30-547: South Gippsland , a region of Gippsland in Victoria , Australia , is a well-watered region consisting of low, rolling hills descending to the coast in the south and the Latrobe Valley in the north. It is part of the larger Gippsland Basin bioregion . Low granite hills continue into Wilsons Promontory , the southernmost point of Victoria and mainland Australia. Rivers are generally very short and impossible to dam owing to
60-624: A bridge at San Remo , Phillip Island is also a major tourist destination, noted particularly for its surf beaches, nightly Penguin Parade and Grand Prix track. 12,000 years ago, South Gippsland formed part of a land bridge to Tasmania the remnants of which is the Furneaux Group of islands. A ferry operates from Welshpool to Lady Barron Island , part of the Furneaux Group. Gippsland Gippsland ( / ˈ ɡ ɪ p s l æ n d / )
90-833: A community theatre company, the "Lyric Theatre Company" that regularly stages theatrical productions. The town has a medieval society, the "Leongatha Medieval Society", which re-enacts 14th-century weapons, armour and fighting styles. The Medieval Society can be seen each month at Coal Creek Community Park and Museum at Korumburra. Leongatha offers a range of sports including: athletics, basketball, badminton, cricket, croquet , cycling ( BMX , road and track ), equestrian , football ( Australian rules , association and indoor soccer ), golf, gymnastics, hockey ( field and underwater ), lawn bowls , martial arts (karate and taekwondo), netball, shooting, skateboarding , softball, squash, swimming, table tennis, tennis, and volleyball ( indoor and beach ). The town's Australian Rules football club,
120-579: Is a rural region in the southeastern part of Victoria , Australia , mostly comprising the coastal plains south of the Victorian Alps (the southernmost section of the Great Dividing Range ). It covers an elongated area of 41,556 km (16,045 sq mi) east of the Shire of Cardinia ( Melbourne 's outermost southeastern suburbs ) between Dandenong Ranges and Mornington Peninsula , and
150-484: Is a major educational hub for South Gippsland, and contains several schools, including: The town also has two kindergartens (Allora and Hasset Street), and two childcare centres (Brown Street and Leongatha Children's), which both have kindergarten rooms. The Great Southern Rail Trail is in the process of procuring finance to extend the trail as far as Yarram . At the present time the Wellington Shire have financed
180-640: Is a town in the foothills of the Strzelecki Ranges , South Gippsland Shire , Victoria , Australia , located 135 kilometres (84 mi) south-east of Melbourne . At the 2021 census , Leongatha had a population of 5,869. Canadian dairy company Saputo which trades in Australia under the Devondale label, among others, has a dairy processing plant on the north side of the town producing milk-based products for Australian and overseas markets. First settlement of
210-808: Is bounded to the north by the mountain ranges and plateaus / highlands of the High Country (which separate it from Hume region in Victoria's northeast), 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 (the easternmost section of the Victoria/ New South Wales state border). Gippsland
240-472: Is divided by the Strzelecki Ranges and tributaries of the Gippsland Lakes into West Gippsland , South Gippsland , Latrobe Valley , Central Gippsland and East Gippsland . At the 2016 Australian census , Gippsland had a population of 271,266, with the principal centres Traralgon , Warragul , Drouin , Bairnsdale , Moe , Sale , Morwell , Wonthaggi , Leongatha , and Phillip Island . Gippsland
270-511: Is known for mining, power generation and farming as well as its tourist destinations — Phillip Island , Wilsons Promontory , the Gippsland Lakes , Walhalla , the Baw Baw Plateau , and the Strzelecki Ranges . It also includes around a hundred islands, mostly between the mainland and Tasmania. The traditional owners are Indigenous Australians of the Gunai nation and in part of West Gippsland
300-544: Is moderate (averaging 970.4 mm (38.20 in) per annum), and is frequent (spread between 174.8 precipitation days). The town is located on the South Gippsland Highway which links Leongatha to Melbourne . Leongatha was formerly situated along the South Gippsland railway corridor that operated to its terminus at Yarram in the early 1980s and Leongatha in the mid 1990s. A V/Line road coach service replaced
330-457: Is required for agriculture or pastoral development. Despite this, parts of Gippsland have become highly productive dairying and vegetable-growing regions: the region supplies Melbourne with most of its needs in these commodities. A few alluvial soils (chiefly near the Snowy) have much better native fertility, and these have always been intensively cultivated. In the extreme northeast is a small section of
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#1732854612671360-448: Is traditionally subdivided into four or five main sub–regions or districts: Gippsland Plains Grassy Woodland is an endangered vegetation community within the region. The climate of Gippsland is temperate and generally humid, except in the central region around Sale , where annual rainfall averages around 600 millimetres (24 in). In the Strzelecki Ranges annual rainfall can be as high as 1,500 millimetres (59 in), while on
390-607: The Alfred National Park , Baw Baw National Park , Coopracambra National Park , Croajingolong National Park , Errinundra National Park , Gippsland Lakes Coastal Park , Lind National Park , Mitchell River National Park , Morwell National Park , Snowy River National Park , Tarra-Bulga National Park , The Lakes National Park , and Wilsons Promontory National Park . There are also large areas of State forest that contribute towards conservation objectives. Leongatha, Victoria Leongatha / ˈ l iː n ɡ æ θ ə /
420-649: The Bunurong nation. Before permanent European colonisation, the area was visited by sealers and wattle bark gatherers who did not settle . Samuel Anderson (1803–1863), a Scottish immigrant from Kirkcudbright , agriculturist and explorer, arrived in Hobart, Tasmania , in 1830, and in 1835 established a squatter agricultural settlement on the Bass River in Gippsland, the third permanent colonial settlement in Victoria (then called
450-463: The Monaro Tableland used for grazing beef cattle . Gippsland possesses very few deposits of metallic minerals ( gold rushes in the nineteenth century around Foster , Buchan petered out quickly). However, the deep underground gold mines operated at Walhalla for a fifty-year period between 1863 and 1913. Gippsland has no deposits of major industrial nonmetallic minerals, but it does feature
480-528: The Port Phillip District ). His business partner Robert Massie joined him in 1837. Both had worked for the Van Diemen's Land Company at Circular Head, Tasmania. Samuel's brothers Hugh (1808–1898) and Thomas (1814–1903) arrived at Bass shortly after, where they established a successful farming venture. Further European colonisation followed two separate expeditions to the area. During his expedition to
510-509: The swamp wallaby , koala , echidna and wombat . Native plants and trees include grass trees ( Xanthorrhoea australis ), which provide a valuable food source of nectar, pollen, larvae and seeds for birds, insects and mammals. The soils in Gippsland are generally very infertile, being profoundly deficient in nitrogen , phosphorus , potassium and calcium . Apart from frequently flooded areas, they are classed as Spodosols , Psamments and Ultisols . Consequently, heavy fertilisation
540-796: The Leongatha Football Club ("The Parrots"), competes in the Gippsland Football League . Golfers play at the course of the Leongatha Golf Club on Inverloch-Koonwarra Road, Leongatha South, or at the course of the Woorayl Golf Club at the Recreation Reserve. Community services include CFA , SES , Police , ambulance. Other community organisations include Scouts (cubs, scouts, venturers and rovers), Girl Guides , and Salvation Army Youth Corps. The town also boasts
570-609: The Nationals. For elections for the Victorian Legislative Assembly , the electoral districts of Bass , Narracan , Morwell , Gippsland South and Gippsland East lay entirely or partly in the Gippsland region. Bass is held by Labor, Narracan is held by the Liberals, while Gippsland East, Gippsland South and Morwell are held by the Nationals. Gippsland contains six local government areas : The Gippsland region contains
600-700: The South (December 1839 – May 1840) in March 1840, Polish explorer Paweł Edmund Strzelecki led an expedition across Gunai country, and gave his own names to many of their natural landmarks and places. Following these expeditions, the name "Gippsland" stuck, a name chosen by Strzelecki in honour of the New South Wales Governor , George Gipps , his sponsor. Angus McMillan led the second European expedition between 1840, naming Gunai country "Caledonia Australis". The naming of this geographical region, however, remained
630-634: The area by Europeans occurred in 1845. The Post Office opened as Koorooman on 1 October 1887 and renamed Leongatha in 1891 when a township was established on the arrival of the railway. The railway line from Melbourne reached the town in 1891, and stimulated further settlement. Regular V/Line passenger operations on the line to the local railway station ceased in 1993. The Leongatha Magistrates' Court closed on 1 January 1990. The town made international media headlines in 2023, when four people were taken to hospital after consuming beef Wellington suspected to have contained death cap mushrooms . Three of
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#1732854612671660-520: The first portion of the trail from Yarram to Alberton with the present Committee of Management intending to manage that portion in the foreseeable future. The Rail Trail commences at the end of Parr Street with a car park planned for the future to assist with access to the trail. Walkers can access the trail from the children's park next to the old rail bridge in Leongatha at the end of Bair Street, or by parking anywhere along Greenwood Parade. Leongatha has
690-503: The fishing of abalone , whose shells could fetch very high prices because of their use for pearls and pearl inlays. For Australian federal elections for the House of Representatives , the electoral divisions of Flinders , Monash , and Gippsland lay entirely or partly in the Gippsland region. Flinders and McMillan are currently held by the Liberal Party, while Gippsland is held by
720-712: The four guests subsequently died, and one survived, later receiving a liver transplant . The woman who cooked the meal, Erin Patterson, was charged with murder in November 2023 . Leongatha has an oceanic climate ( Köppen: Cfb), with warm summers and cool winters. Average maxima vary from 24.9 °C (76.8 °F) in February to 13.0 °C (55.4 °F) in July, while average minima fluctuate between 12.3 °C (54.1 °F) in February and 4.8 °C (40.6 °F) in July. Precipitation
750-519: The high mountains of East Gippsland it probably reaches similar levels – much of it falling as snow . In lower levels east of the Snowy River , mean annual rainfall is typically about 900–950 millimetres (35–37 in) and less variable than in the coastal districts of New South Wales. Mean maximum temperatures in lower areas range from 24 °C (75 °F) in January to 15 °C (59 °F) in July. In
780-509: The highlands of the Baw Baw Plateau and the remote Errinundra Plateau , temperatures range from a maximum of 18 °C (64 °F) to a minimum of 8 °C (46 °F). However, in winter, mean minima in these areas can be as low as −4 °C (25 °F), leading to heavy snowfalls that often isolate the Errinundra Plateau between June and October. Gippsland is home to many species of flora and fauna. Animals that live there include
810-469: The lack of potential storage sites, but groundwater of good quality is readily available. The major industries are forestry and dairy farming, and the principal towns include Cowes (on Phillip Island ), Leongatha , Korumburra , Wonthaggi and Foster . Wilsons Promontory National Park features eucalypt forests and rainforests as well as its famous beaches, and is one of the most popular holiday areas in Victoria. Linked to mainland South Gippsland via
840-458: The name given by P. E. Strzelecki – Gippsland. The township of Bass was surveyed and colonised in the early 1860s. The intensive colonisation of south Gippsland began late in the 1870s. A story of that process is told in, The land of the Lyre Bird (1920). Before the cancellation of the 2026 Commonwealth Games , Gippsland was set to serve as one of its hosts in regional Victoria. Gippsland
870-530: The rail service on 24 July 1993, running between Melbourne and Yarram. A second service runs from Traralgon to Wonthaggi. There was also a third bus service running from Venus Bay , through Tarwin Lower and Koonwarra connecting with the V/Line services that depart from Leongatha. This was a trial service and no longer operates. The Leongatha Airport is located south of the town and serves general aviation. Leongatha
900-401: The world's largest brown coal deposits and, around Sale and offshore in the Bass Strait , some of the largest deposits of oil and natural gas in Australia. Like the rest of Australia, the seas around Gippsland are of very low productivity as there is no upwelling due to the warm currents in the Tasman Sea . Nonetheless, towns such as Marlo and Mallacoota depended for a long time on
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