Port Fairy & Portland: The Coast That Shaped A State

Añadido: 2026-05-10

[00:00:03]Traveling to Victoria's far southwest coast is like traveling back to the past. History lives in Port Ferry's fishing port and whitewash cottages where a lighthouse watches over the southern ocean.

[00:00:22]But follow the coast west and you arrive at Portland, the place where European settlement in this state began.

[00:00:31]Before Melbourne, there was this wild edge of land and sea.

[00:00:37]Today, a journey through history, beauty, and the beginnings of Victoria.

[00:00:58]Port Ferry is always on the list of Victoria's prettiest towns, and it's easy to see why. This beautiful little village has more than 50 National Heritage Trust buildings. With all its white wash and blue stone buildings, Port Fair is a little bit like a living time capsule.

[00:01:39]Hey, hey, hey.

[00:02:05]And those buildings include the Caledonian Inn, which is Victoria's oldest continuously licensed pub, established in 1844. In fact, Port Ferry has two of the oldest pubs in regional Victoria.

[00:02:31]It's still the original building. Of course, they've done modifications, but this front part was the original pub, and then they've added some extensions in the lounge area.

[00:02:44]From the outside, it looks like there's a whole range of rooms up in the attic, but they're fake. Basically, it's unfinished. the laborers that were working on it um in the 1850s suddenly heard of the gold rush and Bellerat down tools and nicked off and it never got finished.

[00:03:02]>> Even though it's modernized, it still has plenty of atmosphere.

[00:03:39]The other old hotel in town is the Marriage Again, which I believe is from 1845, although the sign here says 1842.

[00:03:48]These days, it's a restaurant. So, it's not open right now. I can't show you through. With all these beautiful whitewashed cottages, it's reminiscent of Ireland. So, it's not surprising to learn that Port Ferry was originally settled by Irish. And the Celtic connection is still strong here in Port Ferry. Every March during the Labor Day long weekend, they have the Port Ferry Folk Festival, which is one of the largest in Australia. At the heart of Port Ferry is his picturesque harbor on the mine river.

[00:04:47]It was such a peaceful place to take a stroll or watch the boats come in.

[00:05:19]down at the warf. You can buy fresh fish straight off the fishing boats.

[00:05:27]Got crayfish most of the time. We catch crayfish, crabs, gummy shark, snapper, flathead. Today we got some dory.

[00:05:36]There's our flathead. Marinara mix is very popular. We always got oysters for sale, ling, salmon.

[00:05:46]We have a variety of fish. We sell muscles, squid. We got a lot of squid. We make our own salt and pepper squid. Flavor makers. Very popular.

[00:06:01]One of the popular walks to do from Port Ferry is out to Griffith Island. A little there's a little causeway that'll take you across and I think it's about a 3 or so kilometer walk to go right around the island and there's a lighthouse at the end of the island. So that's where I'm heading now. And we might even see some fledgling birds that are preparing to make a 1500 kilometer migratory flight.

[00:06:34]Not sure about birds, but I'm seeing plenty of butterflies.

[00:06:44]This lighthouse was built in 1859 by Scottish stonemasons to help guide the ships to the mouth of the Moy River.

[00:07:10]Hey.

[00:07:21]Hey. Hey.

[00:07:32]Yeah.

[00:07:37]Yeah.

[00:07:50]If you keep going past the lighthouse, it'll take you through a much more interesting walk where you get to see some of the waves crashing against the rocks and some beautiful beaches with nobody on it.

[00:08:06]Much more interesting way to go. Bit of rock scrambling and climbing up over sand hills. Yeah, this is cool. This is fun. This is a town that moves slowly, very much with a holiday feel. Very relaxing.

[00:08:21]Nice place to come and explore the heritage and get yourself a a nice cup or something special to eat at one of the many cafes and restaurants.

[00:08:51]In the 1860s here at Battery Hill, they added a couple of cannons just for the protection of the port. And then in the 1880s there was hysteria about a Russian invasion. So they added a few more of these cannons. The hysteria came from the sighting of a few Russian ships off the coast in the 1880s. And that led to fortifications right along the Victorian coast.

[00:09:18]Of course, the Russians didn't come anyway, so it made no difference. I think if anybody invaded now, they'd be coming for the fine seafood you'll get out of Port Ferry.

[00:09:35]Not far out of Port Ferry is a place called the crags. Not only is it very beautiful, but it's of great cultural significance to the pique traditional people of these lands. It's said that that island out there is the birthplace of Banjo, the creator spirit. And whenever peak warong pass away, they're buried with their head facing that island. The island also has the world's greatest population of furs seals, but you can't go out there. It's a national park, and you need permission to get out there.

[00:10:27]An hour's drive to the west from here will bring you to Portland, birthplace of European settlement in Victoria.

[00:11:18]This is the old lighthouse at Portland.

[00:11:20]It was originally built at Battery Point in 1859 and 30 years later it was moved here to the hill overlooking Portland. It's small. It's only about 40 m tall, but apparently because it's on the hill, then ships can see the light from more than 20 kilometers out at sea. This is the site of the first European settlement in Victoria in 1834, a whole year before Melbourne was established. Edward Henty sailed from Van Demon's land with some of his flock in search of fine grazing land and he landed here and set up Victoria's first permanent settlement before Henty.

[00:12:01]Occasionally a few whalers would come here uh as they moved up and down the coast in search of whales and then of course for many many thousands of years before them this was the land of the Guljamara people.

[00:12:15]You can learn all about that whailing history at the Portland Maritime Discovery Center.

[00:12:25]This is a real skeleton of a sperm whale from the town's whaling pass. I'll go and stand next to it to give you some scale.

[00:12:39]Imagine going for a dip and then you come across this. This was caught in 1982. It weighs more than two tons. It's a killer white pointer. The fishing industry in Portland really took off in the 1850s when a whole lot of new settlers from the UK arrived here. and among them were many fishermen. So they established the industry here.

[00:13:14]It's a small museum. It has displays about the rescue of the survivors of that shipwreck. A little bit about the whailing history in this area and the fishermen. I believe they're renovating it, so not everything's on display at the moment.

[00:13:31]>> One way to explore Portland is a heritage tram ride. These run daily.

[00:13:41]And Portland has its share of heritage blue stone buildings.

[00:14:00]Another one of Victoria's oldest pubs is the Golden Hotel here in Portland. This was established in 1842.

[00:14:23]This current arteration was built in 1890 on the site of the commercial inn which was built in 1842.

[00:14:33]Obviously, it's changed an awful lot since those very early days. Apparently, this whole front bar section was renovated when they were closed down during co. So, it doesn't really hold anything from the 1840s, probably even the 1890s except for the facade.

[00:14:57]Okay, walking time. Just out of Portland is a 3 kilometer walk to Enchanted Forest. And this will give you ocean views over this wild coastline.

[00:15:17]I'm not a botist, so I can't tell you what any of these plants are called.

[00:15:22]I would just say coastal scrub myself, but I'm assuming it's going to be special because it's called Enchanted Forest.

[00:15:45]Yes, it is a little bit like uh a fairy tale land with these trees just overhead of the path on both sides.

[00:16:03]If you ask me how I really feel, the best things in life's for free.

[00:16:12]We are all part of the deal.

[00:16:17]You either tie it down or let it be.

[00:16:22]Oh, but every time it goes to hell, you figure out you might as well sit back and enjoy the show.

[00:16:36]Might be the end for all we know.

[00:16:53]Never mind what people say.

[00:16:58]You better burn them fade away.

[00:17:03]Good times may come again.

[00:17:07]The bad news just falls away.

[00:17:16]You should try a little harder.

[00:17:20]Is that the best you can?

[00:17:25]Yeah, it's a lovely walk through the undergrowth, these crazy trees, and every now and again you get great views of the rugged coastline.

[00:17:36]Definitely worth doing.

[00:17:49]Well, that was a lovely little hike. You know, over the years that I've been traveling, I've hiked hundreds and hundreds of kilometers, but that last hike was great, but it did come at a cost.

[00:18:11]I think it's time to go shopping.

[00:18:16]That's better. And they were on special, too.

[00:18:24]Further along the coast, you'd come to Cave Bridgewater.

[00:18:28]And I've come here for two things. a petrified forest and some blow holes.

[00:18:36]And here's the petrified forest. Is it really a forest or just rocks? I'm not sure. No, it's not a forest. Apparently, they're hollow tubes of limestone and the hollowess is created by water just seeping through it over a very long time.

[00:18:59]It all looks a little bit like a lunar landscape except you got the ocean out there.

[00:19:26]That out there is just raw ocean.

[00:19:38]Also at Cape Bridgewater is one of Victoria's largest seal colonies. The only thing is you got to do a 2-hour walk to get to them. Let's go.

[00:19:52]Somewhere up the top of that cape is the lookout to the seals. I've just met some locals who are on their way back and they've told me there are plenty of seals to see, including lots of baby ones. Let's go.

[00:20:20]It's hard to think now, but Cape Bridgewater in the 1860s was quite a lively seapport with schools and churches and and ins. It was the basis for a whaling and seal harvesting industries. But then in the 21st century when those marine animals were protected, the seals reclaimed the rocks and caves around here.

[00:20:51]It does get extremely windy up along this coast, hence all the wind farms.

[00:20:56]And as proof of that, here's a tree growing sideways. I live my life by asking why.

[00:21:05]Now I tell myself, don't even try.

[00:21:10]So goodbye to everyone.

[00:21:14]I'm headed towards the setting sun.

[00:21:22]You should try a little harder.

[00:21:27]Is that the best you can?

[00:21:32]Or do you just want to be a man with a simple soul?

[00:21:39]Just a simple.

[00:21:42]You should try a little harder.

[00:21:47]>> Yes, there are a handful of seals here.

[00:21:50]Um quite a few adults and a few babies as well. The adults are just lolling around. The babies are playing in the little rock pools. That's very cool. And a few of them have jumped in for a play.

[00:22:01]That's even cooler.

[00:22:16]I was walking back and I heard a noise on some rocks just in this tiny little cove almost back to town. And there's a whole group of seals here fishing and playing. It's absolutely awesome. And I'm really close to them. Yeah, who would have known that the best viewing spot was just a couple of hundred meters from where I parked the van?

[00:22:39]But these guys were awesome. I spent a good half an hour just sitting there and watching them play.

[00:22:49]Heat.

[00:23:11]Heat.

[00:23:34]I've really enjoyed being in Port Ferry and Portland. Port Ferry is definitely one of Victoria's prettier towns and I urge you to come and come and visit. Uh if you're ever doing the drive along the Great Ocean Road, just keep going for a little bit longer and you'll come to Port Ferry. You won't regret it. Hey, thanks so much for watching. I'll catch you in the next video.

[00:23:59]It's a small museum. It has displays about the the something. Yes, it is a little bit like walking through a fairy tale land with these trees just overhead.

[00:24:14]Oops, I nearly trips.

[00:24:32]Hey, 3k walk. Yeah, more like five by the time I'm