Hit the highway and discover the sleepy style of Geelong and the Bellarine Peninsula

Working boats lining Fishermen’s Pier

WORDS AND PHOTOGRAPHY CRAIG TANSLEY

Every time I delve into the less explored parts of Australia I come away amazed by what I’ve been missing out on. Case in point: Victoria’s underrated Bellarine Peninsula, an area overshadowed by its better-known cousin the Mornington Peninsula, on the other side of Port Phillip Bay. This little piece of paradise, with its bays, non-snooty wineries, white sandy beaches and cute-as-a-button villages is just a few kilometres’ drive from Geelong, Victoria’s second-biggest city – itself often overlooked by tourists despite its great restaurants, cafés and attractions.

Exploring the Bellarine is easy: Jetstar flies direct to Avalon, Geelong’s airport, from Brisbane, Sydney, Adelaide and Perth and the city is just a 50-minute drive from Melbourne’s CBD. We flew in late on a Friday night and checked into the Four Points by Sheraton (10– 14 Eastern Beach Rd, tel: +61 (3) 5223 1377), in the heart of Geelong’s waterfront precinct. Halfway through a meal of local snapper pan-fried with crayfish dumplings, lemon butter and salmon caviar at Fishermen’s Pier (Yarra St, tel: + 61 (3) 5222 4100), I looked out on a marina full of fishing boats and pleasure yachts, wiped my mouth and declared that I liked this town. What’s not to like?

The 120-year-old carousel on the

foreshore
Photo: Visions of Victoria Built as it is on Corio Bay, Geelong seems to offer hundreds of things to do. We spent an easy day checking out the multi-million-dollar refurbishment of the foreshore – once a derelict wool shipping port; Cunningham Pier reminded me of the old-fashioned piers you might find in Bournemouth or Staten Island, sticking out into a bay littered with fishing boats and seaplanes. Geelong folk seem to love their boats: there’s a launching pad every few metres and the boats at the Royal Geelong Yacht Club (25 Eastern Beach Rd, tel: +61 (3) 5229 1418) had me reaching for the Old Spice.

Tall ships in Corio Bay
Photo: Visions of Victoria It’s a curious mix of the old and the new, this foreshore. An art deco swimming pool and a 120-year-old steam-driven carousel with 36 hand-carved wooden horses compete for attention with 100 brightly painted two-metre-high bollards representing the characters who built Geelong. They’re everywhere; they even chased me to the city’s pristine Botanic Gardens (Eastern Park), now 156 years old, on the edge of the foreshore.

I could only try a fraction of the activities on offer: there are Jet Boat Wild Rides (15 Eastern Beach Rd, tel: +61 419 237 300); the National Wool Museum (26 Moorabool St, tel: +61 (3) 5227 0701); the Geelong Maritime Museum (Osborne House, Swinburn St, tel: +61 (3) 5277 3808); Rent A Tinny boat hire (Yarra St, tel: +61 (3) 5222 3222); the Ford Discovery Centre (cnr Gheringhap & Brougham sts, tel: +61 (3) 5227 8700); the Rock Adventure Centre (403 Pakington St, tel: +61 (3) 5221 3101); and even Geelong Gaol (cnr Myers & Swanston sts, tel: +61 (3) 5221 8292) for those seeking a taste of Alcatraz. Mostly I was happy to just drive along observing it all, and to stop to enjoy a coffee at a seaside café where the view stretched all the way to Melbourne.

I could quite easily have spent the entire weekend in Geelong, but the peninsula awaited, and it would be rude to stand her up. If you’ve never heard of the Bellarine you’re not alone – I knew nothing of it! Yet it’s easy to get to – nothing is more than 30 minutes’ drive from Geelong on the Bellarine Highway. This is an area that has it all: some of the country’s best beaches for families and surfers; pristine rivers for boating and swimming; one of Victoria’s best food and wine scenes, especially if you like seafood and Pinot Noir; gorgeous villages with shopping to die for, according to my female partner; and no traffic, traffic lights or tourists.

Blue mussels and a
chilled white wine on a

glorious day
Photo: Visions of Victoria

The landscape is stunning: sweeping coastlines hammered by Southern Ocean swells and offset by rolling hills of vineyards with some of the prettiest tasting rooms and restaurants in the whole country – eat your heart out Hunter Valley!

The food at the wineries is so mouth-wateringly good I proclaimed it the best I’ve ever tried at any wine region in the world. (Port Phillip Bay King George whiting paupiette with South Australian blue swimmer crab and shellfish bisque, anyone?)

Try sleek, modern winery Pettavel (65 Pettavel Rd, Waurn Ponds, tel: +61 (3) 5266 1120); Oakdene (255 Grubb Rd, Wallington, tel: +61 (3) 5255 1255), a quirky, gorgeously decorated winery not far from the beach; or Julian’s Restaurant at Bellarine Estate (2270 Portarlington Rd, tel: +61 (3) 5259 3310), a perfect place to cuddle up by the fireplace.

Wine-making on the Bellarine

Peninsula
Photo: Visions of Victoria

If you have kids – or a kid’s energy – there are a million activities to try. You can learn to surf at Ocean Grove; take a leisurely kayak from Portalington with SeaKayak Australia (12 Turner St, Abbotsford, tel: +61 (3) 8415 0997); go seal watching off Queenscliff; discover the wonders of the local marine life at the Marine Discovery Centre (2A Bellarine Hwy, Queenscliff, tel: +61 (3) 5258 3344); try your hand at fishing along the Peninsula; go bike riding along the foreshores; horse ride (Horse Riding Australia, 320 Townsend Rd, Moolap, tel: +61 (3) 5248 8218); and scuba dive (Queenscliff Dive Centre, 37 Learmonth St, Queenscliff, tel: +61 (3) 5258 1188).

Or you can do what we did, and shop till you drop in the Bellarine’s crown jewel, Queenscliff, a town so pretty they should stop us visiting, just to protect it. We particularly liked Athelstane Food Store (4 Hobson St, tel: +61 (3) 5258 1024) and Passion Rose (27 Hesse St, tel: +61 (3) 5258 1108).

A meal with vineyard views at
Julian’s Restaurant
Photo: Visions of Victoria

It was the serenity that won me over most. I felt like I was in the middle of nowhere, lolling around on beaches at Point Lonsdale, watching the fishing boats come up loaded up with mussels at Portarlington and drinking a beer as the sun set at Barwon Heads, while a river full of kids, mums and dads went about their business. At night, when the stars were out and we sat beside the fire at The Ol’ Duke (40 Newcombe St, Portarlington, tel: +61 (3) 5259 1250) looking out across to the bay, it was hard to believe we were so close to Melbourne.

For all your travel choices, go to jetstar.com

Craig Tansley says
One morning on the Bellarine Peninsula, I stopped to photograph some sheep. They all started acting strange by gathering together and walking towards me in perfect formation. They came right up and stared at me and made strange noises for 10 minutes. My girlfriend thinks I might be a sheep whisperer (I was born in New Zealand!).