> > by Craig Tansley
It's the place where Melbourne's rich and famous like to spend the weekends, millionaires have mansions here – it's not hard to see why with the inky blue waters of Port Phillip Bay washing up on white sandy beaches, cathedral-like canopy of trees covering every roadway and cute collection of cafes and shops, showcased by perhaps the pub in Australia with the greatest location: the Portsea Hotel. Portsea is a couple's mecca, you have the option of lounging in the quiet waters of Port Phillip Bay on Portsea Beach, or finding more space for yourselves on the open surf beaches just across the isthmus, where angry waves straight from Bass Strait give you the kind of tough-love natural isolation Australia is world-renowned for. There's a million places to get lost with your loved one around Portsea, spend a day exploring nearby Port Nepean, a national park that was closed to the public for 100 years, where you wander for hours in the Aussie bush looking for kangaroos, wallabies and blue - winged parrots. Then get lost in the labyrinth of tunnels at Fort Nepean, which had guarded Port Phillip Head from invasion since the 1880s.
You can also see where Prime Minister Harold Holt took his last fateful swim in 1967. But it's the isolation in these parts that induces romance, finish off your day with a seafood feast overlooking Portsea Beach at the Portsea Hotel. Do: Swim with the dolphins at nearby Sorrento - for a bonding experience with your partner it's hard to beat trawling behind a boat while wild dolphins and seals come to play. Don't: Expect too many shops, cafes and bars. Portsea is not Noosa or Byron, nor does it try to be. It's really not much more than 500 residents, an iconic pub, some glorious beaches, a golf course, a national park and a few shops - and that's the way the locals want to keep it. For more cafes and bars Sorrento is only a five - minute drive north - east.