French Island is located on the Mornington Peninsular in Western Port Bay and is accessible by ferry from either Stony Point Pier or Cowes in Phillip Island, both will take you to Tankerton Jetty on French Island. Western Port Ferries travel there daily, and it takes around 15 minutes to reach the Island. Prices are $26 for adults and $12 for children return, I think the price is extremely reasonable for a trip on the ferry with beautiful views and a day (or however long you like) on the Island. You can view their timetable, prices and further information at: www.westernportferries.com.au If you are wanting to take your car with you to the island, then you will need to take the vehicular barge which departs Corinella. Spirit of French Island are the operators and the barge is able to hold two cars or one truck. As the barge is limited by times and tides it is advisable to call 0428 880 729 for information and bookings. Of course, if you have your own boat you could use that to get yourself there also.
This was another destination that had been top of my ‘to do’ list for years, it certainly didn’t disappoint when we visited in January this year. It just so happened that we visited the Island the day before a fire, which was started by a lightning strike ripped through approximately 87 hectares of the 17,000 hectare island. My heart really went out to the small community there as I watched it on the news. On a happier note no lives were lost nor were any houses. I do believe a shed containing some much-loved cars did however succumb to the fire. The day we were there was a very sunny day, and I remember as we walked the 3km along the wide dirt road, what a beautiful day it is. I also remember walking along that dirt road and thinking are we ever going to get anywhere, as we had no idea how far the General Store we were heading to was from the jetty.
There is accommodation on French Island ranging from houses to glamping, the only accommodation we saw on our trip was Figs Cottage, which is self-contained, sleeps 5 and is formally known as French Island BnB. There is a free shuttle bus offered from the jetty on public holidays and weekends. It is located right next door to the General Store which is licenced and serves absolutely delicious meals. We went there for lunch and they were incredibly welcoming, and did I mention their food was delicious, we were all pleased with our orders. The General store sells groceries, souvenirs, maps, food and wine, it also hires out bikes at a cost of $30 for the day. To make reservations for accommodation or if you have any queries you can contact French Island General Store (Figs) on: 5980 1209.
This Fancy Lady resides at Figs, her name is George and she is 40 years old. She was a chatty woman and told me “My name is George” followed by “your gorgeous”, suffice to say we soon became good friends. However, enticing the thought of chatting with George may be, do not put your finger in her cage she is known to bite and may well give you a nip. She must be selective as to who she converses with as when the boys noticed me talking to her they quickly came over to see what was going on. I told them what she said and told them to wait she will say it again, but no she did not, until they had walked away, and she started up again.
Next time we go we will be hiring a bike from them or take our own as that would be the best way to see more of the island. As it was, we only went from Tankerton Jetty to the General Store, which was 3km each way, and then when we arrived back at the jetty, we did do some exploring and went for a walk along the beach. I would have liked to visit the winery, coincidentally called French Island Vineyard, however it is more like 10km each way from Tankerton Jetty and we just didn’t have time.
There are 110 permanent residents living on the island, and every single one we came across were lovely. All the roads are dirt roads and as we were walking along the road a local driving past stopped to warn us about snakes as it was a warm (yet extremely overcast) day and likely they would be out. He was a friendly chap and it was kind of him to stop. On our walk back to the jetty the owner of French Island Glamping stopped and offered us a lift, to which I politely declined and advised we could use the exercise to walk lunch off. French Island is well known for its large koala population, unfortunately seeing we didn’t explore much of the island we did not see any koalas on our visit. It was incredibly quiet and peaceful here, I would have loved to explore more of the Island, guess that just means I will have to go back.
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