Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The last village on the peninsula, wee Portsea is where many of Melbourne's wealthiest
families have built seaside mansions. You can walk the Farnsworth Track (1.5km, 30
minutes) out to scenic
London Bridge
, a natural rock formation, and spot middens of the
Boonwurrung people who once called this area home.
Bayplay
( 03-5984 0888;
www.bayplay.com.au
;
3755 Point Nepean Rd)
offers aquatic activities and
tours (PADI courses, snorkelling and sea kayaking) and hires equipment (kayaks four/
eight hours $50/80).
Dive Victoria
( 03-5984 3155;
www.divevictoria.com.au
;
3752 Point Nepean Rd; snorkelling $85, s/d dive with
gear $130/210)
runs diving and snorkelling trips.
Portsea's pulse is the iconic, sprawling, half-timber
Portsea Hotel
( 03-5984 2213;
www.portseahotel.com.au
;
Point Nepean Rd; s/d from $85/105, s/d with bathroom from $135/175)
, an enormous
pub with a great lawn and terrace area looking out over the bay. There's an excellent bis-
tro (mains $20 to $28) and old-style accommodation (most rooms have shared bathrooms)
that increases in price based on bay views and season.
TOP OF CHAPTER
Point Nepean
National Park
The peninsula's tip is marked by the scenic
Point Nepean National Park
(
http://parkweb.vic.gov.au
;
Point Nepean Rd)
, originally a quarantine station and army base. A large section of the park is
a former range area and is still out of bounds due to unexploded weapons, but there's
plenty to see here and long stretches of traffic-free road that make for excellent cycling.
There are also plenty of
walking trails
throughout the park and at the tip is
Fort Nepean
, which
played an important role in Australian defence from the 1880s to 1945. On the parade
ground are two historic
gun barrels
that fired the first Allied shots in WWI and WWII.
Quar-
antine
is a legendary surf break at the Rip, and is still only accessible by boat.
Point Nepean visitor information centre
( 03-5984 6014; Point Nepean Rd; 9am-6pm Jan, 9am-5pm Feb-
Apr & Oct-Dec, 10am-5pm May-Sep)
will give you the lowdown on the park and hires bikes for
$25 per day. You can walk or cycle to the point (12km return), or take the shuttle bus
(adult/child return $10/7.50), a hop-on, hop-off bus service that departs the visitor centre
six times daily.
TOP OF CHAPTER
