| Toora Victoria | |
|---|---|
 Wind Turbine | |
  Toora | |
| Coordinates | 38°39′S146°20′E / 38.650°S 146.333°E |
| Population | 681 (2016 census) [1] |
| Postcode(s) | 3962 |
| LGA(s) | South Gippsland Shire |
| County | Buln Buln |
| State electorate(s) | Gippsland South |
| Federal division(s) | Monash |
Toora is a small farming town in Victoria, Australia whose main industry is dairy farming. It is located at the top of Corner Inlet opposite Wilsons Promontory National Park. In the 2016 census the population was 681. [1]
The Post Office opened on 18 August 1882. [2]
Located on the South Gippsland Highway east of Wilsons Promontory, Toora was first named Muddy Creek in the 1860s when a timber mill was set up on a 640-acre Mangrove Pre-emptive Right to supply much needed hardwood for the colony. The gold boom had led to a building surge in Melbourne when blue gum sleepers were used in the first piers constructed at Port Melbourne while railway sleepers were sent to India when the British Government were constructing hundreds of miles of railway lines.
George Buchanan built a sawmill at Sealers Cove on Wilsons Promontory but the supply of timber was too limited and in 1853 he arranged for it to be relocated first to Agnes River and then across to Muddy Creek. Situated on the east bank of Muddy Creek, Buchanan's Mill had contracts for many types of sawn timber which was transported across the mangrove swamp to Swan Bay where it was loaded onto barges which carried them to larger boats anchored in deeper water in Corner Inlet. Parts of the old tramlines and loading facilities still remain.
More mills were established in the thickly forested hills and the timber was transported on tramlines across swamps and taken to seaports by barges.
Not far from the old mill site, still on the coastal plain, during the depression of the 1890s the government of the day encouraged settlement of the area as farming land under the Village Settlement Scheme but the blocks were too small and the scheme failed. The abandoned land was taken up for dairying and the fattening of cattle. These are the main industries of the area today.
The Toora Magistrates' Court closed on 1 July 1981, not having been visited by a Magistrate since 1971. [3]
Further inland, the spectacular countryside continues to offer new views at every turn. North of Toora beyond Mt. Best and Mt. Fatigue is the beautiful Gunyah Gunyah Forest which is home to huge mountain ash, colourful beeches, wattles and magnificent tree ferns. The sounds of the lyre birds are always present. This timber reserve of 2,000 acres backs onto the scenic Grand Ridge Road which meanders across the full length of the Strzelecki Ranges.
Nearby Agnes Falls are the tallest in Victoria and easily accessible to the thousands of visitors who each year come to the Strzelecki Ranges and Wilsons Promontory.
A round trip along the scenic route from Toora brings you down to the sea again via Welshpool to Port Welshpool where the Long Jetty has recently been added to the Heritage List.
The district is rich in maritime history with small fishing fleets operating from Port Welshpool, Port Franklin and Port Albert while cray boats work from Walkerville.
A boat ramp at Toora gives access to Corner Inlet and is a short drive from Port Franklin, Yarram, Waratah Bay and many ports off the South Gippsland Highway.
Turtons Creek north of nearby Foster, once rich in alluvial gold, is now a naturalist’s paradise of tree fern gullies and lyrebirds.
It has recently become known for the Toora Wind Farm, consisting of 12 large wind-powered turbines above the town. The Great Southern Rail Trail bike trail also passes through Toora from Leongatha.
The town has an Australian Rules football team (Toora and District) competing in the Alberton Football League. [4]
Toora has a number of local facilities including a caravan park and heated swimming pool.
Traralgon is a city located in the east of the Latrobe Valley in the Gippsland region of Victoria, Australia and the most populous city in the City of Latrobe and the region. The urban population of Traralgon at the 2021 census was 26,907. It is the largest and fastest growing city in the greater Latrobe Valley area, which has a population of 77,168 at the 2021 Census and is administered by the City of Latrobe.
Gippsland is a rural region in the southeastern part of Victoria, Australia, mostly comprising the coastal plains south of the Victorian Alps. It covers an elongated area of 41,556 km2 (16,045 sq mi) east of the Shire of Cardinia between Dandenong Ranges and Mornington Peninsula, and is bounded to the north by the mountain ranges and plateaus/highlands of the High Country, to the southwest by the Western Port Bay, to the south and east by the Bass Strait and the Tasman Sea, and to the east and northeast by the Black–Allan Line.
Inverloch is a seaside town in Victoria, Australia. It is 143 kilometres (89 mi) south east of Melbourne via the South Gippsland Highway on the Bass Highway in the Bass Coast Shire of Gippsland. Known originally for the calm waters of Anderson Inlet, it is now also known for the discovery of Australia's first dinosaur bone.
The township of Yarram is in Victoria, Australia, in the Shire of Wellington, located in the southeast of Gippsland. At the 2016 census, the population of the town was 2,135. The town is the regional centre of a prosperous farming district,also known as yarraam.It has a vibrant community, which remains dedicated to a strong sporting culture. The town also has a strong tourism industry, with Tarra Bulga National Park, Port Albert, Ninety Mile Beach and Agnes Falls all being within a 30-minute commute from Yarram. The town is located about one and a half hours from Wilsons Promontory. Nearby towns include Welshpool, Alberton and Foster.
The Strzelecki Ranges is a set of low mountain ridges located in the West Gippsland and South Gippsland regions of the Australian state of Victoria.
Foster is a dairying and grazing town 174 kilometres (108 mi) south-east of Melbourne on the South Gippsland Highway in Victoria, Australia. At the 2016 census Foster had a population of 1,164. It is about 20 kilometres (12 mi) north of the Gippsland coastline which includes Shallow Inlet, Corner Inlet, Waratah Bay, Yanakie and Wilsons Promontory.
Boolarra is a small township located in the Latrobe Valley, in central Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. At the 2016 Census, Boolarra had a population of 973 with 48% males and 52% females and an average age of 50. The Boolarra Folk Festival is held in the town every year in March and attracts music lovers from around Australia and the world. The town is also infamous for producing the Boolarra strain of carp which, after their release into the Murray River near Mildura, spread throughout Australia.
The Great Southern Rail Trail is a 131-kilometre rail trail from Nyora to Yarram in South Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. Sections of the trail are flat or gently undulating trail through lush dairy farmland, areas of remnant bush and lowland scrub. There is a big climb on the section between Loch and Leongatha. The section between Fish Creek and Foster climbs past Mount Hoddle and goes through dense forest with occasional magnificent views of Wilsons Promontory and Corner Inlet.
Sandy Point is a township in south Gippsland, Victoria near Wilsons Promontory. At the 2016 census, Sandy Point had a population of 270, growing to several thousand during the holiday period. It is surrounded by areas of significant natural heritage.
The South Gippsland railway line is a partially closed railway line in Victoria, Australia. It was first opened in 1892, branching from the Orbost line at Dandenong, and extending to Port Albert. Much of it remained open until December 1994. Today, only the section between Dandenong and Cranbourne remains open for use. The section of the line from Nyora to Leongatha was used by the South Gippsland Tourist Railway until it ceased operations in 2016. The section from Nyora to Welshpool, with extension trail to Port Welshpool and a portion of the former line at Koo Wee Rup, have been converted into the Great Southern Rail Trail.
Benambra is a small town 28 kilometres (17 mi) north-east of Omeo and 430 kilometres (267 mi) east of the state capital Melbourne, in the Australian Alps of East Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. Nearby towns include Swifts Creek, Ensay, and the major town of Bairnsdale. At the 2016 census, Benambra and the surrounding area had a population of 149.
Toora Wind Farm is a wind power station at Toora in South Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. It is located north of Wilsons Promontory and 150 km south-east of Melbourne. The wind farm is on a ridge overlooking the town of Toora.
The electoral district of Gippsland South is a Lower House electoral district of the Victorian Parliament. It is located within the Eastern Victoria Region of the Legislative Council.
Yanakie is a small, coastal township and district on the Yanakie Isthmus in South Gippsland, in the state of Victoria, south-eastern Australia.
The Corner Inlet is a 600-square-kilometre (230 sq mi) bay located 200 kilometres (120 mi) south-east of Melbourne in the South Gippsland region of Victoria, Australia. Of Victoria's large bays it is both the easternmost and the warmest. It contains intertidal mudflats, mangroves, salt marsh and seagrass meadows, sheltered from the surf of Bass Strait by a complex of 40 sandy barrier islands, the largest of which are Snake, Sunday and Saint Margaret Islands.
Victoria, Australia contains approximately 32,000 hectares of temperate rainforest in various regions, which represents 0.14% of the State's total area. The areas with rainforest include: East Gippsland, Strzelecki Ranges, Wilsons Promontory, Central Highlands, and Otway Ranges. The rainforests vary between cool temperate, warm temperate, and mixed cool temperate.
The Franklin River, a perennial river of the West Gippsland catchment, is located in the South Gippsland region of the Australian state of Victoria.
The Agnes River is a perennial river of the West Gippsland catchment, located in the South Gippsland region of the Australian state of Victoria.
The Koo-Wee-Rup Swamp was a large freshwater swamp located to the south east of Melbourne, Victoria. It drained an area of West Gippsland, with several waterways including Cardinia Creek and the Bunyip River.
The Brataualung are an Indigenous Australian people, one of the five tribes of Gippsland, in the state of Victoria, Australia, and part of a wider regional grouping known as the Kurnai.
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