Cape Nelson is one of the headlands near Portland in Victoria which we visited in April 2022 on a road trip to Victoria. It was named in December 1800 by Lieutenant James Grant after his ship HMS Lady Nelson. It was also the most southern point of Major Thomas Mitchell’s journey “Australia Felix” in 1836.
We visited a couple of places on Cape Nelson as a day trip. There is plenty more left to see. Part of the tracks here are on the Great Southwest Walking Track.
The Enchanted Forest.
The Enchanted Forest is a short walk on the steep eastern sides of Cape Nelson, winding its way through a forest of Moonah trees (a type of Melaleuca). In the shadow of an ancient landslip, the forest occupies a microclimate protected from the lashing of the southern ocean.
Its a nice short walk through the forest track and back to the road. We were being watched!
Cape Nelson Lighthouse.
This lighthouse was lit in July 1884 and is still a working lighthouse, though now it is now fully automated and is a sea and air navigation beacon. The movie South Solitary was located here.
I can just imagine what being in the lighthouse in a howling storm would be like!
Sea Cliff Nature Walk
We did this short nature walk, which gives a great view of the coastal landscape and several vegitation regimes on Cape Nelson. If you don’t have time for a longer day loop walk around the cape, this one is a nice little sampler.
It starts at a car park on Cape Nelson road. The walk is a flat loop heading out to the sea cliffs on the western side of Cape Nelson, then following the Great South West Walk north for a few hundred meters along the high sea cliffs, before it returns to the car park on a different path through the forest. Its only a couple of kilometers all up.
On the way you pass through several different types of vegitation including some dwarf eucalypt. Its a very good little walk with a guide sheet avaliable and numbered features.
We were in luck with the weather today and enjoyed the visit to these three spots on Cape Nelson.