About Rye, Mornington Peninsula, VIC

Longitude:  144.822075      Latitude:  -38.370355

Metres above Sea Level:  7.9 m

Area:  17.8 km²     Perimeter:  19.9 km

View Rye’s  Statistics & Demographics

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The beautiful suburb of Rye located on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula is lined by stunning bay beaches on its northern shores, whilst the wild ocean beaches of Bass Strait line its southern perimeter.  In fact, the maximum distance between the 2 shorelines is only just over 5 km – the further westward you travel, the distance reduces to around 3 km.  This equates to beach-goers enjoying choice as the northerly winds generally produce great surf on the back beach, whilst ‘southerlies’ are usually better enjoyed on the beaches lining Port Phillip Bay.  Fantastic walks line both shorelines, whilst water sports of all disciplines are relished here.  Cycling, strolling, hiking, exploring, surfing, swimming, kayaking, wind surfing, body boarding, snorkelling, scuba diving, holidaying, boating, fishing, golfing, shopping, camping, pampering – there are just so many activities with which to indulge your senses !!!

The town centre of Rye would have to supply most of your needs with supermarkets, boutique shopping, eateries, sports shops, etc., whilst overlooking the historic pier, beaches, jetties, picnic facilities, and so forth.  Looking at the metropolis that Rye has become today, it is hard to believe that just over a century ago it was described as:

” . . . A postal village 54 miles S. of Melbourne in Capel sound on shore of Port Phillip bay, between Dromana and Sorrento, from latter it is distant 5 miles.  State school.  Lime-burning is carried on and a large quantity of firewood shipped for Melbourne.  Rail to Mornington, 39¼ miles ; fares, 7s and 4s 7d ; coach thence, 12 miles  Mrs. Mitchell, postmistress.  Population, 70 . . . “

Source:  Excerpt – ‘Mornington Standard’ – Article “Flinders & Kangerong Shire” – published 18th November 1897

The area on which the seaside township of Rye now resides was once part of the ‘Tootgarook’ (or White Cliff or Kangerong) run.  Once described as a settled district of 6,400 acres running 700 heads of cattle on the south-east shore of ‘Port Phillip’ between Dromana and Rye – owned by Edward William Hobson from 1838, and thereafter James Purves from 1850 to 1869.

Owen Cain occupied the area referred to Pt Nepean from July 1842 to 1851 . . .

Interestingly, the name ‘Kangerong’ was applied when the area was constituted a District on the 14th October 1862.  White Cliffs Road leads to the direct vicinity of the beautiful ‘Whitecliffs Lookout‘ and Cain Road runs directly adjacent to White Cliffs Road, situate just to the west of the township of Rye.  Lime burning, timber and farming were the first draw cards to this region, as the landscape was endowed with large deposits of limestone coupled with forests of hot burning She Oak with which to fire the kilns.  During the 1860’s there were fourteen lime kilns in operation in this direct area.  The landscape of open She Oak forest became the Tea Tree and grassland we see today, as the the She Oak did not recover from the mass felling.  The pier was built c 1860 to transport the much needed lime and produce to Melbourne.  The settled district of ‘Tootgarook’ was gazetted on the 16th February 1861, at which time Rye was proclaimed the name of the town.

The mid 20th century saw many a holiday house built and Rye grew to be a Summer vacation destination, as it still remains today . . .

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Plan your trip to Rye here

Discover Rye via POI Australia’s Interactive Map, or, acquaint yourself with Rye‘s

 – Points of Interest

 – Things to Do

 – Accommodation

 – Dining Out

 – Shopping

 – Services

 – Community & Events

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Epilogue:  

POI Australia has been designed to network Australia by encouraging and harnessing local knowledge wherever possible. 

Our aim is to –

 – encourage locals to support LOCAL community groups and events; and to use LOCAL products and services

 – encourage visitors, tourists and investors to the many amazing regions of Australia that are so often overlooked.

During our visit, we have endeavoured to capture the essence of Rye and collectively, with our research, have summarised the Points Of Interest (POI) that we have found.

We know that there are many more POI and stories to tell.  We enthusiastically invite and encourage contributions to POI Australia – no matter how large or small.  To submit information regarding your town and region, please contact us.  The information will be reviewed, edited (to suit the segment), approved and added to POI Australia.  Remember: “a picture says a thousand words” – so the more photos – the better.  To maintain relevancy of the information on the website, we are always grateful to receive updates at any time. 

We encourage community organisations, sporting clubs, events, non-for-profit organisations to list with us, as all these services are totally free of charge – apply for your 100% Discount Coupon here.

In order to maintain the free community services, POI Australia provides an opportunity for businesses to support their town and region by advertising for a nominal annual fee.  The business listings are designed to be very quick and easy to complete, providing links to existing websites, Facebook, etc., so that time-poor business owners can quickly add and maintain their listings.  We hope that the low charges will encourage business to “spread the word”.

The more we network, the more successful we will be in promoting Australia’s locations, stories, histories, businesses, people, sustainability and the environment.

Working together, we can protect our Country, our Environment and our Communities . . .