Undulating Tertiary and Quaternary coastal plains and hinterlands occur in several distinct segments (Warrnambool Plain, Otway Plain and Gippsland Plain) rise up to 200 metres in altitude and extend from Tyrendarra in the west to Lakes Entrance in the east and including Geelong, eastern Melbourne and the Mornington Peninsula. The area has a temperate climate with rainfall varying from about 500 to 1100 mm, typically with higher rainfall in winter. Adjacent areas of higher altitude (e.g. the Otway and Strzelecki Ranges) produce rainshadow effects in some parts of the area. The Warrnambool Plain is dominated by nutrient deficient soils over low calcareous dune formations and the distinctive cliffed coastline. Much of the limestone has been overlain by more recent sediments, and between the limestone dunes, areas of swamplands are characterised by highly fertile peats and seasonal inundation. The area east of Warrnambool is characterised by deeper soils of volcanic origins overlying limestone, which are dissected by streams. The Otway Plain includes coastal plains, river valleys and foothills from the Bellarine Peninsula west to Princetown. A small isolated component at Werribee, on the western shore of Port Phillip Bay, is included. The Gippsland Plain includes lowland coastal and alluvial plains characterised by generally flat to gently undulating terrain. The coastline is varied and includes sandy beaches backed by dunes and cliffs, and shallow inlets with extensive mud and sand flats. The vegetation includes lowland forests, open forests with shrubby or heathy understoreys, grasslands and grassy woodlands, heathlands, shrublands, freshwater and coastal wetlands, mangrove scrubs, saltmarshes, dune scrubs and coastal tussock grasslands. Extensively cleared for agriculture.⁴

Johann Joseph Eugene von Guérard (17 November 1811 – 17 April 1901) was an Austrian-born artist, active in Australia from 1852 until 1882. Known for his finely detailed landscapes in the tradition of the Düsseldorf school of painting, he is represented in Australia's major public galleries, and is referred to in the country as Eugene von Guerard. In 1852 von Guerard arrived in Victoria, Australia, determined to try his luck on the Victorian goldfields. As a gold-digger he was unsuccessful, but he did produce a large number of intimate studies of goldfields life, quite different from the deliberately awe-inspiring landscapes for which he was later to become famous. By the early 1860s von Guerard was recognised as the foremost landscape artist in the colonies, touring Southeast Australia and New Zealand in pursuit of the sublime and the picturesque. He is most known for the wilderness paintings produced during this time, which are remarkable for their shadowy lighting and fastidious detail. Indeed, his view of Tower Hill in south-western Victoria was used as a botanical template over a century later when the land, which had been laid waste and polluted by agriculture, was systematically reclaimed, forested with native flora and made a state park.