PORT PHILLIP BAY VICTORIA

Right at the bottom of Australia in the state of Victoria, lays the largest bay in Australia, Port Phillip Bay or as the locals call it, THE BAY.

You might think “What is so special about it?” but unless you have been there you would be missing out on something wonderful, a real treat to the senses, so beautiful in fact that it draws travelers from all over the world to view the pretty landscaped coves and beaches that are littered all around its foreshores.

On the northern side of the bay, you have pretty little spots such as Sorrento, Portsea, Dromana, Rosebud , and for an overall view from Arthurs Chair, 305 meters high that overlooks the entire bay right up to the building skyline of Melbourne looming up in the distance, it is a real treat. .

The one thing that stood out for me was the way the landscape changed as low flying clouds charged across the horizon being driven by cold winter winds that bit through what ever clothes you were wearing at the time.

The bay on the southern side has the ferry terminal at Queenscliff, and sunny little beaches around Ocean grove, Bawon Heads and other seaport towns that scatter around the entrance.

The bay itself is not very deep, about 8 meters (27 feet) and there are high spot sandbars that are continually dredged so they can gain access to Melbourne docks.

The coast line around the bay is jagged, rocky, and combined with the Bass Strait weather, treacherous to all types of shipping. Shipwrecks in earlier times were pretty common and among these were the MOUNTAIN MAID, WAUCHOPE, and the OZONE, all scuttled within the bay area.

As we travel through this article we will only mention a few places that give this wonderful place character and leave you to explore the rest on your own at your pace but be warned, as you plod along it kind of takes you in and if you are like me you can add it to places to visit in the future.

Holt, Harold Edward (1908 - 1967)

Harold Holt, prime Minister of Australia and leader of the Liberal party went missing at Cheviot Beach near Portsea Victoria and his body has never been found. He was with friends on the beach and after entering very turbulent waters that were crashing on the beach at an alarming rate, disappeared forever leaving the population of Australia stunned to say the least.

A massive air and sea rescue started, but it was a lost cause and because his body was never found it was assumed that he died at sea. 

When he entered the water it was very rough, but this was not new to Harold as he swam there most days and was a very good swimmer so he didn’t seem to worry.  His friend Marjorie Gillespie yelled out to him to come back in as it was clear that there was an undertow that the surf was quite dangerous when all of a sudden the surf heaved up throwing its contents all over the beach.  

Harold saw that there was a problem and he started to try to come back but the surf was now raging out of control, swallowing him whole, never to be seen again. What a scary way to go!

Over the years, there have been numerous ideas about what happened but no one knows except Harold of course. Some people think he swam out to a Chinese submarine and left the country. When they asked his family about this stupid theory, his wife answered “Harry! A Chinese submarine! He didn’t even like Chinese cooking!”

No matter what happened it was a tragic accident that will probably never be solved.

THE DREDGING OF PORT PHILLIP BAY

Port Phillip Bay is very shallow, about 9 meters and the channel which is very narrow and marked on the map, above needs to be dredged so that larger ships can access Melbourne dockyards.

The dredging that has taken place over the last three years and has caused a lot of controversy with people on one side saying that it will affect fishing and the sediment that is dug up will pollute the bay causing the bay to be contaminated .

On the other side, the people who say the bay needs to be dredged so that shipping can access Melbourne are thinking of the future of Melbourne shipping over the long term. At the moment, they have only one alternative and that is western port to the north where the channel is very deep but the docks would have to be at Hastings, a little town on the left hand side of the entrance. This option is not feasible because there is only one rail line to Melbourne and that would mean that they would have another problem on their hands whether to have a lot more trucks on the road or build another rail line.

At the moment they are dredging to make the future shipping needs of Melbourne a reality, but this will be something that will not satisfy Melbourne into the future. It will need another plan to exist and if Melbourne is to succeed, the planning of this very important subject cannot be shelved and must be kept open with debates and planning going well on into the future.  

Shipwrecks Port Phillip Bay

Boy oh boy, when I started this hub I wanted to have a shipwreck section that I could add at the bottom, but I was left speechless when I found out that there were over 180 listed wreckages around the rip and in the Phillip Bay area.

From early vessels to larger ships that came to grief in the waters around the bay. One of these ships was the S.S. KAKARIKI shown sticking out of the water.

At 11pm on a dark stormy night with winds that were thrashing the coastal area of the heads to Port Phillip Bay, the S.S.KAKARIKI ran into THE CARADALE killing five people in total and the Kakariki sinking straight to the bottom.

When salvage commenced, they found that the vessel was stuck in in the sand and it was useless trying to bring it up.  They decided to blow the ship up and create an artificial reef for diving.

Countless other ships have come to their final end in the turbulent waters of Port Phillip Bay. If you go to the links area you can carry on investigating this beautiful area.

I hope you have enjoyed our story and it gives you an itchy foot to explore this wonderful area on the coast of Victoria. If you go further south, you will find THE GREAT OCEAN ROAD winding itself around the cliff faces taking you to the photographic area known as TWELVE APOSTLES and other scenic formations that Victoria is renowned for.