes Linda Cuttriss, and remember they will pass. THERE’S a howling easterly blowing across Bass Coast today. Our little house creaks. Windows strain, doors shift inside...
Ode to the Post
By Linda Cuttriss THERE’S something very comforting about the “bing” of an incoming email on a Saturday morning, the sound that announces your arrival again. I love those few moments of anticipation,...
The old lady of the sea
By Linda Cuttriss CAPE Woolamai is the great-great grandmother of this coast. She sits at the south-east tip of Phillip Island and is seen from far and wide. She is always there, watching over her...
A walk on the quiet side
By Linda Cuttriss I HEAR no roar of the ocean, no sound of waves pounding the coast. I am standing on the sheltered side of Phillip Island, on the bluff above Rhyll Inlet, listening to the north-westerly...
Time and tide
The wreck of the Speke By Linda Cuttriss I AM standing at the top of the steps overlooking an empty Kitty Miller Bay. At high tide waves lap the back of the beach but now the bay is drained. Low tide...
Shelter from the storm
Swan Lake, Phillip Island By Linda Cuttriss IT IS a wild and windy winter’s day and I am on my way to Swan Lake. Nestled behind high dunes at the western end of Phillip Island, Swan Lake is a sheltered...
From the cliff-tops
By Linda Cuttriss A SLIGHTLY corrugated dirt road takes me past big old sheoaks and on through open farmland to Pyramid Rock, where the two gentle arcs of Phillip Island’s south coast meet. To the...
The view from the other side
By Linda Cuttriss THE brand-new 47-seat ‘sea sprinter’ pushes back from Cowes Jetty and is soon speeding westward towards Australia’s largest seal colony. I’m on board Phillip Island Nature Parks’ Ecoboat...