A very busy Barwon

This week-end saw a number of sporting events take place on or by the Barwon, so I thought I'd take a short break from what has been a very long trek from the banks of the Barwon in Geelong to the upper reaches of the Yarrowee River and the goldfields of the 1850s.

I already knew it was going to be hectic and I planned to be there. As always on Saturday morning come rain, hail or shine, the Balyang Sanctuary Parkrunners were out and about early. Also on the move were a host of rowers all in attendance for the Barwon Regatta, held across the week-end.

The Barwon Regatta, 2016

After negotiating my way through the throng, I headed upriver on the bike, past King Lloyd Reserve where Murgheboluc Cricket Club were taking on Grovedale.

Cricket at King Lloyd Reserve

My intended destination on this occasion was the Queen's Park Bridge where I picked my spot amongst the spectators and waited for the cyclists riding the elite women's section of the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race. I made it with time to spare and chatted to one of the locals as we waited for the riders to come charging down Scenic Rd and over the Queen's Park Bridge. As usual with cycling races, as fast as they arrived, the riders were gone.

Elite women's road race

Job done, I retraced my steps, snapping a few more shots along the way.
In addition to the formal, competitive sports on offer, there was also an array of people undertaking a variety of leisure activities which also came under the heading of sport. As the cyclists headed over the Queen's Park Bridge, a pair of kayakers headed under it:

Kayaking on the Barwon

A little further downriver, a dragon boat crew were practising...

The Geelong Juggernauts on the river

...as a family jogged along the bank.

Nice afternoon for a run

Meanwhile back at Landy Field, Geelong Athletics were also doing their thing:

Athletics meet at Landy Field

It often occurs to me to be impressed by the number of sporting activities which take place in, on or beside the Barwon and today, in addition to the sports I was able to photograph, there were of course, recreational cyclists and walkers and golf was being played both up and downstream of where I was.
With the river closed for the rowing, the water skiers were absent as were the winter sports of football, netball and hockey whilst fishing and swimming are more likely to happen on other parts of the river - and those are just the sports which come to mind.
And that was just Saturday! Sunday, I once again spent along the banks of the river, this time, riding from point to point, watching the men's version of the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race:

Simon Gerrans and co headed for Barwon Heads via the Breakwater Bridge

Onto Barrabool Road for the last time

All in all, the Barwon can be a very busy river.

A golden opportunity

With all the current hype over the London Olympics, naturally I went looking to see if the Barwon had any Olympic credentials. It didn't take long before I was onto something.
Most obvious were the sporting facilities named for our Olympic champions - the Landy Field Recreation Reserve in South Geelong named for Olympic track champion Peter Landy:

John Landy Athletics Field, with the Barwon in the middle distance

and the newly installed Troop Loop, opened by its namesake Lee Troop - the 3 time Olympic marathon runner - earlier last month.

Newly installed Troop Loop Signage

But Geelong has never hosted the Olympic Games and therefore the Barwon would not have seen any Olympic action - right? Well, no it hasn't. However, it very nearly did. In the lead up to the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne, there was no doubt a considerable amount of to-ing and fro-ing about where various Olympic events were to be held and one of the sports whose location was up for grabs was rowing.
History tells us of course, that the rowing events of the 1956 Olympic Games were held on Lake Wendouree in Ballarat, however in 1951 when planning for the games was underway, this was by no means a foregone conclusion. On 29th March, the Argus carried an article titled "Rowing Row Likely" in which it stated:

Geelong Authorities will protest strongly to the Australian Olympic Federation if Lake Wendouree, Ballarat, is chosen as the Olympic rowing course instead of the Barwon River, Geelong.

A Geelong-based committee, set up to further the Barwon's claim as an Olympic venue, pushed the point that the Barwon Trust had plans to upgrade the rowing section of the river to create an Olympic-standard 2000m course which they felt would be far superior to Lake Wendouree.
In the event, Lake Wendouree was chosen and no doubt the Geelong committee were left wondering what might have been.

Crews on the Barwon, January, 2012

Fast-forward once again to the present day and whilst any dreams of the Barwon becoming an Olympic venue are well in the past, our river has not been without its fair share of Olympic rowers. Of the present crop, women's eight rower Phoebe Stanley is a local girl who has no doubt spent many hours pulling her way through the waters of the Barwon. A former Geelong College student, Phoebe won two Head of the River titles with fellow crew members during her time at the school and it was in part due to the continued support of her old school that she and her crew had the opportunity to row in London where they finished sixth in the final.

The easily recognised orange caps of the Corio Bay Rowing Club's
quad sculls

Another local competitor who incidentally is also an Old Collegian, is men's coxless four rower Josh Dunkley-Smith. Dunkley-Smith and his crew - the current "Oarsome Foursome" - rowed their way to a silver medal on the eighth day of the London games. And like Stanley he has also spent a significant amount of time training and competing along the rowing mile of the Barwon.

Loop de Troop

This story began yesterday when I headed down to the Barwon on the bikes with the kids. As we squelched our way through the mud towards Breakwater (more of that later), I noticed some new signage displaying numbers and proclaiming itself in large yellow letters to be the "Troop Loop". What the heck was the "Troop Loop"?

Newly installed signage at Breakwater

A couple of kilometres up the track we found our answer in the form of a couple of council workers in the process of installing the new posts. The Troop Loop they informed me was a "new" running/walking trail around the Barwon ...well, the posts are new, some of the surface will be new, but the route...well, we've all been running that for years. What is also new is the decision to acknowledge the achievements and contributions to the local running scene of Geelong's own Lee Troop.

Lee Troop opening the Troop Loop

The designated starting point is at the end of Swanston St next to Landy Field and there are two distances to choose from. The shorter, 6km loop takes the jogger down to the old Breakwater Bridge, around and back along the river to a turn around point at the McIntyre foot bridge before returning to the starting point. The longer, 10km loop extends to a return point at Princes Bridge before heading back to a point a few hundred metres past the starting point.
A quick Google of the topic found City Of Greater Geelong meeting minutes in which $7,500 were allocated for the installation of the signs, but nothing else. The workmen had informed me that there would be an official opening of the course the following day but there was no sign of it in the media.

A riverside interview

With that in mind I headed out before midday for a run which covered the same territory as the Troop Loop.
All the signs were now in place, a row of witches' hats prevented entry to the top end of the car park and a few of the usual crowd were out for their daily constitutional, but there was a distinct absence of dignitaries. This was still the case when I completed the loop and headed home.
Later in the afternoon I ducked down again to see if there was any sign of action and discovered some setting up happening. I asked the appropriate questions and was given a start time of 4pm. I returned at the appointed hour and was able to observe proceedings and ask a few questions.

Lee Troop unveiling the board at the beginning of the Troop Loop

I managed to discover that the currently very muddy but otherwise picturesque gravel section of track down to Breakwater will be sealed with bitumen within weeks. This should prove better for running, but will certainly change the character of this part of the trail. I also received confirmation that the grand dream of a track extending all the way to Barwon Heads was quote "not gunna happen". At that point I pushed my case for an extension of the existing track in the direction of Armstrong Creek but can't say I received an enthusiastic response. My pleas for improved signage and better connections between riding/running tracks received a somewhat placatory response that they were getting to it.

Ready! Set! Go! Runners from the Barwon Academy put Lee through his paces

Meanwhile, speeches were made, thanks given, photos snapped and tributes paid to the man of the moment who then unveiled an information board before taking a not so quick turn a short distance up the track with a selection of the local junior talent who were then treated to a Lyons Club sausage sizzle before heading to training to run it all off. The Advertiser were of course there to record the occasion with the article appearing in Thursday 5th, July's edition here.

The lead runners return as the cameraman from
the Advertiser is hard at work

At this point the rain began. It always does when Lee organises an event - or so he informed me back in 2009 when, along with several thousand others I completed the inaugural Run Geelong in pouring rain.
On this occasion I finished snapping my shots and retreated out of the elements.

The place to be!

The Barwon on a sunny day

It's amazing what a difference a few degrees in weather temperature can make - especially on a week-end. Today was just about the first 30 degree day of the season and a Saturday. Not surprisingly, every man and his dog (yes, literally) wanted to be on, beside or in the river and I was no exception. I was due for a run and knew it was going to be warm, so headed out at 8:30am to Queen's Park and back via Breakwater.

Water skiing

The little athletics crew were out early - but then, they would have been regardless of the weather. Quite a number of joggers were doing the same as me and getting in before the heat as were the cyclists and walkers, with or without dogs, iPods or walking buddies.
I completed my run in reasonable time given the warm conditions and headed home only to be tempted once again by the lure of river on such a pleasant day. So, armed this time with my camera, I headed back down to see who else was around. The rowers who had been much in evidence during my run - they need to install traffic lights  on the path during rowing season - had packed up and gone home for lunch. The little athletes were still cutting laps of Landy Field and the runners, walkers and riders were all still out in force even at the usually quiet Breakwater end of the walking track.

A picnic on the river

I say usually. Today however, this part of the river was anything but quiet. With good weather and week-ends come water-skiers and by the time I returned this afternoon, they were out in force. There must have been at least half a dozen power boats of varying size taking turns up and down what suddenly seemed a rather short stretch of river below the rowing course. The noise was less than peaceful - to say the least - and the backwash from the boats strong enough that I'd swear I saw a moorhen body surfing near the west bank. Despite this, the various boats all seemed to steer well clear of each other and their activities didn't seem to be worrying the bird life which is no doubt quite used to these warm weather invasions of their otherwise peaceful home.

Barwon Valley Golf Course

A particularly large group of skiers had set up and were having a picnic lunch during a break in proceedings whilst on the opposite side of the river, golf was the preferred pursuit. Overhead, some lucky tourist was taking in views of the river from an altitude which I have yet to achieve as the sea-plane circled overhead.
Nor were people the only ones making the most of the good weather. The birds as I mentioned were out and about, with one very vocal White-browed Scrubwren still managing to make itself heard over the boats, whilst a couple of the braver waterbirds were still opting for a swim despite the surf-like conditions.

White-browed Scrubwren

The bugs it seems were also out and about with a variety of bees and other beasties in evidence and from the rustling in the undergrowth, the reptilian population was possibly also enjoying the day.
Unlike the resident wild life, my window of opportunity was brief, so I snapped my photos, spent some time chasing the scrubwren through - yes - the scrub and then headed off to my other commitments.

What's in a name?

As European settlement spread along the Barwon River, through Wathaurong territory, the new arrivals needed names to identify their surroundings and the new structures they were building. Sometimes - as in the case of the Barwon River - they used derivatives of local Wathaurong names such as Barre Warre N Yallock or  Jillong (Geelong). Connewarre is derived from the Wathaurong Koo N Warre meaning mud oyster.

The edge of Reedy Lake

These names were descriptive. Sometimes descriptive names were given in English too; Reedy Lake is indeed reedy, Salt Swamp is salty, a breakwater was constructed at Breakwater and the Barwon Bridge on Moorabool Street in Geelong was so named I presume, as it was the first bridge built across the river, however it was also known as Kardinia Bridge. Kardinia is an indigenous word meaning sunrise.
Often, the colonists named their places and structures for important colonial or European figures. As I have mentioned, the current bridge across the river on Shannon Avenue is the Princes Bridge - named for Prince Albert, consort to Queen Victoria and shortened from the original Prince Albert Bridge. Queen's Park and its bridge were named for Queen Victoria herself.
It seems that there was some dispute even at the time these structures were being built, over the adoption of names. There were those who favoured the "Old Country", preferring to use familiar names which reminded them of home and the people there, then there were those who preferred the use of traditional aboriginal names such as Balyang for the bridge at Shannon Avenue or other names of local significance such as Levien's Bridge for the Bridge at Queen's Park. (B.G. Levien was an early settler who operated a punt on the site.) This article published in the Geelong Advertiser on 12th December, 2011 gives a great description of the passions which were ignited amongst the locals when it came to the battle over naming rights, with the Addy leading the charge against the monarchists. 150 years later and history clearly shows who was the winner of that particular battle!

Baum's Weir in Flood

The area a little upstream of Baum's Weir was known to the Wathaurong people as Boonea Yallock meaning a place to catch eels. Whilst I know that the weir was built to supply water through the channel which runs to the paper and flour mills downstream of Buckley's Falls, I have not been able to discover who the weir was named for. And of course, the falls themselves were named for the escaped convict William Buckley who lived in the area with the Wathaurong people for many years.
 Likewise, Pollocksford and the bridge now located there, were named for an early squatter in the district.
This tradition of naming structures and places after people of significance or using Wathaurong names, continues today. But who were these people? The McIntyre Bridge is named for John M McIntyre, Engineer-in-chief of the Geelong Water Works. The Yollinko Aboriginal Park and Yollinko Wetlands directly across the river take their name from the Wathaurong word meaning yesterday.
This site was of particular significance both to the indigenous population who harvested plants and hunted in the area and to the European settlers who took their water from a pump on the west bank of the river between Yollinko Park and Prince's Bridge.
As the walking trails were developed along the river's edge through Geelong, a number of other names were adopted. Beginning near Yollinko Park is the Stan Lewis Walk. It extends along the west bank of the river as far as Queen's Park. So, who was Stan Lewis? Stan was the superintendent of maintenance - I presume for either Barwon Water or its precursor, the Geelong Water Works.
On the opposite side of the river, downstream of Queen's Park is the Rotary Walk, which recognises the contribution of the Geelong West Rotary Club to the development of recreational facilities for the community along this part of the river. Upstream of Queen's Park and on the same side of the river is the Zillah Crawcour Park. This space recognises the contribution made to the City of Newtown from 1957 to 1977 by Priscilla Crawcour who held a seat on the council and was also elected as mayor during this period. Upon her death in March, 1977, she was serving her third term in the office. Zillah recognised the importance of women in government through her role on the Victorian Branch of the Australian Local Government Women's Association (ALGWA) which was established in 1963, following on from a similar earlier organisation.
Heading back downstream, we come to Landy Field - the major athletics venue for the region. The facility is named for John Landy who was the most prominent Australian athlete of his day. Born in Melbourne, Landy was educated at Geelong Grammar after which, he joined the Geelong Guild Athletic Club, of which he became a life member in 1958. It was here in 1949 that his running career really took off. In 1954, Landy was the second man in the world behind his toughest rival Roger Bannister, to run a sub-four minute mile which he did in world record time. Landy Competed at both the 1952 and 1956 Olympic Games, taking the Olympic Oath on behalf of the athletes at the latter games.
In addition to his running, Landy held a number of positions, including his appointment as Governor of Victoria on 1st January, 2001. He held the post until 7th April, 2006. Fittingly, he is a keen naturalist and served on the Land Conservation Council of Victoria during the 1970s. No doubt he approved of moves which were afoot to develop public open spaces along the banks of the Barwon River.
The development of the trail which now links Baum's Weir to the Breakwater, was in no small part due to the efforts of one man - Wal Whiteside, whose name is remembered in the "Wal Whiteside Walk" which stretches down towards Breakwater from Landy Field.
Wal Whiteside (or Wally Whiteside as I always heard the name as a child) was chairman of the Geelong and District Water Board from 1971, being re-elected in 1979 and 1983, having previously worked for the Board as a senior engineering assistant, prior to being elected as a commissioner on the Board in 1959 with one Len Sprague (more of whom later). Whiteside and Sprague were part of a new wave of up and coming  commissioners whose enthusiasm and skill drove the development of many of the projects established during the 1960s and beyond, which secured the water supply for the Geelong region. The largest and most far-reaching of these projects was surely the construction of the West Barwon Dam which was completed in 1965 after more than 14 years of planning and construction at a cost of 2.5 million pounds. The dam today provides the majority of Geelong's water and was the largest project undertaken by the board to that point in time. Another important project was the overhaul of the Black Rock water treatment plant which occurred in 1988.

End of the Wal Whiteside Walk at Breakwater

They were also at the heart of controversial issues such as the decision as to whether Geelong's
As time passed, the public became more interested in the recreational opportunities provided by the river and also the various water storage facilities. This was reflected in the introduction of public amenities at West Barwon Dam and various other sites. In recognition of his contribution to the Board over many years, the picnic facilities at West Barwon Dam were named the Len Sprague Reserve.
Along the length of the river in Geelong, significant effort was produced to buy back land which would be used as a public facility. It was this initiative which resulted in the walking trail which today extends from Baum's Weir and Buckley's Falls to Breakwater, including the reclaimed and re-vegetated section of industrial wasteland which now bears his name.

Flood Sports

A week can make quite a difference when it comes to a river. Last week I ran a short distance upstream and back, nothing unusual in that or in the river and its surrounds. Between Monday and last Friday, the rain gauge in my backyard recorded 125mm of rain - and the result? By Saturday night the river level had risen to be at "moderate flood levels" through Geelong.

Barwon River in flood - Breakwater.

The Bureau informs me that the Barwon officially peaked at a height of 3.68 metres very early on Sunday morning and by the time I made it down to survey the extent of the damage it was already beginning to recede. Having said that, there was still plenty of water where it shouldn't have been. As always, the first point to go under was the Breakwater and Barrabool Road was of course closed. Whilst I didn't see the flood marker at this point, various citizens were wading up the middle of the road somewhat above waist height. Likewise, virtually every low-lying section of the track around the river was under water.
One of the first things of note when the Barwon floods is the number of locals who come out for a look - me included. Suddenly I am not the only person toting a camera and looking at the river. Virtually every access point has someone there taking in the action.

Baum's Weir.

And action there was. At both Buckley's Falls and Baum's Weir the volume of water and the speed at which it was flowing was clearly in evidence. Noise, foam, water and mud were the order of the day as I have found to be the case with previous flood events. Whilst the flow of water is spectacular, the mud which will coat everything once water levels subside, is not and may well keep me off some parts of the track for several days. On this occasion, there seems to be little in the way of damage to buildings. The rowing sheds are partially submerged as are a few other low-lying buildings, however as this is a semi-regular occurrence for these buildings, I imagine there is not too much damage that can be done. In this respect, Geelong is fairly well positioned with respect to enduring floods. There are few, if any, low-lying houses and it is only in the worst of floods that more than one bridge will be out of action. In fact, when the Breakwater Bridge redevelopment is complete in a year or two, even that problem will be solved. 

Barrabool Road.

This raises the point that floods in Geelong are generally more a source of entertainment or at worst an inconvenience than a source of death and destruction as has been the case in Brisbane. Everyone comes out for a look and compares water levels to either the 1995 flood or in the case of the over 60s, the 1952 flood. 

In addition to the sightseers, there are those who also come to play - no doubt against the advice of authorities. It occurs to me that in addition to the usual array of sporting activities which take place on and by the river, there is a category which only comes into its own during floods. Some are merely variations upon everyday activities - such as walking and riding along what is left of the track or wading along flooded roads. There also seems to be some sort of sense that dogs are immune to the dangers of swimming in flood waters. When we were surveying the scene at Fyansford mid-morning, there were no less than five dogs swimming on the Common. I was later given a very friendly greeting by a very soggy Labrador near the Moorabool Street Bridge.

I have it on good advice that an athletics meet of some description was held at Landy Field yesterday. This morning, there was one hardy soul doing sprints in the car park, but otherwise, the only activity was a pair of wood ducks having a paddle near the discus nets.

Landy Field.

Kayaking is also very much a "flood sport". During each flood event it is almost mandatory that the Geelong Advertiser posts a photo of a bloke in a kayak going over Buckley's Falls. This time things were a little different. There was no photo and the bloke got stuck in a tree minus his kayak - now that would be a photo worth seeing!
Other sporting activities are somewhat more inventive and my favourite for the day was a group of young guys in boardies with a 4WD ute, a rope and a skimboard (or similar). With several of their number watching on, the chosen one would place the board in the water, grab hold of the rope and then attempt to mount the board and skim in the shallows at the edge of the river while his mate towed him with the ute - something like a cross between water skiing and skateboarding. Not withstanding the mess they were making of the riverbank at this point, they were actually quite good at what they were doing. Again, I'm not sure the authorities would have been impressed.

The latest sporting craze.

Of course, for the four wheel driving enthusiast, there is also the option of finding the biggest puddle you can and seeing if you have the guts to drive through it. This may also provide photo fodder for the Advertiser if your vehicle gets stuck. Maybe this was what one driver had in mind when he attempted to cross what would otherwise be an expanse of grass near the Moorabool Street Bridge. Once the water level reached almost to the top of his tyres he clearly decided that he wasn't equipped for serious water crossings and reversed back to higher ground. I suspect I may have missed yet another photo-opportunity.