The Nobbies
Tourism Victoria

Highlights

Phillip Island

Although best known for its little penguins, Phillip Island has other impressive attractions. The main town, Cowes, has sheltered beaches that are safe for swimming and watersports. Visitors can walk around the island’s highest point, Cape Woolamai, drive across the bridge to Churchill Island to see a historic homestead, or immerse themselves in motor-racing history and culture at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit Visitor Centre.

Wilsons Promontory

The Prom is a remote and beautiful landscape supporting diverse native flora and fauna in a near-wilderness. The 30 km access road ends at Tidal River, where there are cabins and camping facilities. Around 150 km of walking tracks along bays and through bush begin at Tidal River and other points along the road.

Gourmet Deli Trail

Central Gippsland is home to producers of trout, venison, cheese, berries, potatoes, herbs and wine – many of them are linked by the Gourmet Deli Trail. The trail covers the area north and south of Warragul, and annotated maps are available from visitor centres. Included on the trail are a dozen or so cool-climate wineries; try Bass Phillip’s pinot noir at Leongatha.

Baw Baw National Park

The Aboriginal word for ‘echo’ gives this alpine park its name. The highest part of the park, Mt Baw Baw (via Moe), has ski facilities and, unlike many other slopes, is seldom crowded. The eastern section (via Erica and Walhalla) is popular in summer with bushwalkers, wildflower enthusiasts and campers.

Walhalla

Tourist Route 91, from Moe or Traralgon, leads to the perfectly preserved former goldmining town of Walhalla, set in a steep valley. Historic buildings from the boom days include an old post office, bakery and bank, and Windsor House, now a B&B. Take the signposted town walk or a 45-minute ride on the Walhalla Goldfields Railway (weekends and holidays), or inspect the Long Tunnel Mine.

Port Albert

Today Port Albert is a quaint fishing village, but as the state’s first official port, this town was once the gateway to Gippsland and Victoria. About 40 old buildings survive. For anglers, plentiful snapper, whiting, flathead, bream and trevally are found in the protected waters offshore.

Korumburra’s Coal Creek Heritage Village

A delightful re-creation of a 19th-century coalmining village on the site of the original Coal Creek mine (1890s), this heritage village has over 30 historic buildings; highlights include an original wattle-and-daub cottage (circa 1840s), a blacksmith shop and a well-stocked general store. Visitors can take a guided tour through a coalmine, go on a carriage ride or board a small locomotive for a meander through tranquil bushland.

Focus On: Phillip Island wildlife

The Penguin Parade on Summerland Beach is a major international tourist attraction. Just after sunset, the world’s smallest penguins, at 33 centimetres tall, come home to their burrows in the sand dunes after a day in the sea. To protect the penguins, visitors are restricted to designated viewing areas and cameras are prohibited. Bookings are essential during peak holiday periods. The visitor centre also offers a simulated underwater tour showing the penguins foraging for food and avoiding predators. On the island’s western tip you can walk along a cliff-top boardwalk for views across to Seal Rocks, 2 kilometres offshore, where thousands of Australian fur seals live. For an up-close view of the frolicking animals, take a cruise from Cowes or watch them on cameras that you control yourself at the Nobbies Centre. Also visit the Koala Conservation Centre near Cowes, where you can see the delightful marsupials snoozing in the treetops.