Pack a large basket with fresh crusty bread, South Gippsland cheeses and berries, and maybe a bottle or two of local wine for a memorable picnic in one of the most idyllic coastal settings imaginable. The Yanakie Landing, located on the western shores of Corner Inlet, has been popular both with picnickers and with boating and fishing sorts for well over 100 years. At its best at high tide, the Landing features small sandy coves punctuated with rocky outcrops and platforms that are perfect for exploring and for lolling about on in the sun. A gravelled walking track built by the volunteer members of the Yanakie Coast Action Group leads to the Landing. A car parking area on the southern side of Foley Road at Yanakie, just over three kilometres east of the Meeniyan-Promontory Road intersection, marks the start of the track. The track itself passes through typical coastal heathland, with stands of banksia, paperbarks, she-oaks and the occasional gum. Native orchids, correas, ferns and the prickly Yanakie berry shrub may also be found on either side of the track. After a few minutes' walk a well-placed timber lookout offering panoramic views of the Inlet and the higher peaks of Wilsons Promontory beyond appears. Beyond the lookout the track narrows a little and begins to descend towards sea level via a series of gentle zigzags. Three short flights of timber-and-earth steps make the steeper sections easier to negotiate. Then, all of a sudden, there's the Inlet, seen through a delicate tracery of coastal vegetation. A grassy area equipped with two sturdy picnic tables opens out at the end of the track adjacent to the beach itself. The name Yanakie Landing refers to the long jetty that used to extend over the shallows to the western reaches of the Middle Channel. The jetty was built to serve the leasees of the Yanakie Run or Station, the first of whom was Richard Bennison, who was the licensee of the Port Albert Hotel before he took up land at Yanakie in 1850. Foster and District Historical Society Incorporated member and author of "Yanakie - Station to Settlement 1850-1883" Rosie Crawford said, "for many years communication with the then remote Yanakie Station was by sea. "Schooners and later small steam ships, including the 'Rose of Sharon' and the 'Truganini' came into a jetty, known as the Yanakie Landing, which was built just south west of the present Yanakie Caravan Park," she said. "All provisions and mail were brought in and wool, hides and tallow dispatched from the jetty. "An unknown correspondent writing to the South Melbourne 'Record' newspaper in 1889 gives an interesting account of the long pier stretching out over the mud flats, which appear at low tide, with a trolley line right to the extreme end of the pier. "Rails from the trolley line are still visible in the vicinity. "At the time the correspondent wrote, surveyors were camped in that area surveying a township reserve of 131 acres of land," Mrs Crawford said. "These allotments were never sold and the township was rescinded in 1958." Visitors to the area are asked to keep to the walking track in order to protect the surrounding vegetation, and to take all their rubbish as well as any other bits they might find home with them.

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