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In the early 19th century whalers and seal hunters used the coast in this region. The crew of the sealing cutter The Fairy captained by James Wishart reportedly gave the bay its current name in 1828. Whatever its origins, the name "Port Fairy" had come into general use by 1835. In 1843 James Atkinson, a Sydney solicitor, purchased land in the town, draining the swamps, subdividing and leasing the land, and building a harbour on the Moyne River. He named the town "Belfast" after his hometown in Ireland, and the names of prominent buildings either bear the name Belfast or Irish names. The town reverted to Port Fairy in 1887.
Prior to British colonisation, the local Pyipkil gunditj aboriginal tribe constructed stone and timber fishing-weirs called yereroc across creeks to catch fish and eels. They also cut canals called vam to drain swamps and made woven eel-pots called arabine to trap eels. The local aboriginals did not give up their land lightly, resulting in the Eumeralla Wars, with up to 6,500 Aboriginal deaths (based on an estimated pre-contact population of
7,000 declining to just 442), and an approximate 80 deaths of settlers. The white settlers killing the aborigines is nothing short of disgraceful, with shootings, hangings, damper laced with arsenic handed out, poisoning of wells and rapes common place.
Driving from Port Campbell to Port Fairy, we stopped off at the Warrnambool Cheese Factory and topped up on gourmet produce. We also called in at the Warrnambool Whale Watching Platform, and despite scanning the horizon for some time, we did not see any whale spouts. After settling up at the Port Fairy Caravan Park, we chanced upon a bakery who baked gluten free hot pies, which pleased Kim no end. The previous gf pie that Kim consumed was in Rockhampton.
Exploring Port Fairy, we walked around Griffiths Island, and then along the main beaches, including one named Pea Soup. After lunch, we drove to Warrnambool, to visit Middle Island, the location of the Australian family movie Oddball. Oddball was a Maremma sheep dog, and was placed on Middle Island as a last resort to stop foxes eating out the last few Little Penguins. Despite much opposition, Oddball’s placement on the island was a success, and to this day,
a Maremma dog is placed on the island each Little Penguin breeding season, with numbers recovering substantially. Whilst casting a gaze out to sea, I spotted two of the most powerful whale spouts you could imagine, almost water spout in nature, way out to sea. On researching whale spouts, it appears to have been from a Blue Whale, which frequent this area from November to May each year.
After dinner we visited Flagstaff Hill Historical Village, to watch a audio visual light show, depicting the history of the area, from the dreamtime, to the whalers and sealers, and finally the tragic story of the wreck of the Loch Ard, which we had encountered whilst at Port Campbell. The valuable porcelain peacock that was washed ashore in the wreck of the Loch Ard is housed in the museum here.
Cape Bridgewater, near Portland, was our destination the next day, and we walked part of the Great South West Walk to reach the cape. The sea cliffs at Cape Bridgewater are the highest in Victoria, and it was awesome to look down from the high vantage points to colonies of Australian and New Zealand Fur Seals. During the steep walk,
we walked carefully around a mean looking unidentified snake on the edge of the path. After completing the walk, we drove to see the Blowhole and Petrified Forest, and then into Portland. It was a little sobering to see the mountain of hardwood wood chips piled up at the port, awaiting export for paper manufacturing.
We battened down for a wintery blast on our last day in Port Fairy, only venturing out to see some historical local buildings and to visit Battery Hill Historic Reserve, containing large cannons pointing out to sea. In the 19
th Century, the Victorian government believed the main ports along the southern coast were vulnerable to attack from the sea, principally from Russian warships. Consequently, a network of permanent fortifications was established along the southern coast to defend these ports.
In 2012, Port Fairy was voted the world’s most liveable town.
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