Federation Trail, South West Melbourne
The Federation Trail is a twenty three kilometre bike path in Western Melbourne, running from just north of Williamstown, then through the south western suburbs to its conclusion just south of Werribee town centre. Its route has been made possible by, and closely follows Melbourne's old outfall open sewerage system. That might not be the best marketing hook for this trail even though the sewer has long since closed, but it does have its pros and cons. The positives are that this is a trail with a real cultural heritage. Although Melbourne was celebrated as Marvellous Melbourne in the late nineteenth century, it was was beginning to be more commonly referred to as Smellbourne, due to the absence of any kind of sewerage system resulting in an appalling stench wafting from numerous cesspits. A major engineering project ensued, with this new sewer system built from scratch and taking the City's 'nightsoil' far away from the glamour of the city, to a Water Treatment Plant in Werribee.
The negatives are not the sewer system itself, which I mentioned has long since closed, but the fact that the sewer was strategically located well away from any of the picturesque parts of the South Western landscape. Which unfortunately leads to a rather mundane bike ride. There are a few notable highlights including the Skeleton Creek path, and at the very end of the trail by Werribee River (though technically not part of the Federation Trail), but aside from that, there isn't much to see. It's more of a functional path to get from A to B, and one for hardcore Lycra clad, logo blazoned road racers as they pedal frantically onwards, with no pedestrians to avoid. Even the government seems to have given up on the Trail, as they still haven't finished the final section, and the path at times features some enormous cracks. If you really wanted to cycle for twenty kilometers or so in this area, a much better choice would be the Altona Coastal Path route which runs from Skeleton Creek in Point Cook, all the way to Williamstown, and hugs the glorious coastline pretty much all the way.
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