Moggs Creek

Moggs Creek
Town
Moggs Creek beach
Moggs Creek
Coordinates: 38°27′22″S144°04′01″E / 38.45611°S 144.06694°E / -38.45611; 144.06694
Country	Australia
State	Victoria
LGA	Surf Coast Shire
Location	43 km (27 mi) SW of Geelong 107 km (66 mi) SW of Melbourne
Government
•  State electorate	Polwarth
•  Federal division	Wannon
Elevation	35 m (115 ft)
Population
• Total	120 (2021 census) [1]
Postcode	3231
Localities around Moggs Creek Eastern View Aireys Inlet Aireys Inlet Eastern View Moggs Creek Fairhaven Bass Strait Bass Strait Bass Strait

Moggs Creek is a locality in Surf Coast Shire, Victoria, Australia. It is located Great Ocean Road between Aireys Inlet and Lorne. In the 2021 census, Moggs Creek had a population of 120 people. ^[1]

The settlement is located on a sandy coastal strip, backed by wooded hills, in which the creek itself rises, running about 10 km south-east to the ocean. The origin of the name Moggs is uncertain, the creek having also been known as the McLaren and Bell Bird in the past. Local belief is that Moggs derives from a family of graziers near St Arnaud, who used to bring cattle to graze in the area. ^[2]

The construction of the Great Ocean Road in the 1920s paved the way for further development, but it was only after World War II that land in the area was subdivided and sold for housing. ^[2]

In 1959, a group of Moggs Creek residents erected a rough cairn of bricks, topped by a plaster bust, as a monument to the mythical Sir Samuel Moggs, alleged to be the first European to have landed at the location, on 29 February 1759. ^[3]

Geography

Moggs Creek itself rises in the wooded hills to the north, near Boonah. The settlement of the same name is at the mouth of Moggs Creek, which only runs into the ocean after periods of heavy rain.

The beach at Moggs Creek, unlike that at Aireys Inlet, is a long, uninterrupted sandy beach, running between Fairhaven in the east and Eastern View in the west. The shore is lined with sand dunes, covered in shrubbery, which separate the beach from the Great Ocean Road. Though that stretch of beach is usually wide and easily traversable, water can rise close to the dunes at high tide.

Notable people

• Patrick Dangerfield, AFL footballer playing for the Geelong Football Club, and formerly the Adelaide Football Club

References

1. Australian Bureau of Statistics (28 June 2022). "Moggs Creek (State Suburb)". 2021 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
2. Bentley, Philip. "Group M and the Moggs Creek Clickers". Deeper Feeling, Wider Vision. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
3. "Sir Samuel Moggs". Monument Australia. Retrieved 22 April 2018.

• Armstrong, Paul. Victoria: a Lonely Planet Australia guide. Lonely Planet Publications, 1996
• Everist, Richard. The Complete Guide to the Great Ocean Road. BestShot, 2009
• Moggs Creek Tide Times and Heights
• "Moggs Creek Postcode (VIC)". QPZM Postcodes Australia.