There’s a giant fish on the roof of the Pub! These were our first words as we drove into the town of Fish Creek in Victoria’s South Gippsland area.

You’ve got to love a community that leans into its namesake and with a name like Fish Creek, we were always going to visit this town when we were in the area.

We knew this was our kind of town when we saw the giant mullet flopped on top of the art deco Fish Creek Hotel, or the Fishy pub as it’s known to locals, and the town’s humour and quirkiness had us hooked after that.

We soon discovered more fishy sculptures, seats, and other references everywhere. But what the story was behind the town’s name and all things fish, peaked my curiosity, so I did a little research and discovered the town was named by the earliest European settlers who set down roots in 1884, after seeing the local waterway teeming with native blackfish.

Fish Creek is a really charming little village and farming community, that lies 165 kilometres south east of Melbourne, with a population of around 830. As well as the Fishy Pub, it has a number of specialty shops for art, homewares, and photography, and it’s also the home of Australian children’s author and illustrator Alison Lester.

Her books are well known and loved by children and adults alike, including a couple of my favourites, ‘Magic Beach’ and ‘Are we there yet?’ a children’s story about a road trip around Australia.

Fish Creek is also home to the ‘tea cosy festival’, a celebration held over a week or so in May every other year, with the next one scheduled for 2028. The festival celebrates creativity and community with a theme each time for the knitted, crocheted or felted creations, which this year was Life on the Farm. Makers from across Australia attend to show their clever cosies, which have been described as tiny woollen works of art.

As well as the tea cosy exhibition there is art, live music, and Devonshire teas on during the festival. You can also join in a knitting workshop, a community market and an afternoon high tea. If it sounds like your cup of tea, keep an eye on the Fish Creek Tea Cosy Festival social pages where you can see this year’s creations and hear about the next event.

An eye catching sculpture garden can also be seen in the town, right next to a gallery and workshop called Ride the Wild Goat. It is the work of Andrew McPherson and Isabel Whyte, as a gift to the community and more of the metal and timber artworks can be seen and purchased in the shop.

Andrew McPherson was also responsible together with metalworker Ray Jones, for the giant fish wind vane that stands in town, rotating with the wind. The sculpture is made of two individual pieces that were once part of a display on Melbourne’s Yarra River during the 2006 Commonwealth Games.

After the games, the sculptures were offered to councils throughout Victoria to boost tourism, so naturally Fish Creek was a good choice.

Personally the one I love the most is the 6 metre mullet that lies on the roof of the 1939 art deco Fishy Pub. This metal and fibreglass sculpture was created by local artist Colin Suggett, and was added to the hotel in 1989.

There are so many more fish to find around town too, so keep your eyes open for bench seats and other fishy pieces around town.

And the important question, Can you fish in Fish Creek? Well yes apparently you can with the appropriate Victorian fishing licence and if you’re lucky you may catch river blackfish, or brown trout.

Enjoy

Glenys