“Why do I feel so good here?” I asked Kate, our guide on the amphibious boat I was stepping off, after an exhilarating ‘Wilderness Cruise’ around the coastline of Wilson’s Promontory. I’d just spent two-and-a-half hours jumping over waves, searching for sea eagles, rounding the most southerly tip of mainland Australia and watching young seal pups play in the sea like rowdy toddlers in a ball pit. It is a landscape of smooth intractable granite boulders plunging into the cobalt blue ocean, punctuated by pristine white sandy beaches, all overlooked by the densely forested Mount Oberon, standing like a benevolent guardian over ‘The Prom’.

“It’s simple” Kate replied. “It’s the granite, it’s packed full of quartz.” I must have looked a little blank as she went on to explain how Wilson’s Prom (and indeed, much of Gippsland) is formed from granite, and the quartz within it is said to promote mental clarity, emotional balance, and spiritual connection. I couldn’t disagree, I hadn’t felt so peaceful for years.

I had been travelling around western and southern Gippsland, a beautifully diverse and scenic region of Victoria that stretches from the eastern suburbs of Melbourne, all the way to the border of New South Wales. Most travellers head west, out towards the Great Ocean Road when they land in Melbourne, but we had gone east.

It wasn’t just a remarkable landscape, it also attracted remarkable people. Two days earlier I’d been sitting on the back porch of ‘Still Water’, the restored white clapperboard original farmhouse of Broughton Hall Gardens in western Gippsland. The sun was softening in the sky over the Tarago Reservoir, with Mount Baw Baw hidden somewhere in the backdrop. I was listening to the kookaburras enjoying their evening chin-wag, giggling over the treetops of the gumtrees, interrupted only by the magpies serenading me with their lyrical song and five peacocks out for their evening passeggiata.

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Broughton Hall is one of Australia’s finest gardens, realised out of the vision of landscape designer David Musker and his husband, Philip Hunter, a physiotherapist and spiritual healer. They have created spaces that could revive the weariest of souls. Touring the garden with Philip, I felt calmness that is so rare (especially with a three-year-old), marvelling at the intricate planting that together felt completely harmonious. It was like I was in the embrace of an old friend.

The landscape of Gippsland is forgiving, with gentle undulating hills dotted with a patchwork of cows and occasional flock of llamas grazing on the rich pasture. Despite the heat of the summer, the land was still verdant. It doesn’t have the harsh exposed feeling you might associate with the Australian landscape. The hills of western Gippsland give way to lush rainforests that are the gateway to the Australian Alps.

Travelling with my bridge-obsessed three-year-old, we took a gentle walk through the ancient forest of Mountain Ash trees – including very tall eucalypt, native to Victoria, said to have one of the largest capacities for carbon capture in the world. We were following an old railway line to the Noojee Trestle Bridge, an impressive piece of engineering, made entirely out of wood, standing 21 metres high and spanning 102 metres.

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But the bridge was nothing in comparison to the surrounding rainforests. I felt Lilliputian as we hiked the short loop up a rocky trail to the Tooronga and Amphitheatre Falls. The Mountain Ash here grows to 115 metres in height, their lower trunks encased in a deep mossy brown bark reminiscent of a 1970s shag pile rug. The silent undergrowth is dominated by prehistoric tree ferns growing alongside the base of these giants, with the only sounds coming from the water cascading across granite boulders, cutting through the lush-green lower canopy.

The abundant landscape is reflected in the numerous artisan food and drink producers in the region, which we experienced at Hogget Kitchen a restaurant surrounded by vineyards. Chef and owner Trevor Perkins and his team share the space with a collective of winemakers – you can enjoy looking at fermentation tanks and barrels through a large window on a trip to the toilet. The talk of “local” and “seasonal” isn’t just for show – it’s evident in every mouthful and sip. A full wall blackboard set alongside the entrance to the airy dining room’s open kitchen lists the origin of all the producers Perkins works with across the region including his ‘Mum’s veggie garden’.

This was great inspiration as we headed south via a brief detour to Phillip Island to see the small, but mighty ‘Penguin Parade’ – nightly display of the largest colony of little penguins in the world as they head for shore-leave having spent up to three weeks fishing in the Southern Ocean. Their steely determination in the face of adversity and predators should be an inspiration to all of us. Phillip Island is often as far east as visitors travel from Melbourne to see this spectacle, but I couldn’t wait to travel deeper.

As a wine lover, I had heard that South Gippsland was one of the most dynamic wine regions in Australia. From what I tasted, I was excited. Lisa and Justin Jenkins, of Fleet Wines welcomed us in their newly opened ‘cellar door’ – a large but inviting utilitarian winery, set up with brightly painted tables and chairs. We tasted surrounded by racks of barrels and winery equipment, cleaned, ready and waiting in anticipation of the upcoming harvest – and a basketball hoop that I forgot to take a shot at. I couldn’t think of a better place to spend a weekend afternoon drinking wine, the tune ‘Good Times’ by Jungle seemed the perfect choice to be playing on the winery’s record player.

Conversations over wine led to talk of other local producers: their good friends Lisa and Marcus of Dirty Three in Inverloch – with their welcoming cellar door in a side street, where you can discover their superb wines alongside some seriously tasty sharing plates. The handmade pizza, pasta and gelato are all freshly prepared by Francesco and his brother in Trulli Outdoors in Meeniyan – Francesco would be making the porchetta for Marcus and Lisa’s daughters 21st birthday that evening. And that I had to stop by Gurneys’ Cider down near ‘The Prom’. For such an expansive region, everyone and everything felt so connected to each other.

We drove on Banksia and Moonah tea-tree lined empty roads surrounded by farmland, with the occasional glimpse of wild, but inviting, beaches. Cresting a ridge as we approached Gurney’s Cider we had our first sight of Wilson’s Promontory. The Gurnett family (hailing from Somerset in the UK) had picked a good spot for their tasting room, perched on the top of a hill, with all of the sky opening up overlooking both Bass Strait and the Marine inlet. I could understand why Bill, Lorraine and their then young boys decided to relocate. After spending a year on the ‘Prom’ as a ranger, Bill didn’t want to be left wondering ‘what if…’

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Back on ‘The Prom’ I took a short stroll by myself down to Squeaky Beach. On the dune path lined with cottonwood and sage brush, I passed a wallaby standing just a couple of feet from me. Neither of us moved, we just looked at one another peacefully, and then he went on with munching his boobialla leaves, a type of native juniper bush. Sitting on the beach, running my fingers through the fine sand made of rounded grains of quartz (they compress underfoot, creating the high pitched squeak that gives the beach its name), I was feeling my own sense of ‘what if’. Gippsland feels like a place where it is all possible, and that was the only souvenir I needed to take home with me.

How to do it

Daily flights are available to Melbourne from London and regional airports with flights starting from £700 via numerous carriers including Singapore, Emirates and Qatar airlines. Car hire is available from the airport or a number of city centre locations. Western Gippsland is just over an hour by car from central Melbourne, and Wilson’s Promontory is just under three hours.

Rosamund travelled to Gippsland with the support of Visit Gippsland and Visit Victoria

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