Wye River is a small town in Victoria, Australia. It is also the name given to the waterway which flows through the town and into the sea at this point. Situated some 155 km west of Melbourne, on the Otway Coast part of the scenic Great Ocean Road, the Wye River township is a popular tourist destination about 15 km west of the resort town of Lorne, Victoria. It became a popular place for Melburnians to holiday after the Great Ocean Road was officially opened in 1932.
The site was occupied by white settlers in 1882. Brothers Alex and Donald MacRea and their cousin Alex MacLennan were looking for an area suited to farming and fishing and chose this site. The MacRaes settled near Separation Creek, establishing a farm which they named The Wye after a river in Wales and Herefordshire. Alex MacLennan settled a little further west at a site he named The Kennet (later the town of Kennett River) after another UK river.
Wye River Post Office opened on 19 January 1914 though some time before 1945 it was reduced to a telegraph office for a considerable period of time, mail being delivered from Lorne. A school was established in the local hall in 1920, but closed in 1921 after the closure of a sawmill resulted in a loss of population. It was re-established in a converted residence in 1931, operated part-time with the Aireys Inlet school from 1935, and closed permanently in 1942.
On Christmas Day 2015 a bushfire destroyed at least 98 homes in Wye River. At nearby Separation Creek another 18 homes were destroyed. There were no deaths at either town.
Wye River has two caravan parks, the Seasonal Foreshore, located close to the main beach, and the BIG4 Wye River Holiday Park in the valley, which is privately owned and operates all year round.
There is one pub, the Wye Beach Hotel (formally known as “The Rookery Nook Hotel”) and a general store “The Wye General” which also contains the post office and a cafe.
References and Credits:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wye_River,_Victoria – Wikipedia
https://www.slv.vic.gov.au/ – State Library – Victoria (historic photographers)
F J Davies
Tom Griffiths
Victorian Railways Photographers
Rose Stereograph Co.
Rennie Ellis (1940 – 2003)
Alfred Martin Ebsworth (artist)
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