FROM PIONEER Flinders a holiday destination for turn-of-the-century travellers

FROM PIONEER

Flinders a holiday destination for turn-of-the-century travellers

Flinders is a hard place to forget. With its scrubby rugged coastline and charming village that exudes history from every street corner, this is a seaside town where holidaymakers in the late 1800s and early 1900s would gather freely. Once known as Mendi-Moke, the Flinders of today may be an eternity away from those days of long bustle dresses and three-piece suits gliding up and down Cook St, but the beginnings of the Mornington Peninsula’s hospitality industry is still palpable.

Wealthy Melburnians began flocking to Flinders from the 1860s onwards to enjoy the leisurely lifestyle by the sea. From the late 1880s, travellers could leave Melbourne by the early train to Hastings, catch the daily mail coach and arrive in Flinders around lunchtime; or sail to Dromana on the Ozone or Alert and take a coach the remainder of the way – but only on certain days. Once in Flinders, day visitors would flock to Elephant Rock near the Flinders Blowhole, a popular destination for picnics and soaking up the pristine air, which was considered beneficial for health and happiness. Sightseers would gather on the sand, lay down a rug and enjoy their lunch, but such visits could be dangerous – two ladies were washed off the rocks in 1911 but were rescued.

By the early 1900s, Flinders had become one of the favoured holiday resorts, and guesthouses were becoming incredibly popular due to reasonably priced accommodation. The first to open in Flinders was The Bungalow Guest House, which was built on the crest of the hill in Bass St in 1870. Then came the Oaklands Guest House in Bass St, and The Flinders Hotel on the corner of Cook and Wood streets. Flinders House, which opened in 1891, initially handled the telegraph services and became a guesthouse in 1912. Many guesthouses followed and offered accommodation, dining and entertainment.

St Andrews Guest House, built on the corner of Dudley St and The Esplanade by David and Mrs Maxwell in the early 1900s, was known as the ‘cream of the crop’ of Flinders guesthouses. Originally small, it was extended in the 1920s and had accommodation for 45 guests. There was a ballroom and an elegant dining room with fine silver and an open fireplace that roared in winter while the wild wind squalled outside. Built between the croquet lawn and the second tee on the golf course, it had a fabulous view of the sea, but you had to be invited to stay there. It was an extremely ‘proper’ affair. Guests dressed for dinner every night except on Sundays, and although the ‘lavatories’ were outside, many people of note returned for holidays, including

Dame Nellie Melba, Lord Huntingfield and Sir Henry and Lady Winneke. St Andrews Guest House was in operation until 1972. Katoomba Guest House, built around 1890, was run by three sisters and could sleep up to 100 guests, while Miss Robertson, the proprietor of Houghton House, which was built in the 1860s, taught piano to local children. Other guesthouses included Eastwell, Highbury, Bass Lodge and The Cottage (Phoenix Cottage).

The post-war era saw the end of guesthouses and an increasing interest in motels and caravan parks. With the exception of the Flinders Hotel, all the old guesthouses have been lost, but the historical importance of those holiday places from long ago still remains. Hospitality has always been a mainstay on the Mornington Peninsula and will continue to be so. With a population of about 200 people and as many again at holiday time, Flinders was described in 1903 in the Australian Handbook: