BUILT THE SAFE HARBOUR – and along came a ferry that linked Portarlington with Docklands and what a success. The number of people commuting each day on the 7am ferry to work had growth of 100% in the 18/19 year when compared to the 17/18 year. Many social/community groups travel to Portarlington on the ferry enjoy the Bellarine and spend in our town. The following is a quote from the Portarlington Golf Club C.E.O. Ron Stockdale. “The Port Phillip Ferry service to Portarlington has been the best thing that has happened in Portarlington and the Bellarine district. The business Community of Portarlington is enjoying the increased influx of visitors to our town, and we see a number of business opportunities stem from this wonderful first class service” Port Phillip Ferries are advertising continually in press and radio plus have promotions running throughout the year which promotes Portarlington and the Bellarine.

BUILT A NEW SCHOOL – this is another WOW after many years of hard work by the community we now have an amazing school. . The school is often raised by visitors who think the new building is amazing and are delighted that history has been recognised with the retention of The Heritage Building.

BUILT A NEW SHOP – Daniels Donuts arrived on Newcombe Street – and WOW did the people come from near and far for Daniels Donuts , pies, cakes, coffee and milkshakes. Daniel comes from a family of bakers and are residents of Portarlington. It is terrific to see the smiles on the faces of Daniel’s customers as they enjoy the product. On one Sunday the queue of both locals and visitors stretched down towards the bank and I was asked by one of the customers if I was a local and said yes and I asked where he was from and he replied Colac. I then asked if he was here with the family for the weekend and he said no my wife told me that the grandchildren were coming in the afternoon and he was to drive to Daniels at Portarlington and purchase two dozen assorted donuts and return to Colac. That’s the draw-card of Daniels Donuts.

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Each cruise ship has themed tours which are pre-booked by some of the guests before arrival to various locations around the Geelong and Bellarine region.

Many visit the Portarlington area Wineries on some of these pre-arranged tours.

Saturday 17^th February
The Seven Seas Navigator is tendering into the Royal Geelong Yacht Club from 8am – 7pm.  This ship has approx. 450 guests on board.

Tuesday 20^th February
The Seabourn Encore is tendering into the Royal Geelong Yacht Club from 7am – 3pm.  This ship has approx. 800 guests on board.

A shuttle bus will be provided which goes around Central Geelong (The Gardens, Gallery and National Wool Museum), this will run every half hour with a volunteer guide on the bus.

Tourism Greater Geelong and The Bellarine also have volunteers to offer meet and greet to the passengers as they disembark and embark the ship.
The volunteers are briefed and have sound knowledge of things to see and do in the region – this includes tours, wineries, attractions etc.

They also have access to visitor guides and maps which list all members of tourism.

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Portarlington Safe Harbour will deliver enormous benefits to local people, visitors to the Peninsula as well as the aquaculture industry.

Bellingham Marine Pty Ltd has built a 40-metre floating berth to sit alongside the inner edge of the commercial jetty.

The pontoon and gangway have been designed to support passengers boarding the ferry.

Parks Victoria appreciates the local community’s involvement in this project, attending community open days and contributing their views through various forums.

The almost completed Safe Harbour in late 2017.

More Here http://parkweb.vic.gov.au/explore/bays-rivers-and-ports/portarlington-pier/plans-and-projects/portarlington-safe-harbour-project

A berthing and anchoring map of the new safe harbour is here. (PDF 318kb)

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Freelance journalist Tim Richards travelled to Portarlington on Port Phillip Ferries in November 2017 and did a couple of activities and stayed in Port as organised by Tourism Greater Geelong and The Bellarine.

Tim’s article that now appears in all Jetstar Magazines inflight for the whole month of February – starting today.

Inflight magazines cater to a very captivated audience. I’m one of them, always flicking through the magazine when I travel and getting inspired. As researched by Jetstar, nearly 70% (68.6%) read as an activity when they are taking their flight.

As of 2016, 1.6m passengers travelled with Jetstar on average each month. The magazine is available in every seat pocket of the Jetstar Airways fleet on every flight. There are 75 aircraft travelling to 34 destinations.

Happy reading! There is mention of some great local businesses in there.

The whole article equates to $40K in advertising spend.

Narelle Needham
Marketing & Communications Officer
Level 1, 48 Brougham Street, GEELONG VIC 3220

Homepage Tourism Greater Geelong And The Bellarine

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by Pauline Campbell, Portarlington resident, 23rd Jan 2018

I am standing on our balcony looking at this! I missed the spectacle of seeing her sail past but there she is, sitting serenely out there, the very first cruise ship to visit the township of Portarlington, Victoria. Not Geelong – as I heard on the radio (SmoothFM!)

A hint of Melbourne’s skyline for contrast.
Gotta go throw on a frock and head down there for a much closer look. I can do that because I am not in working tour guide mode! However if I spot a microphone……

Naturally I will be having a look tomorrow. As an interested party! Having worked with the various cruise lines over the years, this is not a ship I’m familiar with or have worked with as a professional Tour Guide over the last 15 years.

It is an exciting time for the town.

Over 2000 plus passengers. With the ferry there, I am sure there will be photo opportunities for me to capture some of the excitement. It will be bumper to bumper traffic of all kinds! Geelong was cancelled as an anchor point, something about the lack of depth in the shipping channel to Geelong.

Passengers will be tendered to shore to the recently completed Portarlington Safe Harbour floating berth they have to share in turn with the Ferry.

At the Rockpool cafe at the Pier on the day we chatted with two crew members. One told us he was able to disembark, while his colleagues had to remain on board. He said the passengers came from The USA, Canada, Germany, The UK and Australia.

There is often a moment you wish didn’t happen. I mentioned the kangaroo costume meeting and greeting by the Pier, inviting the passengers arriving on the new Safe Harbour pier for photo opportunities. “That kangaroo is very ordinary.” I said. “Oh… that was me” the young lady smilingly answered, standing with the friendly crew member mentioned previously.

Learn the instant art of backtracking at these moments.

A Canadian woman also spoke to us, asking relevant questions about the local area and City of Melbourne and recommending her home town of Vancouver for a visit.

Visiting the shops in the main street later, all seemed happy with the increased patronage and subsequent sales on the day.

Images by Pauline Campbell

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Our first PBDA Business Breakfast went off really well.

With special thanks to President John Rae as MC, and our three great speakers; Cameron, Connie & Lyndsay.

We filled Saints and Sailors in Portarlington, and many PBDA Members said they are looking forward to our next PBDA Breakfast.

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The Northern Bellarine Transport Action Group (NBTAG) are holding a public meeting on Friday, 10th March 2017, 2:00-3:00 at the Bayview Room Parks Hall in Portarlington, and your attendance and support would be greatly appreciated.

Lisa Neville – Member for Bellarine will be the guest speaker.

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Exciting new infrastructure to last for generations to come.

Portarlington Safe Harbour will deliver enormous benefits to local people, visitors to the Peninsula as well as the aquaculture industry.

Parks Victoria appreciates the local community’s involvement in this project, attending community open days and contributing their views through various forums.

JUNE 2016 – Next Stage of Portarlington Redevelopment Begins

AW Maritime has just released an update on the Portarlington Safe Harbor Redevelopment Project.

The company is currently assisting Parks Victoria during the construction of the Portarlington scheme, having completed the detailed design of all maritime aspects of the development including breakwaters and marine structures.

Current works involve the construction of rock breakwaters to the east and north of Portarlington pier to protect the harbor.

This will then be followed by the installation of a new jetty, commercial fishing berths and loading facilities.

More on here >> https://www.dredgingtoday.com/2016/05/25/next-stage-of-portarlington-redevelopment-begins/

A berthing and anchoring map of the new safe harbour is here. (PDF 318kb)

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Mr Little told Fairfax Media on Tuesday 20th OCT. 2015.

The ferries would dock in the heart of the Docklands precinct in Melbourne and Mr Little says the economics and viability of the services are being rigorously modelled.

SeaLink is eyeing expansion into other cities and in Melbourne is working on several options including a trial of a passenger service from Portarlington on the Bellarine Peninsula across Port Phillip Bay to Melbourne. Mr Ellison said the company has held preliminary discussions with Mr Little’s private companies. The trend for state governments to want to get cars off increasingly clogged roads in Sydney and Melbourne delivers strong growth opportunities for ferry passenger services, he said.

Fast forward to February 2018 –  A daily dedicated Docklands to Portarlington Ferry is now part of the seascape.

The Portarlington Safe Harbour has just been officially completed with a dedicated floating berth for the Ferry and Cruise Ship tenders if visiting.

CLICK HERE for more http://pbda.net.au/portarlington-safe-harbour-completion-feb-2018/

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