Page 432 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Australia

430  VIC T ORIA

swirling water (known as the
Rip) with its hidden rocks, to
Point Nepean on the Morn-
ington Peninsula in Eastern
Victoria (see p446).
The graceful old town of
Queenscliff faces Port Phillip ueenscliff faces Port Phillip ueenscliff
Q Q
Bay so its beaches are calm.
Its fort was the largest British
defence post in the southern
hemisphere during the 1880s,
when a Russian invasion was
feared. At the time Queenscliff
was also a fashionable resort
for Melburnians – its elegant
Flamboyant Italianate façade of Werribee Park Mansion hotels, such as the Vue Grand,
are reminders of that opulent
1Werribee Park show-jumping and polo events. era. St Leonards and
For bird-watchers, the nearby Portarlington are also popular
K Rd, Werribee. Tel 13 1963. Western Treatment Plant and holiday villages.
£ Werribee. Open daily. & 7 8 Point Cook Coastal Park provide The peninsula has around
- 0 ∑ parkweb.vic.edu.au
magnificent views of some 20 wineries, most offering
From 1860 until 1890, the wool rare species from specially cellar door sales and tastings.
boom made millionaires of designated hides. Migratory
Australia’s sheep farmers, with birds such as the eastern
the Chirnside family of Werribee curlew and tiny red-necked
Park and later of Victoria’s stint spend the whole summer
Western District among the in these protected wetlands
richest and most powerful. before flying north to Japan
Their former mansion is a and Siberia.
striking Italianate house,
built between 1873 and 1878. O Werribee Open Range Zoo
It has now been restored to Tel 1300 966 784. Open 9am–5pm
reflect the lifestyle of wealthy daily. & 7 8∑ zoo.org.au
pastoral families. Visitors can
stroll through the sandstone 2Bellarine
mansion and see the room Graceful wrought-iron detail on a
where renowned opera singer Peninsula Queenscliff façade
Dame Nellie Melba once slept. @ Geelong. n 1251–1269 Bellarine
A wing added in the 1930s Highway, Wallington 1800 755 611. 3Geelong
has been converted into a ∑ visitgeelongbellarine.com.au * 190,000. ~ £ @ @
luxury hotel. n 26–32 Moorabool St 1800 755 611.
Next to Werribee Park The Bellarine Peninsula, at the ∑ visitgeelongbellarine.com.au
Mansion and its formal gardens western entrance to Port Phillip
with popular picnic areas is the Bay, is one of Melbourne’s many Geelong is the second largest
Victoria State Rose Garden, summer resorts. The white sand city in the state and has a rural
laid out in a symbolic Tudor beaches of Barwon Heads, Point and industrial past. Positioned
Rose-shaped design. It contains Lonsdale and Ocean Grove on the north-facing and
more than 5,000 beautiful rose mark the sheltered Corio Bay, the city has
bushes of different varieties start of the started to look once again on its
and colours Great Ocean port as a recreational front door,
that are in Road and its so popular in the first years of the
flower from famous surf 20th century. The wooden 1930s
November beaches (see bathing complex at Eastern
to April. Also pp432–3). Beach, with its lawns, sandy
attached to Chaise longue in Werribee Park The little beach and shady trees, was
Werribee Park is village of Point restored to its former Art Deco
Werribee Open Range Zoo, Lonsdale lies at the entrance to glory in 1994. Steampacket Place
containing a range of exotic the treacherous Heads – the and Pier were part of an extensive
animals, including giraffes and most dangerous entry to any redevelopment project that saw
hippopotami. The National bay in the world due to its the gradual renovation of the
Equestrian Centre is also part churning seas and whirlpools. old warehouses into a thriving
of the estate. This is home to It is only 3 km (2 miles) from waterfront quarter filled with
some of Australia’s premier Point Lonsdale, across the excellent seafood restaurants,
For hotels and restaurants in this area see pp494–5 and pp529–31