St Leonards, Victoria: Travel guide and things to do

St Leonards is a small beach resort located 114 km south of Melbourne, 41 km east of Geelong and 10 km south of Portarlington at the tip of the Bellarine Peninsula which extends out into Port Phillip Bay. The area is notable for some beautiful scenery, calm waters for boating, yachting and family holidaymakers, a jetty which provides good anchorage and some excellent fishing opportunities.

A memorial on The Esplanade commemorates a landing by Matthew Flinders in 1802 and by John Batman in 1835. In fact, a stone cairn on a small reserve at Indented Head (4 km north) marks the exact spot where Batman's party landed before proceeding to the head of the bay where they encountered the future site of Melbourne.

It is said that St Leonards was established in the 1840s as a fishing base to supply Geelong but was largely deserted in the 1850s due to the goldrush. Whether the dates are right or not, it is clear that it did operate as a fishing port and that it supported a large Chinese community at one time.

In the 1850s Captain George Ward-Cole, a shipping agent and landowner, moved into the area, felling the tall red gums and shipping them to Melbourne. Wattle tree bark was then harvested for use in the tanning of leather.

In subsequent years it became a popular if low-key boating and holiday destination. It has enjoyed the limelight recently as one of the locations for the popular TV series 'Sea Change'.

Things to see

Harvey Park
Situated on Bluff Rd, this foreshore area overlooking Port Phillip Bay has picnic-barbecue facilities.

Edward Point and Duck Island State Fauna Reserve
South of St Leonards the coast road extends south out to Edwards Point and Duck Island offshore. This area is a declared fauna reserve where the rare orange-bellied parrot lives. A fire trail heads off from Beach Parade for those interested in exploring on foot.