Campground extension to commence mid-year
Keen explorers have a few more weeks to try camping at Point Nepean National Park with the sparkling new campground soon to take a winter break.
Since opening in January, hundreds of visitors have enjoyed the new Discovery Tents pitched at the park’s foreshore, overlooking the stunning beach and waters of Port Philip.
The campground features pre-pitched tents with basic camp furniture, including stretcher beds with mattresses. Nearby are amenities including hot showers and toilets, and a fully equipped camp kitchenette with tables and BBQs.
From the campground, visitors are able to walk around the national park’s fascinating Quarantine Station precinct which was established in the 1850s and still contains around 50 heritage-listed buildings. The beach, woodlands and surrounding grassy areas offer natural counterpoints, relaxing spaces where echidnas and other wildlife are common companions.
Further afield awaits historic Fort Nepean and the remains of barracks and other military buildings. The peninsula and entrance to Port Philip was once the most heavily fortified port in the Southern Hemisphere.
Cycling is great way to explore the park and bikes can be hired onsite, while a shuttle bus also operates between the park entrance, Quarantine Station and Fort Nepean.
The new campground is a major project in the park’s masterplan, which was developed in 2018 with the local community. As part of that plan, a second stage is planned for the campground. This will see additional tent pads, and some more facilities, created mid-year during the campground’s winter break.
Rounding out this experience is a project to better immerse visitors in the stories of this special place. Point Nepean is home to important natural, cultural and historical values, and is a significant place for Traditional Owners of the lands, the Bunurong people. This interpretive storytelling project will highlight Point Nepean’s living Aboriginal culture, and tell the park’s overlapping natural, military and quarantine histories through new park information and interpretation installations.
These projects at Point Nepean are being funded from a $6.4 million Victorian Government investment. This includes $2.5 million from the Regional Tourism Investment Fund – Stimulus Round, via the Department of Jobs, Skills, Industry and Regions (DJSIR), for the campground extension.
Bookings are available until 12 June, after which the campground will be closed until springtime, when the second stage of tent pads is expected to have been completed.
Keep an eye on the Discovery Tents webpage for current and future booking information and sign-up for camping/accommodation release information on our subscription page.
