Red Cliffs : Werribee River

It was day of taxi duties, carting the elderly one to visit some friends a place called Werribee an outer suburb some 33 kilometres/21 miles to the south-west of Melbourne. One of the largest and most populous suburbs (over 40,000 residents) it has became quite a sprawl over the last 20-30 years with vast expanses of land opened up for Housing that once was used for Grazing and Crops. The land around Werribee is flat and pretty much featureless, ideal in some respects for bland, brick veneers with swimming pools ad-nausea on quarter acre blocks that require motor mowers to be used every second weekend from spring to autumn. Up until the recent madness-from-greed erupted with respect to House prices (a bubble undiminished by the recent world financial crisis from which Australia has so far only been moderately scarred in an economic sense). Werribee and its environs was one of the few places first Home buyers could get a start thus fulfilling the great Australian dream of Home ownership in obedience to the ethos of the 'lucky country' as the noted Australian author, Professor Donald Horne, so described back in the 1960s in his famous tome. Sadly, this dream is fading with stratospheric house prices riddling the fabric of our Society with near crippling levels of household debt. I fear this uncolourful bubble will dramatically and savagely burst, ruining many and causing great misery. But that is a matter for another and more erudite time. That old Keynesian in me - a pet topic (economics) - could grumble long and ruin today's landscape.

To reach Werribee, you generally travel along what is called the Westgate Freeway/Princes Highway (locals still call this pitiless bitumen, Geelong Road) as it is the main multi-lane road link between Melbourne and the second largest City in the State of Victoria, Geelong. It is a mad, near chaotic freeway to venture upon. Gazillions, so it seems, vehicles rumble along at excess speed (at times six lanes either way) in exercises of sheer mind boggling absurdity. I loathe driving this road, but today, it was for the love of family, if you like.

After reaching Werribee, more or less intact, though nerves brittle with annoyance - am I the only one who observes speed limits? I dropped off the elderly one, left her car in a parking lot near the railway station and resumed normal plodding service. I had a few hours to enjoy before the return trip and I opted to plump for the delightful walk along the Werribee River to a place called the Red Cliffs.

Rising in the Wombat State Forest in the Great Diving Range north of Bacchus Marsh, the Werribee River flows for over 110 kilometres/68 miles before emptying into Port Phillip Bay. The River is a contrast. In its upper reaches, the rich and lush eucalypt forests guard its catchment and adore its banks with floral devotions. Its waters are coloured with natural tannins and minerals which give a delicious (and quite drinkable) clarity. As it moves from the mountains, it carves out a short but mighty gorge of roughly 8 kilometres/5 miles in length, (a natural wonder with its 400 million year old rocks and dramatic riverscapes). Into its middle journey it becomes rather domesticated, passing through Bacchus Marsh before being truncated by a Reservoir near a place called Melton (35 kilometres/22 miles west of Melbourne). This medium sized 14,360 megalitres Reservoir is a principal source of water for many nearby towns and farms. Though in the recent Drought which ravaged much of the State of Victoria the Reservoir dipped to only 3% of its capacity. After being stopped at Melton, the River winds its way through flat volcanic plains before passing through Werribee township and onto a place called Red Cliffs. So named because of the dramatic colour, especially in late afternoons, where the River has over thousands of years carved into the landscape on one side of its bank. Here was where I took the photo and you can clearly see the vigorous erosive effects of the River's temper and the flood plain opposite. From this location it is only a few miles to the River mouth and the Bay, where a popular camping and picnic area is located.

Before the arrival of European settlers, the Werribee River in part, constituted the boundary between members of the six Bunurong Tribes, who in turn were a part of the Kulin Aboriginal Nation that occupied most of the southern, south-western and south-eastern parts of present day Victoria. In the local dialect, the name for the River was 'Weariby Yallock', with Weariby meaning 'backbone' or 'spine' and Yallock meaning 'stream'. Over time this ended up becoming Werribee.

In December 1824, the hardy though squabble prone explorers, Hume and Hovell with their party from Sydney camped by the River as a part of their long overland traverse across Australia Felix. They initially named the River the 'Arndell' after Hovell's father-in-law. Fortunately, the name did not stick, nor did later namings such as 'Exe' or 'Ex' or the 'Peel'. The River has seen much conflict between the Indigenous custodians and the invading European pastoralists with a number of infamous conflicts and massacres taking place near and on the River from around 1830 until about 1870.

Today, the River at Red Cliffs is sedentary, prone only rarely to flood. It is a popular fishing location and where to locate Geocaches. There is a handful of picnic tables and a viewing platform can be found further along the cliff embankment that grants fine vistas. Not far from where this photo is the vast Werribee Mansion and its grounds. At one stage about 120 years ago, the Mansion was the largest private residence in the district before becoming a Catholic seminary. These days the Mansion is home to a Motel (in parts) and is open to the general public for picnics and functions (many weddings take place at the mansion due to its undeniable romantic allure). Refer to my blip of 14th May 2010 for a photo and essay on Werribee Mansion.

And so, the afternoon had granted an easy ramble under calm, though laden skies still unable to shake off the remnants of the morning's fog. A good 18% grey sky if you like! But too soon the ministrations of taxi-duty compelled me to plod back from whence I came, collect the dear one and tally-ho into the insanity of the freeway to arrive safely home. I could not imagine doing this drive, (to Werribee or beyond) to any extent, day upon days, as tens of thousands do. I would surely be conscripted, though involuntarily, into the ranks of the drudge. Give me the canopy of eucalypts over the muggings of exhaust pipes any time! But Red Cliffs is always a small oasis of sanctuary along a much underrated River wealthy with geological history.