Swan Reach is a small residential town located in the east Gippsland

Gippsland

Gippsland is a large rural region in Victoria, Australia. It begins immediately east of the suburbs of Melbourne and stretches to the New South Wales border, lying between the Great Dividing Range to the north and Bass Strait to the south...

 region of Victoria

Victoria (Australia)

Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....

. It is situated 306 kilometres (190 mi) east of the state capital, Melbourne

Melbourne

Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

 and is located approximately halfway between the townships of Bairnsdale

Bairnsdale, Victoria

Bairnsdale is a small city in Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. With a population at the 2006 census of 11,282, it is a major regional centre of eastern Victoria along with Traralgon and Sale....

 and Lakes Entrance

Lakes Entrance, Victoria

Lakes Entrance is a tourist resort and fishing port in eastern Victoria, Australia. It is situated approximately east of Melbourne, near a managed, man-made channel connecting the Gippsland Lakes to the Bass Strait. At the 2006 census, Lakes Entrance had a population of 4,094.The township was...

 on the Tambo River

Tambo River (Victoria)

The Tambo River is a river in East Gippsland, Victoria, Australia with a total length in excess of 170 km. It is the longest river in the Tambo and Nicholson Basin, extending from the steep forested southern slopes of the Australian Alps through forest and farmland to the Gippsland...

. Swan Reach falls under the jurisdiction of the Shire of East Gippsland Local Government Area. According to the 2006 Australian Census

Census in Australia

The Australian census is administered once every five years by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The most recent census was conducted on 9 August 2011; the next will be conducted in 2016. Prior to the introduction of regular censuses in 1961, they had also been run in 1901, 1911, 1921, 1933,...

 Swan Reach and the surrounding area had a population of 847 people.

Swan Reach Post Office opened on 1 February 1880. It was known from around 1906 to around 1911 as Swan Reach West in anticipation of a surveyed Swan Reach township to the east being established.

Nearly everyone currently residing in Swan Reach was born in Australia and they speak predominantly English

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

. Religion is not very diverse with 100% of residents being Christian

Christian

A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...

 or subscribing to no religion.

Swan Reach has one pub

Australian pubs

A public house in Australia is an establishment performing many functions, often serving alcoholic beverages, meals, and providing basic accommodation.-Origin:...

, one petrol station, and one general store

General store

A general store, general merchandise store, or village shop is a rural or small town store that carries a general line of merchandise. It carries a broad selection of merchandise, sometimes in a small space, where people from the town and surrounding rural areas come to purchase all their general...

. These are all located on the Princes Highway

Princes Highway

The Princes Highway extends from Sydney to Port Augusta via the coast through the states of New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia, a distance of 1941 km or 1898 km via the former alignments of the highway ....

, which runs through the centre of the town and forms the main road.

Sports

Swan Reach also has an oval and netball court, with an Australian Rules football team and netball

Netball

Netball is a ball sport played between two teams of seven players. Its development, derived from early versions of basketball, began in England in the 1890s. By 1960 international playing rules had been standardised for the game, and the International Federation of Netball and Women's Basketball ...

 teams competing in the Omeo & District Football League

Omeo & District Football League

The Omeo and District Football League is an Australian Rules Football League based out of the Tambo Valley region of East Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. The ODFL has existed in some form since 1893, and operates under the auspices of the Victorian Country Football League...

.

The town's hockey

Field hockey

Field Hockey, or Hockey, is a team sport in which a team of players attempts to score goals by hitting, pushing or flicking a ball into an opposing team's goal using sticks...

 club plays in the East Gippsland Hockey Association

East Gippsland Hockey Association

The East Gippsland Hockey Association is a field hockey league in the East Gippsland region of Victoria, Australia. The league features five divisions, Open , Women's, under 18s, under 15s and under 13s.-History:...

, although they have played their home games for the past few seasons in the nearby town of Lakes Entrance.