Situated just 2 hours south east of Melbourne, Wonthaggi is not your usual holiday destination. Surprisingly, this small country town offers a diverse platter of recreational activities. And as a gateway to Victoria’s Bass Coast, it is one of the most important towns in Victoria’s history.
Walks along the Rugged Coastline of the Bass Coast
The Bass Coast region is renowned for its pristine beauty diverse landscape. Wonthaggi, sitting proudly at the foot of the Strzelecki Ranges offers access to the lush mountain scenery of Wilsons Promontory as well as the striking landscape of the Wonthaggi Heathland and Coastal Reserve – 811 hectares of extensive heathland bordered by 10km of unspoiled coastline.
In this self-acclaimed ecotourism hotspot, there are three scenic walks from Heathland and Reserve to discover Wonthaggi’s rugged coast: Baxter’s Beach, Williamsons Beach and Cutler’s Beach.
This History of Wonthaggi State Coal Mine
Many people may pass through Wonthaggi, or even stay on for a nature retreat, but few are aware of its historical connections. Established in 1909, the discovery of Wonthaggi coal mines brought with it a wave of immigrant miners and subsequently, the boom of the regional Victoria’s coal industry.
Originally entitled The Powlett River Coalfield, the Wonthaggi mines is the heartland of the black coal that has moulded the history of the Bass Coast since the 1850’s, running between Kilcunda to its west and Cape Patterson to its east.
In the 1930’s, at the peak of the coal mining era, there were up to 5,000 workers at any one time in the Wonthaggi mines. This boom led to the need for a larger township, and soon Wonthaggi became a thriving town, with four schools, six churches and the first workers union to be established in Australia – the Wonthaggi Women’s Auxiliary – set up by the miner’s wives.
It was in 1934 that the State started to see the collapse of the coal industry, as energy was being replaced by other means. And in 1934, Victoria witnessed its longest miner’s strike, which lasted for five long months and commenced the demise of the Wonthaggi Coal Mines.
Eventually, the workers were forced back to labour, but it was the infamous explosion in 1937, which cost the lives of 13 miners, that spelled the end for Wonthaggi’s Coal Mines. Until 1947, it was operated as a Government mine then production was again ceased. For two years between 1969 and 1970, the Wonthaggi Mines became a small scale mining operation, but was then filled with water.
The making of a feature film Strikebound at the mine site generated inspiration for the site to be used as tourist attraction, and until recently tours were operated by Parks Victoria that offered an historic below and above ground mining experience. Today, the site and the Historic Reserve are still managed by Parks Victoria and work has begun to reopen the site as a local tourist attraction.
One of the local workers from Parks Victoria, Chris, told of the work involved in reopening the mine for tourism. “At the moment, there are about six guys working under the bridge [in the main tunnel]”, he said. “They’re working on putting lighting all the way down, but the danger is that we can’t hear them. The walls of the tunnel suck up any noise and vibration.”
Not for the faint-hearted, the main tunnel has a 1 in 4 gradient and just a little way down measures 66 metres underground. When the mine reopens late 2009, tourists will be able to take a guided tour down the lighted tunnel and catch a coal cart back up.
The centenary of the Coal Mine will take place in November 2009, by which time Chris hopes the Mine will be up and running again for tourism. Until then, many mine building and displays at the original mine site are still open. There is also a theatrette where visitors can watch a short documentary of a first hand account of life at the coalface and the story behind this historic town.
How to Get There
From Melbourne it’s a 2 hour drive south on the M1 then onto the South Gippsland Highway. After Lang Lang take the Bass Highway to Wonthaggi.
V-Line transport service runs several coaches daily to Wonthaggi, either direct or changing at Lang Lang or Dandenong.
For more information visit the official tourism website.
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