Fairhaven is a town in the

Surf Coast Shire The Surf Coast Shire is a local government area in the Barwon South West region of Victoria, Australia, located in the south-western part of the state. It covers an area of . It had a population of 32,251 in June 2018. It includes the towns o ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. In the 2021 census, Fairhaven had a population of 390 people. The town is a popular holiday destination, with many homes being used for that purpose. It adjoins Fairhaven Beach, which at 6 km long is the longest beach 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 towns of Torquay and Allansford. Built by returned soldiers between 1919 and 1932, and dedica ...

. The town is separated from adjoining

Aireys Inlet Aireys Inlet is a town located on the Great Ocean Road, southwest of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Aireys Inlet is located between Anglesea and Lorne, and joined with Fairhaven, Moggs Creek, and Eastern View to the west. Many surfers holi ...

by the Painkalac Creek, and development in recent years has seen Fairhaven become increasingly joined to the Aireys Inlet township. Fairhaven Beach is a popular surfing destination, and the Fairhaven Surf Lifesaving Club, which was founded in 1957, has been described as Fairhaven's "social centre". The club operated out of a volunteer-built clubhouse from 1960 until 2012, when the building was demolished to allow for the construction of a new modern one. Numerous delays saw the club operating out of shipping containers for more than a year, but a new clubhouse finally opened in December 2013. The locality was mentioned in the 1991 Hollywood blockbuster “Point Break” during the final portion of the movie on a radio weather warning for a cyclone whose eye was about to cross over the locality during the famed 50 year storm. In reality the area is around 1500 kilometres south of the zone in which a cyclone can form. A local landmark is the Pole House, situated on a concrete column 40 metres above Fairhaven Beach. The original house, built in 1978, was demolished in 2013 after the owners thwarted a bid to list the building on the

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. ...

. In 2013–14, a house was rebuilt on the existing pole, to a modern design along similar lines. Better Homes and Gardens filmed a segment there for the opening of the replacement house in early 2014. The Fairhaven area was badly damaged in the

Ash Wednesday bushfires The Ash Wednesday bushfires, known in South Australia as Ash Wednesday II, were a Bushfires in Australia, series of bushfires that occurred in south-eastern Australia in 1983 on 16 February. Within twelve hours, more than 180 bushfires, fires f ...

of 1983.

References

{{authority control Towns in Victoria (state) Surf Coast Shire Coastal towns in Victoria (state)