Aireys Inlet is a small coastal

inlet An inlet is a (usually long and narrow) indentation of a shoreline, such as a small arm, bay, sound, fjord, lagoon or marsh, that leads to an enclosed larger body of water such as a lake, estuary, gulf or marginal sea. Overview In marine geogra ...

and town located on the

Great Ocean Road The Great Ocean Road is an Australian National Heritage listed stretch of road along the south-eastern coast of Australia between the Victorian cities of Torquay and Allansford. Built by returned soldiers between 1919 and 1932 and dedicated t ...

, southwest of

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. Aireys Inlet is located between Anglesea and Lorne, and joined with Fairhaven, Moggs Creek, and Eastern View to the west. Many

surfers Surfing is a surface water sport in which an individual, a surfer (or two in tandem surfing), uses a board to ride on the forward section, or face, of a moving wave of water, which usually carries the surfer towards the shore. Waves suitable ...

holiday in Aireys Inlet to take advantage of the popular Fairhaven beach. As the inclination of the beach can change dramatically between years, the surf is regarded as unpredictable. Swimmers should take note there is a strong

rip current A rip current, often simply called a rip (or misleadingly a ''rip tide''), is a specific kind of water current that can occur near beaches with breaking waves. A rip is a strong, localized, and narrow current of water which moves directly away ...

. Painkalac Creek, which separates Aireys Inlet from Fairhaven, forms a salt lake or inlet behind the sand dunes before it cuts through to the ocean. Due to low water levels in the inlet it is not often that the inlet breaks through. Aireys Inlet is also famous for Split Point Lighthouse which was featured in the popular children's TV show

Round The Twist ''Round the Twist'' is an Australian children's comedy television series based on stories by author Paul Jennings that follows the supernatural adventures of the Twist family. The series was created and produced by Patricia Edgar, and develope ...

. There is also a horseshoe-shaped reef at Step Beach which forms an excellent swimming hole at low tide. The towns main attraction, the Split Point Lighthouse overlooks the inlet. The lighthouse has made Aireys Inlet an icon along the

History

In the early 19th century, before British settlement, the escaped convict William Buckley lived here in a primitive hut eating fish, shellfish, wild raspberries and sugar ants. Aireys Inlet was known to the Aboriginals of the time as ''Managwhawz''. The town takes its current name from John Moore Cole Airey, who settled in the area in 1842. The Post Office opened on 1 April 1893.

Population

At the , Aireys Inlet had a population of 802. 83.4% of people were born in Australia and 88.3% of people only spoke English at home. The most common responses for religion were No Religion 53.9% and Catholic 16.1%.

Areas of Aireys Inlet

Fairhaven, Moggs Creek, and Eastern View are in the same postal area as Aireys Inlet.

School

Aireys Inlet has one school, Aireys Inlet Primary School (P-6), which until the end of 2016 was a campus of the then Lorne-Aireys Inlet P-12 College.

Sport

* Australian football: The Aireys Inlet Eels Football Club competes in the AFL Barwon junior competition. *

Tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

: The Aireys Inlet and District Tennis Club competes in the Geelong Tennis Association.

Literature and media

During the early 1950s the Australian crime author

Arthur Upfield Arthur William Upfield (1 September 1890 – 12 February 1964) was an English-Australian writer, best known for his works of detective fiction featuring Detective Inspector Napoleon "Bony" Bonaparte of the Queensland Police Force, a mixed-race ...

lived at Aireys Inlet. His novel ''The New Shoe'' (1951) is based on the township and the lighthouse. Some of the novel's characters drew on local identities. Many scenes from the

children's television series Children's television series (or children's television shows) are television programs designed for children, normally scheduled for broadcast during the morning and afternoon when children are awake. They can sometimes run during the early evenin ...

Round the Twist ''Round the Twist'' is an Australian children's comedy television series based on stories by author Paul Jennings that follows the supernatural adventures of the Twist family. The series was created and produced by Patricia Edgar, and develope ...

'' were filmed at or around the area of the Split Point Lighthouse. In 2005 the

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

movie

Salaam Namaste ''Salaam Namaste'' () is a 2005 Indian romantic comedy film, directed by first-time director Siddharth Anand and produced by Aditya Chopra and Yash Chopra under the Yash Raj Films banner. The film stars Saif Ali Khan and Preity Zinta in their fo ...

was produced in Melbourne with many scenes being shot around Aireys Inlet, Fairhaven and Anglesea.

Beaches and coastline

While the coastline at adjacent Fairhaven is a long uninterrupted sand beach, the coast at Aireys Inlet is a series of rock shelves, interrupted by sandy swimming beaches, most of which are relatively secluded. Each beach has its own character, a result of differing lengths, orientation and nearby rock formations. Beaches include Sandy Gully, Steppy Beach and Sunnymeade. At low tide it is possible to walk (or scramble) around all these rocks and beaches, making it possible to walk along the beach, all the way from Eastern View - the historical start of the Great Ocean Road, all the way to Anglesea.

1983 Ash Wednesday bushfires

Aireys Inlet was devastated by the infamous 1983 Ash Wednesday bushfires in which a large number of houses were burnt down. However, after a brief lull, interest in the area resumed and has been steadily climbing since. Properties, especially those with an ocean view, are becoming increasingly sought after, some going for greater than A$1 million.

Heritage listed sites

Aireys Inlet has a number of heritage listed sites, including: *

* Split Point Lightstation Complex"Split Point Lightstation Complex (H2270)"
''

Victorian Heritage Register The Victorian Heritage Register (VHR) lists places deemed to be of cultural heritage significance to the State of Victoria, Australia. It has statutory weight under the Heritage Act 2017. The Minister for Planning is the responsible Minister. ...

.''

Heritage Victoria Heritage Victoria is a Victorian State Government agency responsible for administering the ''Heritage Act 1995'' and supporting the work of the Heritage Council of Victoria. Heritage Victoria was formed from the earlier Historic Buildings Pres ...

. Retrieved 2014-03-23.

Notable people

John Airey John Moore Cole Airey ( – 17 July 1893) was a politician in colonial Australia, member of the New South Wales Legislative Council 1847 to 1848. Airey was born in London,''1851 England Census'' the second son of Sir George Airey and the Hon ...

, the town's founder, for whom it was named * William Buckley, British convict who lived in the area before the town's origin

References

External links

*
Archived
2009-10-24)
REIV Aireys Inlet Market Insights, Auction & Private Sale Results
{{authority control Towns in Victoria (Australia) Towns in Barwon Surf Coast Shire Coastal towns in Victoria (Australia) Great Ocean Road