NEIGHBOURHOOD EXPLORER AUTUMN 2016 JULY 2017 satterley.com.au/point-cook Ten things you might not know about Point Cook The home of the RAAF Here at Satterley, we love to explore the suburbs in which we Point Cook is the home of the Royal establish our communities and in the case of Point Cook, we REALLY Australian Air Force (RAAF), which is the are spoilt for choice. For starters, not many suburbs can lay claim to second-oldest independent air force in being the birth place of the Royal Australian Air Force, or a coastal the world (after Britain’s). park covering 863 hectares. Although the RAAF was officially formed in 1921, there was a Central Flying School To help you get better acquainted with this rapidly growing suburb, at Point Cook as far back as 1913. It we’ve compiled our own list of great places to check out and some became the Australian Flying Corps and, not-so-obvious facts and figures on Point Cook. as a militia unit, fought in World War I. The RAAF Williams Point Cook base is still in operation and is co-located with the RAAF Museum, which is open to visitors. www.facebook.com/pg/RAAF.Museum/ about/?ref=page_internal Address: RAAF Base Williams, Point Cook Road, Point Cook Point Cook Coastal Park Not many suburbs can lay claim to a coastal oasis covering 863 hectares (2,130 acres) let alone a RAMSAR listed wetland (The Cheetham Wetlands are part of the RAMSAR Fine wine on your Convention - an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of wetlands). doorstep The park extends from the RAAF Williams Point Cook Base northeast along the coast to You don’t need to travel far to get to the Laverton creek which comprises its northern boundary. The parklands have a variety of the nearest winery – and it happens to facilities for visitors including shelters, barbecue areas, walking trails as well as an information be one of Victoria’s very best. Although centre. Activities undertaken in the park include picnicking, bushwalking, bird watching, technically located in Werribee, swimming as well as learning about the heritage and conservation values of the area. Shadowfax Wines is less than a ten- minute drive from Upper Point Cook, and its shiraz, chardonnay and pinot noir have Hey big spenders! The online shopping been lauded by wine critics for more than capital of Australia a decade. The cellar door and restaurant are open just about every afternoon of In 2016 Australians spent more than $20 billion online. Online the year. spending is growing five times faster than traditional retail spending – and guess which suburb spends the most online? According to Address: K Road, Werribee Australia Post’s Online Shopping report it’s Point Cook. www.facebook.com/shadowfaxwines satterley.com.au/point-cook NEIGHBOURHOOD EXPLORER JULY 2017 A golf-lover’s playground If you love your golf, you’ll know that for a course to be rated one of the top 100 in Australia it has to be truly outstanding. And Sanctuary Lakes, situated just a few moments’ drive from Upper Point Cook, is ranked in the top 100 by every major guide in Australia. In fact, this year, the Golf Course Guide rated the 6,435-metre course in the top 50 public access courses A taste of Malaysia in the country. Visitors (non-members) If the thought of popular Malaysian street are welcome most days throughout the fare like Nasi Goreng, Curry Laksa, Chicken year - green fees depend on the day you Rice and Satay makes your mouth water, want to play. then you need to visit Nyonya House. Address: 70 Greg Norman Drive, This popular restaurant-cafe located at Sanctuary Lakes Sanctuary Lakes Shopping Centre has https://www.facebook.com/Sanctuary- been feeding the masses since 2012 and Lakes-Club-123785884308383 if you’re not into spicy food, come for the Nyonya Pancakes and Waffles. www.facebook.com/Nyonya- House-123373924478123/ Local info a click away If you’re finding these little summaries handy, then you’ll love My Wyndham. It’s a local services portal provided by the Wyndham council and it’s entirely online. The Face of Point Cook food It’s easy to use: you put in your address, Point Cook Dining is a Facebook page say how far you want the search to stretch that has been set up with a pretty (perhaps one kilometre, 5 kilometres or straightforward purpose: To post “reviews even the entire council area) and once and pictures of local restaurants and you hit “search” you get a map showing takeaways in Point Cook. By locals for all sorts of services and amenities in locals.” And it’s wildly successful. the area – everything from public wifi More than 6000 people follow the page spots to playgrounds. There’s also a and you can see from the comments handy, constantly updated list of garbage it’s a community of like-minded people collection nights, as well as a directory of offering helpful opinions and good- your local councillors. natured advice. www.wyndham.vic.gov.au/my-wyndham www.facebook.com/Pointcookdining/ www.facebook.com/wyndhamcityliving The histor-E of Point Cook A runaway success Point Cook is today considered an Since launching in August 2014, it’s fair up-and-coming suburb, but it’s not a new to say that Upper Point Cook has been district of Melbourne by any means. It was a hit for homebuyers and we couldn’t named in 1836 (just a year after Europeans be prouder watching the community settled in Melbourne) but was called Point grow and prosper. We’ve now sold more Cooke. Over time, the “e” on the end than 1000 lots and around 300 homes dropped off and only 165-odd years later are either currently occupied or under did it return – sort of. The point itself – i.e. construction. Our 1000th purchaser Roel the little outcrop of land that juts into Port Bermudez, an experienced IT worker Phillip Bay (take a look on Google Maps) – and long-time Point Cook resident, was had its name restored, but the rest of the sold after finding out there would be fibre suburb didn’t. That’s why the Point Cooke network available to his home. Marine Sanctuary is spelled differently to almost every other venue, street name A special thank you to Point Cook and location in the area. local, Susan McIntyre, for helping us www.facebook.com/ParksVictoria uncovers some of these local gems! satterley.com.au/point-cook.