 The area of Geelong and the Bellarine Peninsula was originally occupied by the Wathaurong Indigenous Australian tribe.The first nonindigenous person recorded as visiting the region was Lieutenant John Murray, who commanded the brig .After anchoring outside Port Phillip Heads (the narrow entrance to Port Phillip, onto which both Geelong and Melbourne now front), on 1 February 1802, he sent a small boat with six men to explore.