Words by Jay Dillon Images from Parks Victoria
It’s one of the most loved parts of the Victorian coastline and hugely significant to the Bunurong people. With the installation of new camping facilities, you can now stay overnight in this magical location.
The Point Nepean Discovery Tents are situated on timber platforms just meters from the beach near the old Quarantine facilities and are available to book from Sept to April each year.
As Lisa Patroni – Executive Director Visitor Experience at Parks Victoria tells us, there were a lot of considerations in opening the site up to overnight visitors.
‘It’s a very rich site in regards to indigenous history, natural history colonisation history, military history and obviously, it’s loved by many’ says Lisa.
‘So we tried to find a way to activate it in both a culturally and environmentally sensitive way, just to enable more people to be able to experience the site perhaps less traditionally than they have to date’.
The standing-height canvas tents are available in two-person or four-person configurations and are all set up ready for guests to arrive, who will only need to pack a sleeping bag, pillow, food and personal items.
Visitors to the discovery tents also have exclusive access to the heritage-listed isolation hospital ward, which has been refurbished with a communal kitchen, BBQs, hot showers and toilets.
As Lisa tells us, the goal has been to make camping in the park accessible to everyone.
To date, they’ve been a great hit and we’re seeing a real combination of people that have never slept in a tent, particularly in a national park before.
The introduction of camping has been a long time in the making, with planning commencing before the covid lockdowns. A lot of research was conducted into how the site could be activated with minimal impact on the environment.
The 36 tent pads are made with 100 per cent recycled materials and are designed in a way that require no holes or concrete. Native plantings have also been conducted in order to rehabilitate the ecology of the site.
‘We’ve made sure that all the boxes were ticked and to date the feedback’s been really good and our environmental partners have been really pleased with the light footprint and how we’ve gone about it’, says Lisa.
The facilities are stage one of the State Government’s $4.5 million Point Nepean Master Plan. A redevelopment of the Boiler House and Foul Luggage Store was completed in 2020 and the rollout of media designed to bring to life the overlapping historical use of the site, including by the traditional owners, is currently underway.
THE DETAILS
What: Point Nepean Discovery Tents
Where: Point Nepean National Park
When: September to April
How much: $120-$165
More information: Parks Victoria
We wish to acknowledge the Bunurong people as traditional owners of this land and to pay our respects to their Elders, past and present.
