A popular bayside resort that is known for its good fishing and safe beaches.
Location: 105km by road from Melbourne and 31km east of Geelong on Port Phillip Bay.
Origin of name: Portarlington was surveyed c.1850 and named Drayton but was renamed in 1851, perhaps in honour of the Earl of Portarlington. Another claim is that it was named after an Irish village, owing to the predominance of Irish settlers in the area.
Brief history: in 1802, Lieut. Matthew Flinders landed at nearby Indented Head, becoming one of the first European to visit the area. Portarlington was surveyed and named in the early 1850s. By the mid-19th century, the peninsula was known as 'the granary of the colony' and Portarlington became a major player in the wheat industry with the opening of a gigantic flour mill in 1857.
Natural features: Port Phillip Bay; Bellarine Peninsula; Point Richards; Steeles Rock; Grassy Point; Point George; Half Moon Bay; Indented Head; North Red Bluff; Governor Reef; Inner Governor Reef
Built features: Commonwealth Explosives Pier
Heritage features: steam powered flour mill (1856); In Batman Park a cairn marks the spot where John Batman and his fellow Tasmanian adventurers came ashore to camp in 1835 before moving on to the head of the bay which they earmarked as the site of a town that was to become Melbourne.