The
best way to see Port Phillip is to cycle or drive along the
beach road on the southern side of the bay. You can go as little
or as far as you like and there is always something interesting
to see. One option is to cycle along the bicycle track as far as
Mordialloc or Frankston, then get the train back to the city. Alternatively,
Beach Road makes for a very picturesque drive.
A bicycle track along Beach Road runs along the southern side of the bay.
Beach Road actually starts in Port Melbourne (although at that point
it is known as marine Parade) and eventually becomes the Nepean
Highway runs right down to Portsea, at the far tip of the Mornington
Peninsula. You can cycle as far as Mordialloc (mostly on the bike
track) but after that cycling is not recommended because of traffic
on the road. If you drive as far as Portsea, you get to se some
pretty wild surf beaches. This is ocean beaches backing on to Bass
Straight, one of the roughest waterways in the world. Portsea is
famous because it was where the Australian prime minister Harold
Holt drowned.
You
can follow the coastline further past Portsea and on to Flinders,
a quiet but beautiful part of the Mornington Peninsula with rolling
green hills and superb ocean views out across pastoral holdings.
You can make the return journey to Melbourne via Red Hill, a region
fast becoming one of Australia's top producers of quality red wines.
Some of Red Hill's wineries have restaurants and superb scenic views.
Red Hill is also renowned for its craft market.
