Town by Town Snapshot: Apollo Bay

The size of Apollo Bay is approximately 87.1 square kilometres with the population of Apollo Bay recorded at 1,094 in 2011 and by the 2016 Census the population was 1,618 showing a population growth of 47.9 per cent in the area during that time.

Apollo Bay is a coastal township and holiday resort on the Great Ocean Road between Lorne and Cape Otway with a captivating bay that faces east which is further protected by a breakwater.
Behind Apollo Bay sit the Otway Ranges, partly forested and partly cleared for grazing and dairying.
The town origins began when in 1846 the schooner Apollo sheltered in the bay on the way from Port Phillip to Portland.
A few years after that event, timber cutters began taking timber from Apollo Bay and Lorne, and by 1853 the coast had been surveyed in detail and there were several timber camps.
A township proposed to be named Middleton, was surveyed on Apollo Bay.
The strong demand for railway sleepers for Victoria’s post-gold rush expansion brought up to 1,000 timber workers during the early 1860s.
Farming began in 1864 along the Barham River flats, immediately south of the bay, by the Cawood family who in the next decade built a guest house.
The combination of a relatively sheltered bay, the best of the limited flat land along the coast and the Cawood settlement finally stimulated the sale of town lots (renamed as Krambruk) in 1877.
A school was opened in 1880, and two hotels, a store, a Methodist church and a mechanics’ institute were opened during 1885-90.
Access to Krambruk was by coastal vessel or by pack track over the ranges.
In 1898, the name Apollo Bay (by which the settlement was generally known) was formally adopted by the post office.
CoreLogic data indicates the predominant age group in Apollo Bay is 60-69 years with households in Apollo Bay being primarily childless couples and are likely to be repaying $1,800-$2,399 per month on mortgage repayments, and in general, people in Apollo Bay work in a labourer occupation.
In 2011, 55.8 per cent of the homes in Apollo Bay were owner-occupied compared with 64.5 per cent in 2016.
Currently the median sales price of houses in the area is $625,000.

TIDBIT: In 1936 a telephone cable was laid, linking Apollo Bay, King Island and Tasmania.