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The Mornington Peninsula is located just over an hour's drive away from the city and is often described as 'Melbourne's Riviera'. It is the most popular informal recreational area in Victoria.
The Mornington Peninsula is a boot-shaped promontory separating two contrasting bays: Port Phillip and Western Port. 'The Peninsula', as it is affectionately known, contains a diversity of scenic landscapes and is almost surrounded by the sea, with coastal boundaries of over 190 kilometres. It is a mixture of urban areas, resort towns, tourist development and rural land.
Thousands of years before Europeans arrived on the Mornington Peninsula the Bunurong people (also spelt Bunwurrung, Boonwerung, Bunurowrung, Boonoorong and Bururong ) lived in the territory which extended from Werribee River to Andersons Inlet in the east. The area totalled approximately 8,000 square kilometres. There were defined territorial boundaries between the different indigenous groups, usually based on landscape features and barriers such as mountains or rivers.
Tribes were broken into smaller family and economic groups. The small groups met frequently for social or trading reasons. Their economy was largely based on the hunter/gatherer lifestyle with some system of natural farming practice. The local indigenous people practiced a range of environmental management strategies including controlled burning of vegetation. Coastal waters provided shellfish and seafood, with the hinterland providing native animals and wildlife, such as possums and wallabies. Many plants and berries were also utilised for food and medicine.
The original residents, were the indigenous Bunurong, evidence of whose occupancy along the coast can be seen at some sites. There is also some evidence of more permanent settlements at places such as Tyabb and what was known as the Blacks Camp Waterhole (inland from Cape Schanck). There was a network of tracks for efficient movement across the territory for social and trading reasons.
Contact with Europeans brought about many changes to the local indigenous culture. Whalers, sealers and explorers were the first to make contact. Later the effects of pastoralists on the land brought about the destruction of essential foods and wildlife. The rapid settlement of Europeans meant the invasion of Aboriginal lands and dislocation. White colonisation resulted in many local Aborigines being forced to live on reserves such as the one in Mordialloc. Despite efforts by some individuals, the protectorate system did little to protect the Aborigines. The rapid decline of the Bunurong population was due to many factors including disease, loss of access to traditional foods and tribal lands, alcoholism, death in goal and death through poisoning and murder. While some descendants of the Bunurong people live in their ancient tribal region today, the Wurrundjeri people have the responsibility of custodianship of the Bunurong sites at present.
Today Peninsula boasts holiday houses, marinas, world class golf courses, rolling vineyards, fishing, diving, surfing, and Sunday markets. Permanent local communities have developed and commerce and tourism are thriving.