Emerald, Victoria

Emerald is known for Emerald Lake (Lake Treganowan) a park where one may take the family and enjoy the peace and tranquility. The lake offers BBQ facilities, children's playgrounds, a pool, water slides, paddle boats, walking tracks, fishing, Environment Centre, miniature railway, cafe and a railway station for Puffing Billy.

Another attraction to Emerald is the Puffing Billy tourist railway. The tourist train stops at three stations within Emerald at Emerald, Nobelius and Lakeside.

The Great Train Race (GTR) is an annual fun run from Belgrave to Emerald Lake in which participants attempt to beat Puffing Billy to the finish line and is organised and run by volunteers of the Puffing Billy Preservation Society.

The track from Belgrave to Emerald Lake which participants run is 13.2kms long, and in 2006 had 2,403 participants in the 25th Great Train Race.

Participants of the GTR may win prizes; The first Male and Female runners of the 2007 GTR to be held on the 6th of May will receive a return flight to Antarctica as well as a unique Great Train Race trophy. For details on the Great Train Race http://www.puffingbilly.com.au/info/specials/great_train_race.htm

Emerald WinterFest is an annual winter festival taking place in one of the main streets, Kilvington Drive in Emerald. Kilvington Drive, is blocked off, to prevent motor vehicle traffic entering, and allowing many WinterFest stalls to be established and enjoyed by the thousands of local residents that attend the event. The WinterFest consists of many small craft and food stalls, antiques and children’s rides. A highlight is a show put on by Puffing Billy where which ‘bushrangers’ stop and holdup Puffing Billy on horseback.

PAVE stands for Performing And Visual arts in Emerald, which is a festival new to Emerald taking place for the second time, this year on the 13th to 22nd of April (2007). The festival includes a number of activities taking place at different locations around Emerald over a number of days. Such activities include the Emerald Arts Society art exhibition at the Environment Centre at Emerald Lake, an exhibition of The Great Wall of Art at the Emerald Community House, a photography exhibition and a Youth Short Film Festival competition, an exhibition and demonstration of local art courses and lessons, craft and produce markets, a historic tour of Emerald and live music.

Also notable is the Emerald Hall, which has been home to the Gemco Players Community Theatre since the early 1980's. Gemco offers a variety of plays as well as social activities, involving the Emerald community.

Chris and Marie's plant farms was another notable feature of Emerald until it closed down in April 2005.

The areas around Emerald are excellent for finding chanterelles and other edible mushrooms, and are a popular destination for mushroom hunters each autumn.

[edit] Schools

Emerald has a kindergarten, Emerald PreSchool; primary school, Emerald Primary School; and a secondary school, Emerald Secondary College.

[edit] Emergency Services

Emerald has a Part Time Police Station, a Full Time Ambulance Station as well as a volunteer CFA Brigade and SES Unit. The Emerald Volunteer Fire Brigade is located on the Corner of Belgrave-Gembrook Road & Emerald-Beaconsfield Road, and attends approximately 160 Emergency Incidents per year. The Brigade Trains on Wednesday Evenings and Sunday Mornings and new members are always welcome.

[edit] Data

Emerald's population as of the 2001 Census was 6,144, (3,069 male, 3,075 female), 4,662 people were aged 15 years and over (2,280 male, 2,382 female) and 460 were aged 65 years and over (200 male, 260 female).

According to the 2001 Census, 22 people identified themselves as indigenous persons (16 aboriginal, 3 Torres Strait Islander, 3 Both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander), of which 10 were of age 18 and over.

5,587 people speak English alone, and 293 speak other languages according to the results of the 2001 Census, and 5,459 are Australian Citizens, of which 3,758 are of age 18 or over. 4,741 people identified as having been born in Australia and 1,110 been born overseas.

The first data from the latest Census conducted on 8 August, 2006 are expected to be released mid 2007.

[edit] External links

Coordinates: -37.933° 145.437°

Maps and aerial photos
- Street map from Street Directory, MSN Maps and Multimap.
- Satellite image from Google Maps, WikiMapia and Terraserver.
Australian Places - Emerald
Emerald Volunteer Fire Brigade - Protecting Your Community

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Suburbs of the Shire of Cardinia
Beaconsfield \| Beaconsfield Upper \| Beenak \| Bunyip \| Cardinia \| Clematis \| Cockatoo \| Cora Lynn \| Dewhurst \| Emerald \| Garfield \| Gembrook \| Koo Wee Rup \| Lang Lang \| Maryknoll \| Nar Nar Goon \| Officer \| Pakenham \| Rythdale \| Tonimbuk \| Tynong