Buckley Falls Walk

Buckley Falls, 5 kilometres west of Geelong, on the Barwon River, is named after an escaped convict, William Buckley, who lived with the aborigines for many years from 1803.

The walk along the river to the falls is very picturesque with deep pools, rocks, native vegetation and wildlife.
Steep steps lead down to the water and there are several lookouts along the way.

The area has historical significance with a paper mill constructed on the banks of the river in 1876 which continued production until 1923.

 Melaleuca lanceolata tree covered in white "bottlebrush" flowers.

Kangaroo Grass (Themeda Trimandra)

Old Paper Mill, Fyansford

Early photo of the Paper Mill

Old Bluestone Bridge

This old bluestone bridge is at Batesford, 10 kilometres west of Geelong. It is on the banks of the Moorabool River and was built in 1859. It is closed to traffic but still exists as a service road.

An early photo of the Batesford bridge.

Red Flowering Gum

The Red Flowering Gum (Corymbia Ficifolia) is a stunning, ornamental tree which is widely used throughout cooler southern Australia as a street tree. Its clusters of bright red flowers can be seen in summer. Once established flowers will often cover the whole tree.

Historical Bridge

At Fyansford, 4 kilometres west of Geelong, is the Fyansford Monier Arch Bridge. This bridge is of historical significance as it is the first reinforced concrete bridge built in Victoria.
It was built in 1899 by engineers Monash and Anderson of Melbourne.
Fyansford is one of the earliest places of settlement in the region and the first bridge over the Moorabool River was built in 1854 as a toll bridge.
The Fyansford Monier Arch Bridge was closed to traffic in 1970 but is still in use for pedestrian and bicycle traffic.

This photo of the bridge was taken in 1908

Dry Stone Walls

Dry stone walls are a characteristic feature of farming properties in Stonehaven, Victoria, Australia and an important landscape feature of the volcanic plains of the Western District. There are thousands of kilometres of dry stone walls in Victoria.
The walls are built from basalt rocks without using mortar or cement.
They were originally built to clear the paddocks of rocks, and as an economic form of fencing.
In some parts of the country the walls were built by highly skilled craftsmen and were a work of art. The dry stone walls at Rocklea are constructed of a double stack of large pitted volcanic rocks wedged together.

Green Native Arrangement with White Agapanthus

Green is a very cool color in an arrangement in summer. This Australian native arrangement has eucalyptus leaves and gum nuts, hakea, melaleuca and casuarina foliage with white agapanthus flowers.

Summer Grasses and Foliage

This is another arrangement with mainly Australian native foliage and a variety of grasses. The foliage came from the property and includes casuarina, melaleuca, hakea, eucalyptus leaves and flowers. The focal interests are the banksias and brunias. The grass seed heads give the arrangement a feeling of summer.