Cape Paterson () is town located near the town of Wonthaggi, south-east of

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

via the South Gippsland and Bass Highways, in the

Bass Coast Shire The Bass Coast Shire is a local government area in Victoria, Australia, located in the southeastern part of the state. It covers an area of and in June 2018 had a population of 35,327. It includes the towns of Bass, Cape Paterson, Cape Woolam ...

Gippsland Gippsland () is a rural region in the southeastern part of Victoria, Australia, mostly comprising the coastal plains south of the Victorian Alps (the southernmost section of the Great Dividing Range). It covers an elongated area of east of th ...

, Victoria,

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. Known originally for the discovery of coal by William Hovell in 1826, it is now extremely popular for its beaches and rockpool and at the 2011 census, it had a population of 718. Cape Paterson has six beaches. Cape Paterson was named by Lieut. James Grant in 1801 to honour explorer Lieut. Col. William Paterson, second in command of the Botany Bay (Sydney) battalion.

Today

Cape Paterson is a small town near the larger town of Wonthaggi. It is a popular tourist destination and has a large influx of campers during the summer months. Fishing is very popular there. Cape Paterson has 2 local lifesaving clubs. The Wonthaggi Royal Life Saving Club and is located at the Bay Beach, and the Cape Paterson Surf Life Saving Club is located at First Surf Beach.

Rockpool

The Bay Beach near Cape Paterson

caravan park Caravan or caravans may refer to: Transport and travel * Campervan, a type of vehicle also known as a motor caravan *Caravan (travellers), a group of travellers journeying together **Caravanserai, a place where a caravan could stop * Caravan (tra ...

on Surf Beach Road is popular as it has a modified rockpool for swimming. The rockpool was built by miners in the 1960s, at a time when the environment was less of a priority in Australia

Coast

Cape Paterson has six beaches, namely "F" Break, 2nd Surf, 1st Surf, Safety Beach-Browns Bay, Undertow Bay and The Oaks.

Fishing

Cape Paterson is popular for surf and rock fishing. Undertow Bay is popular for catching Mullet and Salmon. Brown's Bay is good for Whiting and juvenile Snapper (Pinky). In the whole of the Bunurong Marine Park it is prohibited to take or kill reef fish such as Parrot Fish, Bluenose Wrasse and Leather Jackets. In the Bunurong Marine National Park all fishing is prohibited. Cape Paterson Beach Shimmer

Museum

Australia’s first dinosaur bone, the Cape Paterson Claw, was discovered here in 1903 by William Ferguson nearby in what is now Eagles Nest, Bunurong Marine National Park, Inverloch. Today, the

Dinosaur Dreaming Dinosaur Dreaming is a palaeontology, paleontological site situated near Inverloch, Victoria, Inverloch, Victoria, Australia. Remains of primitive mammals from the Cretaceous Age were first uncovered there in 1997 by researchers from Museum Victor ...

fossil excavation at the Flat Rocks coastal site by

Anderson Inlet Anderson Inlet (Boonwurrung: ''Toluncan''), sometimes incorrectly referred to as Andersons Inlet, is a shallow and dynamic estuary in South Gippsland, Victoria, Australia where the Tarwin River enters Bass Strait. It forms a almost enclosed ...

attracts both Australian and international visitors. More than 6000 bones and teeth of small dinosaurs, mammals, birds, turtles and fish have been excavated. There is a Dinosaur exhibibition at the Inverloch Shell Museum

Bunurong Marine Parks

Bunurong Marine Park is a 17 km marine and coastal park along the

coast A coast (coastline, shoreline, seashore) is the land next to the sea or the line that forms the boundary between the land and the ocean or a lake. Coasts are influenced by the topography of the surrounding landscape and by aquatic erosion, su ...

of Harmers Haven, Cape Paterson and Inverloch namely Coal Point to Wreck Creek. Bunurong Marine National Park is an outstretching middle section of Bunurong Marine Park. The National Park part is about 21 km² or about 5 km in length along the coast and stretching from 2.5 km east of Cape Paterson eastwards to a point 6 km south-west of Inverloch, extending seawards for 3 nm to the limit of

Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literatur ...

waters. The restricted zone/

state park State parks are parks or other protected areas managed at the sub-national level within those nations which use "Federated state, state" as a political subdivision. State parks are typically established by a state to preserve a location on accou ...

(Bunurong Marine National Park inside Bunurong Marine Park), on foot begins after Undertow Bay heading towards Inverloch from Cape Paterson. It is an area past Safety Beach and rockpool and past Undertow Bay beach namely The Oaks, Twin Reefs, Shack Bay and Eagles Nest. It ends at Wreck Creek and Inverloch. It is prohibited to kill or take any matter (i.e., catch fish,

collect The collect ( ) is a short general prayer of a particular structure used in Christian liturgy. Collects come up in the liturgies of Catholic, Lutheran, or Anglican churches, among others. Etymology The word is first seen as Latin ''collēcta'' ...

seashells A seashell or sea shell, also known simply as a shell, is a hard, protective outer layer usually created by an animal or organism that lives in the sea. Most seashells are made by mollusks, such as snails, clams, and oysters to protec ...

or kill or take any sea or land creature, living or dead) from the smaller of the two parks; Bunurong Marine National Park. Both parks are named after the

Bunurong The Boonwurrung, also spelt Bunurong or Bun wurrung, are an Aboriginal people of the Kulin nation, who are the traditional owners of the land from the Werribee River to Wilsons Promontory in the Australian state of Victoria. Their territory ...

Aboriginal people There is no generally accepted definition of Indigenous peoples, although in the 21st century the focus has been on self-identification, cultural difference from other groups in a state, a special relationship with their traditional territ ...

. Bunurong Marine Park is considered special due to the unusual set of environmental conditions. It supports many marine animals including

sea stars A sea is a large body of salt water. There are particular seas and the sea. The sea commonly refers to the ocean, the interconnected body of seawaters that spans most of Earth. Particular seas are either marginal seas, second-order section ...

feather stars Crinoids are marine invertebrates that make up the class Crinoidea. Crinoids that remain attached to the sea floor by a stalk in their adult form are commonly called sea lilies, while the unstalked forms, called feather stars or comatulids, are ...

, crabs, snails, 87 species of fish, Whales and Seals. It has the highest recorded diversity of intertidal and subtidal

invertebrates Invertebrates are animals that neither develop nor retain a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''spine'' or ''backbone''), which evolved from the notochord. It is a paraphyletic grouping including all animals excluding the chordate subphylum ...

in eastern Victoria. The range of

seaweed Seaweed, or macroalgae, refers to thousands of species of macroscopic, multicellular, marine algae. The term includes some types of ''Rhodophyta'' (red), '' Phaeophyta'' (brown) and ''Chlorophyta'' (green) macroalgae. Seaweed species such as ...

species is large. Flat Rocks is a beach which has large rockpools for rockpooling/rambling and direct access from Cape Paterson-Inverloch Road. Bunurong Marine Park is seen and accessed at many different points along this coast, a popular one being near Cape Paterson

on Surf Beach Road as it has a modified rockpool for swimming. The National Park is around to the left. Direct and more difficult access to the National Park is via car parks off Cape Paterson-Inverloch Road. Exploring,

snorkelling Snorkeling ( British and Commonwealth English spelling: snorkelling) is the practice of swimming face down on or through a body of water while breathing the ambient air through a shaped tube called a snorkel, usually with swimming goggles or a ...

and

scuba diving Scuba diving is a Diving mode, mode of underwater diving whereby divers use Scuba set, breathing equipment that is completely independent of a surface breathing gas supply, and therefore has a limited but variable endurance. The word ''scub ...

are popular. There are boat launching facilities at Inverloch on

. Eagles Nest is a large rock structure adjacent to the coastline that resembles the top half of a map of Australia. Cape Paterson Reef

Climate

Cape Paterson's location on the north shore of Bass Strait gives it an oceanic climate, with the moderating effect of the ocean allowing a narrower temperature range throughout the year compared to other regions in Victoria. Average daily maximum temperatures range from 23.5 °C in summer to 13.5 in winter. Frost is rare, occurring on average 6 mornings a year.

History

The Bunurong Aboriginal people used this stretch of coast for thousands of years prior to

white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

occupation. The Boakoolawal

clan A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, a clan may claim descent from a founding member or apical ancestor who serves as a symbol of the clan's unity. Many societie ...

lived in the Kilcunda area south of the Bass River, and the Yowenjerre were west of the Tarwin River along what is now the Bunurong Marine and Coastal Park.

Middens A midden is an old dump for domestic waste. It may consist of animal bones, human excrement, botanical material, mollusc shells, potsherds, lithics (especially debitage), and other artifacts and ecofacts associated with past human occupati ...

containing

charcoal Charcoal is a lightweight black carbon residue produced by strongly heating wood (or other animal and plant materials) in minimal oxygen to remove all water and volatile constituents. In the traditional version of this pyrolysis process, ca ...

and

shellfish Shellfish, in colloquial and fisheries usage, are exoskeleton-bearing Aquatic animal, aquatic invertebrates used as Human food, food, including various species of Mollusca, molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms. Although most kinds of shellfish ...

mark the location of their campsites along the coast. Explorer William Hovell first discovered black coal in the cliffs at Cape Paterson in 1826.This and other sites were rediscovered 10 years later by Samuel Anderson who settled at Bass in 1835. In 1858, 2,000 tons of coal were hauled to the coast at Cape Paterson and taken by whaleboat to ships for transportation to Melbourne. Tram rails on the beach are reminders of further attempts to remove coal from the area later in the century, which still remain on the beach to the west of No 2 surf beach.

Tourist Information

An in depth tourist information guide is available on th
Visit Cape Paterson Website

Education

There is one primary school in nearby Inverloch and three

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

s and one secondary college in nearby Wonthaggi. Also in Wonthaggi Chisholm

TAFE Technical and further education or simply TAFE () is the common name in Australia for vocational education, as a subset of tertiary education. TAFE institutions provide a wide range of predominantly vocational courses. Colloquially also known ...

, Bass Coast

Specialist School Specialist schools, also known as specialised schools or specialized schools, are schools which specialise in a certain area or field of curriculum. In some countries, for example New Zealand, the term is used exclusively for schools specialis ...

, Bass Coast Adult Education Centre, University of the Third Age ( U3A) retirees education centre, and Connecting Skills Australia (CSA) specialist developmental school, support and employment services/training. Plans are underway for a new tertiary education facility.

Facilities

* Safety Beach and rockpool, Browns Bay, Surf Beach Road *

Playground A playground, playpark, or play area is a place designed to provide an environment for children that facilitates play, typically outdoors. While a playground is usually designed for children, some are designed for other age groups, or people wi ...

- picnic areas, table, barbecue, near the caravan park, Surf Beach Road *

Coast A coast (coastline, shoreline, seashore) is the land next to the sea or the line that forms the boundary between the land and the ocean or a lake. Coasts are influenced by the topography of the surrounding landscape and by aquatic erosion, su ...

; "F" Break, 2nd Surf, 1st Surf, Safety Beach Browns Bay, Undertow Bay, The Oaks, Twin Reefs, Shack Bay, Eagles Nest, The Caves and Flat Rocks * Old foreshore public hall * Wonthaggi

Market Market is a term used to describe concepts such as: *Market (economics), system in which parties engage in transactions according to supply and demand *Market economy *Marketplace, a physical marketplace or public market *Marketing, the act of sat ...

- every 2nd Sunday in the centre of Wonthaggi * Historic mine

whistle A whistle is a musical instrument which produces sound from a stream of gas, most commonly air. It is a type of Fipple, fipple flute, and may be mouth-operated, or powered by air pressure, steam, or other means. Whistles vary in size from a s ...

sounds 12 noon every day in the centre of Wonthaggi -

mine shaft Shaft mining or shaft sinking is the action of excavating a mine shaft from the top down, where there is initially no access to the bottom. Shallow shafts, typically sunk for civil engineering projects, differ greatly in execution method from ...

tower, Apex Park, Murray Street, Wonthaggi * Seashell/driftwood

Collecting The hobby of collecting includes seeking, locating, acquiring, organizing, cataloging, displaying, storing, and maintaining items that are of interest to an individual ''collector''. Collections differ in a wide variety of respects, most obvi ...

is NOT permitted on Cape Paterson coast from; ‘The Oaks’ to ‘Eagles Nest’ as this is the Bunurong Marine National Park. Access near Cape Paterson caravan park on Surf Beach Road. Left down the coast is Browns Bay, Undertow Bay, The Oaks, Twin Reefs, Shack Bay, Eagles Nest, Wreck Creek, The Caves, Flat Rocks * Bunurong Marine Park - explore/snorkel, Surf Beach Road * Bunurong Marine National Park - protected state park, explore/snorkel, Inverloch-Cape Paterson Road * Wonthaggi

Golf Course A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a teeing ground, tee box, a #Fairway and rough, fairway, the #Fairway and rough, rough and other hazard (golf), hazards, and ...

- 18 hole, par 72, ACR 70, easy walk, McKenzie Street, Wonthaggi * Wonthaggi railway station museum - open Saturday mornings, Murray Street, Wonthaggi * State Coal Mine - museum and tours, Garden Street, Wonthaggi * Coal mine

ruins Ruins () are the remains of a civilization's architecture. The term refers to formerly intact structures that have fallen into a state of partial or total disrepair over time due to a variety of factors, such as lack of maintenance, deliberate ...

- Number 5 Brace & the McBride tunnel entry, off West Area Road Wonthaggi and scattered around this and neighbouring towns * Wonthaggi

Hospital A hospital is a healthcare institution providing patient treatment with specialized Medical Science, health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically ...

Smoking ban Smoking bans, or smoke-free laws, are public policies, including criminal laws and occupational safety and health regulations, that prohibit tobacco smoking in certain spaces. The spaces most commonly affected by smoking bans are indoor employ ...

, Graham Street, Wonthaggi

References

External links

Cape Paterson
an
Cape Paterson
at the

Gazetteer of Australia The Gazetteer of Australia is an index or dictionary of the location and spelling of geographical names across Australia. Geographic names include towns, suburbs and roads, plus geographical features such as hills, rivers, and lakes. The index is ...

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{{authority control Coastal towns in Victoria (state) Paterson Towns in Victoria (state) Bass Coast Shire