Housesitting at Portarlington on the Bellarine Peninsula

I've started a new housesitting gig at Portarlington on the Bellarine Peninsula near Geelong in Victoria. I've come here from Metung, which is on the Gippsland Lakes, to another seaside community.

The population at Portarlington is bigger than Metung, around 3200 people, but similar to Metung, the population swells over the holiday period and on weekends for that matter.

The Bellarine Peninsula is a popular holiday destination in Victoria with towns like Point Lonsdale, Ocean Grove, and Queenscliff. Queenscliff is at the bottom end of the peninsula and not far by sea across to the other side of Port Phillip Bay to Rosebud and Sorrento.

Portarlington is a lovely little town. Its history dates back to 1850 when it was first surveyed. It's believed to be named after the town of Port Arlington in Ireland given the number of Irish settlers who first became pioneers in this particular area.

The town today is a lovely mix of old and new. The town centre has some quaint heritage buildings, a beautiful one being the Grand Hotel, which is four or five storeys high (correction three plus tower).

There are also lots of other historical buildings around the centre of the town. On the outskirts, there's been significant residential and urban expansion. That's to be expected in a lovely seaside area such as this, but it doesn't appear to be overwhelming or expanding too much to the point where it might take away from the ambience and quaintness of Portarlington more generally.

I haven't had a chance yet to explore much of the surrounding area, but there is lots to see and do on the Bellarine Peninsula, especially for people who like food and wine, cycling and walking, and sightseeing.

This morning, I did go to the Point Richards Flora and Fauna Reserve, and that's an area of 62 hectares just on the edge of Portarlington that was set aside a number of years ago as a conservation area for the Southern Brown Bandicoot. It's one of the largest areas of remnant native vegetation and wetlands on the Bellarine Peninsula, and it's great to see conservation efforts like this. This is practical environmentalism.

There's about five kilometres or more of trails through the area that showcase different aspects of the native vegetation, including bird life, frogs when there's been rain or during the winter.

Today, I did a two and a half kilometre walk, and it was just delightful. I didn't see another person there. There was overnight rain, which made the sand track fairly soft, but it was easygoing, flat all the way. And I felt I was really in the middle of nature, despite the fact that Portarlington housing could be seen just a kilometre away or even closer when I got to the edge of the track.

There's lots to see and do and explore around the Portarlington area, and I'm looking forward to doing that.

My housesitting is with a 14-year-old Cocker Spaniel dog named Chloe. She's not too well, I'd say. She's got some health conditions, and I'm giving her medication, but she's a sweet, beautiful old dame of a dog.

She has a lot of personality, and she's just a lovely, sweet dog to care for.

I'll post more later on, after I've explored more of this beautiful area around Portarlington on the Bellarine Peninsula near Geelong.