Discovering Tooradin and Sawtell Inlet

These pix were taken on February 25, 2012, at the fishing village of Tooradin, 60 km south of Melbourne.

The Post Office opened on 21 May 1877.

The town has some attractions such as Sawtell's Inlet, an old historic weatherboard Fishermans Cottage, boardwalks and footbridge bridge around the lagoon, picnic areas, and a lookout near the boat-ramp.

Vast numbers of seabirds live in the mangroves, and many pelicans congregate around the fish-cleaning area!

The town in conjunction with neighbouring township Dalmore has an Australian Rules football team (Tooradin-Dalmore) competing in the Mornington Peninsula Nepean Football League.

The town has a supermarket, a pharmacy, a medical centre, a bank, a real estate agent, a bakery, a newsagent, and a variety of take away stores and gift shops.

Tooradin has a number of restaurants. Wings and Fins, Tides, as well as bistro style dining at the and Tooradin & District Sports Club.

Tooradin Airfield is a privately owned field located 4 km East of Tooradin town centre, on the South Gippsland Highway. It is home to Aus Air Services, Commando Skydivers and Tooradin Flying School.

The airfield is situated on eight hectares of land and has one bitumen runway of 950m with lighting, one grass strip of 360m and a 310m gravel strip.

There was once a railway station at Tooradin, on the South Gippsland line in South Gippsland, Victoria, Australia, which operated until the closure of the line between Cranbourne Station and Leongatha Station in July 1993 (passenger traffic) although the railway continued to carry freight traffic to Koala Siding near Lang Lang until January 1998.

Between 1999 and 2008 there was constant speculation that the railway line beyond Cranbourne to Leongatha could re-open, as promised by the Victorian State Government, under a project named 'Bringing Trains Back to Victorians'.

However, in May 2008, a scoping study carried out on behalf of the State Government found the costs of returning services high, at $72 million dollars. Therefore, plans to reopen the line where halted, and the Government will spend $14.2 million dollars on improved V/Line coach services instead.

There are plans in motion to turn the railway reservation into a Rail Trail between Cranbourne East and Nyora.

Station Rd, in Tooradin, is a legacy of the railway era.

See all of the Photos of my visit, and my YouTube video!