8 Places to See More than 40 Murals in Inverloch

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Inverloch is already a well-known holiday town and has been so since the early 1900s. Its street murals are more recent, the last of which was only completed this year. With more than forty across eight locations, these vibrant paintings and mosaics add to the ambience of this wonderful beachside destination. Inverloch is an easy day trip from Melbourne along the South Gippsland and Bass Highways, but really, why would you only stay a day? Come on down, check out the murals, and everything else on offer!


1. The Big Surf Mural at The Local. On the sidewall of The Local, a coffee shop and café on the corner of Williams Street and Hopetoun Street, is a dramatic depiction of big surf in tones of black, white and grey, painted by Inverloch artist Rohan Manhal. Rohan used spray cans to paint the mural, applying up to six layers of paint for effect and depth. The mural represents the area well as there is a great love of surfing in the Bass Coast and in fact, this very building was at one time a surf shop. Visit the mural and grab a coffee and a bite to eat while you are there. Further details and tantalising photos of the food on offer can be found on The Local website.


2. The Serious Surf Stuff Ocean Mural. In the laneway between 1 Williams Street and the Foodworks Reilly Street carpark, along the full length of the sidewall of the Serious Surf Stuff shop, Melbourne mural artist Set It Off has painted a diverse ocean scene. The mural was commissioned as part of the Bass Coast Shire Council's 'Discover Our Secret initiative' and was completed this year (2021). Set it Off describe themselves as graffiti street artists bridging the gap between aerosol street art and professional aesthetics.


This is a complex piece of art. You will need to take time to see it all, there are many parts that make up the whole. There are scenes above and below water - ocean waves, surfer, shipwreck, treasure chest, corals, dolphins, penguin, stingray, ocean waves, colourful fish, and turtle and in huge colourful letters 'INVERLOCH.'


3. The Inverloch Skate Park Murals. At the Inverloch Skate Park in Reilly Street there is a collection of all manner of murals set on bright red and yellow walls. This was indeed a community project back in 2015 with the Bass Coast Shire Council, the Inverloch Community House, the Lions Club, the YMCA, the Men's Shed and local artists Tom Murray-White and Rohan Manhal all pitching in to help. The Mural Jam was a weekend where school children worked with the artists to create replaceable murals. The idea is that each new generation of skate park users will be able to install murals relevant to them.


Even the Skate Park Sign is a mural in itself. This was made under the TRAX program. The lines on the mural are the tyre tracks of children's bikes. In the program for children of 12 years or older, the mural base was set up on the basketball court where kids rode through and paint is used to create the tracks that are representative of bikes, scooters and skate boards that swoop and swerve their way through the park.


4. The Inverloch Community House Seaside Wall Mural. The mural on the Reilly Street wall of the Inverloch Community House, also known as 'The House in the Hub,' was three years in the making. Following a community survey, it was apparent the Community House "needed its own identity" and the colourful mural does herald the Community House as a distinct part of the Community Hub Building it is housed in.


Over 600 children from the Inverloch and Kongwak Primary School have contributed to the mural which transforms the wall into an enticing scene of rolling waves in the bright blues of a summer ocean and is enhanced by a giant spiral shell of yellow, red and white. The mural surrounds the window of the Community House's function room and sits behind a garden of red kangaroo paw. The launch of the second stage of the mural took place with a free community BBQ in March of 2021 after being delayed for almost a year as a result of COVID restrictions.


5. The Bayside Lady Beer Garden Wall Mural. Adorning a garden lined wall of the beer garden at the back of The Bayside Lady café and restaurant at 19 A'Beckett Street, is a vibrantly colourful beach mural of sand, sun and ocean waves. Printed on the mural is 'I've got Peace like a river, love like an ocean, joy like a fountain in my soul…' The mural is in keeping with the atmosphere of the beer garden where serving is done from a vintage caravan, signs on worn boards announce – 'No shoes. No Shirt. No Problem. – and customers sit at picnic tables under shade sails.


6. The Inverloch Clock Tower Murals. In late 2002 and January of 2003 the Inverloch Clock Tower Committee and Rotary Club of Inverloch and the Artists of Inverloch collaborated to bring about eight panels of glass tiled murals depicting local history. The panels adorn both sides of each of four a-frame structures beneath the Rotary Clock on the corner of A'Beckett Street and Reilly Street in front of the Inverloch Community Hub. Eight artists, were commissioned for the works with their paintings being transformed into glass-tiled murals. Following the installation of the murals, the original artworks were sold at a public auction.


The murals facing the A'Beckett Street and Reilly Street corner are:
By Kathy Everett – a portrait of Samuel Anderson, who was the first settler at Bass in 1834 and discovered Anderson Inlet in 1840.Ted Smythe – The ketch called 'The Ripple,' an 1880 coastal trader that brought building materials to the area. (You will find a life-size replica of 'The Ripple' at 22 The Esplanade in Inverloch and more details on the Inverloch Historical Society Website. )By Jill Hill – a bullock dray carting coal from the Wonthaggi mines to the Inverloch jetty where steamships were loaded for the Melbourne run.By Janice Orchard – Shack Bay where miners spent their holidays and where during the miner's strike of 1934, caught fish to feed their families.


On the opposite side, the murals facing toward Sandy Mount Avenue are:
By Ivan Fell – a tribute to the beef and dairy industry in the area.
By John Mutsaers – Pine Lodge, the 1930s guest house where the gentry were entertained and where Inverloch's first private swimming pool was built.
By Janice Orchard, with titles by Silvie Ritchie and Trudy Barclay – a tribute to wine production from the first vines planted in 1980 and to pottery making.
By Valda Cooper – a tribute to fishing and windsurfing in Anderson Inlet and Venus Bay.


7. The Inlet Hotel Anderson Inlet Mural. The mural at the Inlet Hotel at 3-5 The Esplanade, is a vintage sea vista as seen from an ornate verandah. We see people walking along the beach, a beachside shed, horse-drawn carts, a jetty and a tall ship anchored offshore. I couldn't find information about the mural but I did recognise within it one of the Ramsey Parade gate posts to the now demolished 1930's Pine Lodge, and so can confidently say this is a painting of Anderson Inlet. If you would like to visit the Inlet Hotel check out their website. To view a photo of this historic mural go to the Victoria Collections website .


8. Inverloch Surfside Holiday Retreat – Office and Games Room. In 2017/18 the walls of the office and beach shack (games room) at the Inverloch Surfside Holiday Retreat at 19 – 41 Goroke Street, were painted with ocean and beachside scenes by Inverloch artist Rohan Manhal. The murals are a splash of colour. In the games room, a huge surf wave rises above the ocean where the setting sun shines from behind Eagles Nest and below the water are octopuses, fish and stingrays. Go to Rohan Manhal's Instagram to view a photo of this mural. The mural in the office features the beach and jetty beneath a colourful sky. For more information regarding the holiday park or to make bookings visit The Inverloch Surfside Holiday Retreat website.


Getting There and Where to Stay. Inverloch is an easy day trip from Melbourne along the South Gippsland and Bass Highways. It is just under two hours' drive from the Melbourne CBD or around an hour and a quarter from the southeastern suburbs. There is no shortage of motels and holiday accommodation in Inverloch or places to eat and folks at the Visitor Information Centre in the Inverloch Community Hub at 16 A'Beckett Street will be only too happy to assist with any enquiries or suggestions. Alternatively, check out my review on the RACV Inverloch Resort . For what else you can do while you are in the area take a look at 27 Things to do on a Phillip Island and Bass Coast Getaway.

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