The Latrobe Valley
The source of the Latrobe River is in the mountains north of Noojee. It flows down past Moe and from there on to Sale, where it joins the Thomson River. From Moe to Sale, a distance of eighty kilometres, the west to east section of the Latrobe Valley is formed. To the north are the alpine regions of the Great Dividing Range and to the south the Strzelecki Ranges.
The name Latrobe derives from Charles La Trobe, the first Lieutenant - Governor in the state of Victoria.
The heart of the Latrobe Valley encompasses the centres of Moe, Morwell and Traralgon with their satellite towns of Newborough, Churchill and Yinnar.
Until the 1950's the region was a sleepy farming community which underwent a metamorphosis with the expansion of the fledgling power industry at Yallourn. Undulating fields where Jersey cattle had grazed, became a yawning open cut coal mine. A landscape of haystacks and fields of corn was replaced with power stations and chimneys. It was at this time the name Latrobe Valley was coined for this region of Central Gippsland.
Latrobe Valley is a wonderful area to live in, and is accessible to many interesting places. A drive to Melbourne takes under two hours, and within a radius of eighty kilometres are many of the beautiful areas of Gippsland.
To the north are the old gold mining town of Walhalla and the snowfields of Mt. Baw Baw and Mt.Saint Gwinnear. To the east the mysterious Den of Nargun and the Sale Wetlands. To the south the green ferny home of the lyrebird in the Strzelecki Ranges, and further south the rolling green hills of South Gippsland and the golden beaches of Inverloch and Wilson’s Promontory.
Latrobe Valley has something of interest for a wide range of people.

Kevin Jackson August 2001