| The Mornington Peninsula lies south and slightly east of Melbourne. On its inner side (west and north), the Peninsula encloses Port Phillip Bay, while on its outer side it almost meets French Island and Phillip Island on the east, and has Bass Strait to its south. There are several places to explore on this peninsula.
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One pleasant journey is to take a suburban train to its terminus at Frankston and then change to a further train to Stony Point. It is a typically rural line which travels across the peninsula from its inner west coast to its outer east coast. The journey from Flinders Street to Frankston takes just over an hour. The journey from Frankston to Stony Point takes approximately forty minutes, and trains wait there for about twenty minutes before returning to Frankston.
At Stony Point, there is a tea room and not much else. The train travels right to the water's edge and from this point there is a ferry service which operates to French Island and to Cowes on Phillip Island. It is a good way to reach the latter if you are thinking of visiting the penguins there. |
French Island is so called because it was discovered by the French survey vessel Le Naturaliste in 1802. It has a total area of 17,410 hectares, of which 11,100 hectares is National Park. The population is approximately 80. It can be reached in ten minutes by ferry, arrival point being the small town of Tankerton on the west coast. Sights include lots of koalas, echidna, wildflowers, birds, a chicory kiln, and an historic prison. Camping is available on the island. The island measures approximately 25 kilometres from east to west and fifteen kilometres from north to south. The closest point to the mainland is on the eastern coast, where the distance is a mere two kilometres.
Another possible expedition is to the town of Mornington itself. Again you take the suburban train to Frankston, and from there catch a bus. Mornington is 55 kilometres from the centre of Melbourne and has a population of 30,000. A settlement was first established at nearby Schnapper Point, and this developed into the town of Mornington. A jetty was built in 1857, after which the town soon became a favoured destination for holidays and day trips on the steamers which plied the bay in the latter half of the nineteenth century.
The Courthouse here dates from 1860 and the Post Office from 1864. There are also several imposing nineteenth century hotels, such as the Royal Hotel, Kirkpatrick's Hotel and the Grand Hotel. The Old Mornington Hotel used to be called the Tanti Hotel and was the original staging point for the Cobb and Co. coaches, while the Royal Hotel used to be called the Schnapper Point Hotel, but changed its name after the Duke of Edinburgh stayed there in 1896. The Old Post Office is now a Museum. The Old Courthouse is an Information Centre, open at weekends only. It also displays local works of art. There is a statue of Matthew Flinders. He visited in 1802 in H.M.S. Investigator and landed near Mornington. Nearby is a memorial to the Mornington Football Team, all members of which were lost at sea in 1892.
One more possibility is to perform a complete circuit of Port Phillip Bay, by travelling the length of the Mornington Peninsula, crossing by ferry and returning to Melbourne via the Bellarine Peninsula and Geelong. The journey from Frankston to Sorrento takes approximately ninety minutes. On the way, near Dromana, you will see, on your left, Arthur's Seat, the highest point on the peninsula at 304 metres. A 74-seat chairlift leads up to it. This chairlift is the longest in Victoria, almost precisely one kilometre long. Arthur's Seat was climbed by Matthew Flinders, and his journal records that he enjoyed the view too. It was named in 1802 by Lt. John Murray after a mountain near Edinburgh. The ferry from Sorrento to Queenscliff on the Bellarine Peninsula operates every hour. On the other side, on the Bellarine Peninsula, a bus can be taken from Queenscliff to Geelong, and then a train back to Melbourne.
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