Anglesea

Established as a township in 1884 and ravaged in the Ash Wednesday bushfires of 1983, Anglesea today is a thriving coastal town with a local population of over 3,000 permanent residents. Hugely popular as a holiday destination during the warmer months, the town swells as families and groups from Melbourne and beyond arrive to enjoy the beaches and coastal hinterland.

Anglesea is surrounded by the Otway National Park and other reserves and bisected by the Anglesea River, a lovely stretch of water running through Coogoorah Park before reaching the sea at the main surf beach. Walking tracks can be found along the river banks, while fishing and canoeing are other common pursuits on the water. Further inland are a myriad of tracks, snaking through the National Park and other bushland, used by hikers, mountain bike riders, four wheel drives and motorbikes.

Anglesea's beaches offer varied conditions, from the placid and protected northern shores inside Point Roadknight, to the surf on the reef breaks of Guvvo's on its south side or the beach breaks of the main surf beach. The Anglesea Surf Life Saving Club provides beach patrols over the summer months at the main surf beach, while the local CFA brigade are considered some of the State's finest fire fighters. Both volunteer organisations provide an invaluable safety service to residents and visitors in what is a beautiful part of the country, yet which can quickly become very dangerous in certain weather conditions.

The town boasts a successful football, netball and cricket club, plus lawn bowls, angling and yachting clubs. It is also famous for its golf club, although perhaps this is as much for the resident kangaroo population as the challenging and picturesque course.

As the first stop along the Great Ocean Road, Anglesea is easily reached from Melbourne via the new Geelong Ring Road in around an hour and twenty minutes and provides a holiday spot the family will fall in love with or the perfect place for a lifestyle relocation.

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