Port Phillip Bay south of Frankston

Frankston (and Seaford)
Commuter suburb on Port Phillip Bay
Frankston is a fairly substantial city which has become part of metropolitan Melbourne. It is located on the eastern shore of Port Phillip Bay and is set against Olivers Hill, 40 km south of the city centre via the Nepean Highway. Described as the 'Gateway to the Mornington Peninsula' it lies at the northern end of that enormous promontory on the eastern shore of Port Phillip Bay. It boasts 7 km of beaches and coastal habitat, bushlands, historic buildings, theatres, galleries, restaurants, nightclubs, indoor climbing, golf, tenpin bowling, botanic gardens, a pier and all manner of aquatic opportunities such as swimming, fishing, waterskiing and yachting. Kanahook Creek is another attractive element of the foreshore area. This combination of ocean frontage and proximity has made Frankston a desirable commuter suburb for the state capital. The municipality of Frankston, which includes Seaford, Carrum, Carrum Downs, Langwarrin and Baxter, currently has a population of 110 000. There is a very large retail area with specialty shops and a major arts centre.

Middens on the cliff tops of the Mornington Peninsula indicate that the Bunurong Aborigines used the area on a seasonal basis for hundreds if not thousands of years before the arrival of Europeans.

The first European person to occupy land in the Frankston area was a man named John Thomas Smith c.1836. Wilburham 'Frank' Liardet established the 'Ballam Ballam' estate in 1843 and built a home which is still standing to the east of town. Some feel that Frankston was named for him. In fact, there are many theories about various Franks. One of the most ostensibly plausible is that, in the 1850s, a man named Frank Stone owned the pub at the mouth of Kanahook Creek around which the settlement developed.

About 1846 James Davey took up a large holding which extended from Mount Eliza to what is now known as Olivers Hill. The latter was named after local fisherman, James Oliver, who built a cottage atop the hill from whence he kept an eye out for fish in the waters below. Thomas McComb, who came to Frankston in 1852, was another who did much to develop the local fishing industry. Timber-cutting was another early industry at a time when the area was still characterised by grassland with plenty of kangaroos and she-oaks and some gum trees.

In 1850 Victoria was declared a separate colony to New South Wales and surveys of the area were conducted. The first official land sales occurred at Frankston in 1854. It was essentially a fishing village at that time with the anglers living in tents or humpies on the foreshore. They would sail up to Melbourne with their catch or travel along the so-called Fish Track which later served as the basis of the Nepean Highway. A pier was completed in 1857 although additions continued until 1866. A school was established within the first Anglican church in 1855 and the first Frankston post office was opened in 1857. A pottery was established i n1859. In the 1860s there were about 30 people at Frankston with about 200 in the surrounding area.

The first state school was built at Frankston in 1874 and a mechanics' institute and free library in 1880. The first savings bank opened in 1881 and two brickworks and a cordial factory were operating in the 1880s, with a bacon factory opening in 1889.

When the railway arrived in 1882, Frankston gradually became something of a holiday resort, like the emergent Sorrento. Frankston was declared a city in 1966.

The Frankston Guitar Festival is held in April and the Dolphin City Festival from late November into December. The Dolphin Market is held every second Sunday in Beach St.

Things to see:  

Foreshore Area and Kanahook Creek Reserve
Kanahook Creek Reserve covers 43 hectares and extends north for 7.5 km to Eel Race Road at Seaford. The foreshore area of Frankston is very attractive and could be considered to extend north to Seaford. It is a 12-km return walk along the foreshore or the 5.7-km walking track can be joined at various intermediate points.

At Frankston there is a pier and a surf lifesaving club, picnic-barbecue facilities, a car park and toilets. Boating, fishing, snorkelling, diving, sailboarding and swimming are popular. The estuary of Kanahook Creek is located near the pier. Just inside the mouth is a boat ramp and fishing is popular within the creek which turns in and runs north, parallel to, and just behind, the coastline. There are numerous fine walking tracks associated with the Kanahook Creek Reserve.

Frankston Art Centre and Tourist Information
The Frankston Art Centre is located in Davey St which runs off the highway perpendicular to the foreshore. It contains a substantial theatre and doubles as a convention centre. Also in Davey St are the council offices where you can make tourism-related enquiries, tel: (03) 9784 1888.

George Pentland Botanic Gardens
The attractive and rather informal George Pentland Botanic Gardens have wide open expanses of manicured lawn, a playground, a duck pond, a boardwalk, picnic-barbecue facilities, shady trees and native gardens. A former golf course, they are located at the corner of William St and Yuille St. The latter runs off the Frankston-Flinders Rd. It is possible to walk along the dunes to Frankston Pier.

Kananook Creek Boathouse Gallery
The Kananook Creek Boathouse Gallery is located at 368 Nepean Highway (opposite Officeworks) and is open every day except Monday from 10.00 a.m. to 6.00 p.m. It specialises in paintings, quality glass, selected ceramics, exhibitions and workshops, tel: (03) 9770 5354. The Boathouse Restaurant and Tea Rooms are open daily from 11.00 a.m., tel: (03) 9770 5330.

Richard Linton Maritime Art Gallery
The Richard Linton Maritime Art Gallery is located at 46B Beach St, between Myer St and the railway. There are limited edition lithographs of sailing ships, maritime historical works and nautical giftware, tel: (03) 9783 1246.

Bunurong Park
Bunurong Park was named after the Aboriginal tribe that inhabited the area prior to white settlement. At 90 metres above sea-level, it offers fine views over the bay and the city and its walking tracks take visitors through over 100 plant and 50 native bird species. Access is from the end of Wattle Tree Lane.

Casuarina Reserve
Casuarina Reserve preserves two hectares of bushland for nature studies and bushwalking and a grassed area with a few trees for picnicking and play. Its walking trails include an orchid track and a play trail. Access is via Casuarina Drive, Verbena Court or Heritage Avenue.

Olivers Hill
Olivers Hill was named after a local fisherman who used to scan the bay for fish from this spot. Holiday homes began to capitalise on the vistas in the late 19th century and the carpark lookout still offers fine views of the bay and of Melbourne and the Dandenong Ranges. To get there just follow the Nepean Highway (not the freeway) as it climbs the hill just to the south of Frankston.

Sweetwater Creek Nature Reserve
From the carpark at the foot of Olivers Hill, cross the highway to the 14-ha bushland reserve at the base of Olivers Hill. Located by Liddesdale Ave (just off the highway), the reserve features rare surviving examples of pre-colonial vegetation. It is based around Sweetwater Creek which was used by the Aborigines and early European settlers as a water source. There are bridges, walking tracks and occasional glimpses of fauna.

Ballam Park Homestead
Ballam Park Homestead was the first brick house to be built in the district. It was constructed for Wilburham 'Frank' Liardet (after whom some believe Frankston is named) between 1847 and 1854 by tradesmen, convict labour and Liardet's two sons. The family were descended from French nobility who fled France for Switzerland after the massacre of Huguenots. Wilburham's mother was descended from English diarist John Evelyn and had been lady-in-waiting to Queen Victoria.

The two-storey homestead is built in the manner of a French farmhouse and sits amidst the remaining 64 acres of the estate. The fine cedar and mahogany staircase, leadlight sashes and deep bow windows were all imported from France and the large oak tree is nearly as old as the house. The timber verandah features a gabled porch with four-leafed-clover decorations and there is an attractive attic. During the first generation of ownership a lantern was always suspended from the highest window to act as a beacon for ships in the bay and bullock wagons in the bush. Bricks made on the Ballam Park Estate were used to build several hotels at Port Melbourne.

Ballam Park is open to visitors with Liardet family artefacts on display, including a buggy, a blacksmith's forge and a machinery display. A separate building has been set up as a museum of Frankston and district. There are also tea rooms, a playground and barbecue facilities.

The homestead is located in a parkland setting just east of town on the Frankston-Cranbourne Rd (no.258). It is open Sundays and selected holidays from 2.00 p.m. to 5.00 p.m., tel: (03) 9789 5529.

There are other fine old homesteads nearby at Baxter.

McClelland Art Gallery and Cultural Centre, and Studio Park
The McClelland Art Gallery is located amidst a large acreage of natural bushland at Langwarrin. The property was bequeathed by Nan McClellan who, with her husband Harry, purchased the land and built an artists' studio and retreat earlier in the century. The permanent collection focuses on Australian sculpture (distributed throughout an immense outdoor sculpture park), plus prints, drawings and works from the George Bell School, including Russell Drysdale and Fred Williams. Other featured artists are Hugh Ramsay, Rupert Bunny, E. Phillips Fox, Lenton Parr, Inge King and Norma Redpath. There is a fine art reference library and there are regular educational programs with guest speakers. A multi-purpose zone is set aside for concerts, performing art and lectures.

The gallery is open from 10.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m. from Tuesday to Sunday, plus public holidays, The cafe operates from Thursday to Sunday from 11.30 a.m., tel: (03) 9789 1671. To get there follow the Frankston-Cranbourne Rd out of town for a short distance and turn left at the new hospital into McClelland Drive.

Studio Park, which abuts the gallery, has walking tracks, bridges, seats, picnic facilities and a wide range of flora and fauna. Access is opposite Poplar Grove.

Langwarrin Flora and Fauna Reserve
Also in McClelland Drive is a side road which leads to the carpark of the Langwarrin Flora and Fauna Reserve (214 ha).

In 1886 a military reserve was established here and used for manoeuvres and as a rifle range. German POWs were kept here in World War I and a hospital was created to treat veterans returning from Europe with venereal disease. At that time there were many buildings and roads and a large drainage system.

At the end of the war most buildings were dismantled and the reserve was used for grazing. An oval, a hall and sheds were built for community purposes. These are now all gone although earthworks, building foundations, drainage and changed vegetation (resulting from clearing practices) remain as signs of human occupation. It was declared a reserve in 1985.

Plant communities include open stringybark forest (now rare in the area owing to clearing) and some remnant plant types which are now virtually extinct on the peninsula, including tufted blue-lily, rabbit-ears orchid, wedding bush and short purple-flag. The reserve also contains 94 bird species and a range of small mammals including koalas, swamp wallabies, brown bandicoots and the rare New Holland mouse.

The sites of the military camp and cricket pitch are near the carpark with an intricate series of heathland and natural history walking tracks crisscrossing the reserve. A pamphlet is available from parks Victoria, tel: 131 963.

Dame Elisabeth Murdoch Arboretum
The Dame Elisabeth Murdoch Arboretum is a 1.13-ha garden on the Frankston-Cranbourne Rd at Langwarrin. It features over 1100 plants, both native and exotic, and an educational facility.

The Pines Flora and Fauna Reserve
This 108-ha reserve represents another important area of remnant bushland near Frankston (3 km north-east). The springs in this area were once used by the Boo-Ngoo-rong people. In the 1920s about 120 ha were planted with pine trees. A proposal in the 1970s to establish sand mining met with fierce and successful resistance from the local community and it has now been zoned as public open space. There are no facilities (owing to the stress on conservation) but there are fine views of the Dandenongs and Port Phillip Bay and there is a network of tracks, including a heathland boardwalk, which can be accessed from Tamerisk Drive, Excelsior Drive and Warawee Circuit. Eventually a track will link this reserve with Langwarrin Reserve with which it shares roughly similar fauna and flora communities. A pamphlet is available from parks Victoria, tel: 131 963.

Seaford
Seaford is located on the coast 4 km north of Frankston. There is an antique shop and Seaford Wetlands is a 305-ha nature reserve with significant conservation values, earning it a place on the register of the National Estate. It features river red gums which predate European colonisation and a number of rare and endangered migratory bird species. There is a walking/cycling track with a viewing platform and an elevated bird hide. Seaford Foreshore Reserve offers beaches, picnic areas, walking tracks and one of the few examples of pre-colonial vegetation around Port Phillip Bay.

	Motels
	Beach Motor Inn 9 Beach St Frankston VIC 3199 Telephone: (03) 9783 6222 Facsimile: (03) 9781 4176 Rating: **
	Country Comfort Motor Inn 325 Nepean Hwy Frankston VIC 3199 Telephone: (03) 9781 4488 Facsimile: (03) 9781 4785 Rating: ****
	Frankston Colonial Motor Inn 406 Nepean Hwy Frankston VIC 3199 Telephone: (03) 9781 5544 Facsimile: (03) 9781 5886 Rating: ***1/2
	Frankston International Motel Cnr Nepean Hwy & O¹Grady St Frankston VIC 3199 Telephone: (03) 9781 3444 Facsimile: (03) 9781 3738 Rating: ***1/2
	Frankston Motel Cnr Frankston-Flinders Rd & Bartlett St Frankston VIC 3199 Telephone: (03) 9783 8224 Facsimile: (03) 9771 4375 Rating: ***1/2
	Hotels
	Frankston Hotel 510 Nepean Hwy Frankston VIC 3199 Telephone: (03) 9783 7255 Rating: **
	Grand Hotel 499 Nepean Hwy Frankston VIC 3199 Telephone: (03) 9783 7388
	Oscars Bar & Tavern Young St Frankston VIC 3199 Telephone: (03) 9783 9480
	Pier Hotel Nepean Hwy Frankston VIC 3199 Telephone: (03) 9783 9800
	Robin Hood Tavern Nepean Hwy Frankston VIC 3199 Telephone: (03) 9770 2055
	The Pint & Pickle Nepean Hwy Frankston VIC 3199 Telephone: (03) 9781 3320
	Bed & Breakfast/Guesthouses
	Mermaid Bay 106 Gould St Frankston VIC 3199 Telephone: 0417 331 854
	Oliver's Hill B&B 2 Fernery La Frankston VIC 3199 Telephone: (03) 9770 2789, 0412 362 696 Facsimile: (03) 9770 2289 Email: relax@olivershillbb.com.au
	The Oaks Bed & Breakfast 20 Victoria Pde Frankston VIC 3199 Telephone: (03) 9783 5746 Rating: ****
	Apartments
	Abbey Holiday Apartments 337A Nepean Hwy Frankston VIC 3199 Telephone: (03) 5975 2130 Facsimile: (03) 5976 2491 Rating: ***
	Quest Frankston Serviced Apartments 377 Nepean Hwy Frankston VIC 3199 Telephone: (03) 8796 1000 Facsimile: (03) 8796 1199 Email: questfrankston@questapartments.com.au Rating: ****1/2
	Caravan Parks
	Frankston Holiday Village Cnr Frankston-Flinders & Robinson Rds Frankston VIC 3199 Telephone: (03) 5971 2333 Facsimile: (03) 5971 2111 Rating: ****1/2
	Restaurants
	481 Kon Thai Restaurant Nepean Hwy Frankston VIC 3199 Telephone: (03) 9770 1199
	Afghan Marco Polo Restaurant Beach St Frankston VIC 3199 Telephone: (03) 9783 7170
	Ambassador Motor Inn 325 Nepean Hwy Frankston VIC 3199 Telephone: (03) 9781 4488
	Asahi Japanese Restaurant 106 Young St Frankston VIC 3199 Telephone: (03) 9770 1168
	Barneys Seafood Restaurant Cranbourne Rd Frankston VIC 3199 Telephone: (03) 9776 6111
	Benson's Licensed Restaurant Nepean Hwy Frankston VIC 3199 Telephone: (03) 9781 5544
	Boat House Restaurant at Kanook Creek 366-388 Nepean Hwy Frankston VIC 3199 Telephone: (03) 9770 5330
	Cha-Chi's Mexican Place Wells St Frankston VIC 3199 Telephone: (03) 9781 5642
	Country Comfort Frankston 325 Nepean Hwy Frankston VIC 3199 Telephone: (03) 9781 4488
	Davey's Bar & Restaurant Nepean Hwy Frankston VIC 3199 Telephone: (03) 9783 7255
	Elizas Restaurant 508 Nepean Hwy Frankston VIC 3199 Telephone: (03) 9783 9800
	Emperor Palace Restaurant 245 Beach St Frankston VIC 3199 Telephone: (03) 9789 9886
	Food Star Family Restaurant 315 Nepean Hwy Frankston VIC 3199 Telephone: (03) 9770 0122
	Frankston Hotel 510 Nepean Hwy Frankston VIC 3199 Telephone: (03) 9783 7255
	Frankston International Motel Restaurant Nepean Hwy Frankston VIC 3199 Telephone: (03) 9781 3444
	Jade Garden Restaurant Karingal Hub Shopping Cntr Frankston VIC 3199 Telephone: (03) 9789 3388
	KFC 28 Beach St Frankston VIC 3199 Telephone: (03) 9770 2522
	La Prochetta Pizza Restaurant 436 Nepean Hwy Frankston VIC 3199 Telephone: (03) 9770 0885
	Ling Wah Chinese Restaurant Nepean Hwy Frankston VIC 3199 Telephone: (03) 9781 5101
	Lone Star Steakhouse & Saloon Nepean Hwy Frankston VIC 3199 Telephone: (03) 9783 3422
	Lucky Inn 43b Foot St Frankston VIC 3199 Telephone: (03) 9781 2488
	Mayur Indian Restaurant Olsen St Frankston VIC 3199 Telephone: (03) 9781 4344
	McDonalds Family Restaurant Ballarto Rd Frankston VIC 3199 Telephone: (03) 9776 8722
	Papadums Indian Restaurant 432 Nepean Hwy Frankston VIC 3199 Telephone: (03) 9783 7909
	Pierre's Cafe Thompson St Frankston VIC 3199 Telephone: (03) 9770 1144
	Rugantino Restaurant Nepean Hwy Frankston VIC 3199 Telephone: (03) 9783 3363
	Seagull Greek Taverna Nepean Hwy Frankston VIC 3199 Telephone: (03) 9783 7555
	Shakespeare's Bar & Grill 101 Young St Frankston VIC 3199 Telephone: (03) 9781 2266
	Siam Bayside Thai Restaurant Nepean Hwy Frankston VIC 3199 Telephone: (03) 9783 8310
	Siddhartha Indian Restaurant Nepean Hwy Frankston VIC 3199 Telephone: (03) 9783 6382
	Sonias Pasta Deli 44 Nepean Hwy Frankston VIC 3199 Telephone: (03) 9781 3300
	Subway Sandwiches & Salads Nepean Way Frankston VIC 3199 Telephone: (03) 9781 3177
	Taco Bill Mexican Restaurants 431 Nepean Hwy Frankston VIC 3199 Telephone: (03) 9783 4163
	Tamari Vegetarian & Seafood Restaurant 475 Nepean Hwy Frankston VIC 3199 Telephone: (03) 9783 7983
	The Bay Cottage Tea Rooms 40 Playne St Frankston VIC 3199 Telephone: (03) 9781 2471
	The Elms Karingal Hub Shopping Centre Frankston VIC 3199 Telephone: (03) 9776 7211
	The Khan Mongolian Bar - B - Q Restaurant Nepean Hwy Frankston VIC 3199 Telephone: (03) 9781 5693
	The Pancake Kitchen 448 Nepean Hwy Frankston VIC 3199 Telephone: (03) 9781 3817
	Valentines Licensed Buffet Restaurant 315-321 Nepean Hwy Frankston VIC 3199 Telephone: (03) 9781 2581
	Valentino's by the Sea 477 Nepean Hwy Frankston VIC 3199 Telephone: (03) 9783 7122
	Via Mare Ristorante 343 Nepean Hwy Frankston VIC 3199 Telephone: (03) 9770 0111
	Cafés
	Cafe Jardin 362 Nepean Hwy Frankston VIC 3199 Telephone: (03) 9781 2005
	The Elms Glasshouse Coffee Shop 330 Cranbourne Rd Frankston VIC 3199 Telephone: (03) 9785 9088