⏱️ This edition of the West Vic Brolga newsletter is a five-minute read.
Good morning Brolga readers 🫡 Darcie here today.
It’s officially spring in Ballarat - I spotted a few cygnets down on the shores of Lake Wendouree over the weekend.
Now, the news ✍
A bunch of good stories this week already, including:
🥛 The farmers behind one fifth of Australia’s milk shared some thoughts on how they’d like to be seen and heard;
🛣 The City of Ballarat announced another $6 million for roads in the region, resealing and patching damaged areas;
🌊 The inside story behind the Great Ocean Road's dolphin tourism;
🚆 The problem with Warrnambool’s trains;
👻 A list of the most haunted spots to explore in West Vic.
On the streets: We visited the She Matters mural in central Ballarat and spoke to its creator, Sherele Moody, who was in town to repair the wall - and add more names.
And just quickly, Zara had a look into telecommunication black spots across the region.
In the Southwest 🗞️
When Dan Kent takes tourists and day trippers out on his morning Apollo Bay fishing charters, he keeps an eye out for where schools of bait fish are “holding”, as it’s likely dolphins will follow.
Later in the day, when his sunset dolphin watching cruise sets sail, Kent heads for the bait fish in the hope of striking gold.
In this part of western Victoria the lure of dolphins means tourism, and lots of it.
Pod life: Kent has run Apollo Bay Fishing Charters for six years. Many of his customers, who travel in a 10-person boat, are keen to catch a glimpse of dolphins.
West Vic dairy farmers have been through drought, rising costs and the flow-on effects of overseas conflict in the past few years - yet the region still produces a fifth of the country’s entire milk supply and generates billions of dollars for the local economy.
For some of the farmers behind that output, the level of reward hasn’t always matched the level of risk.
Much of what happens to their milk, including what they’re paid for it, is decided by four big businesses who buy, bottle and brand it.
So who owns western Victoria’s milk?
The hectic Warrnambool train line has been plagued with overcrowding, replacement buses and limited services in recent years.
With a state election looming, Labor and the Liberals are making promises they say will address the frustrations of regional commuters.
The problem: It takes three hours and 20 minutes to travel the length of the line, which runs from Warrnambool to Southern Cross station in central Melbourne.
There have been extensive upgrades in the past five years, but this has led to trains becoming more crowded, according to South West Victoria Alliance chair Dennis Heslin, “particularly during peak periods”.
Speaking to the Brolga in April, South West Coast Liberal MP Roma Britnell said her office had been contacted by people undergoing cancer treatment and recovering from surgery who were unable to sit down for the commute from Melbourne and Geelong due to overcrowding on the train.
“We were promised an upgrade … and now what we’ve got is a very substandard service, which goes from bad to worse, and it’s now just a diabolical, chaotic mess.”
In the Central Highlands 🗞️
The City of Ballarat has announced a $6 million roads blitz that involves work on more than 60 projects throughout the region.
The background: Roads are a hot topic in West Vic, with several pledges from both sides of the fence for state-owned roads in the lead-up to the election.
Locals have repeatedly voiced their concerns about treacherous roads damaging cars, causing ongoing safety issues.
🗣️ “Sometimes it feels like a gamble just to head down to the shops," Riley House, a Ballarat local living in Miners Rest, told the Brolga.
What happened: Ballarat City released a statement on Monday morning outlining the blitz, with works slated to begin in October once weather conditions improve.
The blitz involves a series of resealing, resurfacing and major patching works.
West Vic is rife with history, heritage, and hauntings.
The chaos of the gold rush, the scars of colonisation, and stories of settlers grappling with unfamiliar terrain has generated many ghost stories around the region.
These tales grapple with everything from protection against evil forces to pub murders. It’s something the Brolga has started exploring, and we’ve compiled a list of the spookiest spots we’ve found so far.
Do you have suggestions for this list, or somewhere you think we should visit? Yell out at [email protected]
📱 Labor announce plans to double pothole repair, and use prison inamtes to maintain roads
On Your Feed 📱
At the first Grampians BBQ Festival, there was naturally a moustache and beard competition 🧔
Check out the video below and take a look at some of the best beards on show.
And that’s a wrap! Z will be back with you Friday to finish off the week 🫶
As always, please get in touch with any thoughts, comments, feedback or news tips you have for us. Just reply to this email.
If you want to stay up to date between editions, you can follow us on TikTok, Instagram and Facebook.
Cheers,
Darcie