Portland

Portland was a city we didn't camp at but we visited on several occasions, on shopping or sight-seeing expeditions, from our base at Saw Pit Reserve. Portland lays claim to being the first permanent European settlement in Victoria. Therefore it has a long history and heritage dating from 1834.

Portland Bay, from a high vantage point, with the city to the right and the harbour to the left.

Our high view over Portland was from the vantage point of the Portland Lighthouse.

Jude and I were sitting quietly at the Portland waterfront, enjoying a great cup of tea, when suddenly, there was a tumultuous crash and we were almost under this huge tree branch. Mighty glad there was a toilet close by.

Housed with the Tourist Information Centre is the Maritime Museum. This Sperm Whale skeleton is one of the main exhibits there. Portland was once a major whaling and sealing port. Sperm whales are also known to beach themselves on the coastline just to the east of Portland.

Commercial fishermen caught something bigger than they could handle when they netted this huge Great White Shark, believed to be one the largest caught in this area.

The south-western coast of Victoria was one of the most treacherous seaways for the old mariners, now remembered as The Ship Wreck Coast. All the prominent capes and bluffs hosted light houses. They would have used prisms similar to this one. If this prism was manufactured today it would cost around $1,300,000.

This retaining wall with a mural along it's entire length, depicting the nautical history of Portland, separates the CBD above from the waterfront precinct.

Portland is also noted for it's popular little tram seen here heading back to the depot.

Mount Clay State Forest

For our next stop, we decided to try something different. We pulled into Mount Clay State Forest, out of Narrawong, and camped at Saw Pit Reserve. The reserve is very close to Portland and it is free to stay there. We were able to travel into town as required. We were away from the coast and bush camping. This was a pleasant change from the coastal parks we had been frequenting, until the batteries lost effective charge because of the very filtered sunlight coming through the forest trees.

An old logging wagon located in Saw Pit Reserve.

I presume this is a simulated log sawing bench over a saw pit. Hence the name of the reserve.

Our camp site looks bright and sunny now but there was insufficient sunlight to maintain the batteries. We did move camp to another location after four days here.

This is a shot of the Narrawong Beach looking towards Portland. No rocky cliffs here, there are low sand dunes all along this section of the coast.