🦎 Ultimate hikers guide to Gippsland

Plus: Do you like really old buildings?

Author

Jacob Wallace
January 14, 2026

⏱️ This midweek edition of our newsletter is a six-minute read.

👋 Hello Gippslanders, it’s Jacob here.

☀️ I hope everyone managed to get through the weekend alright and stay safe. There’s obviously still bushfires burning in east Gippsland so make sure to keep an eye on the Vic Emergency app and stay up to date with the latest news. Hopefully we’re through the worst of it now.

I spent most of my weekend inside with the aircon on — but I did manage to make it down to Inverloch for a dip on Saturday when it was a little bit cooler.

📸 Here’s a picture I took recently of a stunning looking cloud while walking the Great Southern Rail Trail near Korumburra.

If you’d like to share any scenic pictures you’ve taken of Gippsland recently then feel free to send them to [email protected] and we might share them in our next newsletter.

👀 Here’s a quick rundown: In this week’s newsletter we’re talking about:

  • Latrobe City council approving $50,000 of funding to preserve heritage-listed buildings in Old Gippstown;

  • New waste contracts in Baw Baw Shire nearly doubling in price to $7.4 million;

  • A Baw Baw Shire decision to scrap eight infrastructure projects and put the money towards the Western Park pavilion in Warragul;

  • The best hikes in Gippsland;

  • Whether locals approve of a state government decision to explore for gas onshore near Ninety Mile Beach Marine National Park;

  • An ACT decision to ban fossil fuel companies from sponsoring public schools.

🎊 WHAT’S ON THIS WEEK 🎟️

🧺 FARMERS MARKETS 🥧

🚀 Alright, let’s jump into the Monitor’s latest yarns, local interviews and silly videos!

🔍 HEARD THIS WEEK👂

The Holy Trinity Church and Sunny Creek State School buildings in Old Gippstown Heritage Park.

The Old Gippstown Heritage Park is heralded as one of the number one things to see in Moe, but its 23 heritage-listed buildings have been waiting five years for council funding to keep them standing. 

Latrobe City Council has now backed a support package to repair several of the park's historic structures.

What happened: In December, Latrobe City Council unanimously voted to allocate $50,000 to Old Gippstown Heritage Park – its first council funding since 2018 – to help preserve the many heritage-listed buildings that have been moved to the park over the years.

What is Old Gippstown?

The heritage-park, located between Lloyd Street and Princes Freeway in Moe, is a collection of authentic buildings from the 1840s through to the 1930s spanning three hectares.

  • The first building to be moved to Old Gippstown was a two-storey prefabricated North Melbourne house called “Loren”, built in 1853 for Scottish poet and novelist James Hogg.

  • The building was moved to Old Gippstown in 1968, the park now has 23 heritage-listed buildings that are valued at a total of $26 million.

Under a new contract for waste collection that begins in 2027, Baw Baw Shire will be paying almost double what they are paying now to dispose of the municipality's rubbish.

What happened: Baw Baw Shire council faces a significant cost increase in the future after it awarded a $7.4 million waste management contract to Solo Resource Recovery. The fee is nearly double the previous arrangement as state levies are also adding to the cost of landfill management.

Expensive commitment: At a council meeting in December, Councillor Suzanne Allen spoke in favour of awarding the contract, saying: “It’s not simply an operational contract but a commitment to safer practices, higher environmental standards and better value for our ratepayers.”

  • Allen noted the new contract will expand Baw Baw Shire’s waste collection system to materials like polystyrene, soft plastics, textiles, solar panels and even vapes.

🗣️ “These changes make sure our transfer stations keep pace with the fast evolving waste sector.”

Solo Resource Recovery, which already provides Baw Baw’s kerbside bin collection service, won a four-year contract worth $7.4 million, with first-year costs of $1.8 million – up from just under $1 million previously.

Baw Baw Shire Council has unanimously voted to remove eight separate infrastructure projects from its long-term development plan, opting instead to use more than $4 million in funds to build a new sports precinct.

What happened: During a December meeting, Baw Baw Shire Council decided to update a 29-year-old development scheme by removing eight projects in the pipeline. Councillors said the projects were no longer needed or not likely to receive funding in the future.

What is the DCPO?

Baw Baw Shire’s Development Contributions Plan Overlay (DCPO) was established in 2007 with 73 projects outlined to be built across the whole shire.

The original DCPO funded major projects in the shire including the West Gippsland Arts Centre, Bellbird Park Indoor Centre, the Baxter Park synthetic pitch and streetscapes in Warragul and Drouin.

  • Two amendments to the DCPO, in 2013 and 2015, removed 20 projects from the plan as councillors at the time thought they were either no longer affordable or needed.

  • Today, 29 of the remaining 53 projects have been completed and the council aims to have a further 16 finished in the next four years.

🔍 HEARD THIS WEEK👂

🌳 There’s so much environmental beauty on display in Gippsland.

Here’s a list of 10 hikes that show off the region’s picturesque landscape.

✍️ If you have any suggestions for spectacular walks then feel free to send us an email at [email protected]

We’ve separated the hikes into three difficulty levels so you can pick one that’s right for you.

Here are hikes three from our list.

Mount Oberon Summit

Climb to the top of Mount Oberon in Wilsons Promontory and take in the incredible views from the southern most part of Australia’s mainland.

Distance: 6.8km.

Difficulty: Moderate.

Expected time: Two hours.

Tarra Valley Rainforest

Image credit: Caine Barlow.

Known for its giant mountain ash trees and ancient myrtle beeches, Tarra Bulga National Park is lush with ferns and if you’re lucky you might spot a lyrebird.

Distance: 1.4km.

Difficulty: Easy.

Expected time: 35 minutes.

Toorongo and Amphitheatre Falls Loop

Image credit: Tracy Hooper.

This circular track through Tooronga Falls Reserve gives you a view of both Toorongo and Amphitheatre falls.

Distance: 2.2km.

Difficulty: Easy.

Expected time: One hour.

LOOKING NATIONALLY 👀

My colleague Archie Milligan from the National Account put together a quick video explaining a recent decision in the ACT that bans fossil fuel companies from sponsoring public schools.

I wasn’t aware this was even common practice before seeing Archie’s story, now I’m curious about how much fossil fuel companies are involved Victoria’s education system.

Take a look at Archie’s video below.

🎥 Watch: Should the state government drill for more gas?

🎤 I spent an afternoon in Inverloch chatting to locals about a range of issues. One of the questions I asked them was about the Victorian government’s decision to explore for onshore gas near Ninety Mile Beach.

Take a look at what locals had to say below.

🙌 Thanks for catching up with us this week at the Monitor. I hope you enjoyed this midweek issue of our newsletter and I’d love to hear from you. If you have any ideas for stories from your town that you think deserve more coverage then please send us an email at [email protected] 

I’ll be back in your inbox on Friday with more yarns, event guides and interviews with locals so stay tuned.

Cheers,
Jacob & the Gippsland Monitor team

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