View from a hill

A couple of months back, I was contacted by a PhD student from Federation University who was undertaking some interesting research. He was on the trail of the famous European landscape painter, Eugene von Guerard.

Eugene von Guerard 1870-1874, by John Botterill,
Image held by the State Library of Victoria

Born in Vienna in 1811, Johann Joseph Eugene von Guerard arrived in Australia in 1852 to try his hand on the goldfields of Ballarat, however after failing to strike it rich he returned to doing what he knew best - drawing and painting, spending thirty years in Australia recording his surroundings. As he travelled across the country, von Guerard carried a sketchbook in which he made rough drawings of what he saw - the bustle of the goldfields, snippets of life in the Australian bush, expansive landscapes. A number of these sketches formed the basis of some of von Guerard and Australia's most important 19th century landscape paintings. Many of these paintings and the original sketchbooks have survived to the present day and their contents include a number of depictions of the Barwon, Moorabool and Leigh/Yarrowee Rivers.
Perhaps the best-known von Guerard painting of the Barwon River is View of Geelong which was purchased in 2006 by the City of Greater Geelong for $3.8 million and now hangs in the Geelong Art Gallery. Another well-known von Guerard painting, which hangs at the National Gallery of Victoria is titled Warrenheip Hills Near Ballarat and purports to show Mt Warrenheip in the background of a scene through which a small river is flowing - the Yarrowee.
Until recently, the exact location from which the original sketch upon which the painting was based, was unknown. Enter postgraduate student George Hook whose "thesis focuses on fidelity to nature issues in the paintings of leading nineteenth century Australian landscape painter Eugene von Guerard". By consulting a number of people with expertise in geology, art and the local region and undertaking some good old fashioned leg work, Hook was able to pinpoint the location of the rocky pool where von Guerard stood to make his initial sketch.

Warrenheip HIlls Near Ballarat, Eugene von Guerard, 1854, showing a little-
seen part of the Yarrowee River. National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne

As it happens, I had come across his research earlier this year whilst researching some of my "Making Tracks" posts when I discovered this article in the Ballarat Courier describing the find and a more detailed account in a blog post by Historic Urban Landscape Ballarat.
Meanwhile, unbeknownst to me, I had also been following in von Guerard's footsteps. As I was later informed, a number of the photos I had previously used in my blog were taken from similar vantage points to some of the sketches made by von Guerard over a century and a half ago.
And so an extended discussion began between myself and George. Could I identify the location of any of the several sketches made by von Guerard of the Barwon River and one intriguing sketch of a part of the Moorabool Valley? Well, in several cases, yes I could, in general terms.
The first sketch to catch my attention was a broad panorama with the annotation (in German) "above Geelong looking towards Lake Connewarre". From which point is it possible to see both Geelong and Lake Connewarre? Well, on a clear day, from what is now Montpellier Park; one of those places I had stood to take photos of Geelong and the Barwon River. I hadn't really noticed previously, but yes, it is possible to catch a glimpse of the lake and even the faint outline of the Bluff at Barwon Heads. After some more discussion on the issue however, I had to rethink my original idea.
Could the view toward Lake Connewarre actually have been sketched from somewhere closer to Newtown? In retrospect, the angles of the river work better from there and some more discussion leads us to suspect that the sketch may actually have been made from somewhere near 'The Heights', the homestead erected for local businessman Charles Ibbotson in 1854, overlooking the Barwon River. Whilst this is speculation, it is quite possible that von Guerard may have met Ibbotson - perhaps through a mutual acquaintance. In April, 1854 when the sketch of Lake Connewarre was made, von Guerard also made sketches from the newly-built home of Frederick Bauer, a German ironmonger who also owned a property overlooking the Barwon River and who is attributed with having erected 'The Heights' for Ibbotson - more of whom later.

Above Geelong looking towards Lake Connewarre, Eugene von Guerard, 24th April 1854

The Lake Connewarre sketch was one of a number made from various elevated positions along this stretch of the Barwon by von Guerard who also spent time at the home of noted local businessman and land owner John Highett. It was here - across the valley from Ibbotson, that Highett built his home, 'Highton House' - later known as the Montpellier Hotel - the footings of which remain today. (In another odd coincidence, I find myself for the second time writing a post on this location on the same day that the peloton of the Tour de France pedals into Montpellier, France.)

Footings of 'Highton House'

Naturally, whilst staying with Highett, von Guerard drew his surroundings. Today, looking north east, it is still possible to see the same view recorded by the artist in an 1855 sketch which was worked into a pen and ink sketch in 1859 and which also bears more than a passing resemblance to the iconic 1856 painting View of Geelong.

Undated sketch from 'Highton House'

1855 sketch of Corio Bay, the You Yangs, the Barwon River and Geelong

The same view worked in pen and ink and dated 1859

View of Geelong, 1856

And the same view 155 years later in July, 2011 complete with von Guerard clouds!

In addition to these sketches, von Guerard made others which take in this same view but from other locations as he spent time at the homes and properties of various prominent Geelong citizens. Not all the locations however, were as easy to identify as this famous vista, requiring a little more detective work and even more leg work, uncovering some interesting local history in the process. Perfect fodder for my next post...

An underground current

Beneath the streets of Belmont lies a largely-forgotten waterway, but one which bears a name familiar to all Geelong Residents - Kardinia Creek. The name Kardinia has been suggested as having a couple of different meanings although most agree that it is an indigenous word meaning "sunrise".
This little creek was for many years, an open waterway which ran from the high ground near Ceres, across what are now the suburbs of Wandana Heights and Highton to Belmont, where the creek formed the western border between the latter two suburbs. It discharged into the Barwon on the bend at the place Yollinko Aboriginal Park now stands, catching runoff water from around 1050 hectares of land.

An aerial photo of parts of Belomt and Highton prior to development, with
the course of Kardinia Creek marked by arrows. Image from the Highton
Facebook page courtesy of  Ross Rawson

Prior to the suburban sprawl, Kardinia Creek wound its way through open fields, crossing the Barrabool Hills Road (Barrabool Road) near its confluence with the Barwon. Today, vestiges of the creek's course can be seen in some of the surrounding open space such as the Highton Retarding Basin off Thornhill Road
To the Wathaurong people, it was a source of food and water for over 5,000 years. They would camp near the confluence during winter, a fact attested to by a nearby midden where various artifacts have been found. Its sheltered position provided protection from the elements and was within reach of good hunting grounds on the opposite bank of the Barwon.
When European settlers arrived in the region, they too used the area as a meeting place. Initially, the land formed part of Dr Alexander Thomson's property named "Kardinia", then in 1850 Dr Thomson offered a number of allotments for sale as "Belmont Town". They were located between Roslyn and Mt Pleasant Roads. This fledgling town, took its water from a pump located on the south bank of the Barwon, very near the confluence of Kardinia Creek and the Barwon.

Pump on the Barwon used by the early residents of Belmont with the original
Prince Albert Bridge in the background. A 1938 print of an 1860s negative held by
The State Library of Victoria

Not surprisingly, European arrival had a catastrophic effect on the well being of the Wathaurong. Stock introduced by the settlers damaged the surrounding land, with the loss of root crops - which they relied upon for food - contributing to malnutrition followed by disease.

A modern sign marking the position of the pump

the site of the pump

As the population of Belmont and the surrounding districts increased, infrastructure was needed and in 1852 funds became available to establish a roads board in the region. Then, in 1853 the Barrarbool (sic) Roads District (later the Barrabool District Roads Board then the Shire of Barrabool) was established. Some of the funds at the Board's disposal were allocated for the construction of a bridge on Barrabool Road across Kardinia Creek. Tenders were called for and then in 1854 it was reported by the Geelong Advertiser and Intelligencer that a substantial bridge had been built across the creek to carry traffic on the road heading to Ceres and beyond. An earlier mention of a bridge over the creek in 1852 being in need of repair suggests that this new bridge was not the first on the site, however I can find no further mention of the earlier structure.
With the completion of the bridge in 1854 - and presumably other works in the district - ongoing funding was required by the Roads Board. In this era, much of that funding was supplied by toll roads so by December, 1855, the Barrabool District Roads Board were calling for tenders for a contractor to operate the Kardinia Creek toll gate on Barrabool Road.
Things changed again in 1861 with the opening of the nearby Prince Albert Bridge which provided competition for the tolled Barwon (aka Kardinia) Bridge on Moorabool Street, which was the only bridge at that time and located some distance away near the end of Barrabool Road. Initially, the Prince Albert Bridge did not have a tollgate, however competition between the shires of South Barwon and Newtown and Chilwell saw the bridge first fenced off, then with a tollgate at either end before the situation was eventually resolved. What impact this had on the Kardinia Creek tollgate, is not clear.

View from the original Prince Albert Bridge looking towards Newtown and what
I suspect is the tollgate (centre) erected by the Newtown and Chilwell Council
c1860s-1870s

There was little mention of the creek after the 1870s until 1910, when plans were discussed in the Geelong Advertiser to repair the "footbridge" over the creek at the same time reforming a part of Robert Street (presumably today's Roberts Road). By 1913 the issue was still being discussed, then in 1915 there were claims (and denials of responsibility) that the "wing walls" of the bridge over Kardinia Creek had been damaged by contractors Jas McCoy and Son.
Nor perhaps was the state of the bridge the only problem with Kardinia Creek at that time. A nostalgic look back at the 1850s in December, 1918 by the Geelong Advertiser declared that tree clearing had significantly reduced rainfall in the area, with the result that the creek, which once flowed continuously now had a much reduced flow.
Regardless of flow levels, the creek was - and still is - integral to the drainage of water from the high ground south of the Barwon, up towards Ceres. Until the 1960s it performed this function as an open creek, however early in that decade, the decision was made to move the creek underground to allow for the expansion of the Highton shopping centre and help deal with flooding. Since then, the creek - whose original course ran along Bellvue Avenue - has flowed underground via a series of main drains, fed by catchment points, eventually discharging into the Barwon at a "trash rack" designed to trap litter, near the original confluence.

Outflow of Kardinia Creek

Whilst this may have been useful at the time, it has proven problematic over the years. The age of the drains, population growth and the lack of adequate surface drainage, means that the catchment area is prone to flooding during periods of heavy rain and many local properties suffer damage and erosion as a result.

The above diagram shows the areas of flooding within the Kardinia Creek catchment area. Image
adapted from the Highton Drainage/Flood Study Draft Final Report, commissioned by the City of
Greater Geelong, Prepared by BMT WBM Pty Ltd

A recent study undertaken on behalf of the City of Greater Geelong to consider means of flood mitigation for the area, reached the conclusion that any of the three proposals considered would be prohibitively expensive and of minimal effectiveness. It was suggested instead that a land buy-back scheme along with initiatives to assist individual property owners to minimise their flood-risk would be more useful.
Time will tell if these measures are successful.

A nice night for it!

With winter approaching far too fast for my liking, I am making the most of any good weather which comes along. So, with that in mind, I hit the river late on a sunny afternoon for a short paddle between Breakwater and Prince's Bridge with a stop along the way for a picnic dinner with the family.

James Harrison and Barwon Bridges, looking east

The end result was a swag of scenic sunset shots (conveniently enough I was paddling west) and a swag of dark, often blurry, shots after sunset as I attempted to come to terms with the finer points of aperture size and shutter speed on my fairly simple "point and shoot" camera.

The McIntyre bridge, looking west

Sunset over Highton

Still looking west

As the light levels dropped, the cockies and corellas which had been screeching in the trees and wheeling overhead while we were eating dinner, dispersed and now, the usual array of birds was replaced by "bats". By bats, I actually mean Grey-headed Flying-foxes which I looked at in a previous post.


As night falls and the full moon rises

Fortunately I am used to the noise these guys make (they often frequent the large Silky oak tree in my backyard), otherwise, the sound of their squeaks and squawks along what were by now very quiet and dark banks, could have been rather disturbing. As it was, the occasional splash as something unseen broke the water's surface seemed far more prominent than during daylight.


In town it is never really dark

By the time darkness (such as it was on a clear night with a full moon) descended, there were no pedestrians on the riverbank and no-one on the water either - except me and the occasional waterbird who I think was as surprised to see me as I was to see them.

Everything looks different at night

As well as everything looking and sounding different in darkness, it smelled different as well. What little breeze there had been on dusk disappeared completely. The surface of the river was like glass and the moisture level in the atmosphere increased noticeably, giving everything that fresh, cool smell.

Breakwater Bridge under the full moon

Finally, after a very different paddle, I made it back to Breakwater in time to hear a train tooting its way towards Geelong from Marshall Station. Time then, as I waited for a pick up, for one last shot...

The 20:39 train from Waurn Ponds crosses the Barwon

Up hill and down dale

Having struggled with my running times - to say nothing of my motivation - for the last 12 months or more, I have been looking for a change of direction to keep me motivated. Running point to point with the promise of a lift at the end of the route has a certain appeal, however that requires the said lift to be available. Whilst this is sometimes an option, it is not always practical so other alternatives are necessary.One option which I have been toying with for some time, is a slight change of route which takes me away from the river, but introduces some fairly serious hill climbing. I have never been that fond of running uphill - a straight line on the flat is hard enough as it is! - but I have heard others proclaim that they actually prefer running uphill. I have also read and heard anecdotal claims that hill work will help my running times on the flat.

Footings of Highton House, later Montpellier Hotel
overlooking Geelong

One of the advantages of running around the river of course, is that water flows to the lowest available point, meaning that there are usually a significant number of much higher points which can also be run to. With this in mind, I have once or twice staggered my way to the top of the hill on which the cement works sit, overlooking Fyansford. Yes, it is a killer, but it is also a relatively short distance - although it never seems that way at the time. So, instead, I thought I'd head to Queen's Park and up the Scenic Road hill. Not so steep, but quite a bit longer. This task I accomplished fairly comfortably, but at no great speed, on Friday. From the top of the climb I headed down to Montpellier Drive and round to the park of the same name, where the promised ride was waiting.
This was also an opportunity to snap a shot or two of the river from a different angle and to take a shot of a subject from one of my earlier blog posts, or at least the remaining footings thereof - Highton House, built by the settler John Highett after whom Highton is named, and later converted to the Montpellier Hotel, Picnic and Pleasure Ground by Edwin Hooper. Appropriately enough as I write, the peloton of the Tour de France is winding its way through the Montpellier district of France, and the vineyards for which this park was named.
The views of Geelong and surrounds from this high point are quite impressive, taking in the Barwon, Corio Bay, the You Yangs in the far distance and glimpses of the profiles of many familiar buildings around town. It is not hard to see why John Highett chose this location to build his home.

View of Geelong, the Barwon and Corio Bay from
Montpellier Park, Highton

Buoyed by my relative success on Friday, I decided to have a slightly more serious go at the hills today. So, sporting a new pair of Asics Kayano 17s which I've had my eye on for a while, I hit the road. This time, instead of arranging for collection at the end, I headed to the river and up to Princes Bridge then detoured off the river and up Mt. Pleasant Road to Scenic Road before heading down again to Queen's Park and back along the river and home. Sounds easy enough put like that and all up, only about 16km but certainly somewhat harder on the legs and lungs than staying on the river.
As I suspected, it was also significantly harder than Friday's run. In addition to being about 5.5km longer, the run up Mt Pleasant Road was anything but! It is definitely the steeper option of the two - probably the reason why the powers that be decided that the time trialists riding in the UCI Cycling World Championship last October would ride this particular route.
Well, once again, I can't say my time was anything to boast about, but I did survive and was not so put off that I wouldn't consider repeating the effort at some time in the near future. Perhaps also I'll see a difference in my times once I'm back on the flat. I live in hope...

Grist to the mill...

Buckley Falls is probably one of the more interesting stretches of the Barwon as it runs through Geelong. As mentioned in an earlier posting, it is named for the escaped convict William Buckley who escaped from a fledgeling penal colony established near what is now Sorrento. At some point he came upon members of the local Wathaurong tribe who mistook him for the ghost of the warrior Murrangurk. Buckley lived with the tribe for thirty years before re-joining white society.
The history of the river at this point is also a combination of ancient Wathaurong and more modern European settlement. To the Wathaurong, the nearby Bunyip pool was a source of food. Yarrum Mordong is the Wathaurong name for this part of the river. Yarrum means rapids or a waterfall. Mordong means eel.
To the newly arrived Europeans of the 19th century, this part of the river was a source of power which could be harnessed for industry and not surprisingly one of the earliest recorded was flour-milling. The history of flour-milling at Fyansford seems to me to be somewhat unclear. It is widely reported that Henry William Collins opened a flour mill on the banks of the Barwon in 1845. Whether this is the same establishment as the Barrabool flour Mill which started operation in 1849 on a projection of land upstream of Buckley Falls, known as Mt Brandon Peninsula, I cannot determine, however a source stating that the latter was built in 1849 suggests that they were separate establishments.

Barrabool Flour Mill, built 1849

Records indicate that the Barrabool Flour Mill was a five-storey, bluestone structure whose 90cm thick walls were constructed from locally quarried stone - perhaps from one of the three quarries on the opposite bank of the river. It was powered by an "undershot" wheel and water was drawn from a channel which ran along the south bank of the river. Nowadays, there is no sign of the mill or an associated onsite cottage and no-one seems quite sure where the mill was located. A comparison of the two photos to the left however, is interesting.

It is also interesting to note the extent to which the banks on both sides of the river have been revegetated over the intervening decades as well as the presence of the lower weir (not built until 1927) in the lower picture.

The only traces of the mill and its surrounds now visible are a few non-native trees (possibly the cyprus growing on the high ground of the peninsula) and the remains of the outer race wall which can still be seen as I discovered for myself yesterday on another expedition to see a part of the river which, for some unknown reason, had to this point escaped me.

 Yesterday's saunter took me down to the south bank of the river opposite the car park at Baum's Weir and along an informal track, back towards Buckley Falls. Here, to my delight, I discovered the remains of the old bluestone race. Originally about 244m in length, it ran from a weir upstream down to the mill. Whilst not explicitly stated, I believe that the weir was in fact Baum’s Weir which is said to date from the 1840s, although no-one seems to know when or by whom it was built.

Remains of outer wall of the channel on the south bank of
the Barwon below Brandon Peninsula

Regardless of when exactly the mill was built, it would seem that by 1854 at the latest and probably earlier, an Englishman named John Highett was the owner. He may also have had to rebuild the mill subsequent to substantial flooding in 1852. I haven’t been able to turn up anything which indicates how long Highett ran the mill, however some time after his death in 1867 and with the opening of the Barwon Paper Mill on the opposite bank of the river in 1876 (more of which later), business appears to have dropped off. After standing idle for some years, the mill reopened. Confusingly once again, one source states that in 1887/1888 it reopened as the Fyansford Starch Factory, milling rice instead of wheat. This is supported by a contemporary photo showing the mill and labelled accordingly. It states that the mill buildings had almost completely disappeared by 1938. However, another reference published by the City of Greater Geelong, indicates that the mill was sold in 1888 and subsequently operated as a jam factory on a limited scale. This reference claims the building was gone by 1908.

A couple of possible explanations for these differences spring to mind, such as the possibility that the two businesses used the buildings jointly or perhaps the tenure of the starch factory was very short-lived. The difference in dates given for the disbanding of the mill buildings seems a likely transcription error.

So, who was the mill's owner John Highett and what was his association with the Barwon River? Highett (1810-1867) was an Englishman who migrated first to Van Diemen's Land with his brother William (a noted politician) before arriving in the Port Phillip district in 1837. He took up farming land overlooking the Barwon on the south side of the river and built a substantial house at the top of the hill overlooking much of the region in what is now Montpellier Park. The house later became the Montpellier Hotel, Picnic Ground and Pleasure Gardens and was run by Edwin Hooper. The surrounding land was also used for the cultivation of grapes, with vineyards extending down to the river, into the nearby Barrabool Hills and as far as Pollocksford. The Montpellier name derives from a town in Southern France known for its wine growing.

The house no longer stands, however the footings can still be seen in the park's grounds. The other, perhaps more permanent reminder of Highett's contribution to the development of the area in the early days of European settlement is the suburb of Highton, which was originally given the name Highett's Town. Of course, Highett Road which connects with Buckley Falls Road below the Bunyip pool is a further reflection the area's association with John Highett and his family.