The Magical Mornington Peninsula

By Penelope Rowe.

Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula is so close to the city of Melbourne, yet it promises a lifestyle that is far removed from what the city has to offer. Not only does this enchanting coastline boast glorious beaches, national parks, walking trails and scenery, but it also serves up an extraordinary range of attractions and activities for the adventurous-at-heart; all conveniently close to each other. Although you can drive from top to toe in 30 minutes and across it in 15 minutes, this small region offers a whole world of fascinating and magical things to see, do, taste and experience – which collectively makes for an adventure that students will cherish forever.

The Mornington Peninsula is jam-packed with walking trails that wind through National Parks and gardens, offering breathtaking views and an abundance of wildlife. While many of these tracks are easily accessible to groups to walk themselves (and can be easily found using a local map), guided tours are also available for a more informative and history-orientated experience. Students will delight in discovering a huge range of landscapes and identifying numerous species of vegetation, wildflowers, birds and wildlife. The guided tours are available to help you find and then explore the wonderful pockets of wilderness that nature provides, and to also provide you with a comprehensive history of the area and its surrounds. For example, the King Falls Circuit Walk (which is easily accessible from the Arthurs Seat State Park) offers students a fantastic way to see and hear an abundance of native birdlife. By simply walking along the trail, they will hear a multitude of songs echoing through the forest and see many of the birds perched on the branches just above their heads; giving visitors the opportunity to see what they look like and match the songs to the species.

If you keep your eyes peeled when you are making your way along the track, you will notice the millions of finer details and life forms that make up this incredible ecosystem. On this particular trail, students can also learn about the sheoak tree, which is a species that has both male and female trees. Interestingly, it is only the female tress that will produce the pods that are also the seed carriers, but the male trees have a golden glow surrounding them due to the bright yellow seeds that they produce. The track showcases so much native flora and fauna that students will see firsthand just how busy this ecosystem is: butterflies flutter in the sky above a track lined by echidna holes, wedge-tailed eagles sit patiently in the canopy above and mosses and ferns are all around to hold the sandy soil in place. There are tea trees with snow-white blossoms, electric coloured native orchids and violets, as well as the fascinating grass tree that shoots up a tall spike of creamy white flowers after a fire or in times of stress. It is this abundance of activity that makes a guided tour of great assistance in helping groups identify and learn about the many facets of this incredible environment. And while the King Falls Circuit Walk offers so much to take in and explore, it is only one of the many trails that the Peninsula has
to offer.

The Mornington Peninsula does not shy away from adventure either, and it has a huge range of activities that will quench the thirst of the wandering heart; from surfing, canoeing and horse riding on the sand at Saint Andrews Beach, to stand up paddle surfing (SUP) in the open ocean. When you are standing on a board above the water, with the blue ocean bed below you, the horizon behind you and the coastline right in front of you, there are few experiences that allow you to consume the Mornington Peninsula so completely. And because SUP takes a couple of attempts to master, the experience is perfectly suited to excursions and camps that are outdoor education-focussed and want to offer students a challenging activity that they can work towards conquering with effort
and determination.

Every year, more and more stand up paddle surfers appear on the horizon on beaches all around Australia, and taking them in as part of the scenery is starting to feel almost as natural as accepting fluorescent surfers on the outskirts of the flags. The main difference between modern surfing and SUP is that SUP does not need a wave. With SUP, you can paddle on the open ocean, in harbours, on lakes and rivers or on any other large body of water. Another advantage of SUP is its angle of visibility. Because you are standing on top of the water, you can see right across the ocean’s surface, allowing for a better visualisation of what surrounds you; whether it is the surrounding coastline or the sunset, the marine life in the ocean, or the incoming swells coming from the horizon. There is no feeling more exhilarating than standing on top of the water with a complete understanding and awareness of all of the natural forces that surround you. When students are paddling along the coastline, catching waves as they please, it is almost as though they are the centre of the universe and all of nature’s beauty is unfolding around them. Stand up paddle surfing on the Mornington Peninsula (which can be done at a number of beaches, depending on the day’s weather) is a fantastic addition to any itinerary that aims to explore the region whole-heartedly.

Another wonderful attraction well worth sampling is the Sunny Ridge Strawberry Farm in Main Ridge. The farm’s comprehensive education program gives students an insightful lesson into the importance of healthy food and what is involved in the process of growing fresh produce, which includes seeing how the strawberries are grown, learning about the different varieties of the fruit, picking their own strawberries from the field, as well as taking strawberries home with them to make jam (each class receives 5kg of jamming berries to take away with them). The program also includes a walking and talking tour of the working farm, as well as a series of worksheets on disk. This experience, coupled with walking the many trails through the region and stand up paddle surfing in the open ocean, makes the Mornington Peninsula the perfect destination for healthy and active children who are seeking fun, discovery, adventure and an understanding of the unknown.

The Point Nepean National Park, which is situated at the very end of Point Nepean Road in Portsea, also offers students a rich education in the history of the region, which spans back thousands of years to the Boonwurrung People. Since their time, the park has been used to quarantine people arriving in Victoria, for military training and as a place to protect the unique plants and animals that live in the area. The park allows students to explore the historic Quarantine Station and former Officer Cadet School, discover Fort Nepean’s tunnels and gun emplacements (where the first shots were fired in World War I and the first allied shots in World War II) visit the memorial at Cheviot Beach where Prime Minister Harold Halt disappeared in 1967, as well as walk or cycle the coastal tracks through the Moonah woodland. Here students might also be lucky enough to see swamp wallabies, echidnas, dolphins and whales. The park also offers self-guided tours, interpretative displays, bike hire and picnic and BBQ facilities, giving groups the option to tailor their own individual experience of the National Park.

These experiences only scratch the surface of what the Mornington Peninsula has in its suite. Also available (and easily accessible) are mazes and gardens, trail rides, lighthouses, art galleries, dairy farms, wildlife conservation parks, a chocolate factory, hot springs, mini golf, fishing and a whole range of other aquatic-based activities – which allows groups to tailor an experience that meets their objectives exactly. And while all of these attractions and activities are exciting in their own right, it is the setting in which they take place that makes the entire experience magical
and unforgettable.

Giving students the opportunity to create an affinity with Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula will only inspire them to return again and again. It is these magical experiences that children and teenagers so fondly remember that encourage them to explore more of what this country has to offer, and to make the most of the natural world that is often forgotten in the busy pace of everyday life. This in turn paves the way for active, healthy and adventurous young adults who want to be a part of everything this incredible world has to offer.

I would like to thank Mornington Peninsula Walking Tours for introducing me to the incredible wonders that can be found along the King Falls Circuit Walk and Peninsula Stand Up Paddle for a wonderfully fun SUP experience on Point Leo Beach.