In 2005 the East Gippsland Shire Council adopted a Tambo Bluff subdivision review, incorporating walking tracks proposed by residents and Tambo Bluff Landcare Coastcare. Tambo Bluff traditionally had a number of informal tracks leading from the clifftops to the coastline beaches.

Namely:

1. At the bend/end of Stephanie St
2. At Land’s End Grove skirting n/w side of Dolphin Lagoon
3. At the end of Broadlands Rd, winding through the littoral rainforest to s/e of the Bluff
4. From a slope on James Street looking west.

The plan was (and still is) to provide safe, environmentally protective and visually unobtrusive walking track access to the coastline and link up all walking tracks.

4 years ago TBLC took this proposal to a meeting with Coastcare, who made the suggestion that the James Street area should be a priority.

Originally there was vehicular track through Council reserve land, which the public accessed to have picnics on the (then sandy) beach. This access was lost due to a land swap.

Further north along James Street, a resident had made a goat track, but this became a mess with haphazard pedestrian usage resulting in eroded ground cover, hardly any trees or plants, and many planted Agapanthus.

The Council decided on this track for the placement of the 100 Steps.

With funding from Coastcare and East Gippsland Shire Council, plenty of manpower, plantings, maintenance, and watering regimes, the efforts to protect the natural environment and provide proper access to Lake King has paid off.

After initial excavation and construction was complete, several indigenous plant species were mass-planted alongside the steps, black mesh pathway and further up the slopes. This was to provide important habitat and refuge for our bird and animal species. It also allowed the original vegetation to regenerate.

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The beautifully designed and illustrated “Ours to Protect” and “100 Steps”  information boards at each end of the walk, plus a directional marker on the beach, complete the project.

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A perspex box on the information board at the top of the steps, contain maps showing how the 100 Steps is now an integral part of a network of structured Walking tracks, totalling some 3.5kms around the Bluff.

Residents and visitors can now enjoy strolling along the revegetated gullies and coastline without impacting too much on the surrounding environment.

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