The Daily Boomerang

A truly charming village and quite possibly the most popular holiday location for people visiting Victoria’s Great Ocean Road is the beautiful town of Lorne:

Lorne is located a short drive from the laid back village of Angelsea and is the first town the Great Ocean Road passes through from where it officially begins. Along the Great Ocean Road from the north of Lorne there are a number of areas to pull over and take pictures of picturesque Lorne tucked in along the steep hillsides of the Great Otway Ranges:

Lorne was originally named Louttit Bay it is believed in 1846 after a sea captain who transported wood that was chopped down off the heavily forested hillsides in the area. It is known that a family moved to Lorne around 1850 because the graves of two children who died when a sand tunnel they built collapsed on them near the Erskine River, were found near the mouth of the river.

More settlers to Lorne arrived in 1853 and some even brought cattle with them. Looking at the rugged, thickly wooded hillsides of Lorne today does not make one immediately think this would be a great place to establish a cattle ranch and predictably the cattle ranch quit operating in the 1860’s. In 1871 the growing seaside village changed its name from Louttit Bay to Lorne. This change was made in honor of the Marquis of Lorne who married a daughter of Queen Victoria in 1870. The city continued to slowly grow and became a prime beach holiday location for visitors from Melbourne when the Great Ocean Road was completed through the town in 1924.

Today Lorne is still a bustling beach holiday town with probably more hotel resorts then the rest of the Great Ocean Road towns combined:

As busy as Lorne can be on the weekends it is not what I consider to be overwhelming and the town has a really good vibe to it as well.  The town is filled with many great restaurants and specialty shops, but without a doubt its beach is what most people head for first:

I have been to Lorne on three different occasions and each time I have not found the beach overly packed with visitors:

The water is a bit cool though so some of you visiting Melbourne from warmer climates may find swimming ocean undesirable due to the water temperature. If you don’t feel like swimming you can always just continue to tan on the beach like many visitors do or head back to downtown that is literally less then a hundred yards away:

For those that are want to do something other then hang out at the beach there are plenty of hiking trails in the nearby mountains to explore.  The first place to check out is Teddy’s Lookout which is a high hill that overlooks Lorne.  Here is a view of the hill from the Great Ocean Road just south of Lorne:

Here is the spectacular view from Teddy’s Lookout lookout looking south with a view of the Great Ocean Road as its continues its winding journey south towards Apollo Bay:

Teddy’s Lookout can either be reached by foot or by car.  Likewise another popular attraction near Lorne, the Erskine Falls is another area that can be reached on foot or by car.  The drive to the falls takes visitors high up into the Great Otway Ranges before the road suddenly steeply drops down into a deep gorge.  This gorge will definitely give your vehicle a good brake check.

At the bottom of the gorge is the carpark and it is only a short walk to the view point:

The viewpoint does provide a nice view of Erskine Falls, but to really appreciate the falls it is best to hike down to the bottom of the gorge.  The hike down the gorge is a steep one and the trail down the gorge had a plethora of warning signs:

Let’s see the trail has the dangers of slipping, being caught in a flood, trees following on me, and being bitten by snakes; sounds like my kind of trail so I definitely was going to check this out.  Going down was of course pretty easy as the trail was well maintained and featured 250 steps.  At the bottom of the trail was a sign that described Erskine Falls as being 300 meters above sea level and 88 meters in height:

The view of the falls from the bottom of the gorge is really stunning:

Here is a closer look at the falls:

Erskine Falls is located in a temperate rainforest causing the surrounding foliage to be extremely thick and dense with some of the biggest fern trees I have ever seen:

The temperate rainforest along the Great Otway Ranges has a number of giant mountain ash trees.  The mountain ash trees are considered the world’s tallest flowering plant and can grow to over 100 meters in height.  Unfortunately the large mountain ash trees near Lorne were either cut down by loggers in prior decades or burned down during the Ash Wednesday fires in 1983 that devastated large areas of the Otways to include the hills outside Lorne.  The fire burned 41,200 hectares, destroyed 800 homes in the Otways, and caused the deaths of three people.

Fortunately as can be seen around Erskine Falls the vegetation has completely recovered and no evidence of the Ash Wednesday fire can even be seen today:

After checking out the falls my wife and I began the 250 step climb back up the gorge which was much more difficult then going down obviously. Fortunately we made it back up the gorge without slipping, getting swept away by a flood, having a tree fall on us, or being bit by a snake.  I guess we were just lucky.  It is actually possible to hike to Erskine Falls all the way from Lorne by following a trail along the Erskine River.  Next time I’m in Lorne and I have time, I would love to do this hike sometime.

Overall though, the beauty of the Lorne area is really quite stunning and you don’t have to take my word for it take Rudyard Kipling’s word instead.  Kipling visited Lorne in 1891 and was so enchanted with the place he wrote his poem Flowers which included the lines, “Gathered where the Erskine leaps, Down the road to Lorne…”

My wife and I always look forward to when we can go back down the road to Lorne again ourselves.

It looks like there is going to be an early start to the Australian ski season this year:

VICTORIANS have had an early taste of winter as the state went from sunshine to snow falls within days.

Snow fell on alpine areas across the state, including more than 15cm at Falls Creek, prompting some to predict a bumper season.

"It’s a very significant snowfall. This is by far the best snow we’ve seen so far," Falls Creek Resort spokesman Ian Talbot said yesterday.

"It’s been suggested we’re going to have a winter like we did in 2000, when we actually opened two weeks early. It’s blizzard-like conditions here."

SES volunteers were called to remove 10 cars stuck in the snow at Falls Creek after the snap freeze surprised drivers.

Mt Buller also received more than 10cm of snow and the temperature plummeted to -1.9C at 11am.

"It’s always exciting when we see kids building snowmen and throwing snowballs weeks before the season officially begins," Buller Ski Lifts’ general manager Laurie Blampied said.

The ski season officially opens on the Queen’s Birthday weekend on June 7. [Herald-Sun]

It has been raining here in Victoria since Saturday and yesterday we received particularly heavy rainfall.  The news is reporting that the snow level in the mountains is at about 800 meters.  There is supposed to be more clouds, rain, and snowfall for the rest of the week for Victoria as well. 

Here are some of the pictures from the Herald-Sun article of the snowfall in the mountains.  First are pictures from Falls Creek:

This final picture is from Mt. Buller:

If people find the Victorian surfing capitol of Torquay a little bit to cool for them, then a great place to go to get away from the hip crowds of Torquay is just a short ride down the Great Ocean Road to Angelsea:

Angelsea is the family friendly answer to Torquay. The town is a small, family friendly town with plenty of places to camp. Best of all is the beautiful ocean scenery all around the town:

Australians first started traveling to Angelsea in the 1860’s, not to holiday but to fish in the Angelsea River that runs through the area and the nearby ocean as well as hunt for kangaroos and rabbits that frequent the area. The first permanent settlement at Angelsea didn’t happen until 1883 though, when Anna and Agnes Murray opened up a boarding house at Angelsea to take advantage of all the sportsmen hunting and fishing in the area. More would follow which would lead to the establishment of the actual town of Angelsea a few years later.

The holiday atmosphere in Angelsea continues to this day. Angelsea only has a full time population of 2,000 people but during the peak holiday periods up to 10,000 vacationers pack this small town with 3,000 of them being campers.

Many of these people on vacation begin their holiday in this wonderful seaside town by taking advantage of the many water sports available on the Angelsea River:

There are plenty of kayaks, rafts, and other boating equipment for anyone to have fun on this nice little river. Other holidayers would rather hit the links and play a round of golf with Angelsea’s favorite mob of kangaroos that inhabits this well known golf course in Victoria:

However, most people come to Angelsea to simply hang out at its beautiful beach:

The beach at Angelsea is located in a stunning cove that is protected by the long, rocky peninsula capped by Point Roadknight:

Since the cove is protected it provides plenty of gentle waves to do everything from wading in the ocean, body boarding, or even taking out a sea kayak:

Like I said before, for those looking to get away from the glam of Torquay taking a short drive down the Great Ocean Road to Angelsea is a good alternative.

Wild weather has been bashing the state of Victoria recently which has actually led to the deaths of two people here.  However, a nice thing about the wet and wild weather is that when the rain does stop the clouds help provide some spectacular sunsets over Victoria:

The picture is from my backyard and shows how intense the sunset was due to probably the increased amount of dust and water vapor in the air.  As the sun continued to set the sunset began to lose its intensity:

The weather the next few days is supposed to be pretty good the next few days but the heavy rain fall was quite nice despite all the damage the heavy winds caused.  I hope everyone gets out and enjoys the good weather this weekend.

The search for the 57 year old Canadian man Warren Meyer who went missing a week ago while bushwalking in the Yarra Ranges east of Melbourne has been called off:

Police have scaled down a search for a Canadian bushwalker missing since Sunday in the Yarra Ranges National Park, east of Melbourne.

Warren Meyer, 57, from Beaumaris, was last seen at the Dom Dom Saddle car park in the region last Sunday morning.

A police spokeswoman said the number of searchers had been scaled down as hopes of finding the man alive faded.

Earlier today, 53 Country Fire Authority volunteers, 40 State Emergency Service members and 15 search and rescue police searched over new ground in a last ditch attempt to locate the bushwalker. [The Age]

This weekend I went and hiked the same trail that Mr. Meyer disappeared on. I go hiking just about every weekend anyway and since I have never hiked this particular trail before I figure I would go and check it out. I began the hike over at Fernshaw which is opposite from where Mr. Meyer began his hike at Dom Dom Saddle.

In yellow below, I highlighted Morley’s Track that Mr. Meyer disappeared on:

I began at Fernshaw because I figured that the Dom Dom Saddle area would be packed with search and rescue personnel. At Fernshaw I was literally the only person there. The trail as can be seen in the map above runs nearly parallel to the road that runs through the mountains connecting Healsville to Marysville.

Here is the sign announcing the start of Morley’s Track and the route to Dom Dom Saddle:

Right from the start it becomes obvious how thickly vegetated this area is:

Most of the mountain ash trees are of medium size along the trail, but occasionally there are a few extremely large trees with some extending over 100 meters in height. The trail was overgrown in some areas due to the thick vegetation with plenty of fallen logs as well, but for the most part the trail was of decent quality like you see below:

Throughout the walk the trail remains heavily forested:

To further give readers a further idea of how forested and thick the underbrush along this trail really is, here is a quick video I shot of the terrain with my camera.

If Mr. Meyer did leave the trail it would be easy to get disoriented from where the trail is located. However, if he did leave the trail it would have to be towards the east because if he went off the trail and was disoriented to the west he could easily hear the cars on the highway to reorient himself. So if he was lost he would have to have been to the east. However, if he went east he would have to cross the stream pictured below:

This stream can be heard for quite some distance a way, so if Mr. Meyer was lost to the east it would have to be quite some distance from the stream. This stream runs right to Healsville so anyone lost can easily get back to town by following this stream. So he would have to be far enough from this stream not to hear it which would then put him on the slopes of Mt. Donna Buang.

I would think that since Mr. Meyer is an experienced bushwalker, he would know that there is a lookout tower on top of Mt. Donna Buang. If he was lost he could simply just head to the top of the mountain to find help. This why I don’t think he got lost during his hike.

This leaves the possibility he slipped and was hurt somewhere. It was reported that Mr. Meyer had a cellphone with him. I tested my cellphone out there and it did not get a signal so if he slipped and injured himself his cellphone may have been useless as well. I think this scenario will always remain a possibility, but I would think that with over 100 people looking for him in an area that isn’t that big somebody would have eventually found him. I say this will remain a possibility because the underbrush is so thick in the area that I think it is possible that the search party could have missed him, but probably unlikely.

After discounting the lost or injured scenarios as unlikely, I wasn’t surprised to learn that the police are opening a criminal investigation into his disappearance:

POLICE fear a missing Melbourne bushwalker may have been murdered and are investigating the movements of a man they suspect could be involved.

Detectives called in to probe the disappearance of experienced bushwalker Warren Meyer in the Yarra Ranges revealed yesterday that a man in his late 30s had been in the area at the time and was a “person of interest”.

Mr Meyer, 57, a Canadian national living in Beaumaris, was due to return from a 10-kilometre bushwalk in the Mount Dom Dom area at noon last Sunday but has not been seen since.

A massive search covering more than 100 kilometres of tracks and roads and more than five square kilometres of forest has failed to find any trace of the married father of two.

Mr Meyer, a consultant civil engineer, set out at 7.30am from the Dom Dom Saddle car park with food, water, a phone and GPS.

Police want to speak to a group of about eight people who were camping in the Black Spur, Narbethong or Acheron Way area over the Easter break and who might have given the suspect a lift to Warburton.

The man has been interviewed by police and admitted he had been in the area.

Police spokeswoman Creina O’Grady said the man claimed to have come across the group of campers on the day Mr Meyer disappeared and that they gave him a lift to Warburton. Detectives want to speak to the campers to check his story. [The Age]

On the map below you can see Warburton is on the opposite side of Mt. Donna Buang:

The Black Spur, Narbethong, Acheron Way area is just north of Dom Dom Saddle. So this mystery hiker may have hiked from Warburton over Mt. Donna Buang to Dom Dom Saddle and then walked further north up the Black Spur road before finding some campers to catch a ride with back to Warburton via the Acheron Way road. If anyone knows anybody who was camping in this area over Easter Weekend you might want to tell them to contact Victorian police.

If this mystery hiker did assault Mr. Meyer while their paths crossed on the trail, it would seem to me that Mr. Meyer’s body would at least have been fairly close to the trail for the searchers to find. Once again I can’t stress enough how thick the brush is and maybe the searchers just missed him.

I don’t know what happened to Mr. Meyer, but it is strange and tragic at the same time. When I reached Dom Dom Saddle there were a lot of people, police, and even ABC news there. I didn’t take any pictures because I don’t believe taken photos of people obviously very upset is the proper thing to do. I just took a quick look and left. I just hope authorities will be able to find out what happened to Mr. Meyer so his family can have peace of mind about what happened.

A fourth day of searching has come and gone for missing 57 year old Canadian hiker Warren Meyer:

MORE than 100 people have joined the search for missing Beaumaris bushwalker Warren Meyer, amid fading hopes he will be found alive.

The 57-year-old Canadian national was last seen at the Dom Dom Saddle car park in the Yarra Ranges National Park about 7.30am on Sunday and failed to return by noon that day.

He was set to face his fourth night in rugged mountain bush as rains dumped 20mm on the area and overnight temperatures dropped to just 5.5 degrees celsius.

The search - which resumed at first light today - now comprises more than 40 State Emergency Service (SES) volunteers, 20 members of the Bushwalkers Search and Rescue Association (BSARA) plus police trail bike riders, search and rescue dog handlers and mounted police.  [Herald-Sun]

The area where Meyer has gone missing is in thickly forested bushland just to the East of Melbourne and northeast of Healsville and just southwest of Marysville:

The hike he went on was only 10 kilometers long to the Dom Dom Saddle.  The hike was only supposed to take a few hours, but when he didn’t come back on time his wife began to worry and ultimately ended up contacting the police.  Since then the police have been searching for Mr. Meyer in the bushland along the trail. It is believed that Mr. Meyer left the trail and some how either became lost or incapacitated in some way.  Even though he couldn’t have traveled very far finding him is proving to be difficult because of the terrain. 

In this picture the area of mountains that Warren Meyer became missing in is pictured across the Maroondah Reservoir:

These trees and bush in the area are extremely thick.  The picture below is of a road in the area:

Along with the thick brush is the fact the mountains are steep and now poor weather is hampering the search as cold and rain is currently hitting Victoria with snow projected in the high country.  Mr. Meyer is an experienced bushwalker and he left well equipped with water, food, a GPS, and a cell phone.  This offers some slim hope that he can still be found alive.  Let’s pray for the best and hopefully Mr. Meyer can be found. 

With about half of the 2008 Bendigo Easter Parade completed my wife and I continued to sit back and enjoy the remainder of the parade. Sun Loong the highlight of the parade may have passed but there was still plenty more things to see such as the Scouts of Australia:

For those that don’t know, in Australia there is no Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts because they are both combined into one organization called Scouts.   Following the scouts was the Lions Club which just like last year’s parade, this would be the only time the Stars & Stripes would make an appearance during the parade:

Next up was a Bendigo skate board club:

Shortly after the skaters the next marchers were from the Falun Dafa:

As well as the Falun Gong:

The Falun Gong marchers included some incredibly beautifully dressed women in Chinese attire:

They also had a group fan dancers that were quite skilled and put on a good show:

These people meditating though was just boring to watch:

I would be more impressed if they were meditating while doing a handstand or something.  Of course the Falun Gong had Chinese drummers as well:

When the Falun Gong procession passed it reminded me of another group that is persecuted by the Chinese government that did not march in this year’s parade, the Tibetan Monks.   Last year the Tibetan Buddhist monks marched in the parade and I’m curious if the current crackdown of Tibetans in China had anything to do with it?

Anyway the Falun Gong marchers were quite good and were followed by a few more marchers such as this local Bendigo floor hockey team:

The Central Deborah Gold Mine also put a float together for the parade:

A word of advice for anyone visiting Bendigo, I highly recommend taking a trip to check out this interesting gold mine in Bendigo.  Toward the end of the parade we got to see another person dressed up as an animal:

At least I knew why this person was dressed up as an animal because it was part of a group of Humane Society  marchers.  Finally the end of the parade featured an Australian Defence Force vehicle called a Bushmaster:

The Bushmaster is manufactured by the THALES corporation in Bendigo which is a major employer in the city.  Then right behind the Bushmaster and the very last marchers in the parade were soldiers from the Australian Defence Force:

Overall the parade was still fun to go and see this year, but last year’s parade my wife and I felt was better.  Last year we believe had better floats and more of them.  Heck the gay and transsexual groups didn’t even have a float this year like they did last year.   What’s a parade in Australia without gays and transsexuals?  Anyway if anyone is in Victoria during the Easter holiday it is a great day out to see the parade and tour around one of my favorite cities in all of Australia, Bendigo.

Prior Posting: Scenes from the 2008 Bendigo Easter Parade - Part 1

Today my wife and I took a trip over to Bendigo to watch the annual Bendigo Easter Parade. Long time D.B. readers probably know that I am a big fan of Bendigo and enjoy visiting this great city every chance I can get. My wife and I went to last year’s parade and had a great time and we were sure this year’s parade would be great as well.

However, before we could enjoy the parade we had to find a place to park. Parking is very tight on the day of the parade so it is best to get there a little early. My wife and I found a place to park over at the city train station and then walked downtown from there. It took about 10 minutes to walk to the downtown area that was all sealed off for the parade. Something people don’t realize is that Bendigo during the Easter holiday does more then just hold the parade. It also has a number of cultural events along with turning the entire downtown area into one large carnival complete with rides:

Once my wife and I successfully waded through the crowds we made our way to the heart of downtown and found a spot in front of the Soldier Memorial to watch the parade from:

Soon enough the parade began and the first of many marching bands to come walked on by:

Then the first of the few bagpipe groups in the parade marched on by us:

These bagpipe players were from the Clan MacLeod and they looked every bit Scottish. Shortly after the bagpipe players the most famous part of the parade began to come by which is the Bendigo Chinese Association:

The Bendigo Easter Parade began in 1871 to raise money for a local hospital and has been ran annually ever since making the parade the oldest parade in Australia. The large Chinese community that moved to Bendigo during the gold rush years began participating in the parade in 1893 and ever since then has been the most prominent contributors to the parade which includes the world’s longest imperial dragon, Sun Loong which is without a doubt the star of the parade.

Before Sun Loong was going to make an appearance the Chinese marchers from not only Bendigo, but from Melbourne as well put on a variety of shows with their dragons, drums, gongs, and firecrackers:

You can probably see from the pictures that the Bendigo Chinese Association is not all full blooded Chinese. Most of the members we saw were white Australians that I am assuming have Chinese ancestry of some kind. Other marchers were of obvious Chinese ancestry:

Since the Chinese came to Bendigo during the gold rush in the 1860’s they have been fully integrated into Australian society including through marriage. I had a guy at work tell me that the Bendigo Chinese are actually more Australian than most Australians since they have lived in the country for so long

The kids were also getting into the act and they looked like they were having fun as well:

These dragon performers from Melbourne I really liked:

There was also guys lighting off Chinese fireworks on the road as they walked by:

Then eventually Sun Loong made its long awaited appearance at the parade:

Sun Loong is a really long dragon and I am estimating that it must of had about 100 people to move the dragon as it went by:

For those of you that couldn’t attend the parade to see Sun Loong you can actually see the dragon at anytime during a visit to Bendigo by stopping by the Golden Dragon Museum located in downtown that is home to the dragon. Additionally for anyone wondering, the beautiful building you see in the background of the above photograph is the historic Shamrock Hotel, one of my favorite buildings in Bendigo.

After Sun Loong went by we were greeted with yet more bagpipe players:

Then later on these two guys on stilts came by:

These two guys were actually quite impressive because they could walk on stilts and juggle at the same time. I would think that is no easy feat. Then they were followed by a procession of historic fire trucks:

The fire trucks were actually pretty cool, but I definitely wouldn’t want to be depended on them to save my house if it was burning down back in the days they were in service. Then following them was another Chinese inspired group, the Fu Wa Dancing Girls:

They were definitely girls, but we didn’t see any dancing though. They were followed by the weirdest thing in the parade, this person dressed as a giraffe:

I have no idea why this person was marching in the parade dressed as a giraffe, but it was an impressive outfit nonetheless. Another thing in the parade I couldn’t figure out why they were there, was this guy dressed as a dinosaur:

The guy in the dinosaur outfit was definitely having fun though because he was attacking little kids on the sidewalk watching the parade much to their amusement. Anyway there was yet much more to come in this fantastic parade.

Next Posting: Scenes from the 2008 Bendigo Easter Parade - Part 2

The small town of Torquay (Pop. 8,000) on Victoria’s Surf Coast may be the most recognizable small town in all of Victoria. What makes Torquay so well known is the fact that is the start point for the Great Ocean Road and home to the Rip Curl Pro World Surfing Championships.

The Great Ocean Road is recognized across the country as one of the greatest if not the greatest road journey in all of Australia. The road runs from Torquay and around the southern peninsula of Victoria hugging the stunning coastal hills of the Otway Ranges that steeply plunge into the Southern Ocean before the road ends with amazing views of the dramatic coastal cliffs of the 12 Apostles at Port Campbell National Park:

The Great Ocean Road may have gotten Torquay its first recognition, but it is surfing that has made it a national icon. The downtown area of Torquay is packed with name brand surf stores to include such famous brands as Quiksilver and Rip Curl. These stores and nearby beaches makes Torquay a very popular destination for weekend surfing fans.

Unfortunately the day I visited Torquay the weather was no cooperating and there was not a whole lot of surfing going on at the beaches that border the city:

There was a few people out there playing some beach cricket which is popular at just about any Australian beach it seems no matter the weather:

Walking further down the beach at Torquay we did run into some people body boarding on the waves coming in:

How these people are able to body board in such cold weather is beyond me. However, most of the beaches around Torquay were lonely as this picture suggests:

Something else my wife and I found interesting besides admiring the beaches of Torquay was to check out the gigantic mansions that line the beach front in Torquay:

Judging by the size of the homes in the city, Torquay definitely has a lot money either living in it or at least owning property the owners take advantage of on the weekends. Torquay is also home to the Surfworld Museum that is considered the world’s premier surfing hall of fame:

If you have any interest in surfing you will find all you ever wanted to know about surfing in this museum. Part of the museum is open to the public and serves as a visitor center but to explore the remainder of the museum a small entrance fee is needed.

The most iconic aspect of Torquay’s surfing image is the Rip Curl Pro World Surfing Championships that take place every Easter Weekend:

This world famous surfing championship is held every year at Bell’s Beach located just a short five minute drive south of Torquay:

This competition has happened every year since 1962 and the world’s longest running surfing competition and this more then anything has put Torquay on the map.  However, you don’t need to be a surfing fan to enjoy Bells Beach.  The view from the cliffs that overlook the beach are really stunning:

I visited the beach early in the morning and the weather had improved dramatically from the day before but very few people were visiting the beach despite the large waves coming in:

There was a few dedicated surfers out there taking advantage of the beach they literally had to themselves:

Besides the handful of surfers the beach was deserted which a bit surprising considering how famous this beach is:

However, when I pulling out of the parking lot I did see a tour bus come rolling into the parking lot which leads me to believe that after the breakfast hours the beach probably starts getting filled up with tourists like myself wanting to get a look at the beach.

Anyone traveling the Great Ocean Road I highly recommend taking the side trip and taking a look at the beautiful Bell’s Beach because the views from the cliff over the beach is quite scenic and it is fun to watch the surfers do their thing on the waves which at times was quite impressive. However for the city of Torquay unless you are into surfing there isn’t a whole lot else to see. I found the city a bit one dimensional and definitely almost exclusively geared towards the surf crowd. So keep that mind if visiting but it was interesting seeing the town none the less.

The above shark was caught by a fishermen near a popular swimming at Geelong:

A MELBOURNE man hooked a monster shark while fishing off a pier near swimmers southeast of Geelong yesterday morning.

BILL Athanasslies felt his rod “explode” at about 5.30am (AEDT) on Point Lonsdale pier yesterday morning while he was fishing just metres away from a popular swimming location.

“It took-off like a rocket,” he told the Geelong Advertiser today.

Mr Athanasslies, who runs a business teaching people how to land big fish, spent an hour fighting to reel-in the 3m bronze whaler.

Hauling the super-sized fish up onto the pier proved equally challenging.

The bronze whaler was so heavy, Mr Athanasslies and three other men were unable to haul it out of the water.

After struggling for 40 minutes, Mr Athanasslies drove into Point Lonsdale and recruited a three more people off the street to help.

It took eight men to land the shark.  [Geelong Advertiser]

I have heard there are sharks that come into Port Phillip Bay occassionally and this proves it.  Usually sharks in the Melbourne area tend to hang around Phillip Island just outside of the bay because of the large seal colony there they can feed on.  The island is particularly famous for attracting the largest sharks of them all, the Great White.