Posts Tagged ‘Victoria’

Looking to escape for a weekend or just a quick day trip out of Melbourne?
Perhaps a Summer break in Point Lonsdale …….

Point Lonsdale Lighthouse

Hidden around Melbourne are some real gems for weekend escapes, day trips or summer breaks and Point Lonsdale is right up there at the top of the list. This popular and yet relatively unknown coastal village sits at the head of Port Philip Bay on the right hand side of the “Rip” where the bay meets the open waters of Bass Strait.

The commanding Point Lonsdale Lighthouse overlooks endless surf beaches stretching along the coast to Ocean Grove, Barwon Heads and on down to Torquay and the Great Ocean Road. Look the other way and sheltered beaches nestle in the Bay sweeping around to the fort at Queenscliff.

Getting there is easy. From Melbourne head over the West Gate Bridge down towards Geelong and follow the sign postings (B110) for the Bellarine Peninsula and Queenscliff. Travel time is around 90 minutes from the city. If you’ve collected a rental car from Melbourne Airport you’d be looking at roughly the same time via the Western Ring Road and if you arrive via Avalon Airport you’re half way there as the airport is just outside Geelong.

Point Lonsdale is relatively quiet when compared to more popular summer destinations around Melbourne such as Sorrento, Anglesea, Torquay or Lorne. There’s no pub, a scattering of rather busy coffee and breakfast cafes, an excellent IGA supermarket and don’t forget to check out Kelp, a great little Café restaurant for a bite or just a quick drink, all located across the road from the bayside beach making for a perfect family holiday environment. The Back beach offers great surf and at low tide the rock pools create hours of fun for all the kids.

On the first Sunday after Christmas the Rip View Swim Classic is swum. This 1.4km swim from Springs Beach to the Point Lonsdale Front Beach is one of the big three Open Water Swims along with the Lorne Pier to Pub and Portsea Swim Classic. A great day and one of the more gentle swims being conducted within the bay.

So to the beaches, well to be honest you’re spoilt for choice in this. A handful include:

Point Lonsdale Nippers

• Santa Casa (known locally as Nun’s Beach ) on the right as you drive into Queenscliff. Great for kids and never too crowded. For those with dogs the Point Lonsdale end of Nun’s caters for our 4 legged buddies. Each December-January Point Lonsdale Life Saving Club runs its annual Nippers program on Nun’s with some 300 children taking part in a condensed Program over 2 weeks culminating in a Beach Carnival usually held on the 2nd Saturday of January.
• Ocean Grove, one of the growing coastal towns, has a very popular surf beach along with the big Supermarkets, banks and plenty of shopping available. Check out Tranquillity Fair held on first Saturday in the New Year in Ocean Grove Park.
• RAAF’s Beach , on the left between Ocean Grove and Barwon Heads, offers wide open spaces at low tides whilst on the other side of the road the Barwon River Beach is popular with younger beach goers and when the tides out is a great play ground with the backdrop of the famous Barwon Heads Bridge (if you watched the Australian TV series Sea Change that is).
• Some of the best surfing on this coast can be found at any number of different spots along 13th Beach on the road from Barwon Heads to Torquay (across the bridge and left at the pub).

For a water break of a different kind don’t miss the Adventure Water Park (www.adventurepark.com.au) located on the Geelong road 5 minutes out of Wallington – this is fun for everyone – doors open at 10.00am and it pays to get there early, to grab a table, a spot in the shade and jump on the rides whilst the queues are short.

Queenscliff Steam Train on the Narrows

Probably one of the better known Bellarine towns, Queenscliff is 5 minutes away. This Edwardian Holiday town with its wide roads and splendid hotels, boasts a great collection of Steam trains that run during weekends and holiday periods along to Drysdale or for those just looking for a quick experience to Laker’s Siding (30 mins). The Blues Train is also a great night out with Dinner and music for up to 200 passengers.

For such a small town Queenscliff offers more than its fair share of museums with the Fort Queenscliff Tour and Museum, (03 5258 1488), Queenscliff Historical Museum (03 5258 2511), excellent Queenscliff Maritime Museum (03 5258 3440) and located between Queenscliff and Point Lonsdale on the “Narrows” is the Marine Discovery Centre – small but fun for the kids and the staff are great (03 5258 3344).

Queenscliff is also home for the Pilots who guide ships in and out of the Bay in particular through the notoriously difficult 3km wide “Rip”. Watch for these Orange Pilot boats powering out to pick up and drop off Pilots onto the Ships. You can view the boats tied up in the Queenscliff marina.

Stretch your legs or pick up freshly cooked Fish and Chips and take a wander down the Jetty or around the new Marina where you may catch sight of the 3 giant Sting Rays that live there!

So, where to stay?

Late December – January is peak season with holiday-makers flocking in, filling up Holiday Parks sites and holiday rentals – renting a house during this period is not cheap, expect to fork out $1300+ per week for a 3 bedroom and you need to book ahead for both House and Holiday Park bookings.

In Point Lonsdale itself there are 3 large Holiday Parks, Golightly, Royal Park Caravan Park and Big 4 Beacon Resort. Best bet is the latter which rather confusingly describes itself as being in Queenscliff when Point Lonsdale would be more apt. A sign of the increasing popularity of Holiday Parks is the new Big 4 Park on the Bellarine Highway (bellarine-holiday-park.vic.big4.com.au) 5 kms west of Point Lonsdale which opened its doors in late 2009. This offers Cabins, powered and unpowered sites, so those in Motorhome rentals or simply camping out are well catered for.

There are several B & Bs including Roseneath Villa B&B ( www.roseneathvilla.com.au), Point Lonsdale Cottages – (www.pointlonsdalecottages.com.au) and Point Lonsdale Guest House (www.pointlonsdaleguesthouse.com.au) a long stone’s throw from the lighthouse itself.

Best time of year? Hard one to answer, Summer and Easter are always popular and plenty of fun, however in many ways the winter and other months are more attractive with a peaceful local feel. Depends slightly on your needs – for those with kids then December – January and any warm weekend will work well, if you’ve got under school aged children then February is for you – lower rates and far less busy.

Heading home you have the option of the Queenscliff – Sorrento Ferry with the chance of seeing dolphins. Taking the Car is $60 and be warned the popularity of the Sorrento area on the other side means the drive back to Melbourne will take longer during the summer months. Alternatively head back up to Geelong or cut across and take the Portarlington road as an alternative, fewer traffic lights and better views.

ChrisC
DriveNow Partner and sometime Blog Contributor

As with most countries, the holding and use of a mobile phone whilst driving has been banned in Australia for a number of years, with 3 License demit points and a fine for those caught doing so.

However, it is still an every day occurrence and common sight on Australian roads today.  VicRoads, the Victorian Road Authority, reports that you are 4 times likely to be involved in an accident when using a mobile phone and a staggering 23 times more likely if texting.

The Victorian Government has decided to get tough on this issue and has introduced Australia’s most stringent regulations governing the use of Mobile phones, GPS units, Televisions etc whilst driving.  These new regulations came into effect on 9^th November 2009 in Victoria and include the following:

• You cannot use your mobile phone unless it is secured in a commercially designed Car Kit or it can be operated without actually touching it (i.e. you have a Blue Tooth hands free kit)
• You can use earpieces connected to the phone via a cord as long as you do not press any buttons on the phone or touch the phone
• You can only use your phone in a Car Kit to make and receive calls or play music
• You cannot use your mobile phone for any other function such as texting, video calls or email
• Learners and P1 Drivers cannot use a mobile phone in any way whilst driving
• Holding or sitting your mobile on your knee or lap is prohibited. (simply put if you’re driving don’t touch your mobile phone at all)
• A GPS unit can only be used if it is an integrated part of the vehicle design or secured in a commercially designed car kit.
• Any Television or other Visual Display Unit cannot be operated if it visible to the Driver or is likely to distract another driver.

A good point to note that being stuck in a traffic jam or at traffic lights constitutes as driving therefore all the above continues to apply.

One of the times when you are more likely to step outside regulations such as these is where you are out of your normal driving environment, for example when hiring a car. Fortunately Car Manufactures and Car rental companies are coming to the rescue on this front.

Once the domain of luxury foreign imports, over the last couple of years more manufacturers are including embedded Blue Tooth functionality into a wider range of vehicles. As rental companies update their fleets, these Blue Tooth equipped cars are becoming more readily available for hire. It’s simply a case of pairing your phone with your vehicle when you pick it up.

ChrisC
DriveNow Partner and sometime blog contributor

This one may not necessarily be the prettiest drives from Melbourne, but it’s certainly the fastest way to reach the magic that awaits on the mighty Murray River. Echuca, about 200km north of Melbourne on the Victoria and NSW border, was once the biggest inland port in Australia and has retained much of that old world charm in the heart of town while also offering a cosmopolitan way of life too. In a nutshell there’s the historic port to explore, great restaurants and pubs, big clubs over the border in Moama, a wealth of river activities including fishing, skiing, swimming, Paddlesteamer cruises and much more.

The journey

From Melbourne, it’s a leisurely two and a half-to-three hour drive up the Hume and Northern highways and you’ll pass through little towns including Kilmore, Heathcote, Elmore and Rochester – each with their own respective charms but nothing close to  the abundance of attractions, river appeal and cosmopolitan allure offered in Echuca.

The accommodation options are ample in this part of the world, so either grab a car, hit the highway and set up base in a hotel/B&B/resort or, better still, grab a campervan and stay in one of the excellent holiday parks (aka caravan parks) on either side of the border. Shady River Holiday Park or Murray River Holiday Park are two worth checking out online. You won’t really need to venture too far from the town itself once you get there because there’s so much to do!

Food, glorious food

Three special mentions for food and dining experiences that simply cannot be ignored: Oscar W’s Wharfside matches just about any restaurant in Australia for its amazing riverside location, it’s exquisite menu and first class service; Ceres in Nish St and in the historic Mill building; and Morrisons in Moama, another riverside treat that also doubles as a magnificent wedding and conference venue. There’s a bunch of other terrific eateries in and around town including Top of the Town for fish’n'chips, Roma pizza restaurant in the heart of the city opposite the old post office and quality coffee shops/cafes all over the place. Famous Beechworth Bakery is worth a brekky one morning, despite being a tad on the expensive side.

What to do

Or rather, what isn’t there to do! Catch a paddlesteamer cruise, hit a sandy riverbank for a swim or a fish, hire a houseboat for a few days or a week to really experience river life, check out Madison Spa, lose yourself in the world of activities at the Port of Echuca including Sharp’s Magic Movie House, explore the wharf or check out Oz Maze, National Holden Museum or Billabong Ranch.

AUSTIN BONHAM