Shoreham Beach Pictorial Heritage - new project released

I am pleased to announce the publication of the "Shoreham Beach Pictorial Heritage" website, a free research project which traces the development, history and evolution of the scenic Shoreham Beach since its beginnings in the early 1920s, until the present day.

Shoreham Beach is 80 km south of Melbourne, in the Mornington Peninsula, on Westernport Bay, and has a colourful and rich history, having started as a fishing port.

I first visited Shoreham in January 1952, on a 10-day camp at the YMCA's Camp Buxton, which was for underprivileged 10-14 year old boys from across Victoria. Photos of that trip are at the website! Many thousands of boys attended the Camp in the years 1939 to its closure in 1955.

There are three sections in the website about the history of the YMCA in Victoria, and Camp Buxton.

In the decades since, I have made many trips to Shoreham, in pursuit of my interests in rockpooling, swimming, beach-walking, hiking, long distance shortwave radio monitoring and photography.

The website contains many heritage images dating to 1907, supplemented by my own photos and videos taken in 2011 and linked by many articles and discussions, some humorous. These include photos of Camp Buxton as it looks today - many of the original buildings and features have survived.

Following its closure, Camp Buxton was subdivided - a major part was bought by Council and became the Buxton Bushland Reserve. The remainder is now a B&B business.

The site is at http://bpadula.tripod.com/shoreham

If you are in Melbourne and haven't been to Shoreham, or a visitor, you might like to take a drive down to Shoreham and experience for yourself the wonderful bushland and coastal scenery, at any time of the year.

I'd be interested in your reactions and comments on this new website!

Regards from Melbourne!

Bob Padula

Shoreham, Coastal Hike

These pictures were taken on Thursday January 2011, on a 4 km hike along the Shoreham Coast, Westernport Bay, 80 km south of Melbourne.

See all of the Photos.

Shoreham - Coastal Hike to Honeysuckle Point

On Tuesday December 22, 2009, I went down to Shoreham Beach, on Westernport Bay, about 70 km south of Melbourne.

From the main car park car park next to the beach, I explored the coast to the east as far as the reefs at Honeysuckle Point, crossing the Stony Creek estuary, on a 4 km beach hike.

One of my objectives was to locate the site of the former jetty, which was dismantled in the 1940s.

In those years, Shoreham Beach was a vibrant seaport, where boats would load produce from the local farms, and unload provisions.

The advent of good roads, and the nearby railway from Bittern to Red Hill, put an end to the sea transport.

Nothing remains of the jetty - the location is now the small boat unloading/loading ramp. An aerial view via Google Earth shows the outline of the jetty foundations.

See all of the Photos of my visit!

Shoreham Coastal Hike at Low Tide

I visited Shoreham Beach on Wednesday afternoon September 16, 2009, on Westernport Bay, 65 km south of Melbourne.

It was a very low tide, and the magnificent reefs and wonderful rock pools were exposed.

I hiked along the reefs and beach almost to the town of Flinders, a total distance of some 6 km return.

There were a few other people and hounds doing what I was doing, a couple of swimmers, and a small motor boat.

These reefs are arguably the best along the northern section of Wssternport Bay.

New information boards have been constructed describing the history of the Foreshore, and the ocean environment.

Please see the complete set of Photos of my visit, which includes some historical images, showing the Beach as it looked in the 1930s and early 1940s. The Jetty was dismantled by 1940. There are also two photos showing myself, taken on January 13, 1952: one shows our tent at the YMCA's boys' camp at Shoreham, the other is a group of us at the rockpools.

I was a skinny kid then, with thin legs!

I did this beach hike on January 18, 1952 as an activity organized by the YMCA camp. This was exactly the same route as I took on September 16, 2009, 57 years later!

Mid-winter coastal hike - Point Leo to Shoreham

On Tuesday afternoon July 7, 2009, a beautiful sunny cloudless mid-winter day, I travelled down to the Westernport Coast, about 70 km south of Melbourne.

My destination was Point Leo, the start of an exploration of the coastline to Shoreham Beach, a return beachwalk of about 5 km - temperature was about 12 degrees.

By 3pm, the sun was very low in the northern sky, casting long shadows along the beach.

The views across Westernport Bay were superb, to Phillip Island, and further along the coast to Flinders.

The On Tuesday afternoon July 7, 2009, a beautiful sunny cloudless mid-winter day, I travelled down to the Westernport Coast, about 70 km south of Melbourne.

My destination was Point Leo, the start of an exploration of the coastline to Shoreham Beach, a return beachwalk of about 5 km - temperature was about 12 degrees.

By 3pm, the sun was very low in the northern sky, casting long shadows along the beach.

The views across Westernport Bay were superb, to Phillip Island, and further along the coast to Flinders.

See the complete set of Photos of my visit, which show features of my beachwalk, with many hounds, other beachcombers, a cyclist, the foreshore, the reefs, and the track leading up to the Shoreham Camping Ground on the top of the cliff.

The waves were not good for surfing on this day!

Shoreham Coastal Reserve, Clifftop Hike

On Wednesday afternoon June 24, 2009, I went down to the Shoreham Coastal Reserve, about 70 km SE of Melbourne, on the Westernport Coast.

I parked on the foreshore, then hiked along the beach, crossing the creek, up to the clifftop, through the tall pines, and along the Clifftop Track.

The Track ended at the entrance to the camping ground, which was my turnaround point.

Two viewing platforms provided astonishing panoramas towards Phillip Island (about 10 km distant) with the Nobbies clearly visible, and along the coast past Point Leo to Balnarring.

The hike was about 4 km (return).

The photos show the beach, the creek, the pine trees, the clifftop track, the access gates, the bushland, the viewing platforms, water birds on rocks, and the beautiful coastal panoramas.

See the complete set of Photos of my visit, which include a Google Earth view of the walking route.

To see a regional map centred on Shoreham, please visit

http://bonzle.com/c/a?a=sm&v=OXDTG7MLMA1I