Quarantine Station - Museum Entrance
It has been our practise for th epast few years to conduct our own version of the "Around the Bay" ride on the same day as the official ride. This ride started at North Rd or Frankston and then took us down to Portsea and back again. Not only did this save us the considerable enrty fee but it also meant that we did not have to sit cooling our heels waiting to board a ferry to cross the bay. Each year that we conducted this ride we would travel as far as the entrance to the Point Nepean National Park ane then turn back to have lunch at Portsea. I must admit that each time we did this I had a curiosity to see what lay beyond those barriers. When I heard that that the park had now been opened to the public and that there was no entry fee I quickly decided that we should conduct a ride into this park and thus gain a window into a fascinating aspect of Australia's past.
For me personally I had another reason to visit this area. As a child my grandfather had often spoken to us of the harrowing journey his grandparents had made to Australia on the ill fated Ticonderoga in 1852. This ship lost over 100 passengers due to typhoid fever during the voyage to Australia and is now referred to as the "Hell Ship". The surviving passengers were put into the partly built quarantine station at Point Nepean where many more died after arrival. Apparently my great, great grandparents lost three children during the voyage and their surviving baby died soon after arrival. There is now a special memorial erected at Point Nepean to commemmorate this terrible voyage. By visiting this area I was hoping to experience a connection with a part of my own past.
Unfortunately on the morning of our planned ride the weather was looking dark and threatening and this was enough to deter some of our less hardy riders from venturing from the comfort of their beds. On the other hand I have often learned in the past that cancelling a ride prematurely is usually a bad mistake. How often have we pulled the pin on a ride, only to find that the rain did not eventuate after all ? At 7.30 am Bob and I packed our bikes onto my car and headed off towards Dromana. Soon after passing through Dandenong the skies opened up and we were both wandering whether or not we had made the right decision. Fortunately the further south we drove, the clearer the weather became and by the time we reached Safety Beach it was obvious that they had not experienced any rain at all.
Since we were still about an hour early we drove down to explore the Martha Cove Marina development (aka "White Elephant"). The place was as dead as Napoleon's grandmother- not a soul about and with many empty , unsold townhouses languishing under old billboards. Personally I could not see why anyone would want to live there and was not surprised to hear that apparently it has proved a financial disaster for many of the early buyers. We stopped at the coffee shop by the marina (of course we were the only customers) and shared our first coffees of the day before driving back to the starting point for our ride.
We were soon joined by Janna, Dave and Dan along with a brand new rider Christine Brown. Christine will be taking part in our Turkish Delights Adventure next year and it was first chance to meet her face to face. I soon learned that she is a very capable and experienced rider and had completed the full 210 km Around the Bay ride the previous weekend. After pumping up of tyres and introductions all round our intrepid group of riders started off towards Point Nepean. Although the skies were still overcast the rain had held off and there was absolutely not a single breath of wind.
With the still conditions we made good progress to Blairgowrie where we met a fine drizzle of rain. Fortunately Dan chose this spot to stage a puncture and this gave us all a chance to shelter while the tyre was repaired. It did not take long to find the culprit - a jagged piece of glass about as big as Elizabeth Taylor's diamond ring. After removing the glass and pumping the tyre, the rain had stopped. To our relief the rain stayed away for the rest of the day, allowing us to enjoy the most amazing ride.
From Safety Beach to Sorrento the road is almost completely flat, but from then on you start to encounter some short but sharp undulations. Just outside of Portsea the road was closed due to one of the locals "accidentally" parking their new Mercedes over the edge of the cliff. A short detour along the footpath found us in the township of Portsea and looking for something to eat. The Portsea Hotel, with its direct waterfront position, looked promising. At least it did until we looked at the prices on the menu which had obviously been set for the local Bailleaus and Foxes and NOT for poor old cyclists like us. We retreated to the much more reasonably priced place a couple of doors further along and shared a lovely lunch and chat before setting out on the final leg to Point Nepean.
Entry fees to the park were removed a year or so ago, so you can now just ride straight into the National Park. The old Quarantine station is only a short distance from the entrance. It is much bigger than I had imaged and offers incredible views across the heads.
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Quarantine Station - Museum Entrance |
With its sprawling array of dormitories, hospital, gymnasium, disintectant rooms and bathhouses, the Quarantine station actually resembles a township. The signs told us that it was opened in the mid 1800's and only finally closed in 1978.
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Part of the special exhibit devoted to the story of the ill fated Ticonderoga. The picture shows Susan Scarf, my great, great grandmother. Susan and her husband William lost three children in the voyage and their remaining child died while at the Quarantine station. They went on to have another 5 children after arriving in Australia ! |
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Part of the huge facility to sterilise luggage on arrival. The railway was called the "Foul Luggage Tramway" |
On entering the museum I was surprised to find an entire exhibit set up to document the story of the Ticonderoga and the suffering of the passengers. I even found a picture of my great great grandmother. It was just as well she survived or else I would not be here. I have to admit that it was a strange feeling seeing her face staring at me through time. It almost felt like I was seeing a survivor from the Titanic.
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One of the many large dormitories that you can wander through |
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View from the fortified lookout near Cheviot Beach. Point Nepean is about 1 km further on and Queenscliff is visible across the heads. |
After spending an hour or so wandering the Quarantine Station we jumped back on the bikes and rode further down the peninsula to Cheviot Beach. Even on a still day like the one we had you could easily see how trecherous this would be for swimming. Why Harold Holt would venture out there on a wild day is hard to fathom.
It is not possible to ride the final short distance to the tip of the peninsula. We could have walked but by that time the day was far advanced and we were keen to get back on the bikes again for the return ride. Fortunately the weather was still fine and we all made it safely back to Dromana where we stopped for celebratory drinks and ice cream before the drive back home again.
This really was a fascinating day's ride and one that I would highly recommend to anyone interested in Australian history. It will definitely be included on next year's calendar.