'Lal Lal'

As outlined in my previous post, Archibald Fisken Jr arrived at the Port Phillip settlement with his family in April, 1840 at the age of eleven. By the time he was 17 his uncle - Peter Inglis - had placed Archibald in charge of running two of his estates; the 27,339 acre Warrenheip Run and the 18,313 acre Lal Lal Run. Between the two runs, they were estimated in 1849 as having the capacity to run 3,000 head of cattle and 2,000 head of sheep.
Archibald was said to be an accomplished horseman and according to his obituary, published in The Argus, 14th June, 1907 he was the first to drive a vehicle - presumably a horse and cart - through the dense forest then surrounding Mt Warrenheip. In the early days, Fisken lived in a slab hut and with the outbreak of the gold rush in 1851 found himself struggling to maintain his enormous estate as many of his employees abandoned their posts to try their luck at Ballarat and beyond.
He soon realised however, that a lucrative market for his stock had opened up in the form of the stream of diggers passing through his property on their way from Melbourne, Geelong and surrounds to the goldfields.

Archibald Fisken, 1892. Image held by the State Library of Victoria

His beef was particularly popular with the diggers. The stream of diggers may also have ensured that the tradition of breeding pigs at 'Warreneep' - probably begun in the 1830s by the Levitt brothers - was continued by Fisken. In 1856 The Star was advertising pigs of all sizes for sale on the property. Despite being short-handed, it was this windfall that came with the gold rush along with his continued hard work at increasing his stock holdings and improving productivity which enabled Fisken in a relatively short space of time to pay back the purchase price of both properties.
On the 4th January, 1859, having secured his position as a squatter, Archibald married Charlotte Emily Macnamara, the second daughter of a Sydney politician, by this time however, the carve up of the big estates had begun and 'Lal Lal' and 'Warreneep' were no exception. In 1859, blocks of 'Warrenheip' land were being offered for sale whilst two years earlier in 1857, 'Lal Lal' land was also thrown open for purchase.
It is also worth noting that when the sale of allotments was announced, there was a concerted public push which resulted in the land which included the spectacular Lal Lal Falls being set aside as a public reserve. In September, 1860 the petitioners were successful with 1,250 acres gazetted for public use, however in December, 1868, this was revoked with the reserved area reduced to only 200 acres. Nonetheless, the area remained popular with the public not only as a picnic spot but also with photographers and artists who continue to record images of the falls to the present day. In 1858 renowned landscape artist Eugene von Guerard sketched the falls  and in 1882 photographer Fred Kruger snapped his version of the scene.

Lal Lal Falls, 1866 by Archibald Vincent Smith. Image held by the
State Library of Victoria

In the mid 1860s a racecourse was established near the falls. So popular were the races that in 1886 a branch line from the Geelong-Ballarat Railway was constructed to convey racegoers to and from the track. The line operated for more than 50 years with the last race meeting held in 1938. Marcus Wong's Rail Geelong website shows a number of images of the Lal Lal branch line.
As closer settlement continued, in 1862, the Lal Lal run was divided in two, with the 'Lal Lal West' portion of the estate - the land to the west of the newly opened Geelong-Ballarat Railway line - passing to George Irwin and then to Mackay and sons the following year. That lease was eventually forfeited in 1872. The lease of the remaining land passed in 1865 to George S Morrow and was forfeited in 1870. This of course, excludes that land which had been purchased by Fisken and which extended to as much as 10,000 acres, a far cry from the 45,652 acres encompassed by both stations in 1849. Fisken's freehold land became known as the Lal Lal Estate. It was here that he built a homestead, one source suggesting that the old slab hut was incorporated within its walls.
Throughout his time in the district, Fisken came to be regarded as an expert in the field of cattle breeding, managing stock for Sir Samuel Wilson of 'Narmbool' and establishing stock and station agencies in both Ballarat and Melbourne. He served in various public offices including as a Justice of the Peace, was an elected councillor and the first president of Buninyong Shire as well as serving as returning officer first for the electoral district of North Grant, then for that of Ballarat East in the Victorian Legislative Assembly.
In 1873 however, he took up residence in East Melbourne, leaving the running of 'Lal Lal' to his son, Archibald James which enabled him to pursue his business interests in other areas.  Archibald Fisken died at East Melbourne in 1907 at the age of 77.
Whilst it is reported that the estate remained in the hands of the Inglis/Fisken family through six generations, it would seem from contemporary newspaper reports that the estate for a time passed out of family ownership. On 14th January, 1888 it was stated in the Bacchus Marsh Express that Mr Thomas Bent, M.L.A. had made arrangements to purchase the estate.
As well as being a politician (and eventually Premier of Victoria) Bent was also a land speculator. He did not take over the running of the estate, instead installing a tenant before placing it back on the market within months. On 29th March, 6,000 acres including the homestead was put up for auction. Whilst around 600 acres sold, about 5,000 acres, including the homestead did not and the following month, the remaining land was advertised for lease (Ballarat Star, 29th May, 1888).
Within a few years however, the property must have passed back to the Fiskens, as from the early 1890s Archibald James Fisken was once again indicated as the property owner in various newspaper reports. Unlike his father however, he remained on the property where continued to run the estate until his death at the age of 56, in 1923 after an extended illness. It was he who in 1911 built the 16-room Edwardian homestead which stands on the property today, overlooking an ornamental lake which was formed by damming the Lal Lal Creek. The extensive garden was established around the same time, however some buildings - such as the stables - date back to 1858.

Lal Lal homestead, built in 1911 by AJ Fisken. Image taken from the
Federation-House site on Wikispace

Like his father, Archibald James was involved in local affairs, serving as councillor and president of Buninyong Shire. He also took a keen interest in cricket, fielding a Lal Lal Estate team which competed against other local sides. At the time of his death, Archibald's estate was valued at £19,000 with personal property valued at £7535. His beneficiaries were his widow Beatrice May (neé Wanliss) and his only son Archibald Clyde Wanliss "Clyde" Fisken.

The stables at 'Lal Lal', 1968. Image from the JT Collins collection, LaTrobe
Picture Collection, State Library of Victoria

Schooled at Ballarat and then Geelong Grammar, Clyde served in the British armed forces during the First World War and was awarded the Military Cross for bravery before returning to 'Lal Lal' to run the estate. In 1923, upon the death of his father, the property passed to Clyde and the following year he married Elspeth Anne Cameron, the daughter of a prominent wool broker at Ross in Tasmania,.
Like his father and grandfather before him, Clyde was elected to the Buninyong Shire Council and also served as president on a number of occasions. From 1934 - 1937 he served a term as the member for the federal seat of Ballarat before taking up a position as the founding chairman of the Australian Meat Board. Throughout the remainder of his life, Clyde served in a number of prominent public roles, but always maintained his interest in 'Lal Lal'. He died on 20th June, 1970, survived by his wife Elspeth, son Archibald John (known as John) and three daughters.

Archibald Clyde Wanliss Fisken. Image held by the
National Library of Australia

The estate of course, passed to John who by that time was married with a family of his own. His wife was Patricia Irene Falkiner of New South Wales whom he had married at St John's Church, Toorak in Melbourne on 3rd May, 1951. The event was reported in The Argus the following day, accompanied by a photo - to use the stereotype - of the happy couple. Their engagement the previous year was also noted in the society pages of The Argus (1st December, 1950).
Their family grew to include two sons and two daughters and it was their second son Geoff who took over the running of the estate after John's death on 8th August, 1989. Geoff Fisken was the final member of the family to own 'Lal Lal' where he lived with his wife and three children and it was he, who in 2014 sold the property to Tianyu Wool Industries, a Chinese wool company. At that time, the property extended to 2,000 hectares - or just under 5,000 acres. The company - headed by Mr Quingnan Wen - spent $2.54 million renovating the homestead and is developing the property as an example of world's best practise in farming techniques.
Today, the homestead is available for hire as a reception venue.

Songlines of the Barwon Catchment

During the recent Mountain to Mouth 2016 extreme arts walk held across the City of Greater Geelong and the Borough of Queenscliffe, one of the catchphrases used was "walk this land". Participants were encouraged to consider those who have walked the land before us. Part of our route took us along the Barwon River, with the event ultimately concluding on the banks of the river at Barwon Heads.
With this in mind, I thought I would have a look at the lands of the wider Barwon catchment and the people who have walked them. The way we cross the land today is perhaps best represented by maps. For thousands of years before the arrival of Europeans however, the indigenous tribes of Australia walked the land, following ancient tracks and pathways known to their ancestors, without the benefit of modern cartographic techniques.
For 25,000 years prior to the arrival of Europeans, the Barwon catchment was home to three indigenous tribes. The lands surrounding the lower Barwon - downriver from Winchelsea - as well as the catchments of the Moorabool and Leigh/Yarrowee Rivers were occupied by the Wathaurong (Wadawurrung) people. The lands of the Gulidjan Tribe lay along the upper reaches of the Barwon, also incorporating the area around Lake Colac. The Barwon itself formed the boundary between the Gulidjan people and their southern neighbours - the Gadubanud Tribe - who lived on the land between the river and the coast, stretching westwards past Cape Otway.

Adaption of the map "Catchments of the Barwon River and inland Basins", created
by the Victorian State Rivers and Water Supply Commission, 1950 (original
image held by the State Library of Victoria). Clan territories estimated from
Clark, 1995, "Scars in the Landscape"

Rather than physical maps such as the one above, indigenous maps were shared through dance, song, painting and story. They talked about the features of the land itself; the rivers and creeks which showed them the way from one place to another, the hills, the trees, the rocks, the waterholes passed along the way. Even the sky played a role. Following these "songlines", it was possible to walk for hundreds of kilometres. In this way, people could move between tribes, establish trade routes, make marriages, manage natural resources; walking - it was believed - in the footsteps of the creator spirit.

And it isn't too much of a stretch to see how songlines could work. The name of the Barwon itself is a directional description. Barre Warre N Yallock - the big river which flows from the mountains to the sea. Follow this river and you will reach the sea. Kooly bar ghurk (Coolebarghurk): man's track by the creek. Another descriptive name. Which track? The one by the creek. The one made by people, not the many animal tracks which no doubt criss-crossed the land.

"Man's track by the creek". For thousands of years, the Wathaurong walked the
banks of Coolebarghurk Creek

Wormbete: which lake? The "lake with the black fellow's mound". Where? Bukar Bulac; the place between two rivers. This was the Wathaurong name for the confluence of the Moorabool and Barwon Rivers.
Creation stories told how the eagle Bundjil looked down upon the world from the sky where his fire (the planet Jupiter) could be seen from Earth. Bundjil it was said, made his earthly home at Woringganninyoke - Lal Lal Falls. Whilst the meaning of the first name is unknown, "Lal Lal" is said to mean "dashing water in a crevice". Another literal description which could contribute to a songline.

Lal Lal Falls, April, 2012

Many other sites were named for prominent features which could also be used as part of a songline. Someone wanting to journey north west from Jillong (Geelong), the "place of native companions" or the place "where the seabirds fly over white cliffs", could perhaps travel to Durdidwarrah where either a "shelter of bark" or "dead water" could be found after which they would reach Bungeeltap (meaning either "spirit water" or "eagle's nest"). From there, they could see [Mount] Warrengeep (Warrenheip) where the ferns of the side of the mount resembled "emu feathers" before passing Bonan Yowing (Buninyong), the mountain shaped like a "man lying on his back with his knee raised." Once there, it wasn't too far to Balla arat (Ballarat), the "reclining on the elbow" "place" or resting place.

Bonan Yowing: Mt Buninyong, visible across the surrounding countryside
for many kilometres

Like today's Google Maps, the songlines of the indigenous peoples not only described which route to follow, but gave tips about where to stay and what food could be found along the journey: Yarram Mordong (the Wathaurong name for Buckley Falls), waterfall [of] eels; Porrong Goop (Borrongoop), the place of quails; Koo N Warre (Lake Connewarre), mud oyster water.

Koo N Warre: Lake Connewarre

In this way, the Wathaurong, Gulidjan and Gadubanud Tribes of the Barwon catchment "mapped" out the land, preserving their knowledge over thousands of years for future generations. Until European settlers arrived...

Branching out - Dolly's Creek

In contrast to the big company mines in the Steiglitz area, gold digging further up the Moorabool Valley was less lucrative and was centred on working alluvial drifts rather than quartz reefs. This was certainly true of the diggings at places such as Morrison's, Dolly's Creek, Tea Tree Creek and Mount Doran.


Worked ground at Dolly's Creek

The Morrison's diggings took place initially on the west bank of the Moorabool River where miners followed leads under the more geologically-recent flows of basalt, extracting auriferous gravels which were then worked using sluicing boxes and puddling machines to extract the gold.

Miners using a sluice

Nearby Dolly's Creek - a tributary of the west branch of the Moorabool River which ran into the river above what is now the township of Morrison's - was also worked in this fashion by the late 1850s.


workings at Dolly's Creek

The diggings at Dolly's Creek were known as a "Poor man's field". Yields provided a steady wage for hard work but no great riches. As a consequence, Dolly's Creek attracted Chinese miners who by the 1860s were the dominant workforce in the area.  Opium cans found at the Dolly's Creek diggings attest to their presence.

Quartz-containing rock, Dolly's Creek

Even today, there is interest in Dolly's Creek and any gold which might still be there, with recreational prospectors still working the creek bed and surrounds on a regular basis. During my wander along the section of the creek near Forest Road - which is currently completely dry with the exception of a few puddles - there was evidence of recent working.

Looking along the watercourse with a hole indicating signs of modern prospecting

 Then as now, access to water was a big issue in the area. Enough so that claims were abandoned sometimes not for lack of gold, but rather for lack of water to wash the soil to extract the gold. To this end, in the early 1860s a dam was built on Lal Lal Creek about a mile and a half above the falls of the same name. Water from the dam was then carried via a channel some 5 feet wide and 2 feet deep to the diggings. The channel was operated by the Moorabool Waterworks Company (aka the Lal Lal Waterworks Company) and initially carried water only as far as Dolly's Creek, where it entered a holding dam before being diverted into several smaller races, directing water to where it was most needed. By 1863 the channel had been extended to reach the diggings at Morrison's and Tea Tree Creek as well.

Dolly's Creek

To reach the diggings, it was necessary for the channel to cross the Ballarat-Geelong Railway line (built 1862) first at Lal Lal and then again near Mt Doran to the south. It was also necessary to tunnel through about 300m of rock to the south of Lal Lal township, to complete the project.  Remains of the channel may still be seen in the vicinity of Lal Lal today but according to one source, whilst the tunnel still stands, both ends have collapsed preventing access.
At this stage, I have not investigated the channel and have only spent a small amount of time at Dolly's Creek, but am keen to take another trip to see what I can discover.

Branching out - Bungal Dam

The last stage of Wednesday's Lal Lal excursion was to have a closer look at Bungal Dam. By this stage we were fast running out of time and then spent much of that attempting to navigate along winding gravel roads with limited signage. The GPS spent half its time with no signal and the other half being as confused as we were. Big help!
We did however manage to get there in the end and with only a few minutes to spare, grabbed a couple of quick pics and headed for home. This means of course that I did not have a chance to follow the service track which appeared to lead down closer to the dam's edge or to look at any of the infrastructure including the dam wall itself or the water tower which I glimpsed from the bottom of the road.

Lal Lal Reservoir from Bungal Dam Access Road, April 2012

All of that will have to wait for a future visit - preferably in a 4WD if I have to negotiate Bungal Dam Access Road again! For now I will have to make do with a few photos of sparkling blue water lying between eucalypt and pine covered hills and a little internet research.
The Lal Lal Reservoir or Bungal Dam as it is known has quite a reputation to live up to. As I described in an earlier post, the local indigenous population were the Tooloora Baluk clan of the Wathaurong tribe. They, along with the Kulin nation of indigenous peoples believe that the creator spirit Bundjil - an eagle - made his home at Lal Lal Falls. It was Bundjil who created the kangaroos, emus and all the animals of the earth. He created the first humans at Kirrit Barreet (Black Hill) a now extinct volcanic peak to the north east and once finished he created the Lal Lal Falls to relieve the monotony of the landscape - apparently even Wathaurong deities were aware of the limited scenic opportunities of livng on a basalt plain.

Basalt rock piles on plains near Bannockburn

Not surprisingly, when European settlers arrived, they also discovered the limitations of a basalt plain. I have heard it said that the crop that grows best on these plains is rocks and there are certainly a lot of them. The early settlers used them to make dry stone walls and as they cleared the land for farming, they placed the left overs in piles which still dot the landscape in these areas.

Basalt rock pile near Bannockburn

But, back to Lal Lal and its dam. It is of course from the spirit Bundjil, that Bungal Dam takes its name. The dam itself is an earth and rockfill construction, 49m in height which can hold upto 60 million cubic metres of water. The rock used to fill the dam wall was - not surprisingly - locally quarried basalt.
Construction of the dam was first considered following the drought of 1967-8 when the West Moorabool Water Board was established to oversee the project. Construction was started in February, 1970 by Premier Henry Bolte and was completed by 1972 at a cost of $5 million. It was officially opened on 24th November, 1972 by the newly appointed Premier Rupert Hamer. The water it contains is mostly used to supply Ballarat who draw about two thirds of their water from the reservoir. The remaining portion supplies about one third of Geelong's water requirements.

View of Lal Lal Reservoir looking east from the Moorabool Falls walking track

The West Moorabool Water Board was disbanded in 1995 and the reservoir is now jointly managed by Central Highlands Water and Barwon Water.
Water levels in the reservoir currently stand at around 93% full, however during the most recent drought which did not end until 2010, water levels reached critical levels which not surprisingly affected water quality. It also had a significant impact on the health of the Moorabool River below the reservoir, resulting in this river being declared one of the most stressed in Victoria. Since the breaking of the drought in the winter of 2010, things have improved, however the Moorabool below the dam still requires the release of "environmental flows" to support and improve the condition of the river and its environs.



Branching out - Moorabool Falls

And then one became two...
I am definitely not a geologist, but there is something rather cool about the fact that a waterfall can be in one place in one era and can then wind up a couple of kilometres upstream the next. Or, in the case of the Lal Lal and Moorabool Falls, can end up in two different places on two separate waterways.

Confluence of the Moorabool River West Branch and Lal lal Creek at the
top of Bungal Dam

Having finished our lunch and looked to see what von Guerard found so interesting about Lal Lal Falls that he was moved to paint them in 1853, we jumped back in the car and zipped round to Harris Road to the start of a walking track which leads to another nearby waterfall. This second feature of the landscape is the Moorabool Falls, located on the west branch of the Moorabool River, a short distance above its confluence with Lal Lal Creek.
My last post described how the Lal Lal Falls have been busily migrating up the creek, cutting through the relatively recent basalt lava flows of the last few tens of thousands of years. Meanwhile, over on the West Moorabool, the Moorabool Falls were busy making progress of their own, working their way through a different part of the same basalt flow.

Granite Falls, a series of cascades which flow over granite remains about
400m up the Moorabool West Branch from its confluence with Lal Lal Creek

In fact, a little research tells me that the two falls were originally one and the same. A few million years ago, water flowed over the edge of the basalt at a single "knickpoint" in the west branch of the Barwon. Some more research and I now know that a knickpoint is the point at which a sudden change occurs in the slope of a river, being much lower downstream of the knickpoint where water has carved a deeper path. It is often associated with "headward erosion" which is caused by the flow of water at the mouth of a stream eroding the riverbed.

Moorabool Falls, April 2012

In the case of the Lal Lal and Moorabool Falls, headward erosion began at a single knickpoint below the junction of Lal Lal Creek and the Moorabool West Branch. Over time and as the erosion reached the confluence of the two streams, the single waterfall, divided into two and the erosion continued up both branches. That which occurred in Lal Lal Creek has so far moved over 1,600m to the present site of the falls, whilst the erosion of the West Moorabool has traveled some 1,400m upstream to where the Moorabool Falls are now.

Moorabool West Branch just below Moorabool Falls

These falls are not so large as the Lal Lal Falls, dropping only 27m in total, nor do they have the striking basalt columns of the other falls. This is because the lava at this point cooled more quickly and unevenly than elsewhere.

West Moorabool between Moorabool Falls and Bungal Dam

Our walk to these falls also provided me with another piece of information. One which is slightly at odds with a previous post. The information board at the falls informed me that Moorabool was a Wathaurong word possibly meaning "mussel" or perhaps "stone curlew". A source I referred to in a previous post, indicated that the name was derived from the Wathaurong word "moora" meaning ghost. Another alternative it gave was that Moorabool may also refer to a nocturnal bird called a "cooloo" which could not be seen but whose call could be heard. Bush Stone-curlews are predominantly nocturnal birds whose breeding call is a long drawn out wail described as sounding like "werlooooo", so perhaps these two sources were not so much at odds as they might first have appeared.
I have never seen a Bush Stone-curlew, nor do I know if they were ever found on the banks of the Moorabool River.

Branching out - Lal Lal Falls

Yesterday we headed off to investigate a part of the Moorabool which I had not so far seen but which I mentioned in a recent post. I suspect more than one post may be required to cover our adventures, so here is the first.

We started slightly off track with a picnic lunch at Lal Lal Falls which are not currently flowing, but still make interesting viewing.

Lal Lal Falls, April 2012

The falls, which measure about 35m, are not on the Moorabool River, but rather, on Lal Lal Creek which joins the Moorabool West Branch a little downstream of the falls where both flow into Bungal Dam - the major water source for Ballarat and also a part of Geelong's water supply.

The confluence of Lal Lal Creek and the west branch of the Moorabool
River at the head of Bungal Dam

Like much of the Moorabool, this part of the creek runs through a deep gorge. The waterway is being formed by water carving a path through two lava flows which followed the path of an earlier valley. The first flow - between 2 and 5 million years ago - came from a now extinct volcano near Clarke's Hill (20km north) whilst the second flow - as "recent" as 50,000 to 100,000 years ago - came from Mounts Buninyong and Warrenheip.

Lal Lal Falls, April 2012

The very informative noticeboards at the picnic area and along the walking tracks tell me also that the falls are on the move. Over the last 2.5 million years, the effects of water erosion have seen them move 1.5km upstream. As this migration continues, the falls will eventually connect with Lal Lal Swamp which lies on softer, older granite near the township. By this time, the falls will be little more than a series of rapids over which water will flow on its way down the creek bed. A quick look at Google Earth will show the path of erosion so far, with the gorge clearly visible below the falls.
All of this geological activity means that the falls themselves are quite unstable - a fact which was highlighted in 1990 when two students who were abseiling down the falls with a school group died in a rockfall. This and other rockfalls at the falls have been used to calculate the rate at which the falls are migrating. Not surprisingly, they have since been closed to public access.

View of the gorge looking downstream from the falls

Lal Lal Falls is of substantial indigenous significance. Not just to the local Tooloora Baluk clan of the Wathaurong people, but to all the peoples of the Kulin Nation which extends across most of central Victoria. It is here, at Lal Lal Falls they believe that Bunjil, the eagle creator spirit of their people made his home, creating the falls as a place to live before being blown with his family into the sky. From there, he watches over his people and the light from his fire illuminates the planet Jupiter which they call Bunjil. It is from this legend that Bungal Dam takes its name.
A number of local landmarks also bear versions of thir Wathaurong names: Mt Buninyong for example is derived from the word "Puninyong" meaning "big hill like knee" and Warrenheip comes from the word "Warrenyeep" meaning "emu feathers".

Lal Lal Falls looking north. Mt Buninyong can be seen in the background.
The famous artist Eugene von Guerard painted the falls from this aspect in 1853.

In more recent times, Lal Lal Falls were of significance to the early European settlers who came here to picnic and take in the sights. Artists and photographers were also drawn to the views and the area became popular as a meeting place where races were held in the 1870s and 80s. A large grandstand with a seating capacity of 1000 was built for racegoers who travelled to the venue on a branch line built in 1885. A record crowd of 32,000 was recorded in 1937, however its popularity declined rapidly in the face of other regional competition and the last meet was held in 1938.
Today, the falls and surrounds are a quiet picnic area with walking trails and a mixture of remnant vegetation, plantings of pine and various deciduous trees from the 1880s and more recent native replantings. There is also a wide variety of bird and animal life in the surrounding reserve.