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Apollo Bay Victoria | |||||||||||||||
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Coordinates | 38°45′0″S143°39′0″E / 38.75000°S 143.65000°E | ||||||||||||||
Population | 1,790 (2021 census) [1] | ||||||||||||||
Postcode(s) | 3233 | ||||||||||||||
Elevation | 15.0 m (49 ft) | ||||||||||||||
Location |
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LGA(s) | Colac Otway Shire | ||||||||||||||
State electorate(s) | Polwarth | ||||||||||||||
Federal division(s) | Wannon | ||||||||||||||
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Apollo Bay is a coastal town in southwestern Victoria, Australia. It is situated on the eastern side of Cape Otway, along the edge of the Barham River and on the Great Ocean Road, in the Colac Otway Shire. The town had a population of 1,790 at the 2021 census. [1]
It is a major tourist destination in Victoria. [2] It is host to the annual Apollo Bay Seafood Festival, Winter Wild and the Great Ocean Road Running Festival.
In winter to spring, southern right whales come to the area mainly to breed, bear their calves, and raise them in the warmer, calm waters of South Australia during their migration season. Less frequently, humpback whales can be seen off the coast.
Apollo Bay is part of the traditional lands of the Gadubanud, or King Parrot people, of the Cape Otway coast. [3] By the early 19th century, the area was being frequented by sealers and whalers from Sydney. [4] One local Indigenous name for the area, of uncertain language origin, is 'Krambruk'. [5]
The bay was named by a Captain Loutit in 1845 when he sheltered his vessel, the Apollo, here from a storm.
The first European settlers were timber cutters in the 1850s who subsequently established sawmills. Although the bay provided a relatively sheltered anchorage, the lack of a suitable pier meant that logs were floated out to sea to be loaded on to ships. [4] [6] A township on Apollo Bay was surveyed in 1853 and named Middleton. In the 1860s, farming land was made available and in the mid 1870s, the first blocks in the township were offered for sale. [4] Middleton post office (with a fortnightly mail delivery) opened on 1 May 1873. [7] A school was opened in 1880. [6]
In 1881, the town and post office was renamed Krambruk. [7] That was changed to Apollo Bay in 1898. During this period almost the only access to the area was by sea, but a coach service from Birregurra to Apollo Bay was inaugurated in 1889. [4] The pier at Point Bunbury was swept away in a storm, as was a second pier at that site. Consequently, the "Long Pier" was built at a more sheltered site in 1892. [4]
The town plan indicated that Pascoe Street would be the main thoroughfare, but the erection of several buildings on Collingwood Street meant that it became Apollo Bay's commercial centre. [4] With the upgrade of the road to the town in 1927, and then the completion of the Great Ocean Road in 1932, the area became a tourist destination and an important fishing port. [6]
On 10 July 1932 the coastal steamer Casino sank while attempting to berth at the town jetty. Ten people died. [8] Many earlier shipwrecks had occurred along the Cape Otway coastline.
In 1936 a submarine telegraph and telephone cable from Apollo Bay to Stanley provided the first telephone connection to Tasmania from the mainland. The Apollo Bay Telegraph station closed in 1963 and is now a museum. [6]
Apollo Bay has an oceanic climate (Cfb) with mild summers and damp winters.
Climate data for Apollo Bay | |||||||||||||
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Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 21.9 (71.4) | 21.8 (71.2) | 20.1 (68.2) | 18.0 (64.4) | 15.7 (60.3) | 13.6 (56.5) | 13.1 (55.6) | 14.0 (57.2) | 15.8 (60.4) | 17.6 (63.7) | 19.2 (66.6) | 20.6 (69.1) | 17.6 (63.7) |
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 13.9 (57.0) | 14.6 (58.3) | 12.8 (55.0) | 11.5 (52.7) | 9.5 (49.1) | 8.3 (46.9) | 7.3 (45.1) | 7.9 (46.2) | 8.9 (48.0) | 9.5 (49.1) | 10.6 (51.1) | 12.2 (54.0) | 10.6 (51.1) |
Average precipitation mm (inches) | 52.5 (2.07) | 50.3 (1.98) | 67.9 (2.67) | 82.0 (3.23) | 100.3 (3.95) | 109.3 (4.30) | 117.9 (4.64) | 128.4 (5.06) | 109.6 (4.31) | 98.5 (3.88) | 80.0 (3.15) | 64.1 (2.52) | 1,063.4 (41.87) |
Average precipitation days | 8.6 | 8.1 | 10.8 | 13.5 | 16.2 | 16.3 | 18.0 | 18.7 | 16.8 | 15.2 | 12.8 | 10.7 | 165.7 |
Source: [9] |
Events and festivals that have been held in Apollo Bay include:
The local radio station is Apollo Bay Radio (community) on 87.6 FM, broadcasting from studios in Apollo Bay. Also available in Apollo Bay is Mixx FM (commercial) on 95.9 FM, OCR FM (community) on 88.7 FM, Flow FM (commercial) on 97.9 FM, and 774 ABC Melbourne (national) on 89.5 FM.
Apollo Bay is host to various sports clubs, including:
Additionally, Apollo Bay has hosted overnight stops on the Great Victorian Bike Ride six times (1991, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2009 and 2016), including serving as the host for the rest day on the last four of those visits. [22]
The Great Ocean Road is an Australian National Heritage-listed 240-kilometre (150 mi) stretch of road along the south-eastern coast of Australia, between the Victorian towns of Torquay and Allansford. Built by returned soldiers between 1919 and 1932, and dedicated to soldiers killed during World War I, the road is the world's largest war memorial. Winding through varying terrain along the coast, and providing access to several prominent landmarks, including the Twelve Apostles limestone stack formations, the road is an important tourist attraction.
Colac is a small city in the Western District of Victoria, Australia, approximately 150 kilometres south-west of Melbourne on the southern shore of Lake Colac.
The Shire of Colac Otway is a local government area in the Barwon South West region of Victoria, Australia, located in the south-western part of the state. It covers an area of 3,438 square kilometres (1,327 sq mi) and in June 2018 had a population of 21,503. It includes the towns of Apollo Bay, Beeac, Beech Forest, Birregurra, Colac, Cressy, Forrest, Johanna, Kennett River, Lavers Hill, Warrion and Wye River. It came into existence on 23 September 1994 through the amalgamation of the local government areas of City of Colac, Shire of Colac, part of the Shire of Otway and part of the Shire of Heytesbury.
Torquay is a seaside resort in Victoria, Australia, which faces Bass Strait, 21 km south of Geelong and is the gateway to the Great Ocean Road. It is bordered on the west by Spring Creek and its coastal features include Point Danger and Zeally Bay. At the 2021 census, Torquay had a population of 18,534.
Lorne is a seaside town on Louttit Bay in Victoria, Australia. It is situated about the Erskine River and is a popular destination on the Great Ocean Road tourist route. Lorne is in the Surf Coast Shire and at the 2016 census had a population of 1,114 but this figure grows during the holiday season.
Kennett River is a small seaside town in Victoria, Australia.
Wye River is a small town in Victoria, Australia. It is also the name given to the waterway which flows through the town and into the sea. Situated 155 km to the west of Melbourne, on the Otway Coast, part of the scenic Great Ocean Road, the Wye River township is located about 15 km west of the resort town Lorne, Victoria. It became more feasible for Melburnians to holiday there after the section of the Great Ocean Road from Lorne to Apollo Bay was opened in 1932. At the 2016 census, Wye River had a permanent population of 66, although its holiday population is ten times that.
Forrest is a small rural township in the Otway Ranges, Victoria, Australia. At the 2016 census, Forrest and the surrounding area had a population of 230.
The electoral district of Polwarth is an electoral district of the Victorian Legislative Assembly. It is located in south-west rural Victoria, west of Geelong, and covers the Colac and Corangamite local government areas (LGA), parts of the Moyne, Golden Plains and Surf Coast LGAs, and slivers of the Ararat and Greater Geelong LGAs, running along the Great Ocean Road taking in Anglesea, Cape Otway, Peterborough, Aireys Inlet, Lorne, Wye River, Apollo Bay and Port Campbell, covering the inland towns of Winchelsea, Colac, Camperdown and Terang along the Princes Highway, and Inverleigh, Cressy, Lismore and Mortlake on the Hamilton Highway, and finally, includes the Otway Ranges and Lake Corangamite.
Surf Life Saving Australia (SLSA) is an Australian not-for-profit community organisation that promotes water safety and provides surf rescue services.
Breamlea, Victoria, Australia, is a secluded seaside hamlet located on the south coast of the Bellarine Peninsula, 18 kilometres south of Geelong, and halfway between Barwon Heads and Torquay. It is divided between the City of Greater Geelong and the Surf Coast Shire. In the 2016 census, Breamlea had a permanent population of 162.
The Shire of Otway was a local government area about 190 kilometres (118 mi) southwest of Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria, Australia. The shire covered an area of 1,906.94 square kilometres (736.3 sq mi), and existed from 1919 until 1994.
The Colac & District Football Netball League (CDFNL) is a minor country football league based in the South West of Victoria in the city of Colac. The CDFNL has 10 clubs, all located in the Colac Otway Shire, with the exception of Lorne, which falls within the Surf Coast Shire. The competition incorporates the two sports of Australian rules football and netball.
Gellibrand is a town in south west Victoria, Australia. The town is located in the Otway Ranges midway between the Princes Highway and Great Ocean Road in the Colac Otway Shire, 176 kilometres (109 mi) south west of the state capital, Melbourne. At the 2016 census, Gellibrand had a population of 210. Gellibrand is home to the Otway Districts Demons Football and Netball Club, who play Australian Rules Football and participate in the Colac & District Football League.
Seaspray is a small coastal town in the Gippsland region of Victoria, Australia. The town is located on the Ninety Mile Beach, about 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) off the South Gippsland Highway, in the Shire of Wellington, 242 kilometres (150 mi) east of the state capital, Melbourne.
The Forrest railway line is a former branch railway in Victoria, Australia. It branched off the Warrnambool railway line at Birregurra, and ran through the foothills of the Otway Ranges to the town of Forrest.
The Barwon South West is an economic rural region located in the southwestern part of Victoria, Australia. The Barwon South West region stretches from the tip of the Queenscliff Heads to the border of South Australia. It is home to Victoria’s largest provincial centre, Geelong and the major centres of Aireys Inlet, Apollo Bay, Camperdown, Colac, Hamilton, Lorne, Port Campbell, Port Fairy, Portland, Torquay and Warrnambool. It draws its name from the Barwon River and the geographic location of the region in the state of Victoria.
Grey River is a rural locality in the Shire of Colac Otway, Victoria, Australia. It lies on the Great Ocean Road at the mouth of the Grey River, from which it derives its name.
Wongarra is a coastal locality in the Shire of Colac Otway, Victoria, Australia. In the 2016 census, Wongarra had a population of 37.
Sugarloaf is a small coastal locality in the Shire of Colac Otway, Victoria, Australia. In the 2011 census, the population of Sugarloaf was too low to separately report; however in November 2014 the Victorian Electoral Commission recorded 10 enrolled voters in Sugarloaf, living in 9 properties.