Ancient Rotorhead, if it did have a bearing on the pilot’s decision, that can only be because he was fearful that he would not get a VFR clearance through the Williamtown zone along the coast. Why else would he have flight planned VFR to the west of Williamtown where the weather was obviously worse?
I met an American couple once who tried to get a VFR clearance through Williamtown above 5,000 feet on a CAVOK day. They said it was like Oliver asking for more. They were forced to drop to 500 feet into the salt spray and fly the lane.
Yes, when the “A team” is on you may get a VFR clearance through the Willy zone, but that is problematic. In a British MATZ or in US military Class C you would fly across the top VFR with no restrictions.
Why would that bloke have ever wanted to go inland towards the bad weather if he had thought for a second that he would have been able to fly VFR along the coast above the lowest safe altitude? The answer is simple – he knew it was highly unlikely.