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Lonely Planet - Berwick
Once upon a time Berwick was a stand-alone town, a service centre for the surrounding farming and cheese-making community, but these days, as part of Victoria's largest and fastest-growing municipality (the City of Casey), it has become an outer suburb of Melbourne. (Berwick is about 45km southeast of Melbourne's CBD).
Destination overview
Eat & drink
Places to stay
Things to do
Work
Monash's compact, modern Berwick campus is located on a former airfield on Clyde Road about 1km south of High Street, the heart and hub of Berwick. Walking up High Street, you'd be forgiven for thinking you'd landed in England, not Australia – it has a decidedly English-village feel, spilling down a hill with leafy trees, some great old buildings and a village green right down the middle. High Street and surrounds are in stark contrast to the newer, less-established housing developments elsewhere in the area.
Berwick and surrounding suburbs are quite remarkable in their cultural diversity – people from one hundred-plus different language backgrounds call the City of Casey home. There are numerous multicultural organisations in the area – if you'd like to find out more, search the community directory at: www.casey.vic.gov.au/communitydirectory. The annual Berwick Agricultural & Horticultural Show (tel 9707 0399), usually held in February, is a terrific opportunity for people from all walks of life to get together.
Berwick's train station (on the Pakenham line) is a mere hop-skip-and-jump away from campus – about 300m. From there, it takes roughly 40 minutes to get into Melbourne's city centre and you can also easily access the neighbouring suburbs of Narre Warren and Beaconsfield. Being roughly equidistant from the magnificent Dandenong Ranges (to the north), Western Port Bay (south) and Port Phillip Bay (west), you're never far from adventure and there are also plenty of options to explore closer to home (see Things to Do).
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| Places to eat and drink (on-campus) |
- Café Moulin (tel 9904 7015; Ground floor, Building 901; 9am-3pm Mon-Fri during semester)
- Oscar's Bar (tel 9904 7133; Ground floor, Building 902; noon-4pm Mon-Wed & whenever there's a uni party happening) run by the Student Union
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Places to eat and drink (off-campus)
Just a 10-minute walk north of campus, Berwick's High Street, with its many cafés, restaurants and fast food joints, is within easy reach. |
- Just off High Street, Café Revival (tel 9707 0011; 18 Gloucester Avenue; 8am-5pm Mon-Fri, to 3pm Sat-Sun) would have to be the cutest and coolest place in town for a coffee. With its 1950s furniture, lamp-lit tables and relaxed atmosphere, this could easily become your second home
- Village Pizza & Pasta (tel 9796 1775; 40 High Street; 5pm-10pm Sun, Tue & Wed, to 11pm Thu-Sat) could also become a regular haunt, especially on Tuesday nights when large pizzas are just $9
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| When it comes to different cuisines, take your pick. |
- Berwick Thai Restaurant (tel 9769 9809; 32 High Street; mains $9.50-14.50; 5.30pm-11pm daily) is an inviting, fresh place with well-priced stir-fry, noodle and curry dishes
- The Mexican House (tel 9707 2499; 11 Clyde Road; mains $15-25; dinner Tue-Sun) serves up great food and even better margaritas (be sure to catch the half-price margarita and nachos nights (between 6 & 7pm Tue & Wed, and 3-5pm Sun)
- Delicious Deepam Tandoori Indian Restaurant (tel 9702 6200; Shop 7, 248 Clyde Road; mains $11-15; lunch Wed-Fri, dinner daily) is south of campus heading over the Princes Freeway near the corner of Greaves Road
- Although too pricey for the average student, Dig Tree Australian Restaurant & Bar (tel 9768 9555; 81 High Street, Berwick; mains $16.50-26; lunch Sun-Thu, dinner daily) is fantastic for a treat, especially if you're new to the country. With its hay bales, corrugated iron, colonial general store feel and Aussie animals on the menu (eg Emu Ravioli, Amber Croc, Roo Steak), it's about as Australiana as you can get, right down to the 'sheila's dunnys' (female toilets, that is)
- The dark and inviting 'Common Room' at the Berwick Inn (tel 9707 1166; 1 High Street; Common Room: 3pm-1am Tue, to 10pm Wed, noon-1am Thu-Fri, noon-7pm Sat, closed Sun-Mon, Bistro: lunch & dinner daily) is the most popular spot for students to indulge in an ale, especially on Tuesday nights when there's free entertainment (DJ) if you get there before 10.30pm. Thursday nights are even bigger, despite the $8 cover charge. It's also a good spot for cheap pub meals, such as roast of the day ($10) or bangers & mash (sausages and mashed potatoes, $9)
- Although not as handy to get to, Howl at the Moon (tel 9704 7223; www.howlatthemoon.com.au/fountaingate; Shop 1122, Fountain Gate Shopping Centre, Narre Warren; Narre Warren train station) is another place worth a look-in for some frivolity
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Places to stay (on-campus)
Currently there are six residential units on-site with each unit containing five bedrooms, a furnished lounge and dining area, two toilets and bathrooms, and a laundry. Students provide their own blankets, cooking/eating utensils and food. For more information go the website: www.mrs.monash.edu/on-campus/berwick More student accommodation for a further 120 students is currently being built and is scheduled to be ready by 2006.
Places to stay (off campus)
Short-term - Motels and B&Bs |
- Beaconsfield Lodge (tel 9707 1454; 1 Souter Street, Beaconsfield; singles/doubles $77/82)
- Melaleuca Lodge (tel 9796 1044; cnr Princes Highway & Brunt Road, Officer; singles/doubles from $79/85)
- Chadwick Cottage B&B (tel 9796 8439; http://clients.net2000.com.au/~chadwick/; 68 Chadwick Road, Harkaway; singles/doubles from $75/130)
- Narre Green Hills B&B (tel 9796 8452; 112 Bailey Road, Narre Warren North; singles/doubles $100/150)
- Quest Narre Warren (tel 9796 6944; cnr Princes Highway & Verdun Drive, Narre Warren; apartments from $160)
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| Long-term - Student boarding/renting |
- The Housing Advisory Service (tel 9904 7019; www.adm.monash.edu/community-services/housing/berwick; Rooms $186/187/188, 1st floor, Building 902; 9am-5pm Mon-Thu, to 4pm Fri) can help students find long-term off-campus accommodation. Also, take a look at Monash Residential Services (www.mrs.monash.edu/off-campus) for valuable off-campus accommodation information and tenancy advice
- Real estate agents in the area include: Frank Facey First National (tel 9707 5888; 57 High Street, Berwick); Ray White Real Estate (tel 9796 2666; 9 Clyde Road, Berwick); LJ Hooker (tel 9707 2155; 54 High Street, Berwick); and Elders Real Estate (tel 9707 2000; 49 High Street, Berwick).
- For homestay options, contact Australia Asia Centre for Education Exchange (AACE) at Homestay Accommodation & Services (tel 8612 5560; website www.aace.monashuni.com/has; email: has@aace.monashuni.com)
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Wilson Botanic Park (tel 9707 5818; www.wbp.com.au; Princes Highway, Berwick; admission free; 7am-5pm daily, to 8pm during daylight saving), about 700m west of the High Street/Clyde Road intersection, is a fabulous 100-acre parkland with beautiful lakes, interesting rock formations and loads of walking tracks. It's the perfect place to escape a hectic study schedule for some exercise or a picnic.
Another oasis of calm, the Old Cheese Factory (tel 9702 1919; 34 Homestead Road, Berwick; admission by gold coin donation; 10am-4pm daily) is a two-storey historic building from the 1860s converted into an art gallery and set in a lovely English-style garden. Homestead Road runs off Clyde Road about 1.5km south of campus.
| Other places close by to stretch your legs and take a break include: |
- The Skate Park (Ray Bastin Reserve; cnr Norfolk Drive & Narre Warren-Cranbourne Road, Narre Warren)
- Casey ARC (Aquatic & Recreation Centre; tel 9705 5000; http://www.caseyarc.ymca.org.au; cnr Overland Drive & Princes Highway, Narre Warren; 6am-10pm Mon-Thu, to 8pm Fri, 8am-8pm Sat-Sun; bus No 828 from Berwick railway station), which has various indoor heated swimming pools (including a very popular wave pool), gym, spa, sauna and steam room, and activities such as yoga, pilates and karate
- Sweeney Reserve (enter off Golf Links Road, Berwick), where you'll find football and cricket fields, netball courts, Casey Tennis Centre (tel 9702 0310) and Casey Softball Association (tel 0402 759 357)
- For any anglers out there, try casting a line in the lake at Berwick Springs housing estate (enter via Berwick Springs Promenade, off Greaves Road), which is stocked with rainbow trout, carp and redfin
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If that all sounds too active and outdoorsy, what about some retail therapy at Fountain Gate Shopping Centre (tel 9704 6666; 352 Princes Highway, Narre Warren). With close to 300 specialty stores, odds are you'll find something to keep your credit card in business. The centre also incorporates a cinema complex and plenty of eateries.
For shopping of a more arts and crafts nature and some good homemade cookin', head to Akoonah Park Market (tel 9796 1455; cnr Cardinia Street & Princes Highway, Berwick; admission free), which happens from 8am to 1pm every Sunday.
A good idea for a day trip is to visit Puffing Billy (tel 9754 6800; www.puffingbilly.com.au; Old Monbulk Road, Belgrave; 3-6 departures daily, except Christmas day), the restored steam train you've probably seen on tourism ads for Victoria. Billy's usually full of excited kids, but he's just as much fun for 'big kids' as he puffs and toots his way through the picturesque hills and fern gullies of the Dandenong Ranges. You can do the full Belgrave to Gembrook return trip (students $32, four hours), but Belgrave to Lakeside ($23.50, two hours) is more than enough. (Belgrave is about 20km north of Berwick.)
It's a good idea to get off at Lakeside station anyway for pretty Emerald Lake Park (www.emeraldlakepark.com.au), which has picnic areas, a water slide and swimming pool, paddle boats for hire and, if you haven't already had enough of trains, the Emerald Lake Model Railway (tel 5968 3455; 19 Edith Court, Mount Dandenong; adult/concession $5.50/4.50; 11.30am-3pm Tue-Sun winter, to 4.30pm or 5.30pm summer), the largest of its kind in Australia, with over 2km of tracks and miniature hills, tunnels, towns and shops.
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Monash's Careers & Employment website (www.careers.monash.edu), which incorporates an online job-searching system, is the best place to start looking for part-time or casual work while you're studying (or full-time employment after you've graduated). Here you'll find any number of jobs advertised, from local restaurants and eateries to parents looking for tutors for their children. Places reasonably close to campus that are worth enquiring about part-time or casual work include:
- Safeway Supermarket (tel 9796 2799; 1-9 Lyall Road, Berwick)
- IGA Supermarket (tel 9707 1916; Shop 1, 2 Richardson Grove, Berwick)
- Officeworks (tel 8790 1288; 352 Princes Highway, Narre Warren)
- Berwick Inn (see Eat & Drink)
- Deepam Tandoori Indian Restaurant (see Eat & Drink)
- Casey ARC (see Things to Do)
Also keep your eyes open for the 'Study, Work, Play' program, an initiative aimed at creating on-campus job opportunities for students.
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© Chris Bell. Lonely Planet Images
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