Bellarine Peninsula

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Map of the Bellarine Peninsula. Bellarine Peninsula Map.PNG
Map of the Bellarine Peninsula.

The Bellarine Peninsula (Wadawurrung: Balla-wein or Biteyong) [1] is a peninsula located south-west of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia, surrounded by Port Phillip, Corio Bay and Bass Strait. The peninsula, together with the Mornington Peninsula, separates Port Phillip Bay from Bass Strait. The peninsula itself was originally occupied by Indigenous Australian clans of the Wadawurrung nation, prior to European settlement in the early 19th century. [2] Early European settlements were initially centred on wheat and grain agriculture, before the area became a popular tourist destination with most visitors arriving by paddle steamer on Port Phillip in the late 19th century.

Contents

Today, approximately 70,000 people live on the Bellarine, [3] and this population doubles at peak periods during summer. [4] The peninsula is a growing tourist region with a variety of beaches and seaside resorts and wineries; most of the peninsula is a part of the City of Greater Geelong. [5]

History

The area of Geelong and the Bellarine Peninsula was originally occupied by Indigenous Australian clans of the Wadawurrung nation, prior to European settlement in the early 19th century. [2] This area was a favourite and extensive camping place for the Wadawurrung people. One Wadawurrung name for the area is 'Balla-wein' which refers to 'balla' meaning 'elbow' or 'reclining at the elbow'. [6] The convict William Buckley escaped from the Sullivan Bay settlement in 1803, and lived among the Wadawurrung people for 32 years on the Bellarine Peninsula. [7] In 1835, John Batman used Indented Head as his base camp, [8] leaving behind several employees whilst he returned to Tasmania (then known as Van Diemen's Land) for more supplies and his family. In this same year, Buckley surrendered to the party led by John Helder Wedge and was later pardoned by Lieutenant-Governor Sir George Arthur, and subsequently given the position of interpreter to the natives. [9]

Portarlington from the air, 2018 Portarlington from the air.jpg
Portarlington from the air, 2018

By the 1850s, the peninsula was known as ‘the granary of the colony’ and Portarlington became a major player in the wheat industry. Transport was by sea on Port Phillip Bay due to the poor roads. By the 1870s, excursion traffic to the peninsula commenced, with tourists travelling from Melbourne by paddle steamers to enjoy fishing and swimming by the bay, with the coastal towns being major holiday resorts. [10] In 1879, one of the first branch railways was built in Victoria, from South Geelong station to Drysdale and Queenscliff. [11] Encouraging the growth in agricultural production and leading to the decline in the bay steamer traffic to towns along the way, the line did not close until 1976. [12]

Aerial perspective of Barwon Heads Bridge Aerial perspective of Barwon Heads bridge.jpg
Aerial perspective of Barwon Heads Bridge

In recent years, with improved roads, the peninsula has become popular with people employed in Geelong, with population growth in towns such as Leopold, Drysdale and Ocean Grove. The Seachange demographic phenomenon has also led to increased growth. [13] Ironically, the Australian TV series SeaChange was filmed at various locations on the peninsula, particularly at Barwon Heads, which helped promote tourism on the peninsula. The peninsula is showing signs of environmental consciousness and attitudes towards sustainability, much the same as the Mornington Peninsula.[ citation needed ]

Geography

Ocean Grove beach on Bass Strait Beach, Ocean Grove, Victoria Australia 000 0137.JPG
Ocean Grove beach on Bass Strait

The Bellarine Peninsula is a gently to moderately undulating landform that protrudes in an east and north-easterly direction into Port Phillip. The peninsula is generally considered to begin its protrusion between the town of Torquay and east of Geelong. It is surrounded by Corio Bay and the Outer Harbour to the north, Port Phillip to the north-east and east, The Rip to the south-east and Bass Strait to the south.

The peninsula's eastern regions host several bays and islands such as The Rip, Lonsdale Bay, Swan Bay, Swan Island, Rabbit Island and various other small islands. The central and north-eastern regions host a gently undulating topography with no major rivers, mountains or significant landforms. The most distinct feature in the western region of the peninsula is the Barwon River which flows through a series of large lakes and extensive wetlands before emptying into Bass Strait at Barwon Heads.

Geology

The uplifted block of the Bellarine Peninsula forms a very weakly dissected undulating plain of low elevation, less than 150m. Drainage from the remnant basalts of the Palaeogene Older Volcanics forms a vaguely radial pattern on the elevated plateau. A narrow strip of deeply weathered Cretaceous Otway Group rocks occurs in outcrop along the southern edge of the Curlewis Monocline, which forms the northern boundary of the peninsula. Landslides and narrow gullies have formed along the northern edge of the monocline. A sheet of marine sands of Late Neogene age covers the southern portion of the uplifted Bellarine block.

The majority of soils on the peninsula consist of grey-brown sedimentary sandy loams, overlaying medium to heavy textured clay. The Bellarine Hills are a significant variation with heavy black self mulching clay loams being well suited to intensive crop production. [14] Mining of shell grit for glass making was an important industry on the shores of Swan Bay. [11]

Flora and fauna

Much of the native vegetation throughout the peninsula has been cleared for agriculture, notable exceptions being areas of land around Swan Bay, parklands in Portarlington, coastal areas along the Barwon Coast and some small remnant pockets around the Barwon River lakes and wetlands, many of these last remaining areas are protected or included in parklands. The largest area of original native woodland vegetation remaining on the Peninsula lies in the 143 hectare Ocean Grove Nature Reserve.

The peninsula contains several significant wetlands, many of which form part of the Port Phillip Bay (Western Shoreline) and Bellarine Peninsula Ramsar Site and are of international significance for the protection of waterbirds and the critically endangered orange-bellied parrot. They are also recognised by BirdLife International in the Bellarine Wetlands and Swan Bay and Port Phillip Bay Islands Important Bird Areas. [15]

Brushtail and Ringtail Possums (Wadawurrung: 'Walert' for Brushtail and 'Barnong' for Ringtail) are endemic to the region and live within the Townships, Swamp Wallabies also live in the Ocean Grove Nature Reserve.

Marine mammals visit here include whales (southern right and southern humpback [16] ), endemic Burrunan dolphins, Australian fur seals and Australian sea lions.

Demographics

The peninsula is covered by two local government areas with a population of approximately 70,000. [3] 35 per cent of residents on the Bellarine are aged sixty years or older, which is significantly higher than the national average of 23 per cent. [3]

The Borough of Queenscliffe, situated on the peninsula, is the last remaining borough left in Victoria, and was the only local government area not changed in the mass Victorian municipality reorganisation of 1993 enacted by then Liberal Premier Jeff Kennett. The remainder of the peninsula is part of the City of Greater Geelong, having been part of the Rural City of Bellarine before this time. The peninsula is also one of the parishes of the County of Grant, one of the Cadastral divisions of Australia.

Shipwrecks

The wreck of the Ozone, offshore at Indented Head. Ozone Shipwreck Indentead Head.jpg
The wreck of the Ozone, offshore at Indented Head.

Some of the more significant and historical shipwrecks include;

Transport

Utilities

Wind generator at Breamlea, built 1987, photo taken in 2007 Breamlea-wind-generator.jpg
Wind generator at Breamlea, built 1987, photo taken in 2007

Black Rock on the southern coast (near Breamlea) is the location of the main ocean outfall for Geelong's sewage. Opened in 1915, [20] initially the sewage was left untreated before being discharged into the ocean. A primary filtration system was installed in the 1970s, and in the 1980s the current plant was built with an upgraded filtration system, along with a 1.2 kilometre long ocean outfall. [21] The plant was upgraded in 1997, with secondary filtration introduced, and a pipeline installed to transport recycled water to the flower farm at Torquay. [22]

A 60 kW capacity wind generator is located on Black Rock Road in Breamlea. Erected in November 1987 by the then State Electricity Commission of Victoria and the Victorian Solar Energy Council (now Energy Victoria) as a demonstration, it was sold in 1994 to the Alternative Technology Association of Melbourne. Electricity production ceased at 1200hrs on 17 May 2003 due to an electrical generator burn-out, caused by moisture, salt, and electrical flash-over. [23] The wind generator remains in place today intact.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geelong</span> City in Victoria, Australia

Geelong is a port city in Victoria, Australia, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay and the left bank of Barwon River, about 65 km (40 mi) southwest of Melbourne.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Port Phillip</span> Bay in Victoria, Australia

Port Phillip or Port Phillip Bay is a horsehead-shaped enclosed bay on the central coast of southern Victoria, Australia. The bay opens into the Bass Strait via a short, narrow channel known as The Rip, and is completely surrounded by localities of Victoria's two largest cities — metropolitan Greater Melbourne in the bay's main eastern portion north of the Mornington Peninsula, and the city of Greater Geelong in the much smaller western portion north of the Bellarine Peninsula. Geographically, the bay covers 1,930 km2 (750 sq mi) and the shore stretches roughly 264 km (164 mi), with the volume of water around 25 km3 (6.0 cu mi). Most of the bay is navigable, although it is extremely shallow for its size — the deepest portion is only 24 m (79 ft) and half the bay is shallower than 8 m (26 ft). Its waters and coast are home to seals, whales, dolphins, corals and many kinds of seabirds and migratory waders.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">City of Greater Geelong</span> Local government area in Victoria, Australia

The City of Greater Geelong is a local government area in the Barwon South West region of Victoria, Australia, located in the western part of the state. It covers an area of 1,248 square kilometres (482 sq mi) and, had a population of 271,057 as of the 2021 Australian census. It is primarily urban with the vast majority of its population living in the Greater Geelong urban area, while other significant settlements within the LGA include Anakie, Balliang, Barwon Heads, Batesford, Ceres, Clifton Springs, Drysdale, Lara, Ocean Grove, Portarlington and St Leonards. It was formed in 1993 from the amalgamation of the Rural City of Bellarine, Shire of Corio, City of Geelong, City of Geelong West, City of Newtown, City of South Barwon, and parts of Shire of Barrabool and Shire of Bannockburn.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Borough of Queenscliffe</span> Local government area in Victoria, Australia

The Borough of Queenscliffe is a local government area in the Barwon South West region of Victoria, Australia, located in the southern part of the state. It is the smallest local government area in Victoria, covering an area of 10.83 square kilometres (4.18 sq mi) and, in June 2018, had a population of 2,982. It includes only two settlements, which are Queenscliff and Point Lonsdale. It is situated on the south coast, south-east of Geelong on the Bellarine Peninsula south of Swan Bay and next to the Port Phillip Heads, the entrance to Port Phillip Bay from Bass Strait.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Queenscliff, Victoria</span> Town in Victoria, Australia

Queenscliff is a small town on the Bellarine Peninsula in southern Victoria, Australia, south of Swan Bay at the entrance to Port Phillip. It is the administrative centre for the Borough of Queenscliffe. At the 2016 census, Queenscliff had a population of 1,315.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barwon River (Victoria)</span> Perennial river in Victoria, Australia

The Barwon River is a perennial river of the Corangamite catchment, located in The Otways and the Bellarine Peninsula regions of the Australian state of Victoria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indented Head</span> Town in Victoria, Australia

Indented Head is a small coastal township located on the Bellarine Peninsula, east of Geelong, in the Australian state of Victoria. The town lies on the coast of the Port Phillip bay between the towns of Portarlington and St Leonards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barwon Heads, Victoria</span> Town in Victoria, Australia

Barwon Heads is a coastal township on the Bellarine Peninsula, near Geelong, Victoria, Australia. It is situated on the west bank of the mouth of the Barwon River below Lake Connewarre, while it is bounded to the west by farmland, golf courses and the saline ephemeral wetland of Murtnaghurt Lagoon. At the 2016 census, Barwon Heads had a population of 3,875.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Portarlington, Victoria</span> Town in Victoria, Australia

Portarlington is a historic coastal township located on the Bellarine Peninsula, 28 km from the city of Geelong, in the state of Victoria, Australia. It has a diverse population which includes a wide range of ethnic backgrounds, a high proportion of retirees, and a large seasonal holiday influx. The gently rising hills behind the town feature vineyards and olive groves, and offer spectacular panoramic views across Port Phillip Bay. Portarlington is a popular family holiday destination and a centre of fishing and aquaculture (mussels). At one time the town claimed the largest Caravan Park in the Southern Hemisphere, although the size has reduced considerably in recent decades. With direct ferry links to the city of Melbourne Portarlington also serves as a gateway to the historic towns and surf beaches of the Bellarine Peninsula.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Point Lonsdale</span> Town in Victoria, Australia

Point Lonsdale is a coastal township on the Bellarine Peninsula, near Queenscliff, Victoria, Australia. The town is divided between the Borough of Queenscliffe and the City of Greater Geelong. Point Lonsdale is also one of the headlands which, with Point Nepean, frame The Rip, the entrance to Port Phillip. The headland is dominated by the Point Lonsdale Lighthouse. At the 2016 census, Point Lonsdale had a population of 2,684. The population grows rapidly over the summer months through to the Easter period due to its popularity as a holiday destination.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bellarine Highway</span>

The Bellarine Highway is a main arterial highway that runs east from Geelong in Victoria along the Bellarine Peninsula to Queenscliff. The highway also provides the main route to Barwon Heads and Ocean Grove, localities along the southern coast of the peninsula.

The Wadawurrung nation, also called the Wathaurong, Wathaurung, and Wadda Wurrung, are an Aboriginal Australian people living in the area near Melbourne, Geelong and the Bellarine Peninsula in the state of Victoria. They are part of the Kulin alliance. The Wathaurong language was spoken by 25 clans south of the Werribee River and the Bellarine Peninsula to Streatham. The area they inhabit has been occupied for at least the last 25,000 years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lake Connewarre</span> Estuarine lake in Victoria, Australia

Lake Connewarre, a shallow estuarine 880-hectare (2,200-acre) lake on the Barwon River, is located on the Bellarine Peninsula southeast of Geelong in the Australian state of Victoria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rural City of Bellarine</span> Local government area in Victoria, Australia

The Rural City of Bellarine was a local government area southeast of the regional city of Geelong, Victoria, Australia, covering most of the Bellarine Peninsula. The Rural City covered an area of 331.78 square kilometres (128.1 sq mi), and from its origin as the Portarlington Road District, existed in a number of forms and under different names from 1853 until 1993.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Electoral district of Bellarine</span> State electoral district of Victoria, Australia

The electoral district of Bellarine is one of the electoral districts of Victoria, Australia, for the Victorian Legislative Assembly. It covers an area of 367 square kilometres (142 sq mi) stretching from the Bellarine Peninsula to the outer eastern suburbs of Geelong. It includes the towns of Barwon Heads, Clifton Springs, Drysdale, Indented Head, Ocean Grove, Point Lonsdale, Portarlington and Queenscliff and the Geelong suburbs of Leopold and Moolap. It lies within the Western Victoria Region of the upper house, the Legislative Council.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geography of Port Phillip</span>

Port Phillip, sometimes referred to as Port Phillip Bay, is a large bay in southern Victoria, Australia, 1,930 km2 in area, with a coastline length of 264 km (164 mi). The bay is extremely shallow for its size, but mostly navigable. The deepest portion is only 24 m (80 ft), and half the region is shallower than 8 m. Its volume is around 25 km³. The city of Melbourne is located at its northern end, near the mouth of the Yarra River.

Curlewis is a bounded rural locality of the City of Greater Geelong local government area on the Bellarine Peninsula, Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 census, Curlewis had a population of 4,175.

Jack Kenneth Loney was an amateur Australian maritime historian who published over one hundred books and numerous newspaper and magazine articles. He was a schoolteacher and principal until his retirement. He became interested in maritime history after preparing several general history booklets covering the Otway region of western Victoria, Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bellarine Railway</span> Tourist railway in Victoria, Australia

The Bellarine Railway, formerly the Bellarine Peninsula Railway, is a volunteer-operated steam-driven tourist railway located in Victoria, Australia. It operates on a 16 km section of a formerly disused branch line on the Bellarine Peninsula between the coastal town of Queenscliff and Drysdale, near Geelong.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Port Phillip Ferries</span> Ferry operator in Melbourne, Australia

Port Phillip Ferries is an Australian ferry company that operates on Port Phillip, providing fast ferry services connecting Geelong and Portarlington to Melbourne Docklands.

References

  1. ↑ Clark, Ian D. (2002). Dictionary of Aboriginal placenames of Victoria. Heydon, Toby, 1972-, Victorian Aboriginal Corporation for Languages. Melbourne: Victorian Aboriginal Corp. for Languages. ISBN   0-9579360-2-8. OCLC   54913331.
  2. 1 2 "Wathaurong People". City of Greater Geelong website. Archived from the original on 1 September 2007. Retrieved 2007-12-16.
  3. 1 2 3 "2021 Bellarine (Western Victoria), Census: All persons QuickStats". Australian Bureau of Statistics . 15 September 2023. Retrieved 15 September 2023.
  4. ↑ Reed, Olivia (27 December 2019). "Surf Coast and Bellarine Peninsula numbers to skyrocket during busy summer period" . Geelong Advertiser . Retrieved 15 September 2023.
  5. ↑ Geelong City Council Archived 24 January 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ↑ Clark, Ian D. (2002). Dictionary of Aboriginal placenames of Victoria. Heydon, Toby, 1972-, Victorian Aboriginal Corporation for Languages. Melbourne: Victorian Aboriginal Corp. for Languages. ISBN   0-9579360-2-8. OCLC   54913331.
  7. ↑ "Reminiscences of James Buckley, communicated by him to George Langhorne, 1837". State Library of Victoria: Manuscript. Archived from the original on 24 November 2007. Retrieved 16 December 2007.
  8. ↑ "Timeline history". Geelong and District Historical Resources website. Archived from the original on 26 June 2007. Retrieved 19 July 2007.
  9. ↑ Tipping, Marjorie J. (1966). "William Buckley (1780–1856)". Australian Dictionary of Biography . Vol. 1. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. ISSN   1833-7538. Archived from the original on 15 December 2007. Retrieved 16 December 2007.
  10. ↑ "Part C: Background Report" (PDF). Portarlington/Indented Head Structure Plan – Public Discussion Draft December 2006. City of Greater Geelong. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 March 2009. Retrieved 2008-11-05.
  11. 1 2 "Rail Geelong - Queenscliff Line Guide". www.railgeelong.com. Archived from the original on 19 November 2008. Retrieved 5 November 2008.
  12. ↑ "Rail Geelong - Drysdale Station". www.railgeelong.com. Retrieved 5 November 2008.
  13. ↑ "'Seachange', Fact Or Fiction? (A study of demographic changes on the Bellarine Peninsula)". Pacific Rim Real Estate Society. Retrieved 5 November 2008.
  14. ↑ "Geelong State of the Environment Report : Environmental Indicator". City of Greater Geelong website. Archived from the original on 6 September 2007. Retrieved 2008-11-05.
  15. ↑ BirdLife International. (2012). Important Bird Areas factsheet: Bellarine Wetlands. Downloaded from "BirdLife International - conserving the world's birds". Archived from the original on 30 June 2007. Retrieved 2012-09-29. on 2012-01-01.
  16. ↑ Fowles S., 2012 Spectators have a whale of a time Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine . Apollo's View Accommodation. retrieved on 2 June 2014
  17. ↑ Peninsular Stamp Club (1987). Notes on the inauguration of the Peninsular Princess car / passenger ferry.
  18. ↑ "McHarry's Bellarine Transit System". www.mcharrys.com.au. Archived from the original on 19 July 2008. Retrieved 2008-11-05.
  19. ↑ "Bike Trails: Barwon River and Geelong Foreshore". City of Greater Geelong. Archived from the original on 2 September 2007. Retrieved 2007-12-31.
  20. ↑ Begg, Peter (1990). Geelong - The First 150 Years. Globe Press. ISBN   0-9592863-5-7.
  21. ↑ "EPA - Investigation at Black Rock near Geelong". Archived from the original on 30 August 2007. Retrieved 19 July 2007.
  22. ↑ "$46M Treatment Plant Opened At Black Rock" . Retrieved 19 July 2007.[ permanent dead link ]
  23. ↑ "Wind and energy data for Breamlea turbine" . Retrieved 19 July 2007.

38°12′43″S144°31′37″E / 38.212°S 144.527°E / -38.212; 144.527

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