Point Nepean National Park

Point Nepean National Park is a national park in Mornington Peninsula, Victoria, Australia. There are 70 registered Aboriginal archaeological sites within the Point Nepean National Park.

Understand

History

Evidence of Australian Aboriginal settlement of the area dates back 40,000 years. Point Nepean was a birthing place for women of the Bunurong People.

Limestone was mined from the coastal cliffs from the early days of British settlement and two lime kilns were built around 1840. The Point Nepean Quarantine Station was opened in 1852 and is the second oldest intact quarantine station in Australia. It contains the oldest buildings erected for quarantine purposes in Australia, four of the main hospital buildings (established in 1857), pre-dating the oldest intact quarantine-related structures at North Head, Sydney, by sixteen years. The Quarantine Station operated until 1980.

Australia's first major oil spill occurred off of Point Nepean in 1903, with the wreck of SS Petriana. It remained Australia's largest oil spill until 1975.

Point Nepean Post Office opened on 1 April 1859 but was closed by 1865. Fortifications were built from 1878. Gun batteries were installed at Fort Nepean in 1886 and Eagles Nest in 1888. A gun battery was constructed at Fort Pearce in 1911. With the removal of coastal artillery after WWII, the facilities housed the Officer Cadet School (OCS) Portsea and later the School of Army Health from 1951 to 1998.

Get in

By car

From Melbourne, use the M1 Monash Freeway east towards Warragul. Then, exit onto M3 Eastlink which is tolled, and then exit onto M11 Peninsula Link and continue on Mornington Peninsula Freeway. Once the freeway ends, turn right onto C777, and turn left onto B110, and continue until right before the ferry point. Turn onto Port Nepean Rd, and continue until you've hit the park.

The Queenscliff to Sorrento passenger ferry operates every hour from 7AM to 6PM (operates after 6PM during summer), and then is a 10-min drive from Sorrento to the park.

Fees and permits

Free

See

• 1 London Bridge Lookout, London Bridge Rd, Portsea. 24/7. Viewing point on a sandstone cliff overlooking beaches, and rock pools accessible by a path. Parking on nearby London Bridge Rd. Free. (updated Jul 2021)
• 2 Sierra Nevada Rocks. Some stunning rocks. To get here, from the carpark near London Bridge Lookout, walk west for about 100 m and you'll be there. (updated Jul 2021)
• Harold Holt Memorial. A memorial in the place of where Harold Holt, former PM of Australia, disappeared which ended up giving the chance of an Australian PM going missing as 3.33%. (updated Jul 2021)
• Quarantine Station. Quarantine station used in 19th century to prevent diseases from other places. (updated Jul 2021)
• 3 Fort Pearce, Defence Rd. 24/7. A fort which was built in 1910 with an observation post. Free. (updated Sep 2021)

Eat

No places to eat. The nearest ones are in Mornington Peninsula.

Sleep

Lodging

• 1 Mercure Portsea, 46 London Bridge Rd, Portsea, ☏ +61 3 5981 6100. Check-in: 2PM, check-out: 10AM. (updated Jul 2021)

Go next

• Take the ferry to Geelong
• Go around the Western Port Bay to Phillip Island or French Island
• Explore the Gippsland region