If Ever I Leave Wonthaggi

Though I may be a fellow who came from far away
And that accent I brought with me is with me for to stay
In Wonthaggi in Gippsland I feel so much at home
And in the former coal mining town my nostalgia I've outgrown.

And if ever I leave Wonthaggi though I hope not at all
Some of it's marvellous characters with great fondness I'll recall
And in and around Wonthaggi some great characters you'll meet
I even felt at home on my first walk down Graham Street.

If you feel like a stranger in Wonthaggi you won't feel that way for long
For if you can't warm to the people there with you there must be something wrong.
For many who come to visit there known to return again
And good memories of the old town for years with them remain

In the late sixties the mine was closed and the changes happened fast
Still Wonthaggi holds it strong links to it's coal mining past
There miners once won their strike for better conditions as they were underpaid
And in the famed old coastal town union history was made.

If ever I leave Wonthaggi though I hope not at all
Some of it's marvellous characters with great fondness I'll recall
For a stranger in Wonthaggi there is no such a thing
And in the famed old mining town the battler still a king.