“Learner postie” Genevieve Grant has been delivering mail around Port Fairy for the past six weeks and said it was remarkable how hard it was to find certain addresses.

The Rosebrook resident wants to highlight the problem to home owners and encourage them to improve signage and letterbox access for both postal and emergency services workers. 

“It’s extraordinary,” Ms Grant said.

“I can’t believe it. I am enjoying learning to fill in for our posties, Steve and Stacy Dwyer, while they take time off for the birth of their next child, however it has quickly become apparent to me how inconsistent and unclear the numbering of properties often is.”

She said one address could have a number of homes or units which were separated by both numbers and letters which caused confusion. 

“For example, you may come across 35 'Blue' street and 35/1 and 35/2 and 35/3 and 35/a,” she said. 

“There are numbers in another street that go in chronological order for a distance then go backwards, only to resume where the numbers left off down the track.”

She said this dates back to when house numbering “wasn’t organised and people made up their own numbers”.

Ms Grant said she had spoken to a man she met who was reading water meters and said he had the same challenges finding specific properties.  

Another problem was unmarked or obscure numbering on houses or letterboxes.

“Hidden” boxes are another challenge she’s faced while delivering mail. At one home Ms Grant delivers to, its letterbox is 20 metres away from the home, located around the corner, out of sight and on a separate road. 

She said people took it for granted that their mail would be delivered.

“They just assume everyone knows where the letter box is,” Ms Grant said.

Owners of rental properties should also ensure their numbering was clear and letter boxes were easy to access, she said. 

“Other than making mail delivery more difficult or time consuming than it needs to be, people need to consider how difficult it is for any emergency vehicles to determine where they might be called to.”

Ms Grant has appealed to residents to “take a moment to sort out the numbering on their letterboxes and houses” and to think about the placement and convenience of their letter boxes.

“Even if you don't receive mail, emergency vehicles need to know exactly where to go,” Ms Grant said