The mystery remains
Oct 16, 2025 - In 1917, a huge skeleton found in sand dunes near Tarwin Lower caused great astonishment among the locals. 
Hands off our bridge
Aug 16, 2025 - The Kilcunda trestle bridge might not be grand, but it’s our history, writes Maxine Wright 
The Nobbies jinx
July 23, 2025 - The recent closure of the Nobbies Centre is the latest twist in a saga that includes mini-tornados and multi-million-dollar court battles. 
Crays, muttonfish and gars with tails like pick-axes
June 7, 2025 - Fishing yarns from the Bunurong Coast by Rees Quilford 
The final set
March 27, 2025 - Neil Luke’s old surfing mates celebrate the life of a surfing legend who did things his own way. 
Stuff my relatives never told me
March 26, 2025 - Peter Brown delves into his family history and discovers stories of mutiny, adultery and murder. 
Pillage and plunder in Warn Marin Western Port
Feb 2, 2025 - Industrialisation of the bay began 30 years before permanent white settlement, writes Christine Grayden. |
A gentle hand
Oct 15, 2025 - Everyone remembers Vic Benetti’s smile. That and the Tuscan villa he built in Wonthaggi as a young bachelor. 
Rescuing the rescue station
Aug 14, 2025 - The State Coal Mine rescue station was going the same way as Number 5 mine brace … until a determined crew stepped up. By Carolyn Landon 
From tent town to model town
Aug 18, 2025 - Wonthaggi arrived much later than most of the towns around Bass Coast, but it grow at breakneck speed. By Linda Cuttriss 
Long haul to first state coal mine
March 24, 2025 - The State Coal Mine came to life almost overnight. But it took more than half a century and a state of emergency for it to happen. 
The trail blazers
March 21, 2023 - It would be easy to mistake them for a bunch of ladies who lunch, but you are looking at a group of revolutionaries. 
Wonthaggi’s war
March 25, 2025 - The Plaza Arcade played an unlikely role as a drill hall in the Second World War. 
Kilcunda Coal
Feb 2, 2025 - Linda Cuttriss had always wondered about that mullock heap. It wasn’t until she was held up by roadworks that she stopped to find out more. |
History in the making
October 15, 2024 - How a famous architect planned to help Wonthaggi out of the doldrums. 
What happened to Alice?
August 14, 2024 - Christine Grayden sifts myth from fact in a real-life mystery 
For Rex and Freddy
June 8, 2024 - A future prime minister, a dean of medicine and a brutal superintendent all play a role in The Killings at Newhaven. But author Joe Fairhurst never forgot that at its heart are two frightened young boys who died horrible deaths. 
Life of the party
June 14, 2024 - They worked hard in Wonthaggi’s early days and they partied just as hard, writes Carolyn Landon. 
Chicory and the Island
May 14, 2024 - For almost a century, Phillip Island’s main crop was a coffee additive, writes Pamela Rothfield. 
These precious things
April 16, 2024 - It’s not just the objects in the Wonthaggi Museum that intrigue but the stories that come with them, writes Mark Robertson. 
The wreck of the Speke
March 11, 32024 - How one of the world’s biggest steel rigged ships came to grief on Phillip Island’s rugged south coast. By Pam Rothfield 
The great ships of Phillip Island Millowl
Jan 19, 2024 - As the Phillip Island Conservation Society marks its first 55 years, Christine Grayden ponders how members have kept up the good fight for decades without wavering. |
Sun, surf … and a dash of history
Dec 13, 2024 - Wonthaggi Historical Society’s mini history talks have become an unlikely highlight of summer 
The line to Wonthaggi
Sept 13, 2024 - Just 10 weeks to lay the railway line from Woolamai to Wonthaggi sounds incredible. What’s more, most of the work was done by pick and shovel, writes Carolyn Landon. 
A wreck, a whale and that shiny black rock
August 14, 2024 - Linda Cuttriss explores Wreck Beach and finds a complex web of events linked by coal. 
Maritime adventures and misadventures
A lifetime of research and experience has gone into John Jansson’s A Source Book of Western Port Maritime History. Christine Grayden reports. 
Post cards from World War One
April 19, 2024 - Private Percy Dominick’s war story is recorded in a series of postcards he wrote home to Phillip Island. By Christine Grayden 
Facing Island, Facing Mortality
March 22, 2024 - Christine Grayden revisits the life of Jan Bassett, a remarkable historian whose family roots were deep in Phillip Island. 
Time at the Tech
Feb 16, 2024 - It only takes one teacher to change a life, and Bruce Phillips was lucky enough to find several in his Wonthaggi school years. 
The other war
Jan 22, 2024 - If you love living here, imagine how much First Nations people must have loved it before the British invasion, writes Frank Coldebella. |
The master muralist
Dec 9, 2023 - Experience painting scenery stood Dennis Leversha in good stead when he began painting the extraordinary murals that tell Wonthaggi’s history. Story by Carolyn Landon 
We shall remember
Oct 20, 2023 - Jane Ross and Christine Grayden call for a brief pause to remember the harsh impact of world wars on so many service people and civilians. 
The homing instinct
Sept 22, 2023 - A lifelong Phillip Islander, Cherry McFee didn’t like to go too far from the sea. Story by Gill Heal 
Hanley’s Dairy
August 11, 2023 - Long before dawn, the milkmen and horses of Hanley’s Dairy criss-crossed Wonthaggi to deliver the daily pint. 
Our whale turns 100
July 19, 2023 - How a beached whale became a Wonthaggi icon. 
Tall tales and true from island’s past
May 17, 2023 - Have you ever wondered why the main street of Cowes is called Thompson Avenue, or when motorsport became part of Phillip Island's culture? 
No. 5 Brace
Feb 17, 2023 - The decaying bones of Wonthaggi’s last remaining mine brace are a moody reminder of the town’s early history, writes Carolyn Landon. 
Hats off to a band of amateur brickies
Dec 15, 2022 - Christine Grayden applauds the musicians who built the iconic Cowes band rotunda. |
The toast of
Phillip Island Nov 16, 2023 - With a glamorous new hotel to rise on the site of the Isle of Wight Hotel, Pam Rothfield looks back at its predecessors. 
From Caridà to Wonthaggi
Oct 14, 2023 - Sam Gatto’s memoir of his family’s migration from an Italian village to an Australian coal town was written for his descendants, but it’s also a great story for the rest of us. 
Back to the future
Aug 17, 2023 - Linda Cuttriss envisages the State Coal Mine as a place where history, community, energy and creativity come together. 
More than memories
May 17, 2023 - Like many descendants of Wonthaggi coal miners, the State Coal Mine is in Linda Cuttriss’s DNA. 
The hut people
June 20, 2023 - Long before holiday houses were million-dollar mansions, the hut people of Shack Bay lived like kings. Frank Coldebella recalls those carefree, dreamtime days. 
Historic hospital plans return home
June 23, 2023 - Architectural plans for the first permanent Wonthaggi Hospital dating from 1913 have been returned home after a surprise find at a church sale in regional Victoria. 
The story teller
March 24, 2023 - Olive Justice never lost her adventurous spirit, positive attitude and love of a good story. Christine Grayden celebrates one of Phillip Island’s great characters in Women’s History Month. 
The men who could make anything
Jan 26, 2023 - Trained in the Wonthaggi mine workshops, Danny Carr and his workmates proved a boon to the district after the mine closed. |
Just what the doctor ordered
Nov 8, 2022 - The Wonthaggi Miners Friendly Society’s Dispensary – better known as “the Dispensary” – turns 100 this month. 
Making a Place for Olive
August 19, 2022 - At a small gathering to mark the completion of Olive Justice Place, Christine Grayden is reminded of those who once called this place home 
Forrest Caves and the passing of time
Sept 15, 2022 - Not even the rocks are permanent on this mysterious and constantly changing beach, writes Linda Cuttriss. 
The coal miner’s daughter
May 17, 2022 - From humble beginnings, Wendy Crellin has built a life filled with arts and service to her community 
Tales from the Underground
June 2, 2022 - John Bordignon’s fascination with the Wonthaggi miners started when his dad took him down into the tunnels not long before the pit ponies and miners were winched up for the last time. 
The kiosk on the hill
March 8, 2022 - Running the Cape Paterson kiosk was no easy task without electricity, a phone line or toilet, but for newlyweds Janice and Wazza Coldebella it was all part of the adventure. 
Deliver us our daily bread
March 9, 2022 - Wonthaggi’s Country Style bread was delivered by generations of locals and horses who knew every customer. 
Island of plenty
Feb 25, 2022 - Crayfish, whiting, mutton birds, rabbits ... there was full and plenty on Phillip Island if you knew where to look for it., wrote Norm Jenner |
Tall tales and the mighty leek
Sept 22, 2022 - The Wonthaggi Leek Show was serious business, writes Carol Cox, with growers having their own secret leek feed and a special leaf polish. 
Lessons in life, country style
July 21, 2022 - A summer job at Wonthaggi’s bakery was the start of Frank Coldebella’s real education. 
Tales from the Underground
June 30, 2022 - In the third and final part of John Bordignon’s memoir of working life of a coal miner, as told to him by Wonthaggi miners, he relates the accidents, near misses and bloody silly pranks that were part of working life. 
Tales of the Underground
June 16, 2022 - Part 2 of John Bordignon’s memoir of working life of a coal miner, as told to him by Wonthaggi miners, including his own father. 
In search of Bridget
April 21, 2022 – All Jenny Osler had were a few family stories and three family photos, taken on her great-grandmother’s 80th birthday when she went to live with The Little Sisters of the Poor. 
Where are the women?
March 25, 2022 - It can be hard to find the women in Bass Coast’s local history. To mark Women’s History Month, Christine Grayden points to some online resources. 
Kings of the road
Feb 11, 2022 - This weekend’s Tour of Gippsland is a welcome return of elite cycling to a shire with a proud cycling history going back over a century. 
Stories of us
Jan 28, 2022 - Interviews with farmers, hoteliers, an artist and a newspaper editor provide a fascinating insight into Phillip Island’s rich history, writes Andrea Cleland. |
A guardian of the Island’s history
Dec 15, 2021 - Gaye Cleeland was fascinated by local history but she wasn't staid about it. Pam Rothfield recalls their laughter as they searched for skeletons in their shared ancestral cupboard. 
King of the roads
July 16, 2021 - Richard Kemp recalls the glory days of the Lang Lang Proving Ground, when a day at work might include dodging roos, racing with ‘Brockie’ or seeing the greatest collection of pristine Holdens. 
Alternative energies
Long before wind and solar power, there was elbow grease, carbide and kerosene. Mark Robertson admires a new collection in the Wonthaggi Museum. 
Our day of days
May 7, 2021 - The old diggers are gone but Anzac Day still troubles Tim O’Brien, who asks what if we made it a day for truth telling? 
A symphony of words
July 2, 2021 - Writing long non-fiction is a bit like conducting an orchestra, according to prize-winning author Christine Grayden. 
Vale Cam Walker
April 22, 2021 - A link with Bass Coast’s early European history has been broken with the death of Cam Walker, the fourth generation of a family that settled in Glen Alvie in 1883 
History draws a crowd
Jan 30, 2021 - A season of short talks on Wonthaggi’s secret history proved an unexpected visitor attraction. |
A hive of activity
Dec 3, 2021 - Exactly 44 years since the last passenger rail service to Wonthaggi. Jack Moyle recalls a time when the railway station was the centre of the town’s social and commercial life. 
Researching one war in the time of another
August 27, 2021 - Historical research in the time of Covid brings its own challenges and rewards, writes Christine Grayden. 
The joy of the toy
July 2, 2021 - The sight of an old tin toy can spark a wave of nostalgia in even the crustiest old timer, writes Mark Robertson. 
Dark days for Wonthaggi
June 4, 2021 - The use of Wonthaggi Town Hall as a vaccination hub has reminded local historians of the time when it served as a hospital last century. 
All that can be desired
May 7, 2021 - Seaside villas, a coffee palace, a shipping port, a railway line and agricultural show grounds … life in Grantville on the Sea was dandy. 
Tales of Tent Town
April 9, 2021 - From the moment Christine Bell stepped into the Wonthaggi Museum, a little voice told her ‘There’s a story here’.” 
‘There was a storm in me’
March 11, 2021 - There was nothing in Agnes Doig’s middle class family background to indicate that she would become a champion of the poor and downtrodden, writes Carolyn Landon. |
Off to the Powlett River
Nov 27, 2020 - A rollicking 1909 account of an arduous journey by stage coach from Outtrim to the new coal town of Wonthaggi. 
The first encounter
Sept 4, 2020 - Captain Pierre-Bernard Milius's diary gives a rare window into the world of the Bunurong people in Bass Coast before European settlement. By Pat Macwhirter 
The inside track
Oct 2, 2020 – Resident roos, snooping photographers and a breakneck ride with Peter Brock are among Hugh Videion’s fond memories of two years managing the Holden Proving Ground. 
Weekends at Remo
Sept 14, 2020 - It started with a fibro beach shack in 1952. 70 years later Kevin Chambers gives thanks for some great memories. 
In search of Truginini
Aug 13, 2020 - Cassandra Pybus's haunting story has special meaning to us, writes Ian Hayward Robinson, because one of the most fateful episodes of Truginini’s life occurred in Bass Coast. 
Here’s to the old Tech
Jan 25, 2020 - As Wonthaggi Secondary College moves to a sparkling new campus, the old tech school still holds a special place for many, writes Carolyn Landon. 
The deadliest epidemic
April 3, 2020 - Exactly 101 years ago, Wonthaggi schools and shops were closed and the town hall set up as a hospital as the town prepared for the deadliest epidemic the world has ever seen. Carolyn Landon reports 
Crises I have known
April 17, 2020 - Eulalie Brewster looks back on turning points of history she has experienced in her 93 years. |
Taking the waters
Oct 16, 2020 – One hundred years ago, the townsfolk of Inverloch built themselves a bathing enclosure to protect swimmers from shark attack, writes Eulalie Brewster 
‘Stand clear – here comes Mrs Gilmour!’
Aug 22, 2020 - Gilmour Track named for Cape Paterson legend as part of a council policy to honour local women. 
History with a twist wins non-fiction prize
Oct 16, 2020 – Bass Coast writer Linda Cuttriss has won the 2020 Bass Coast Prize for Non-Fiction with At Screw Creek, part true detective story, part local history, part family history. 
Ciconte Close
July 31, 2020 - The renaming of a Wonthaggi street honours honours an extraordinary family with a classic immigrant story, writes Carolyn Landon 
History in the making
April 3, 2020 – We are living through interesting times, writes Libby Skidmore, and each one of us should record our experiences. 
On common ground
March 20, 2020 - “Dinkum folk” and a culture of working for the public good created a multi-cultural society in Wonthaggi ahead of its time, writes Frank Coldebella. 
Jobs that no longer exist: a memoir
Feb 10, 2020 - Chicory drying, kelp harvesting and cuttlefish collecting … Christine Grayden’s prize-winning memoir is a fascinating insight into a world of work that once existed on Phillip Island. 
Whatever it takes
July 31, 2020 - A restored carriage in Ian Hitchings’ farm museum is a triumph of home-grown ingenuity, writes Geoff Ellis |
Wonthaggi’s first business
Nov 8, 2019 - When 40 hungry men arrived to start work on the new Powlett coalfield, E. B. Cain bought 10 sheep and went into business. 
Wonthaggi's book of dreams
October 11, 2019 - Railway locomotive construction, a canning and dehydration factory, an aluminium smelter, clothing factory and farm co-ops … such were the dreams of the town's post-war reconstruction committee. 
The Criterion cartoonist
August 3, 2019 - At the age of 20, Clive Dobbs was drawing cartoons for Wonthaggi’s first newspaper. Little is known about him but there was no doubting which side he was on. 
That’s what Wonthaggi people are like!
May 31, 2019 - Racing pigeons was considered a working class pastime, just right for the working men of Wonthaggi. And Rod Churchill has some mighty stories about the local club. 
Tall tales and true of San Remo
April 19, 2019 - The small coastal town hits the big screen with 10 mini movies based on local stories and photos. 
50 years of exits and entrances
February 8, 2019 - As the Wonthaggi Theatrical Group begins its second half century, Gill Heal reflects that the group has changed many lives, on and off the stage 
The Campbells of Kernot
February 8, 2019 - Bruce Campbell believes he has grown up in the luckiest family, in the luckiest district, in the luckiest country in the world. His grand-daughter Merryn Chapman recounted his story at Kernot’s Australia Day breakfast. 
Pitching in
February 8, 2019 - When a young Bill Robertson arrived in Wonthaggi in 1958 he wasn’t too keen about living in the sticks. But then he fell in love– first with Barbara Dakers and then with the community. So much so that within 10 years he was mayor. |
The lake that vanished
Nov 22 2019 - Lake Lister was a magical place, writes Terri Allen, at least until the day two miners decided to deepen it with a few sticks of gelignite. 
‘So natural yet so remarkable’
Oct 25, 2019 - Visiting a remote Phillip Island beach in 1926 in search of shells, Raymond Grayden could not have imagined that one day this beach would draw thousands each evening to view the penguins. 
The ferry captain
July 20, 2019 - A storm-damaged tree, a world class tree carver with a local connection and a proud maritime heritage ... the stars aligned for Rhyll’s new artwork. 
The sands of time
August 17, 2019 - Linda Cutttriss guides us on a walk through time along the Cowes beach. 
A walk on the wild side
July 5, 2019 - Mr Bonney’s friends jokingly called it The Wilderness but he made a wise choice when he selected land at The Gurdies. 
May Day in Wonthaggi
April 19, 2019 - Frank Coldebella celebrates the achievements of forgotten, ordinary people who fought for a better world. 
A young man and his truck
April 5, 2019 - Every day when the mine whistle blows in Wonthaggi to signal midday, Fred Webb’s presence is felt. Carolyn Landon describes a clever, energetic man whose ingenuity helped to shape Wonthaggi. 
At home on the hill
February 22, 2019 - Pamela Rothfield’s history of the first 73 occupants of the Phillip Island cemetery provides a moving snapshot of a fledgling society: the vulnerability of babies, children and pregnant women, the prevalence of depression, the high rate of death by accident. |
The day the mine closed
December 14, 2018 - Fifty years ago the last shift of Wonthaggi miners emerged from Kirrak shaft to be greeted by a fairly important person from the Railways Department and a contingent of reporters and photographers. 
Island of dreams
November 2, 2018 - Descendants of some of Phillip Island’s first selectors will be among a cast re-enacting the first land ballot in Cowes next weekend. 
The band played on
October 5, 2018 - A musical and acrobatic show pays tribute to some of the least likely heroes of the First World War. 
The stories of Arthur Baker
September 14, 2018 - “The hiss of the air-hose, the creaks and groans of the ‘big deeps’ and I'm sitting looking at something no man has ever seen ...” So begins a hand-written slice of memoir by a Wonthaggi miner. 
Inverloch, but not as we know it
August 17, 2018 - A century of developer ads spruiking the charms of “Victoria’s Most Beautiful Seaside Resort” are on display in a fascinating new exhibition by the Inverloch Historical Society. 
The waste lands
August 3, 2018 - A visit to the abandoned St Paul’s Boys’ Home at Newhaven prompts Pete Granger to wonder whether Australia should adopt China’s restrictions on foreign buyers. 
The story of everything
April 6, 2018 - Mark Robertson is uncovering the stories of the everyday objects in the Wonthaggi museum. He shares some of them with Carolyn Landon. 
The big fix
July 6, 2018 - Jim Bell never forgot the day the gaming squad used sledgehammers and axes to raid the Wonthaggi Workmen’s Club. 
Life after Warley
May 4, 2018 - The legacy of Warley Hospital lives on in Phillip Island’s new health hub, writes Mary Whelan. 
In sickness and in health
Ahead of the opening of the new Phillip Island health hub this weekend, Mary Whelan looks back on a century of health care on the island. |
We will remember them
November 2, 2018 - The Bass Coast Chorale will perform local composer Larry Hills’ acclaimed cantata They Went With Songs next weekend to mark the centenary of Armistice Day. 
Lifetime award to ‘revered’ Island historian
November 2, 2018 - Christine Grayden’s combination of meticulous research and an engaging approach to sharing history has been recognised by Museums Australia. 
The wreck of the Amazon
October 19, 2018 - Few visitors to Inverloch are aware of a shipwreck buried in the surf beach for a century and a half. 
Bass Valley’s Anzacs
September 21, 2018 - Private Ernest Berryman of Glen Forbes killed in action in April 1918, two days after making a lone attack on enemy lines, is one of 103 Anzacs honoured on a new plaque in Bass. 
Step this way
September 31, 2018 - The great traditions of the bush dance will be revived in Cowes next month, writes Mary Whelan. 
A newspaper is reborn
August 31, 2018 - More than a century after the first Western Port Times went out of business, a new online version is uncovering the rich history of the Waterline communities, writes publisher Roger Clark. 
Commies’ Corner
July 20, 2018 - The shacks built in the dunes of Harmers Haven and the fibro shacks that followed were holiday homes to a tight-knit socialist community, writes Marguerita Stephens. 
Life and death in old San Remo
June 1, 2018 - Samuel Pickersgill’s memoirs of life at Griffiths Point (San Remo) in the 1870s and 1880s make fascinating but often harrowing reading. 
Island farewells Cherry McFee
February 16, 2018 - This much-loved identity enriched life on Phillip Island, writes John Eddy 
And the bands played on
February 23, 2018 – The first Inverloch Jazz Festival in 1994 featured 13 bands and 61 musicians. Some of them will be back for this year’s festival, the 25th, writes Carol Young. |
Full and plenty
December 2, 2017 - No pasta, no salami, no tinned tomatoes … Italian migrants had to start from scratch when they arrived in Wonthaggi. 
Beaches, bays and one fatal shot
November 4, 2017 - Linda Cuttriss visits Ventnor, where Phillip Island’s first European family once hosted members of Melbourne’s social elite. 
The Hovell Tree
October 7, 2017 - A small tree at the State Coal Mine commemorates the first European explorer to venture overland to the Wonthaggi plains. Terri Allen reports. 
The hills are alive
September 2, 2017 - At a clearing sale in Krowera, an old piano sings to Frank Coldebella of other days. 
From telegram boy to postmaster
July 8, 2017 -The telegram reigned supreme when Laurie Notley started work at the Wonthaggi Post Office in 1922.. 
What happened to Freddy and Rex
May 20, 2017 - A Newhaven private home for boys, a callous superintendent, two dead boys and links to the shadowy world of eugenics … journalist and playwright Joe Fairhurst promises to reveal all at next month’s Phillip Island Literary Festival. 
The John Sparks mystery
June 17, 2017 - A fine bit of historical detective work has uncovered the story of a Wonthaggi Fire Brigade member who was killed in the First World War. Carolyn Landon reports 
Remembering Kit Sleeman
April 1, 2017 - Carolyn Landon celebrates Kit Sleeman’s exquisite essays on growing up in Wonthaggi. 
Stuff and stories
April 22, 2017 - San Remo residents and visitors are invited to bring out their old mementoes, memories and photos. 
Wonthaggi's blackest day
February 18, 2017 - Eighty years ago, Wonthaggi was rocked by an explosion at No. 20 shaft that killed 13 miners. 
Signs of the times
March 4, 2017 - Victoria’s first road sign was erected at Ventnor in 1801. Libby Skidmore explains 
All aboard for Port Albert
May 5, 2017 - John Wells guides us along a journey on the Great Southern Railway. |
King of the road
December 2, 2017 - Over 43 years at the Holden proving ground in Lang Lang, Allan George drove every new Holden model. Geoff Ellis reports. 
The town that vanished
November 4, 2017 - If you’d visited Queensferry a century ago, writes Libby Skidmore, you would have found a seaside settlement with hotels, a licensed colonial wine saloon and three public halls. 
Naming rights
October 21, 2017 - History is written by the victors, and they also get the naming rights. Geoff Ellis argues that we have a chance to redress the balance when it comes to Angus McMillan. 
Miss Somerset teaches in Tent Town
October 21, 2017 - Teaching in a tent was a novelty to Miss Somerset. To her pupils, it was just everyday life. 
House of learning
October 7, 2017 - The Inverloch Mechanics’ Institute minutes provide a fascinating insight into the social life of a small town over 81 years. By Eulalie Brewster 
Memories from a country school
August 18, 2017 - In 1990, the Dalyston School celebrated 90 years, and former pupils shared memories of their school years, writes Carolyn Landon 
A brief history of Grantville
August 19, 2015 - In 2004, when Helen Zervopoulos arrived in Grantville, it was just a set of traffic lights on the way to Phillip Island. 
Tom Gannon’s Obsession
June 3, 2017 - The first newspaper reports of Wonthaggi’s “Monster” were mocking, but in later years the tone changed, writes Carolyn Landon. Heslop's Wonthaggi
February 4, 2017 - A talk given to the Wonthaggi and District Historical Society 54 years ago gives an invaluable insight into the lives of the early settlers, writes John Wells. 
Our Shangri-La
March 18, 2017 - The wild Back Beach has exerted a powerful pull on generations of Terri Allen’s clan. 
On location in Rhyll
May 6, 2017 - Fishing and ferrying are in the spotlight in Rhyll this week, reports Carmen Bush, with filmmaker Jakeb Anhvu in residence to document the town’s rich maritime history. |
Christmas in the bush
December 17, 2016 - In 1839, Western Port settlers gathered in a bush hut to celebrate the season of goodwill, writes Libby Skidmore 
Paperbark town
November 5, 2016 – Swamp paperbark deserves to be Wonthaggi’s floral emblem, suggests Terri Allen. 
Sam’s pears
November 5, 2016 - In 1835, pioneer Sam Anderson planted Victoria’s first orchard at Bass. His pear trees are still bearing fruit today, writes Libby Skidmore. 
Finding Ellen
October 8, 2016 - A family gathering at Inverloch Pioneer Cemetery marked the end of a quest to find the long-lost grave of a young mother and son, buried 125 years ago. Linda Cuttriss reports 
Casualties of colonisation
September 24, 2016 - A reconciliation group seeks local recognition of two Aborigine men who were once condemned as bloodthirsty outlaws, reports Anne Davie 
The coast dwellers
August 27, 2016 - Jim McDonnell was still living in a hut on the coast in the mid-1970s. Frank Coldebella recalls a gentle man more attuned to the rhythms of nature than to the trivia of town life. 
Welcome to country
March 12, 2016 - Years after houses replaced Wonthaggi’s tent town, many old people remembered their camping times as the best days of their lives, writes Frank Coldebella. 
Night-time visitors
May 21, 2016- Kit Sleeman looks back to an age of real service when fresh milk and bread appeared on the kitchen table every morning as if by magic. 
In good times and bad
February 27, 2016 - Next month marks 100 years since mining started at the eastern area mine, and the Friends of the State Coal Mine are planning to celebrate, reports Sheila Ormerod. Poem ‘Underground’ by Terri Allen. |
The Wheatleys of Grantville
December 3, 2016 - In good times and bad, Don and Irene Wheatley have been part of Grantville’s story. Tony Hughes reports. 
Clara’s Story
November 19, 2016 – An astute business woman way ahead of her time, Clara Johnson opened Wonthaggi’s first hamburger shop and used wind energy to power her shops in Inverloch. Her son Geoff Johnson takes up the story. 
Open for business
October 22, 2016 - A recently discovered memoir by Wonthaggi’s first shopkeeper gives us the sense of being there when the town was founded. 
The joys of gravity
September 10, 2016 - From billy carts to tin toboggans, steep slopes were a source of pleasure for the kids in Kit Sleeman’s neighbourhood 
Our founding, murdering father
July 16, 2016 - Scottish writer Cal Flyn confronted the truth of her ancestor Angus McMillan, a revered pioneer who perpetrated the slaughter of Gippsland’s Indigenous people. Jeannie Haughton shared part of her journey. 
Gippsland’s hall of fame
August 13, 2016 - Artist Annemieke Mein left a clue for the astute observer in her bronze of the early Gippsland explorer Angus McMillan, writes Geoff Ellis. 
The miners' picnic
February 13, 2016 - Kit Sleeman recalls a memorable miners’ picnic at Cowes, enlivened by a foul-mouthed ventriloquist and a storm-tossed voyage home. 
All aboard, please
March 5, 2016 - Steven Haby delves into the history of Bass Coast’s bus fleet of 1976, when dozens of small bus operators provided a vital transport link. |
The price they paid
April 24, 2015 - On Anzac Day, find a spot with a lovely view and reflect on how many young soldiers never returned to appreciate this very view, writes Mal McCann.
April 24, 2015 - On Anzac Day, find a spot with a lovely view and reflect on how many young soldiers never returned to appreciate this very view, writes Mal McCann.
Tales of tragedy and triumph
December 12, 2015 - Pam Rothfield tells Geoff Ellis the stories behind some of the graves in the historic Rhyll cemetery. 
That sinking feeling
November 14, 2015 - The prospect of the State Government placing the first order for water from the Wonthaggi desalination plant has opened some old wounds, reports Geoff Ellis. 
The scars of war
September 19, 2015 - Seventy years after the end of the Second World War, many local people are still haunted by personal memories of war. Frank Coldebella spoke to some of them. 
In memoriam: footy, laughter and war
July 18, 2015 - A turn around the Loch footy oval has Bob Middleton contemplating the roar of the crowd and the waste of war. 
South Gippsland snapshots
January 31, 2015 - On Australia Day, Gill Heal celebrated those who grasp the opportunity to make a difference. |
A Waterline mystery
November 7, 2015 - Finding a “Dead Man’s Penny” has set a Grantville man on a voyage of discovery about an Australian soldier who died far from home a century ago, reports Geoff Ellis. 
Someone to watch over us
October 31, 2015 - On a visit to Grantville cemetery, Geoff Ellis reflects that, thanks to local volunteers, its occupants are in safe hands. 
Holding the line
July 4, 2015 - Being part of a democratic community includes a responsibility to defend that community when necessary, writes Rod Gallagher in his essay on Australia and conscription. 
Still spoiling for a fight
April 25, 2015 - “Australia is not a country that goes looking for trouble,” Tony Abbott said recently, but our history tells a different story. Frank Coldebella ponders the forgotten lessons of Gallipoli. Cartoon by Natasha Williams-Novak. 
The John Sparks mystery
April 24, 2015 - The Wonthaggi CFA fire station still has a photo of John Sparks almost 100 years after he was killed in the First World War. But the man himself remains a mystery. 
Not in our name
March 7, 2015 - Many people don’t know the real story of Angus McMillan. If we are to vote under his title, it’s time we did, writes Pauline Durnin. |
French Island follies
November 29, 2014 - Proponents of the Port of Hastings development could learn from the failed grand industrial plans of the past, writes Anne Paul. 
Guaranteed to cure
August 2, 2014 - Bullet wounds, piles, catarrh, deafness, tumours, freckles .... no ailment was too difficult for the patent medicine dispensers of early Wonthaggi, writes Carolyn Landon. 
The co-op and the bakehouse
June 28, 2014 - In the wake of this week's demolition of Wonthaggi's old co-op bakery, Carolyn Landon reflects on the role of the co-operative movement - and the bakery - in the former coal mining town. 
The picture theatre wars
May 31, 2014 - The battle for supremacy among Wonthaggi’s picture theatres culminated in a referendum on whether the local theatres should be allowed to show films on Sundays. Carolyn Landon reports. 
From strength to strength
May 17, 2014 - The women who started the Wonthaggi Women’s Auxiliary were backing up their miner husbands, but they soon found themselves at the forefront of a whole new political movement. By Carolyn Landon |
Red Wonthaggi
November 1, 2014 - It wasn’t just politically that Wonthaggi was red. Carol Cox reports on the distinctive red stone that formed the town’s roads, driveways and walls. 
A port out of place
September 6, 2014 - For over 150 years, Phillip Island has been a natural haven for weary city folk, writes Linda Cuttriss, but there are dark clouds on the horizon. 
Express post, tide permitting
August 16, 2014 - Rain, gale or fog, the mail always gets through to French Island. Bob Middleton meets a postman with a difference. 
Welcome to Wonthaggi
July 19, 2014 - Fascinated by the refusal of Aussie servicemen to salute, Clifford Osborne decided to emigrate to Australia after the war. By a stroke of luck, he and his young bride came to Wonthaggi, writes Carolyn Landon. 
Mrs Connelly and the Cairo Orchestra
June 19, 2014 - Five feet nothing, the diminutive Ruby Connelly and her band were the most sought-after dance musicians in South Gippsland, writes Carolyn Landon. 
Showdown at the Lance Creek corral
April 19, 2014 - One competitor broke his ankle, another had to be rushed to hospital and Texas Lil’s horse fell on her. The 1952 Lance Creek rodeo had plenty of excitement, reports Carolyn Landon. |
Here we go again
December 6, 2013 - Phillip Islanders have defended “their bay” against a nuclear plant, an oil refinery, a canal development and a ferry terminal. The Port of Hastings development is the latest threat, writes Anne Davie. Percy's tale
October 24, 2013 - Born a dwarf and abandoned by his family, ‘Percy’ Drawbridge eventually made his home in Cowes. Anne Davie recalls a sweet-natured man who became a favourite with the local children, cats and dogs. 
Read all about it
March 22, 2014 - Powlett Express editor Tom Gannon was loved and hated in equal measure, but nobody wanted to miss what he was writing about. Carolyn Landon investigates the legendary Wonthaggi newsman. Frog Hollow: a miner's cottage in Wonthaggi
July 14, 2013 - Terri Allen's memoir of her house, its surrounds, and the people who have lived there since 1915.
Rusting link to rich coal lore
June 9, 2013 - High tides recently exposed old tramway rails at the Cape Paterson beach. The 150-year-old rails are the last link to the earliest efforts to mine coal in our area, Mike McCarthy writes. A gentle woman who stood firm
March 16, 2013 - A mother, teacher, librarian, historian, author and activist, Lyn Chambers believed everything we do is ultimately a political decision. Carolyn Landon recalls a modest woman who made a big impact on Wonthaggi.
A day at the Cape
February 16, 2013 - The Gilmour family connection with Cape Paterson goes back more than a century, Carolyn Landon writes.
Missing in action
March 30, 2013 - Going back to photograph Warley Hospital after it closed was a haunting experience for Cowes photographer Lisa Schonberg.
What would Olive say?
February 2, 2013 - For 99 years, Olive Justice was a familiar face on Phillip Island, and now her name has become synonymous with a bitter battle over a valuable site in Cowes.
Salt of the earth
January 13, 2013 - For almost a century, Harry Cleeland was a
part of Cape Woolamai. Gill Heal recalls a gentle man much of whose life was governed by the sea but who preferred to stick to shore. 
The co-op bakehouse
April 18, 2013 - Carolyn Landon’s essay reveals the significance of the Wonthaggi Co-operative Distribution Society Bakehouse. |
A mine of information
December 21, 2013 - Teaching a young man to read and providing a sympathetic ear were all part of the job for Wonthaggi’s first librarian, Georgie McRae. Carol Cox reports. 
Out of a planning nightmare, a new dream arises
November 2, 2013 - With views of Western Port and Churchill Island, Scenic Estate was a developer’s dream. Now a 50-year planning disaster is ending with plans for Phillip Island’s newest coastal reserve. 
At your service
October 19, 2013 - Bill Twite’s mother said he was an accident, but a good one. Joan Woods reports on the former policeman’s life of service to his family and his community. Frog Hollow: A miner’s cottage in Wonthaggi, Part 2
August 16, 2013 - Four generations of Terri Allen’s family have lived in the house her grandfather built in Broome Crescent in 1915. The second part of her story about the family house is also a history of Australian domestic life in the 20th century.
Beau’s poetry, with a little help from Nell
May 19, 2013 - Beau Sleeman’s verse gives a fascinating insight into the Wonthaggi of the mid-1900s, a world of backyard chooks and the Friday night town parade of fighters and preachers. Carolyn Landon reports.
The authentic voice of Wonthaggi
June 15, 2013 - In the early 1990s, Nell Sleeman wrote down her memories of life in Wonthaggi in the 1920s and 1930s. Twenty years later, her words have the authentic flavour of another world.
War and peace, one street at a time
April 20, 2013 - A few days before Anzac Day, Catherine Watson looks around her street and is reminded that war is a waste of time.
Hot summers, big snakes and a mayor in overalls
January 26, 2013 - In January 1958, Anna Coldebella spoke to the Express about becoming a naturalised Australian. Fifty-five years later, her son fills in the story of her early years in Wonthaggi.
The mystery of the phantom whistle
April 14, 2013 - In 1937, the Wonthaggi mine whistle signalled the
town's worst-ever disaster. Or did it? Carolyn Landon sets out to solve the mystery. |
A view from the past
December 15, 2012 - Members of the Phillip Island Historical Society helped fill in some missing links for a blockbuster exhibition that opens at the Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery this weekend.
The end of the line
November 3, 2012 - One hundred years ago, work began on a railway station in the home of the State Coal Mine. Carolyn Landon reports
Sam Scimonello’s sewing machine
September 22, 2012 - Coffee pots, polenta pans, accordions and tools of trade were in the luggage of Italian migrants who arrived in Wonthaggi in the 1950s. Carolyn Landon reports.
Master of the passing parade
September 1, 2013 - For almost 20 years, Dennis Leversha’s South Gippsland murals have educated, tricked and charmed. Bob Middleton picks some of his favourites.
Friends and neighbours
June 28, 2012 - Frank Coldebella looks back on a Wonthaggi childhood where neighbours taught by example how a good society operates. |
Suffer the little children
November 24, 2012 - The use of cruel and unusual punishments in Catholic schools should be added to the list of sorrowful mysteries, writes Frank Coldebella in his memoir of life at Joseph’s Primary School from 1959-64.
Here be monsters, maybe
November 18, 2012 - The Tasmanian tiger was officially
declared extinct in 1986, 50 years after the last known specimen died in the Hobart Zoo. But is it possible a colony has survived in south-west Gippsland? Pommy Town burns
As a two-mile fire front races from Wonthaggi towards Cape Paterson, a constable gallops across town taking a four-year-old boy to safety ... Carolyn Landon reports on the great fire of February 14, 1944
Wonthaggi's was bigger
August 4, 2012 - A 22-metre whale washed onto Wreck Beach (at Harmers Haven) in 1923 was one of the biggest ever seen in Victoria. Carolyn Landon looks back on a century of whale-watching on the Bass Coast.
Talking 'bout a revolution
June 28, 2012 - In 1968, Frank Coldebella was in year 9 and selling The Herald after school. He watched the spark of revolution reach Wonthaggi. 
Land of hope
and toil July 20, 2012 - Retired Krowera farmer Les Kirk, 89, has always been a practical man. At school, books never stood a chance against the allure of a Fergie tractor. |
Hands off our bridge
Aug 16, 2025 - The Kilcunda trestle bridge might not be grand, but it’s our history, writes Maxine Wright. 
Pennies, petticoats and power
June 26, 2025 - Picture this: how would you honour a group of trail blazing women who stepped up in Wonthaggi’s hour of need? 
The line of Counihan
June 7, 2024 - At last we are beginning to see glimpses of some of the treasures within the Robert Smith Art Collection. 
The master muralist
Dec 9, 2023 - Experience painting scenery stood Dennis Leversha in good stead when he began painting the extraordinary murals that tell Wonthaggi’s history. Story by Carolyn Landon 
Facing Island, Facing Mortality
March 22, 2024 - Christine Grayden revisits the life of Jan Bassett, a remarkable historian whose family roots were deep in Phillip Island. 
Looking for Wonthaggi
Feb 13, 2021 - It’s too easy to lose what you can’t identify, says Gill Heal. Her new play is a search for the character and values of a town that is at a crossroads. 
What happened to Freddy and Rex
May 20, 2017 - A Newhaven private home for boys, a callous superintendent, two dead boys and links to the shadowy world of eugenics … journalist and playwright Joe Fairhurst promises to reveal all at next month’s Phillip Island Literary Festival. |
The great wall of Grantville
Nov 8, 2019 - It’s 20 metres long, contains 86,750 glass tiles and took 4552 man hours to create, but the chances are you’ve never seen the Grantville Armistice Mural. 
Sounds and silence
July 21, 2025 - A powerful new work from the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra comes to Wonthaggi before its Melbourne debut. 
History with a twist wins non-fiction prize
Oct 16, 2020 – Bass Coast writer Linda Cuttriss has won the 2020 Bass Coast Prize for Non-Fiction with At Screw Creek, part true detective story, part local history, part family history. 
Please share our journey
Octo 30, 2020 - As she prepares for the NAIDOC week art celebration, Safina Stewart discusses her art and the bigger picture. 
The ferry captain
July 20, 2019 - A storm-damaged tree, a world class tree carver with a local connection and a proud maritime heritage ... the stars aligned for Rhyll’s new artwork. 
50 years of exits and entrances
February 8, 2019 - As the Wonthaggi Theatrical Group begins its second half century, Gill Heal reflects that the group has changed many lives, on and off the stage 
We will remember them
November 2, 2018 - The Bass Coast Chorale will perform local composer Larry Hills’ acclaimed cantata They Went With Songs next weekend to mark the centenary of Armistice Day. |