Breamlea
Postcode: 3227
Breamlea, Victoria, Australia, is a secluded seaside hamlet located 28km south of Geelong on the south coast of Australia halfway between Barwon Heads and Torquay. The patrolled surf beach at Breamlea is called Bancoora on Bass Strait. This is the closest surf beach to Melbourne. The non-patrolled beaches along this stretch of coast are not heavily used and are often empty.
Breamlea has around 100 houses nestled in the dune between Thomsons Creek and the beach. Thomsons Creek runs through a natural lattice of reedy canals and widens before it enters Buckleys Bay. At the mouth of Thomsons Creek is Point Impossible which is a well-known longboard surfing break.
There is a caravan park and small general store. The area is underdeveloped and many of the residents wish to keep it this way. The architecture of Breamlea is mix of fibro-cement beach shacks built in the 1950s and 1960s and modern architect designed houses.
To the North East of Breamlea is the Black Rock Sewage treatment plant that used to pollute the Breamlea beach and therefore the area was never developed as much as the neighbouring seaside towns.
The area was once populated by the Mon Mart Clan of Wathaurong people. The rocks in the area have always been rich in shellfish and large middens of the discarded shells can be seen on the headland between Buckley’s Bay and Stingray Bay. William Buckley (convict) lived in this area and across the road from the caravan park is the well that he was supposed to have used.
Thompsons Creek attracted campers and fishermen from the 1870s onwards and by the 1920s, makeshift huts were built by regular campers. During the 1930s depression, squatters made permanent buildings, rent-free, and eked meals from the creek and the ocean. Freehold land was not subdivided for sale until 1942, creating boundaries to a small linear township huddled behind the high, ti-tree covered sand dunes.
Breamlea remains the most secluded of seaside resorts along this beautiful coast. There is one store which serves the few residents and the caravan park. The seclusion has led to a paradoxical exclusivity and buoyant residential property prices. The Black Rock sewage treatment plant and ocean outfall was built three kilometres to the east of the town. Otherwise, little has changed at Breamlea. Thompsons Creek still runs through a natural lattice of reedy canals and widens before it enters Buckleys Bay. Point Impossible is a well-known longboard surfing break and the sheltered beaches are still popular during summer.