As rivers go, the Yarra River has been regarded as a joke. When compared to other Australian rivers and internationally, it doesn’t seem to have much going for it. It is not navigable, apart from its lower reaches. It is muddy and often seems overburdened with detritus. It goes from nowhere (and not very far) to the city of Melbourne.
Yet I beg to disagree.

It is an ancient river (around 100 million years old) which flows through an ancient landscape. It was there before the Australian continent separated from Antarctica. For 40,000 plus years the Wurundjeri people walked its banks and lived its life. They called it "Birrarung". Before European settlement, it was a clear running stream. Now, agriculture has muddied its waters. But, in the water of its middle and upper reaches platypus thrive, and native duck and water fowl live. Its banks are adorned by the glorious and timeless fauna of the Yarra Valley – from the massive river red gums to the tiny delicate ground orchids and maiden-hair ferns. Fauna which attracts an abundance of native bird with their raucous cries and laughter, and provides home to mobs of kangaroos and hides for wombats. Over countless ages, it has carved out a rich, handsome and bountiful valley.
It has grown old, has been neglected, yet still provides and protects. May the toll of the bellbird be heard along its banks forever!!

I hope you enjoy some of its marvels in the following galleries. My aim in these galleries is to also see it anew. To look into it and feel some of its intricacies. Perhaps even to appreciate some of the depth of knowing that has been lost to us by the annexation of the river from its ancient custodians, the Wurundjeri.