The Geelong bollards are painted wooden figures by artist Jan Mitchell, carved from old wharf pylons between 1994 and 1999. The council says about 104 were made at first and there are now over 155. Most stand along the waterfront trail from Rippleside Park to Limeburners Point, about 4 km, free to walk.
The Geelong bollards are the painted wooden figures that line the city’s waterfront: sea captains, lifesavers, bathing beauties, a fireman, a brass band. Artist Jan Mitchell carved and painted them between 1994 and 1999 from recovered wharf pylons. The City of Greater Geelong says about 104 were made at first and there are now more than 155 across the region. You can see most of them for free on a walk along Corio Bay from Rippleside Park to Limeburners Point.
It depends on who is counting and when. The council’s trail page, updated in August 2026, says the project “began with approximately 104 works” and has grown to “over 155”. A Weekend Notes article counted 103 bollards at 48 sites along the waterfront trail. Jan Mitchell’s Wikipedia entry says there were “over 100” by 1999.
The higher number includes bollards away from the bay walk. The council lists them from Barwon Heads to Portarlington, and across Geelong at the Carousel, the National Wool Museum, the visitor information centres and Avalon Airport. If you only walk the waterfront, expect to see something over 100.
Timber. Mitchell worked with recovered wharf pylons, the thick posts that once held up the piers, and painted them in acrylic. Each figure is a single post, shaped and painted to look like a person in period dress. They are sculptures, not working bollards: nothing is tied up to them.
Jan Mitchell was born in Melbourne in 1940. She spent close to 20 years overseas, much of it as a graphic artist in Irish television, before coming home. Her first bollard art was made in Barwon Heads through an artist-in-schools program. In 1994 she presented the Baywalk Bollards idea to the commissioners then running the City of Greater Geelong, and the waterfront set was finished by 1999, the same years the waterfront itself was being rebuilt.
The figures tell Geelong’s own story from the 19th and 20th centuries. The council’s curated trail names them: Victoria Baths swimmers, sea captains, a sailor and a woman, the Volunteer Rifle Band, a tram conductress, scallop fishers, a fireman, an early Geelong footballer, a Pierrot, a sandwich-board man for the Joy Ark, bathing beauties and the Eastern Beach lifesavers. One pair shows Ian McDonald and Robert Johnston; McDonald was the city engineer who designed the Eastern Beach bathing complex in the 1930s.
Mitchell died in Geelong in March 2008. Her bollards can also be seen at Melbourne and Avalon airports.
The bollards started outside the city. Mitchell’s first bollard art was made in Barwon Heads, and the council says the collection now reaches from Barwon Heads to Portarlington along the bay. Inside Geelong you will also find figures at the Carousel, the National Wool Museum and the visitor information centres, and a few greet passengers at Avalon Airport. None of these are on a marked route, so treat them as a bonus if you are passing.
The council describes the trail as running from Rippleside Park in the north-west, along the bay, to Limeburners Point and the Botanic Gardens. Here is how it breaks down:
| Section | Start | End | Distance | What you pass |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| North-west | Rippleside Park | Cunningham Pier | About 1.8 km | Quieter foreshore, Western Beach, the convention centre |
| Central | Cunningham Pier | Eastern Beach enclosure | About 1.1 km | Steampacket Gardens, the Carousel, the densest run of bollards |
| East | Eastern Beach enclosure | Limeburners Point | About 1.1 km | The 1930s baths, Eastern Beach Reserve, the foot of Eastern Park |
| Whole trail | Rippleside Park | Limeburners Point | About 4 km | All of the above |
Checked October 2026. Distances are straight lines between map points along the shore, so the path you walk is a little longer. The council estimates 30 minutes one way and an hour return, which fits the central section better than the whole 4 km.
There is no ticket, no gate and no opening time. The bollards stand outdoors on public foreshore, so you can walk the trail at any hour.
Walk west to east. You start at the quiet end and finish at Eastern Beach, where you can swim or sit in the reserve, and the Botanic Gardens are a short climb from Limeburners Point. If you only have an hour, skip the north-west section: start at Cunningham Pier, a 0.7 km walk from Geelong railway station, and walk east.
Some suggestions for the central stretch:
The train from Southern Cross in Melbourne takes about an hour. From Geelong station it is about 0.7 km to the Carousel and the middle of the trail. Drivers can use the Western Beach car park beside Cunningham Pier ($3.80 an hour, three-hour limit, checked October 2026), the free all-day streets above Eastern Beach, or the Civic Centre car park on Gheringhap Street, which the National Wool Museum says is free after 6 pm on Fridays and all weekend. See the Geelong parking guide for the rest.
The waterfront is an on-leash area for dogs under council rules.
There is no guided bollard walk on GetYourGuide. The closest is the Bay Sightseeing and Ferry Ride day tour from Melbourne, which starts with a walk past the bollards on the Geelong waterfront before heading to Point Lonsdale, Queenscliff and the ferry to Sorrento. It suits visitors without a car who want the bollards and the Bellarine in one day.
For everything else on the bay, from the Carousel to Cunningham Pier, start with the Geelong Waterfront guide.
10 hours
Starts with a walk past the Baywalk Bollards on the Geelong waterfront, then Point Lonsdale lighthouse, lunch in Queenscliff and the car ferry across the bay to Sorrento and the Mornington Peninsula.
fromA$199
Check availability10 hours
A food and drink loop of the bay that opens with a stroll on the Geelong waterfront, lunches at Jack Rabbit Vineyard on the Bellarine, then crosses to a Mornington Peninsula brewery and the bathing boxes.
fromA$219
Check availability4 hours
A dawn balloon flight that meets at the Holiday Inn & Suites Geelong and drifts over the city, the bay, the Barwon River and the Barrabool Hills, with breakfast afterwards.
fromA$390
Check availabilityPrices and ratings were taken from GetYourGuide and can change. Booking through these links supports this site at no extra cost to you.
Updated
The City of Greater Geelong says the project began with about 104 painted bollards and has grown to more than 155 (council trail page, updated August 2026). Counts vary by source and year: a Weekend Notes article counted 103 bollards at 48 sites on the waterfront trail. Most stand along Corio Bay, with others from Barwon Heads to Portarlington and at Avalon Airport.
Wood. Jan Mitchell carved and painted them from recovered wharf pylons, the heavy timber posts that once held up the city's piers, and the council describes them as acrylic paint on wood. Each bollard is a single post shaped into a figure and painted in bright colours, mostly showing people from Geelong in the 19th and 20th centuries.
Jan Mitchell, an artist born in Melbourne in 1940 who spent many years working overseas before returning to Australia. She made her first bollard art in Barwon Heads through an artist-in-schools program, pitched the Baywalk Bollards idea to Geelong's city commissioners in 1994 and completed the main set by 1999. She died in Geelong in March 2008.
About 4 km from Rippleside Park to Limeburners Point, measured between map points along the shore. The council gives about 30 minutes one way, which matches the busy central section between Cunningham Pier and Eastern Beach better than the full trail. Walking the whole shore with photo stops takes most people an hour or more.
The council describes the trail as running from Rippleside Park in the north-west to Limeburners Point and the Botanic Gardens in the east. You can join it anywhere. Most people start at Cunningham Pier or the Carousel, a 0.7 km walk from Geelong railway station, and walk east toward Eastern Beach, where the bollards are thickest.
The Geelong Waterfront is the walkable bayfront on Corio Bay, from Rippleside Park past Cunningham Pier and the Carousel to Eastern Beach.
Eastern Beach is Geelong's city swimming spot on Corio Bay, 1 km east of the Carousel.
The Geelong Botanic Gardens are free and open every day, 8 am to 7 pm in daylight saving and 8 am to 5 pm otherwise.
Geelong is easy with children.