Jupiter Bvd 50km/h Speed Limit

The section of Jupiter Boulevard west from the intersection with Canterbury Road will become a 50km/h speed zone in December.

New signs are planned for before the summer holiday season begins, so I'd expect to see them very soon.

Nice Site

I just saw this South Gippsland website. There are some beautiful pictures and an informative section on Venus Bay and other areas in South Gippsland.

http://south-gippsland.com/venusbay.htm

Eyes open

As reported by "info" in a comment on another post:

There were also reported problems with people 'stealing' water at VB last year from unoccupied houses - so it would be good to have a blog about keeping your eyes open this summer for any suspicious tankers etc. as the police are interested in hearing of any activities. Any suggestions about how to protect a tank from being sucked dry is welcomed!

If you do see any suspicious water tankers - especially at unoccupied houses, let the Inverloch Police know on (03)5674-1202.

An unoccupied house is unlikely to be having water delivered unless it's newly built and missed out on the winter and spring rain.

Thanks to "info" for suggesting this post.

Planning an Indigenous Garden

The Friends of Venus Bay Peninsula are holding a workshop on Sunday 2nd of November on planning an indigenous garden.

The workshop will run from 2 - 4.30pm at the Venus Bay Community Centre. According to the flyer, you will learn how to design your garden using local native plants to enhance the natural vegetation. Create a coastal garden that is attractive, drought tolerant and provides habitat for birds, butterflies and other native wildlife.

Lorraine Norden, an horticulturalist will lead the workshop.

Register by contacting Bev Walker.

Tide Times

I've added a link to a tide times site that calculates the tides for many places in Australia - including Venus Bay.

Type in "Venus Bay" and select one of the options to find local tide times.

tidetimes.com.au

Matter of Fact

The Venus Bay Community Centre's newsletter, "Matter of Fact" is available online here.

Lot's of interesting stuff for locals and visitors every month.

Proposed trial bus service - Venus Bay to Leongatha

Mr Fred Boreham has kindly sent me the following information about the Transport Connections project survey on a Venus Bay and Tarwin Lower bus service.

To obtain a copy of the survey, you can call or email Mr Boreham at the South Gippsland Shire using the contact details below, or pick one up at the local shops.

Note that the survey needs to be returned before Friday, 31st October, 2008. So if you'd like to have your say, there are only a couple of weeks left.

South Gippsland Transport Connections
Project wants your input for a proposed
Trial bus service - Venus Bay to Leongatha.

Initial consultations with the local community have indicated a desire for a regular local bus service that would operate between Venus Bay and Leongatha, servicing the communities of Venus Bay, Tarwin Lower and Koonwarra for accessing the services and facilities located in Leongatha.

These include: Centrelink, Vic Roads, Shire Offices, Hospital, Dental and Medical, Educational & Employment, Banking as well as for Social, Entertainment and Retail.

Passengers would also be able to connect with the Melbourne / Yarram and Wonthaggi / Traralgon bus services at the Leongatha transport interchange.

Dependent on public support, a funding proposal will be developed for the implementation of a trial bus service to be conducted over a designated period to assess the viability of a permanent transport service linking Venus Bay and Leongatha.

The success of this funding proposal will be dependent on the public support and response we get to this survey questionnaire.

If we do get sufficient supporting response from the public, and funding is approved - hopefully we should be able to get a trial bus service operational early in the New Year - 2009.

So this is a chance to. ……Have Your Say…

Your answers are strictly confidential. The information gathered will only be used for the purpose of supporting a funding proposal for this trial Bus service.

Further inquiries, regarding this survey / proposal, please do not hesitate to contact The Project Coordinator Mr Fred Boreham at this office:
Ph 5662 9324
Email fredb@southgippsland.vic.gov.au or Fax 5662 3754.

Also, the Transport Coordinator will be available for consultation at the Venus Bay Community Centre on Monday 20th October between 1pm and 3pm for discussions on any transport concerns that you may have.

Black goo on the beach

There is a black goo on Venus Bay beaches at the moment.

Apparently it comes every winter, but nobody seems to know what it is.

That being the case, the EPA suggests that people don't touch it in case it's a dangerous substance.

The most likely cause is an algal bloom, but this is yet to be confirmed by the EPA.

TAB for the Tarwin Lower Pub

I noticed a sign on the board outside the Tarwin Pub that they will be opening a TAB there in September.

My annual trip to the TAB on Melbourne Cup day will be much quicker now I won't have to go to Inverloch...

Garage sales and things for sale

Are you holding a garage sale or have anything for sale in Venus Bay or Tarwin Lower?

If you'd like to spread the word, feel free to add a comment to this post with the details.

Tarwin Lower Market

The Tarwin Lower Market will be held again on Monday morning, 9th June (Public Holiday) at the Tarwin Lower Hall.

Boom town

A recent report by the Department of Sustainability and Environment shows that property prices in Venus Bay rose significantly while many other towns and suburbs fell from 2006 to September 2007.

The median house price in Venus Bay in September 2006 was $182,500. This fell to $162,500 by June 2007. By September 2007, the median rose sharply by 15.7% to $188,000.

Contrast this with pricier Inverloch with a fall of 13% from June to September 2007.

Download the full report here.

2 Days in the Dark

It's great to have the power back on!

I realised how much I take the convenience of electricity for granted when we were without it for the best part of 48 hours after the storms on Wednesday.

Now that the good folk of SP AusNet have restored the electricity life can get back to normal. Everything from washing your hands, to cooking, showering, flushing the toilet, washing clothes, watching TV and using the computer was out of the equation. Oh, and no phone (cordless phones don't work without electricity!!) That's just at home.

Outside, there was no petrol available because they couldn't pump it. The hardware sold out of camping style gas cookers (luckily they still had some at the service station).

I'm not complaining. It was nice to experience the absolute quiet and candlelight for a couple of nights. No buzzing fridge or idiots on the TV. Got reacquainted with the transistor radio and kept up to date with the havoc updates on 774 and ABC Gippsland.

Tarwin Lower Market on Monday

The Tarwin Lower Market will be held again on Easter Monday at River Drive.

Council selling off reserves

With the abundance of still vacant land available for sale in Venus Bay, it's amazing that the South Gippsland Shire Council is selling off the reserve blocks in the town.

The only conceivable reason is greed on behalf of the Shire for the money generated by their sale. There is no pressing need for more land to be made available.

Developing these pockets deprives the native animals of a home and makes Venus Bay a less attractive place to live and holiday. One of the charms of Venus Bay is it's low population density and quiet environment.

See the Save Our Venus Bay Reserves site below for more details and a copy of the petition opposing this practise.

www.saveourreserves.org.au

Le Tour de Tarwin

The 2008 Venus Bay to Tarwin Lower Bike/Walk Tour and Picnic will be held on Easter Saturday, March 22nd at 12 noon. Register from 9am at Beach One Bar.

It starts at Beach One Bar at the Venus Bay shops and depending on who you talk to, either races or meanders to the Long Table at Tarwin Lower for a picnic lunch.

It's BYO drinks and lunch - if you forget, there's a sausage sizzle.

$5/person or $10/family in support of the Tarwin Lower CFA.

Bike riders must wear a helmet.

Venus Bay Art and Craft Show

The Venus Artists Contemporary Showcase group are holding the Venus Bay Art & Craft Show featuring local artists at the Venus Bay Community Centre, 27 Canterbury Rd, Venus Bay.

The show runs from Saturday March 8 to Sunday March 16, 2008 - 10.00 am - 4.00 pm daily.

The official opening is on Saturday March 8th at 2.00 pm with entertainment, wine and nibbles. A variety of media will be on display including drawing, painting, photography, wooden sculpture, printmaking and ceramics.

Tarwin Lower Market on Monday

The Tarwin Lower Market will be on again on Monday morning next to the Mechanics Institute Hall on River Drive.

Gippsland, Victoria, Australia

Gippsland, Victoria, Australia

Venus Bay Population Statistics

There are some interesting facts that came out of the 2006 Census about Venus Bay.

Venus Bay has the highest proportion of the population working part time in Victoria at 50%.

It also, has one of the highest percentages of overseas born populations in the state at 24.9% after Melbourne and Robinvale.

On Census night, the populatioon of Venus Bay was 509.

Link to Venus Bay Census data.

Wildlife

A large male kangaroo out the front yesterday afternoon.

Tarwin Lower Market on Monday

The Tarwin Lower Market will be held on Monday 28th January in the morning on River Drive.

Free Australia Day Breakfast

There will be a free Australia Day breakfast at Fisher Reserve in Tarwin Lower on January 26th at 8am.