Kayaker and blog-writer,
Jo Mitchell, captures the essence of the lower Moorabool River in her Barwon Blog
The Moorabool River flats,
host of Henry & George King's
thriving nursery,
have never looked so good
The Moorabool River as seen through the lens of early photographers
Sometimes when rivers
stand in the way of progress
changes have to be made.
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The Moorabool ~ Alternate Perspectives
A 'Fyansford Explorations' BLOG series
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Views of Moorabool River valley
from the Ted Wilson trail in Hamlyn Heights
Jo Mitchell's Barwon Blog is not just about the Barwon.
It also features blogs on the Moorabool River.
Changing Perceptions...
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2007 ~ Moorabool Gorge Recovery Project
A presentation by Ralph Cotter on the restoration work done in the Moorabool Gorge
2008 ~ Moorabool River Flow near Hunt's Bridge
Moorabool River Flow near Hunt's Bridge April 2008 after release from Lal Lal
2008 ~ Moorabool River Flow Photo Sequence
A series of 6 photographs over 20 minutes showing the transition from dry bed to flowing river.
2008 ~ Batesford Moorabool River Flow
The Moorabool River flowing at the Batesford gauging station for the first time in over two years.
2008 ~ Moorabool River Environmental Flow
Moorabool River Environmental Flow just north of Meredith. A sweet rarely heard sound.
2015 ~ A Moorabool River Clip (corangamitecma)
The Effect of Environmental Water on the Moorabool River
2016 ~ Shelter Belts
Landcare benefits for the Moorabool River
ca. 1917
Moorabool River Viaduct
8km up Moorabool
from Fyansford
Click image
Relative trestle bridge locations
Moorabool Viaduct, 1865
Google Earth 2
Relative trestle bridge locations
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Our Moorabool looks great when carrying water...
As viewed from the Monier bridge.
Catching the afternoon sun...
As viewed from the Monier bridge.
What bird is that?
People for a Living Moorabool
"The Moorabool River is a hidden gem with spectacular falls at Lal Lal and beautiful spots for swimming and fishing. Supplying water for Ballarat and Geelong and for agriculture has taken its toll and the Moorabool is now Victoria's most flow stressed river".
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Length:88km
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Avg annual streamflow:97,000 ML
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Main towns:Geelong, Ballarat
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CMA region:Coorangamite
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Overall health rating:Moderate to very poor – most flow stressed catchment in Victoria
The Moorabool River, located in the Moorabool Catchment is the most flow- stressed river in Victoria – in an average year 62% of its water is extracted for use, the highest level of use in the state.
200! ~ Platypus in the Moorabool River
Videoed at the Meredith Pumping Station. It was the first sighting for a couple of years.
Dog Rocks Flora & Fauna Sanctuary
Situated adjacent to the Dog Rocks outcrop on the top of a hill in west Batesford, adjacent to the Moorabool
Platypus are considered widespread in the Moorabool River between Lal Lal Reservoir and Batesford, and the increased flows are likely to increase the presence of aquatic insects, fresh water shrimps, worms and yabbies for them to feed on. “Juvenile platypus will start dispersing in autumn so it is important to maintain good flows in the river to connect habitat pools and facilitate the movement of platypus into new areas,” Corangamite CMA River Health Executive Manager Trent Wallis said.
Gordon MacRae has reported
three sightings of foxes
since moving into the estate.
Magic and I love our dawn-n-dusk strolls
around the estate.
Murray River turtle on the Barwon at Fyansford
2014 (Barwon Blog)
The other morning (7.00-ish) I spotted a wallaby over the Moorabool River; first as we walked northward along McAuliffe Drive and again as we headed down Littlewood Drive toward Monier Way.
And, isn't it always the way - my phone hadn't been recharged
Fishing!
"The river flows in flat farmland, and has extensive pools to 2.5 m deep. Substrate is mud in the pools and gravel in the riffles. The same fish as upstream occur here, as well as Australian grayling, European carp and congoli. Fly-fishing, minnow lures and spinners are successful in taking brown trout. Baits such as garden worms are used for catching tench, river blackfish, redfin and short-finned eel. This river is considered to be one of the better brown trout fisheries close to Geelong..". To see more...
"The Moorabool joins the Barwon at Queens Park (Melway 451 B3). It used to be scenic stream skirting the outskirts of Geelong, producing brown and Rainbow Trout, redfin and the occasional good size blackfish. The Moorabool still produces fish but it carries less water and appears far less healthy than when I fished it as a youngster from the bottom of Church Street. Public access to the Moorabool River is restricted to Fyansford and from Batesford (Melway 511 E6). The Moorabool River Joins Sutherlands Creek above Batesford on the Midland Highway, and possibly owes its population of native blackfish to this water. One of the best known stretches of the Moorabool is at Morrisons on the Meredith/Ballan Road (Melway 511 C3). This is a favoured fly fishing area supporting a healthy population of Brown Trout, mostly quite small. However, the occasional encounter with an much larger escapee from Lal lal reservoir, which is several kilometres upstream from Morrisons, is always an attractive possibility: Fishing is not permitted in Lal lal reservoir which also known as Bungal dam... To see more...
Moorabool River fish survey – measuring the impact of dry inflow conditions
Report prepared for Corangamite CMA February 2009
Moorabool | Inland Angling Guide | Fishing Locations ...
Buckley Falls Park
“Hidden away in Fyansford at the end of Cyril Synot Drive, this is a peaceful spot on a wide stretch of the river, a few hundred metres upstream from the beginning of the falls.”
Freshwater_Adam
Thanks, Jo Mitchell.
Freshwater_Adam
Drive up Dolder Street late at night and you won't believe the number feeding.
Ask some of the neighbours what they think...
Thanks to Amy McBryde for this image of snails on her back fence. She also posted a great information sheet on the common white snail on Fyansford Community Noticeboard.
Pests ~ And, yes, we have our share
Anything and everything to do with the Barwon River.
A truly well worth visiting local resource….
And, every now and then one strikes ‘gold’… Jo Mitchell’s blog
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Sunday, April 15, 2012 ~ Branching out - Bungal Dam
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Friday, April 13, 2012 ~ Branching out - Moorabool Falls
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Sunday, March 1, 2015 ~ Branching out: a Moorabool paddle - on the rocks
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Tuesday, March 3, 2015 ~ Branching out: a Moorabool paddle - changing course
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Thursday, March 5, 2015 ~ Branching out: a Moorabool paddle - rushing around
Jo's finishing comment:
“And so after five hours of rocks, prickles, boxthorn, ants,
bees, rushes, reeds, barbed wire and leeches
we were finally done.
Not exactly a "paddle" I would recommend,
however a very interesting part of the Moorabool
to have seen at close quarters”
Some of Jo's images taken while kayaking down the Moorabool River
See Andreas' Moorabool Escarpment gallery
Moorabool River
Moorabool River
See Andreas' Moorabool Escarpment gallery
The Moorabool ~ As others see it....
Images from...
jfimages.com
Fyansford Gallery
References...
The term 'Moorabool' is believed to have Aboriginal origins. See: ~
"The name Moorabool has Aboriginal origins. According to the Heritage Centre’s Street names index 'generally regarded as meaning the curlew; however, there is a suggestion that it refers to the supernatural as evidenced by the curlew’s weird cry.' This is confirmed in Place names of Victoria by Les Blake, which defines it as haunt or cry of the curlew."
Source: Geelong Heritage Centre (Email dated 1 March, 2016)
I would appreciate it if someone could throw more light on this...
The Moorabool ~ Alternate Perspectives
Blog #1 ~ Postcards
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Blog #2 ~ fred kruger
Blog #3 ~ Barwon Blog (Jo Mitchell)
To view the Blog #3 postings see:
To view the Blog #4 postings see:
Blog #5 ~ a moorabool Makeover
Q. How many makeovers has the Moorabool had?
A ‘makeover’ is a radical change in appearance.
When describing a river it refers to a dramatic altering of its appearance or construction, such as when the waterway is dramatically altered, renovated or re-routed.
Though makeovers are usually referred to in a positive manner, i.e. seen as a way to start afresh or improve the life of the river, in the case of the Moorabool, I have my doubts.
The following gathering of photographs spanning over six decades hints at a cloze-story containing many gaps. For me it is yet another conundrum; a question having only a conjectural answer. There must be people out there who can factually "fill in the gaps".
Exactly how many makeovers has the Moorabool had, when and by whom?
The River Basin Management Society collection ~ 1947, '55 & '63
Click first image to open screen
Andreas Makarewitsch ~ 1980s
Ron Grant ~ 1990s
Click first image to open screen
Jo Mitchell ~ 1915
Prior to the limestone quarry beginning operation Ca 1890 the river banks had suffered extensive erosion damage. I can imagine, however, that native flora and fauna thrived with platypus, fish and an abundance of native wildlife being found in the river and its environs. During the century-long period during which the quarry functioned, there were attempts by authorities to alter both the course and flow of the river via the installation of concrete weirs and lengthy channels (both low and high-sided). While these were initially installed, I am sure, with the best of intentions, the embankments and other works have over the years been subject to degradation, wear and neglect; a classic case of "out-of-sight / out-of-mind". While I personally have not recently observed the situation (I detail elsewhere my association back in the mid-fifties with the installations), the above four galleries indicate the extent of this erosion, concrete channelling and its apparent state of disrepair.
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Click image to access video
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Click start button
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Click enlarge icon to maximise image size
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Select highest possible viewing resolution (720p)
Fyansford.com
would be very grateful for any comments, photographs or maps regarding:~
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the installation of any of the concrete works
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the present condition of the installations
Blog #4 ~ environ,mentally speaking
Blog #6 ~ mapping fast-fading memories
Way back then,, long long ago, in the far-away land of my early youth (Ca 1954-60); that special time when life-long memories were made, I grew up as a 10 to 16-year-old boy scout with the 1st Newtown Troop working toward my Queen's Scout badge. Those were the safe days we played chalk-chasey around the streets of Newtown, lantern-capture games on the vacant hill just over Queen's Park bridge, conducted
bottle-drives and camped at the Dog Rocks.
One badge required me to camp solo. All went well ~ I cooked my meals, drank the Moorabool water rushing down the small concrete weirs and slept comfortably in my chunky sleepingbag - until around 3.00 am when some grazing cow nudged my one-man tent.No more sleep that night......
Ah, those were the days.
When Melway's was king
Back then I collected RACV strip-maps along with many large fold-up road maps distributed by fuel producers (Shell, Ampol, ...); storing them in a shoebox (well before satnav devices).
Working with fading memories, Google Earth and photos belonging to Jo Mitchell, Ron Grant, Andreas Makarewitsch and myself, I challenged myself to map Jo Mitchell's 5-hour canoe trip down the Moorabool with a focus on the re-routed section flowing along the lengthy man-made concrete channels. Viewers may prefer to follow Jo's blogs #1, #2, #3.
Playing with Google Earth
Click first image to enlarge slideshow
Click arrows to move through the series
With help from Ron Grant
Click first image to enlarge slideshow
Click arrows to move through the series
With my fading memory and a
Sunday photshoot
Click first image to enlarge slideshow
Click arrows to move through the series
A Gallery
Click first image to enlarge slideshow
Click arrows to move through the series
“And so after five hours of rocks, prickles, boxthorn, ants, bees, rushes, reeds, barbed wire and leeches we were finally done. Not exactly a "paddle" I would recommend, however a very interesting part of the Moorabool to have seen at close quarters.” Jo Mitchell
Note: Jo was in a kayak (not a canoe).
Blog One
Courtesy Leo
I knew they were out there. No idea where or who had them…
Photographs of workers constructing the Moorabool diversion Ca early 1990s.
Then out of the blue a gentleman recently approached me with the somewhat flattering question, “Are you that Fyansford historian?”
Well, I am an opportunist, I live in Fyansford, I have a blog ‘Fyansford Explorations’ and a web-page Fyansford.com. But a historian!
Yes!
I would have, back in the old days, let mum sew the name-tag “Fyansford historian” on the inside of my pullover.
Perhaps, it may be more truthful to admit to an interest in historiography.
History is factual in theory only. The way it is actually recorded, written about, and changed throughout time makes history quite fluid.
Historiography, very simply, is an interest in the history of history. And, I enjoy exploring the how of history, when it was written, by whom, and why it was recorded as such. Moreover, it is a look at if, and how, historical events have been reinterpreted by historians over time and why. Perhaps it's a bit more retrospective than my focus tends to be.
I do enjoy and appreciate the transient relics, records, memorabilia that hint at what Fyansford was, is, will be - and the story thus told. Over the next couple of blogs I will present the first public viewing of Leo's series of photographs dated 19 February - 22 April, 1991.
Blog Two
Courtesy Leo
Blog Three
Courtesy Leo
If you were involved on this project, knew any of the workers,
or can add to the gallery,
please contact me.
For a more general overview I refer to
"A Moorabool Makeover" (blog 5)
in The Moorabool ~ Alternate Perspectives.
