Seawinds Park: Arthurs Seats' Summit Alternative

Hidden away at the top of Arthurs Seat is Seawinds Gardens. George Chapman acquired the property in 1896 while he was working at the nearby Heronswood Estate. He built a homestead on the property near the northern lookout and his children used a horse and dray to get to school each day in Dromana at the bottom of Arthurs Seat. Mr Chapman was also involved in supplying timber that was transported to Melbourne by train from Red Hill, a town on the eastern side of Arthur's Seat.

Seawinds Gardens cover a total of 34 hectares of land at the top of Arthurs Seat which peaks at 305 metres above sea level. Providing spectacular views of Port Phillip as well as the Mornington and Bellarine Peninsulas from various lookout points around the park.

Work on the gardens at Seawinds was started in 1946 by the then owners, Sir Thomas Travers and Lady Travers. In 1960 Sir Thomas Travers acquired five artworks by the famous artist William Ricketts. These ceramic works of art are now featured on a rock wall at Seawinds. In 1975 the Victorian State Government purchased Seawinds from the Travers estate and made it part of the Arthurs Seat National Park.

Offering a combination of indigenous and exotic formal gardens, as well as the William Ricketts sculpture collection, the park is the perfect place for a picnic with electric barbeques, picnic tables and toilets.

Several walking tracks will take you through the diverse range of flora with the changing seasons. Summer offers a cool escape from the surrounding coast. In Autumn the park transforms into a canopy of red, yellow and brown before the trees lose all their leaves. Winter highlights the distinction between the deciduous birch and willow trees against the still-green pine and cypress trees. Late August shows a rush of bright yellow when the daffodils begin to flower just before the onset of spring, which brings vibrant flowers and shrubs to life.