Warrnambool Things to Do

The Breakwater area is very popular with people of all ages.
In the 1880's the Port of Warrnambool handled more cargo than the Port of Melbourne.
It was a very busy deep sea Port. '
Here you can sit on the huge pier /breakwater and fish or watch the fish being caught.
You can also walk from here along the beach back to near Lake Pedtrobe or Caravan parks.
and on to Logans Beach if you are in for a good walk.
From here you can see Middle Island. You can walk to this when it's low tide. Here you can see a colony of Fairy Penguins.Stay on the tracks , they come in at dusk.

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There are some great beaches along the Warrnambool beach area. You can get in to some whale watching at Logan's Beach. Shelly Beach is a great walk from the top car parks at the main beach - you can usually pick up some pretty shells. There is lots of picnic areas and barbecues. You can park at Lake Pertobe and have lunch and then stroll over the dunes to the main beach or you can stay and play at the Lake Pertobe Playground.

While we chose to drive the route from East to West, if you were to start in Warrnambool, you could enjoy most of the attractions of the Great Ocean Road in the morning before the rest of the tourist buses arrived!

We started our day in Melbourne at 6:30, and arrived in Warrnambool around 3:30pm, so if your final destination was Melbourne taking the Great Ocean Road starting in Warrnambool, expect about 9 hours! (That is if you stop at most of the main attractions and walks on the road!).

Make sure you stop multiple times along the way to save yourself from fatigue!

Warrnambool is touted as one of the best places on the Southern Coast of Victoria to sight the great Southern Right Whales. They are called Right Whales because in the days of whaling, the size, and blubber content was what they considered the right characteristics.

These days, there are several options of how to catch a whale of a tale, and the best way is to head to Warrnambool's Logan Beach Whale "Nursery". There is a very nice viewing platform, and the whales can be viewed throughout a large number of months. Obviously, there are no guarentees... but in just 20 minutes of us being there, we were able to site one of these great majestic animals.

I have to apologize for the poor quality of this picture, but I am not a professional photographer, and trying to catch a whale spout is one of the tougher shots for a small digital pic!

Warrnambool has some nice beaches. You can walk over suspension bridges to islands on the lake.
We spent some time out looking around this area but it was quite cool from the ocean breeze and so we didn't stay long.

Overlooking Lady Bay is Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village - a recreation of an 1800's coastal port typical of this region of Australia. As you enter there is a theatrette that shows some genuinely informative films and documentaries relating to maritime themes free of charge all day (some date back to the 1920s).
After you pay your entry fee (approx. $12 Aus.) you are ushered into a standing only slide and movie show which lasts about 15 minutes and then you head, via a simulated rocking boat, into the area where relics are on show. This is new and is called the Great CIrcle Gallery.
Features include an elaborate local tapestry which depicts historic themes and the Schomberg Diamond. An encrusted lid was brought up from the site of the 1855 Schomberg shipwreck in 1975. A couple of years later, when it was cleaned up, a diamond ring was found in the moulded top of the lid.
An outstanding lifelike and lifesize earthenware statue of a peacock from Minton Potteries at Stoke-on-Trent is the piece de resistance however. Modelled by Italian artist Comolera it was fashioned in Majolica, a tin-glazed earthenware that originated in Islamic countries in the 9th century. It was being transported from England to Melbourne aboard the clipper Loch Ard in 1878 for the 1880 International Exhibition when it sank in a gorge near Port Campbell with only two survivors. The statue washed ashore and was found by local landowner Charles McGillivray, virtually unharmed in its packing case, save for a slightly damaged nose and, ironically, was finally a feature at the Brisbane International Expo in 1989.
You then head out of this building onto the path taking you around the recreated village, though some are original buildings, including the chart room, two operating lighthouses and the lighthouse keeper's cottage which houses the Shipwreck Museum where you can glean many details of the wrecks around here.

Recreated buildings, using authentic materials, include St Nicholas Seamen's Church, the Steampacket Inn, the Bank of Australasia (which is staffed by actors in period costume on Friday afternoons), a brass foundry, newspaper office, ship chandler's office, slipway, steam-powered workshop, shipping agent, Masonic lodge, gaol, sailmaker's loft, cooper's workshop, armoury and officers' huts, port medical officer's surgery, school house, bond store, and a public hall which features
There is also a working blacksmith's, a shipwright's workshop (with beautifully crafted boats), a leadlighter, a photographic studio, a glassblower with imagination and, in the December-January school holidays, there are re-enactments in period costume on a daily basis.
The small lake features two restored ships - Rowitta (a Tasmanian steamer) and Reginald M (a sailing cargo ship). There is also a gift shop, family history research facilities, gift and souvenir shops, a tearoom, restaurant and bar.
There is a light and sound show at night which takes place at the Wharf Theatre. While I thought parts of it were very good, at $20Aus I also thought it was a bit overpriced. Children would probably get more out of it than a cynical adult like myself. The feature is the wrecking of the Loch Ard, one of an estimated 180 to come to grief on southern Australian shores.
This photo shows an 80 pounder gun, originally installed because of a late 1800's fear that the Russians were coming (they didn't) but its claim to fame is that the first time it was fired it shattered the windows in the lighthouse at far left. Its range was 5,484 metres (6,000 yards).

If you are one of those who like to wander and have time then the self-guided historical tour may be right up your alley (as you might find yourself up somebody else's if you do it!). The meandering route (available from the tourist office - look for the "I" signs) takes you to picturesque wrought iron buildings like this and many other sites too numerous to mention here but, suffice it to say that some of the historical background really brings them to life.