Things to do in Southwest
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Beach House
The views from Beach House are amazing, ensconced in the Surf Life Saving Club’s former function room – sip your cab sav whilst watching the surfers and yachts below. It’s a bit daggy, with plastic chairs and tables and grubby carpet, and the food’s more good than outstanding, yet there’s something really nice going on here. If things aren’t busy the wait staff will sit down for a chat, and there are highchairs and crayons for the kids, as well as a palpable good vibe. Gourmet burgers, pastas, Thai red seafood curry, occasional live music and no haughty pretensions.
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Dive Inn Charters
Southern right whales come to mate and nurse their bubs in the waters off Logan’s Beach from July to September, breaching and fluking off Logan’s Beach Whale Watching Platform. It’s a major tourist drawcard, but you’ll need 20/20 eyesight or a pair of binoculars. Dive Inn Charters offers whale-watching boat tours and diving and fishing charters.
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Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village
This major tourist attraction is modelled on an early Australian coastal port. See the cannon and fortifications, built in 1887 to withstand the perceived threat of Russian invasion, and Shipwrecked , an engaging evening sound-and-laser show of the Loch Ard's plunge. Grab a meal at Pippies by the Bay while you're here.
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Portofino
Portofino does high-end Mod Oz-cum-Mediterranean food with style – one of the best restaurants in western Victoria. Roast duck over couscous with a dried fig and radish salad, or venison with Moorish spinach and potatoes Catalan style – sounds OK huh? Portofino offers splendid vegetarian dishes too, and local seafood is a feature.
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Easyrider Surf School
Warrnambool has excellent beaches such as sheltered Lady Bay, the main swimming beach, which has fortifications at the breakwater at its western end. Logan’s Beach has the best surf, and there are breaks at Levy’s Beach and Second Bay. Hang five with Easyrider Surf School.
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Hotel Warrnambool
This hotel, dating to 1894, is the most welcoming pub in town – an earthy, cavernous place with exposed mud bricks and railway sleepers, slouchy lounges, a billiard table, a cool corner beer garden and live music on Thursday nights and Sunday. There are 11 beers available on tap and the pub grub is good.
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Saltra Brassiere
Saltra, a Mod Oz restaurant that becomes a late-night lounge bar, is new on the Port Fairy scene and has made quite a splash. With a funky modern interior and courtyard, superb food and live music at weekends, it’s getting people out of the house.
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Portland Cable Tram
The restored 1886 Portland Cable Tram does five trips a day plying an 8km circular route linking the vintage-car museum, botanic gardens, Maritime Discovery Centre and WWII memorial water tower. You can hop on and off as you please.
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Pippies by the Bay
A fine restaurant in the Flagstaff Hill visitors centre; make an evening of it with a meal and show, or just pop in for a weekend breakfast and admire the view.
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Sandilands
This elegant manor’s imposing facade suggests stiff sophistication, but it’s a relaxed fine-dining choice. Steak and seafood is the speciality, but vegetarians are well catered for here with stir-fry, pasta and risotto dishes.
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Caledonian Inn
Known to locals as the ‘Stump’ and claimed to be Victoria’s oldest continuously licensed pub (1844), the Caledonian is a good place for a beer (Guinness on tap) and has an impressive menu of pub food, including local seafood.
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Kokopelli’s Kafe & Ice Bar
This loungy cafe cum ’70s cocktail bar does meals all day, but shines as a restaurant and bar in the evening with tapas plates, pasta and steak dishes, an open fire and cute little courtyard out the back.
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Bella Claire
This café and gourmet provedore does outstanding coffee, ice cream and lunches. Just try to get away without buying some chutney or mustard or olive oil or cheese…
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Warrnambool Art Gallery
Head here to see the permanent Australian collection which includes such notable painters as Tom Roberts, James Gleeson and Arthur Boyd.
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Sullys Café & Wine Bar
Sullys Café & Wine Bar ‘Safe, sustainable cuisine’ is the ethos at Sullys, a narrow and pleasant nook across from the waterfront.
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Wisharts at the Wharf
Wharfside dining doesn’t come prettier than this. The restaurant serves the real thing – gourmet fish and chips, whole baby snapper and tiger prawns in filo.
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Port Fairy History Centre
The Port Fairy History Centre, housed in the old bluestone courthouse, has shipping relics, old photos and costumes, and a prisoner’s cell.
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Rebecca's Cafe
Excellent for breakfast and light lunches, Rebecca's has interesting items on the menu including rich wild-rice porridge topped with rhubarb as well as the usual cakes, muffins, slices, scones and biscuits.
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Powerhouse Motor & Car Museum
The Powerhouse Motor & Car Museum has 30 vintage Australian and American vehicles and motorbikes dating from 1920.
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Seanchai
Seanchai (pronounced ‘Shannakee’, which is Gaelic for storyteller) has live music and traditional Irish jigs on Sunday.
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Shipwreck Coast Diving
Shipwreck Coast Diving offers diving and fishing trips around Warrnambool, as well as whale-watching boat tours.
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Whaler’s Inn
It’s a family-friendly setup here. Meals are tasty and generous, and prices include an all-you-can-eat salad bar.
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Watch House Lounge Bar
In a classic old bluestone building across from the harbour, this stylish wine bar is in the original 1850 watchhouse.
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The Hub @ Port Fairy
This popular corner cafe moonlights as an upbeat Mod Oz restaurant with a good wine list, pasta dishes and cakes.
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Bojangles
This spiffy licensed pizza restaurant does great pastas and wood-fired pizzas, as well as steaks and grills.
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