THREE LITTLE PORTS - (Eulalie Brewster)

Sunday, 11th April, 1999 was a fine autumn day for the excursion arranged by Vice-President Wally Cayzer to visit the three historic little ports of Foster Landing, Port Franklin, and Toora Beach.   Promptly at 10.00 a.m. the coach with 39 passengers left from Bruce Street, with Wally giving a commentary on places of interest along the road.

At Koonwarra the historic old store was pointed out as were the sites of the early brickworks and the Camp Hill and Bunker Hill camp sites (for the workers when the railway line was being built) and the spot alongside the road where fossil fish and other valuable fossils have been found.

As we crossed the Tarwin River, the old railway bridge 1006' (306.32 m) long was upstream from the road bridge with the junction of the east and west branches of the Tarwin River in the distance, and fine views of the extensive flats which can flood to   great depth.

At Meeniyan, the hotel built with bricks that had lined the kilns after the Koonwarra brickworks had closed, was noted. (The bricks produced for sale at Koonwarra were imprinted "Leongatha").  A fine old house built from Mount Gambier limestone and another house once a hospital were passed.

From Leongatha we had been travelling on the South Gippsland Highway which we left beyond Meeniyan to travel past the small township of Buffalo to Fish Creek where two murals, one on the wall of a cafe and the other on a wooden frame near the Information Centre, depicting district history, were noted, then on through Hoddle to a lookout spot with an extensive view over Corner Inlet to Wilson's Promontory.

As we descended the Hoddle range towards Foster, the site of Davies' early timber mill with its timber tramway line that terminated at Foster Landing was pointed out. As well as being used to send timber to the port, the tramway was used by Mr. O'Keefe, the contractor who built this portion of the Great Southern railway line, to transport goods needed for the line and also his men to a works camp. At Foster we stopped by Crawford Hall (named to honour Mr. W.Crawford, one of the Founding Members of the Foster Society) which since 1977 has housed the Foster Museum and Historical Society (formed 1973).

Here we were joined by 8 members of the Foster Historical Society and Mr. Brian Greer became our guide for the next section of the excursion. He told us of the discovery of gold at Foster (then Stockyard Creek), the first alluvial finds and, later, reef mining, of the 17 registered hotels in 1874, the reason for the disparity of main street widths in Foster (one had originally been a very narrow dray track whilst another had carried the telegraph line which required a firebreak to be provided on each side of the line), of the occasional slumps of backyards beside Stockyard creek and of the platypus still to be seen there. Adjoining the car park was the bush walk to the victory mine site and a mural depicting Foster Landing.

We then travelled on to Landing Road past "The Island", which had been formed when Stockyard Creek had branched and then rejoined, to Foster  Landing where it was very low tide with the few boats moored there all resting on the muddy creek bed. The banks of the creek were well grassed with a few Boobialla trees along the edge, a line of Swamp Paperbark along the line of the old sea wall and similar vegetation with several wattle trees on the far side of the creek. Our guide pointed out the yellow stringybark timbers which had been used as jetty piles, and mentioned some of the early fishermen whose boats had been moored along the creek. Fisherman Cripps had his jetty on the west bank of the creek and had a vegetable garden from which he supplied the miners. Another fishermn had built the Government Jetty with Captain Pilkington's jetty further downstream. There had originally been a bridle path that led upstream past a rock bar where there was a receding bank which had formed a ford for cattle to cross on the route from Port Albert to Melbourne. The first grass grown in the area was at the original stockyard. Another track for drays and cattle had been on the right side of the creek and led to the east of the town.

There had been a tramline from the jetty to Foster with the rails, sleepers and pegs all of Blue Gum. Another tramline had run direct from Davies Mill at Hoddle to The Island with timber for Melbourne. Davies had also built a water race line of timber to the digging area. We then walked back towards The Island (1 acre in area) past the Government Jetty and other small private jetties. A huge spreading Oak tree was on the far bank beyond The Island. In earlier times there had been timber in the mud for a crossing to The Island which had lasted well. There was some remnant native tussock along the creek but bad infestation of blackberry on The Island, which had at times been sprayed by a neighbouring landholder. The Island is a very good place for native birds. It is possible to walk along the creek to Corner Inlet but it is fairly rough underfoot. In spite of the uninviting state of the creek at low tide, there is plenty of good fishing at high tide. There are Blackfish and Galaxias upstream in the fresh water. The mangroves along the creek and Inlet provide nursery areas for marine life.

As we returned towards Foster in the bus, we passed the site of an early private school. Before the old Foster railway platform and turntable site, our route went east, with the old dairy factory on our right and views across the rich coastal plain to the steep slopes of the Strzelecki Range. Charity Lane was on our left as we drove to the Lower Toora Road, and to the south was a road to Foster Beach where, once, regular Regatta days with sandy picnics had been held annually in their turn with other Regatta days of the Corner Inlet townships. Prospectors had found some gold in Deep Creek. As we turned south to Port Franklin we were told of the tramline that went from the port to the main S.E. railway line for fish being sent to Melbourne - hence Tramway Street. A short town tour before lunch took us down Bowen St. to view the mangrove forest in the Marine and Coastal Reserve across which we could see the sand dunes at Yanakie.

After lunch in the picnic reserve beside Tramway Street, Theo Avery, a local fisherman, spoke to us. Theo had come to Port Franklin in 1923 and, apart from 5 years during World War 2 and 8 years working with Whately, the plumber in Toora, had spent his life at Port Franklin. O'Keefe's jetty had been built for an engine and other goods to be taken by rail to the main line at Bennison. It was a very good jetty. Horse scoops had been used for all work on the rail line. Theo tied his boat to this jetty for the first 4 years he was at Port Franklin. After the jetty had become derelict and the crane removed, the shed was left there and a diving board placed there for the swimming area. During the war another fishing family sawed off the diving board ! O'Keefe's tram line was used to take fish to the main line. Prior to that, fish had to be taken to Port Albert to be sent to Melbourne. Many fish were salted for the men at the diggings. Lassetter built the light in the Welshpool channel. He cut the poles where the Toora Road crosses the Franklin River and, being a Canadian, he thought to float them to the sea. The hardwood poles promptly sank. Fred Cripps lent him a boat to take them to sea but the boat was returned damaged and Cripps chased him out of town. No sympathy for Lassetter at Port Franklin !

Port Franklin was originally named Bowen (after one of the officers on the Lady Nelson) there was confusion with Bowen in Queensland, so the name was changed. (Sir John Franklin visited the coast in 1844.) There were fishermen's huts along the shore when the railway line was being built - Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish, Irish, and Australian. The sawmill originally up by the bridge over the Franklin River was owned by the Martin brother (Alf and Fred) who owned all the land from the bridge to the sea. There have been many subdivisions and change since that day. There used to be a long shed near the picnic area where Jim Miles built boats. The line of huts was where Rathjen's bullock team brought the timber for the sheet piling. They were stringybark poles, and lasted well. Recently a dragline pulled them out; they had been dug in by shovel, not driven in.

The post office was run from the shop that was built for Mrs. E.R. Cripps (Fred's mother) . There were several other owners, and by "coincidence" it burned down. There is no post office now.

Local bushfires were caused by burning off as people cleared the land towards Foster. The school is probably derelict now; it was closed 10 years ago and the children now go by bus to Bennison. School was held at the back of the Hall until a school was built in 1929. There werq 30 children at the one teacher school when Theo started school. When he was young, his father often sent him to walk 2 miles to Bennison to post a letter before breakfast. Swagmen used to come along the railway lines; if Theo saw a swagman, he would run all the way home as they had been warned of swagmen. The Avery family were originally at Port Albert where Theo's grandfather had been a shipwright. He built lots of houses, also the Port Albert jetty and the Tarraville church. His son, Jack, worked with him. There were 12 children in his father's family. The father of Harry Avery, of Leongatha, was one of the older ones. Mr. Bill Cripps was Ranger at the south-west corner of Corner Inlet. Mr. Miles built a couple of square stem boats and dinghies for private use. Theo Avery has had as much fun in his garden as in his boat. He once caught a green turtle which was sent to Point Lonsdale. Its head was bitten off by a wobbegong (Port Jackson shark). Theo grows orchids, both exotics and native. He suggests that there are probably no professional fishermen in the Inlet, which considers to be quite healthy, with good catches of fish, and that there are good reasons for closed seasons.

Port Franklin is closed at weekends - this was imposed by the local fishermen-church goers. The biggest tide that he has seen was in conjunction with floods and a very low glass, when the path by Avery's boat was under water. A very low tide was 13 feet down the jetty poles. With silting in the Inlet some gutters are no longer there but after a big storm and high tides new gutters open. The river was cleaned og garfish in the early days; after the tin mines with muddy water and a big rain, silt went out to sea. The Inlet scours out after floods. Reg Truscott's boat, "Mirrabooka" was built at Erith Island; Jack Wynne built a hut and a boat. We reboarded the bus at 1.45 pm to travel along the Lower Foster- Toora road, across the Franklin River (Koala reserve, a community project) and past the farm that John Amey established; he had some of the original prospectors working for him. (Amey's Track, to Turton's Creek). The rolling green hills suggested a suitable site for a wind farm.

Mrs. Phyllis Kerr then became our leader as we went, via Grip Road, around parts of the early Village Settlement area. This was the product of the 1890s Depression, to settle the poor on farms. There were the pro- blems of Muddy Creek and high tides and the need to drain the land for a reclamation area. The settlement scheme was a dismal failure - the blocks were too small (of only 1 to 20 acre lots) at f2.0.0d. per acre, to be fenced and a dwelling built. Within 2 years they were consolidated into larger farms which are now very productive. Randolph Bedford was a newspaper editor in the settlement days; the Warners were a family that consolidated land and stayed. We went past an ostrich farm to Beach road - the village Settlement area extended to the beach. Entering the "Corner Inlet Marine and Coastal Reserve", we parked with a view to the old jetty piles in Corner Inlet and across to Barry's Beach which was the industrial site for oil rig platform in the '70s and '80s. Mrs. Kerr told us of tthe Siberian Waders which come to corner Inlet in the spring but are gone by April. There are also Eastern Curlews and Red-necked stints. The mouth of the Franklin River was to the west and views to Wilson's Promontory and Yanakie, with Swan Bay to the east. The first Europeans here were the timber workers in about 1850.

Previously, the land supported some of the of the Kurnai people who would travel from the hills to the beach and the promontory.

There are numerous kitchen middens and tools at the Promontory and Yanakie. William Buchanan and his brother, Andrew, came from Sealers Cove to the blur gum forest at Muddy Creek, Toora. Eighty men were employed at their mill from which they ran a tramline to Swan Bay. This tramline was used for 30 years, and as each set of rails sank into the soft ground, another was laid on top - 4 sets in all. The timber was loaded onto marges which were towed out to bigger ships in the channel. Some ballast was dumped before loading the timber. These dumps are still visible in the water. The timber mill ran until the 1870's when Buchanans were going broke.

The first settlers came in the 1870's when all the hills were taken up, and the produce was was taken away by the coastal traders. The portion of the main railway line from Toora to Port Albert was completed by contractor Buckley in 1892. The "Ivanhoe" locomotive was brought on a 52 ton schooner, transferred onto a staging, and then moved by rail to Toora. The completion of the railway line then made shipping redundant. Randolph Bedford, editor "The Pioneer" became a Member of Parliament. Fishermen with baskets of fish used to walk up the railway line. The 700 ft long jetty which had been built for the Toora tin mines, was not used after completion of the railway line. Special trains used to run, with 400 passengers, to the jetty and beach for Regatta Days but when motor cars became commonthose picnics ceased, and people went to real beaches with real sand. The jetty was blasted during World War 2., the reason is unknown.

We then returned through Toora to the South Gippsland Highway for home after thanks were given to our organizer and leaders.