Portarlington is a small bayside town (2021 pop. 4436) on the Bellarine Peninsula, 104 km (64 miles) from Melbourne Docklands by road, just 45km (28 mi.) over water.
Earlier this month some of my neighbours and I spent a day in Portarlington, taking advantage of the Port Phillip Ferries ‘Grand Day Out’ package which covers the return ferry journey from Docklands to Portarlington fare and lunch with an included drink at the Grand Hotel. Helped by beautiful weather we had a great day. After lunch the rest of our party went on the optional (free) winery trip; I went for a very pleasant walk enjoying the sunshine.
The ferry
In contrast to Sydney most of Melbourne’s bayside settlements have from early days been well served by rail. An 1892 proposal to build a railway to Portarlington was rejected: “the Sectional Committee do not think the line is justified. The roads throughout the district are very good, and conveyance to market cheap and convenient. On one side of the district traversed there is the Drysdale railway station, on the Geelong and Queenscliff line, while two lines of well appointed steamers call at Portarlington daily, and furnish a cheap and direct communication with the Melbourne market.” The steamers would continue to operate until the 1940s when better road transport took over.
In 2016 a new outfit, Port Phillip Ferries, started a ferry service between Wyndham Harbour in Werribee South and Melbourne Docklands using a 400-seat, 35-metre EnviroCat ferry built in 2011 as a crew-transfer vessel for Gladstone LNG. The patronage was low, most potential passengers sticking with the existing Werribee train service. Undeterred, Port Phillip Ferries decided to run to Portarlington instead. A look at the map shows that this makes a lot more sense. The new service started in August 2016. Two purpose-built Incat fast catamaran ferries, Bellarine Express (2017) and Geelong Flyer (2019) now run the service. They are 36 metres long and can take just over 400 passengers. The maximum service speed is 28 knots or about 52kph.
Journey’s end
At Docklands the ferry originally docked on the south side of Victoria Harbour. Subsequently a café, t/a Off with the Ferries, located at the harbour end became the terminus, offering refreshments and shelter for a limited number of passengers. Then in 2022 this was replaced by a full-service terminal.
At the Portarlington end, docking was originally at an open jetty. Significant upgrades were made to the harbour in 2017: the existing northern breakwater was extended and a new eastern breakwater constructed, thus greatly increasing the sheltered water area. A $10 million upgrade to Portarlington Pier in 2022 provided a covered walkway along the pier.
The journey
Initially the ferry operation was handicapped by the low speed limit applying to the lower section of the Yarra river, largely to prevent bank erosion from vessel wash. From December 2017 a trial allowed the ferry to operate at an increased maximum speed of 15 knots on the section below the West Gate Bridge. Between the West Gate and Bolte bridges, the speed limit of 6 knots was left unchanged. Since then an exemption has been granted allowing the ferries to operate at 15 knots subject to visibility and other conditions. The schedule time is now one hour ten minutes; Google Maps gives a drive time of around an hour and a half.
And finally … Portarlington itself
Given the small population, it’s not too surprising that there’s not too much on offer. Somehow I managed to miss the Portarlington Mill, now a museum. The Grand Hotel, where we had lunch, is one of the town’s most prominent buildings. It was originally built in 1888. In 2019 it was purchased by the Little Group, parent company of Port Phillip Ferries and has since been the subject of a $10 million refurbishment. After lunch I walked along the foreshore, first in an easterly direction, then westerly until I came to the miniature railway track (trains run on Sundays). Then back to the pier for the ferry home.
