Start the walk at the car park at the end of Allans Beach Road in the settlement of Belmont. Take care not to obstruct farm gates when you park. Go over the stile on to the dunes and follow the obvious path to the beach. Once on the golden sand, turn left to head east to the rocks, stacks and cliffs at the end of the beach. Penguins nest here, so be cautious if approaching at dusk and preferably stay out of sight. At high tide the waves can come right up to the cliffs, so be careful not to get trapped on this end of the beach.

Once you have seen enough of the interesting geology and possibly a sealion or two, retrace your steps to where you entered the beach and continue on along the sand, west to the entrance to Hoopers Inlet.

One of the first things you'll notice on reaching Hoopers Inlet is the clarity of the water in the estuary mouth. If you are here halfway between tides, the second thing you will probably notice is the speed of the current flowing into or out of the Inlet! The entire area of the Inlet drains through the narrow channel to the sea twice a day. At low tides ripples in the sandy bed of the estuary are exposed.

On the other side of the estuary mouth is the headland of Sandymount. A short neck of land stretches out to close the gap at the Inlet. This well-protected site is a favourite haunt of sealions. Don't get between them and the sea and keep well back - they can move quickly. There are derelict houses and cribs on the western shore of the Inlet - some with sufficient ancient sheltering trees to suggest they were once occupied on a permanent basis. The views from the mouth of the estuary across to the other shore and up to the head of Hoopers Inlet are glorious at high tide, as the wide expanse of twinkling water stretches out before you, bounded by green, green pasture. However, note the large landslides on the hillslopes below Sandymount - not all is idyllic here!

Follow the shoreline along the estuary. You may find the going quite soft at high tide as the sea raises groundwater up to loosen the sand at the margins of the estuary. The high tide also floods the homes of the sand and mud-dwelling crabs whose burrows you will be very familiar with by the time you reach Allans Beach Road again! The crabs come out in their thousands at high tide and you will have to pick your way carefully further round Hoopers Inlet to avoid treading on them.

Numerous wading birds are found in Hoopers Inlet, which provides a variety of habitats and food sources to support a wide range of species. On the mud flats you will probably see groups of oystercatchers, whilst solitary herons frequent the shallows near the shore. Black swans and ducks are found in the upper Inlet and gulls travel wide distances in their search for food.

Follow the margins of the mud flats until you reach the drains close to the road. The mud isn't soft and supports a variety of salt-tolerant low-growing plant species. In places the mud flats are eroding into Hoopers Inlet, assisted no doubt by the occasional thoughtless driver who has skirted around the estuary on the flats.

When you reach the road, turn right back to Belmont. You pass the entrance to the track to Mount Charles - the highest summit on the Peninsula. At the base of Mount Charles are some more classic landslide features, demonstrating the instability of the Peninsula's volcanic soils.