Cannons Creek, Warneet and Blind Bight - Part 2

In our last blog post we talked about the two squatting runs, Kilmore and Balla Balla. These two runs were eventually broken into smaller farms and one of these farms was developed as the township of Blind Bight. The development was approved in 1968 and the first 80 blocks were sold in 1974. Two years later there were 13 residents and in 1981 just over 60, and by 1987 around 320. A Progress Association was formed in 1976, Foreshore Committee in 1982, a general store opened in 1986. Warneet and Cannons Creek had a similar start to each other in that they began as fishing camps with a few holiday shacks and it wasn’t until the late 1960s – early 1970s that most of the permanent residents moved in.

In the previous blog post we showed a part of Maritime Chart Aus 151, which covered much of the same area as this October 1986 aerial photograph. In the centre left of the photograph is Rutherford Inlet, to the left is part of Quail Island. The island in the centre is Chinaman Island, immediatley above it is the township of Warneet. At the top of the photograph, towards the right, is Cannons Creek township.

Now is a good time talk about about the place names used in the area. In 1920 the Cranbourne Shire Rate books list the address of an early resident of the area, Nicola Nicolella as Pearcedale, though the year before it had listed the previous owner of the land as living in Tooradin. This fluidity of names went on for a few years as the first Warneet land sales in 1930 were listed as Cannons Creek or Watson’s sub-division and Warneet didn’t appear in the Rate books until 1933, and the area was locally known as Crouch’s Beach after Les Crouch. The name Cannons Creek most likely comes from the Cannon family. William Cannon is first listed in the Shire of Cranbourne Rate Books in 1871, owning one acre in the Parish of Sherwood. In 1874 he is listed as owning 12 acres and Thomas Cannon owning 20 acres with a house. They are both fishermen and both disappear from the Rate Books after 1883. Quail Island is named after the birds on the island and Chinaman Island is named because Chinese fishermen were said to live on the Island.

Early land owners of Cannons Creek included Sir Aaron Danks, a merchant who is listed in the Rate Books from 1920 until he died in 1928. His land was sub-divided in early 1930s. Sir Aaron was the son of John Danks, who founded the hardware firm John Danks & Son in 1859. This Company now owns Home Timber and Hardware. Sir Aaron, was a devout Methodist and donated £6000 in 1919 to the Methodist Church to buy the property in Richmond which housed the original Epworth Hospital. As we mentioned before, the fisherman, Nicola Nicolella also purchased land in the area in 1920 (and was listed as a landowner until 1944) and Lancelot Watson owned land from 1925 and it was some of his land which was sub-divided for the first Warneet land sales in 1930. The Watson name features thrice more in the history of Cannons Creek. Bert Watson is said to be the first permanent resident on Cannons Creek and he built a house in Hardy Avenue in 1940. Bonnie Watson left land to the people of Cannons Creek and this is now called the Bonnie Watson Bushland Reserve. I haven’t worked out how these Watsons are connected, so if you know, then I would be interested in hearing. Watsons Inlet, further around Western Port Bay, is named after James H. Watson who visited Quail Island in 1866.

The view up Rutherford Inlet from the D'Oliveira jetty, built in 1955. The jetty is pictured below.

It was in the late 1940s and early 1950s that weekend and holiday shacks were built in Cannon’s Creek. A small community developed and in 1955 the small private jetty was built, by Gus D’Oliveira (also known as Oliver) and others, which is still being used by the Community today and maintained by his son Bill Oliver, a Cannons Creek identity. The jetty is pictured above.

In 1925 Les Crouch established a bush camp and a boat shed at Warneet, the Crouch family later purchased land at the 1930 Warneet land sales. The Crouch family built their first house on what is now the corner of Rutherford Parade and Balaka Street. Les and Lillian Crouch's daughter, Peggy Banks was a resident of Warneet until her death in 2008 and Bank Street is named after her and her husband, Lionel Banks. Les Crouch was a prominent member of the Warneet community, helped build the first jetty and slip way in the 1930s and was the first President of the Warneet Progress Association which was formed in 1945, and the inaugural Commodore of the Warneet Motor Yacht Club when it began in 1952 with thirty four Foundation members.



If you want more information on Cannons Creek, Warneet or Blind Blight,
then borrow the book Tooradin : 125 years of coastal history - Blind Bight, Cannons Creek, Dalmore, Sherwood, Tooradin North and Warneet. Published by the Tooradin celebrates together 125 years Education Committee in 2000. It is an interesting book that covers the history of Tooradin Primary School No. 1503, including a list of students who attended Tooradin, Tooradin North and Dalmore schools. It also covers early families in the area and the general history of Tooradin and the six other towns listed in the title.

Cannons Creek, Warneet and Blind Bight - Part 1

Cannons Creek is a small town on Rutherford Inlet, Western Port Bay. On the other side of Rutherford Inlet is Warneet and further around Chinaman Island, off Gentle Annie Channel, is Blind Bight.

Part of Maritime chart Aus 151, Published by the Hydrographic Service, Royal Australia Navy 1994. The yellow is land, the green represents mud or low tide . Click on the picture to enlarge it and you can clearly see Chinaman Island, Quail Island, Rutherford Inlet and Gentle Annie Creek.

This area was originally covered by two Squatting runs, Balla Balla also known as Allen’s Station and the Bourbinandera Run. Balla Balla was originally 6,000 acres (2,430 hectares) and first leased by Robert Innes Allen in 1839. The Lease was transferred to C.J Haslewood in 1848, in 1850 the run was reduced to 3,840 acres (1,400 hectares) and the lease was transferred to Henry Foley, two years later to Henry Jennings, in 1854 to Dr James Smith Adams and in 1872 to Alexander McLean Hunter, who also had the lease on Quail Island. Dr Adams purchased the Tobin Yallock run in 1858. Tobin Yallock was of 10,000 acres (4,050 hectares) took in the area around the modern town of Lang Lang. Quail Island, of 2000 acres (810 hectares) reverted to the Crown in 1908 and became a wildlife sanctuary and is now a site of Geological and Geomorphological significance. It has State significance as it is the least disturbed mangrove and salt marsh area on the mainland shore of Western Port Bay. The Balla Balla homestead is thought to date mainly from the 1870s and is thus linked to Alexander Hunter, however the earlier part was probably built by Dr Adams and dates from 1856.

These two photographs of the Balla Balla homestead are thought to date from the 1940s or 1950s. The view above shows the side of the house which fronts Western Port Bay and Quail Island. The lower portion is built of English bonded hand-moulded brickwork. The palms are Canary palms. The view below show the stuccoed two story wing. The house is built in Colonial Georgian style.

Balla Balla had various owners after Hunter sold the property in 1885 and when it was sold by the Jackson family in 2002 (they had owned Balla Balla since 1938) the homestead was on 300 acres (120 hectares). The Bourbinandera Run was also known as Rutherfords, after the leasee, Thomas Rutherford who took up the lease in 1842. He also gave his name to Rutherford Inlet. It was transferred to Richard Corbett in 1847 and became known as Kilmore. Rutherford Inlet, like Sawtell Inlet at Tooradin, contributed to the area’s reputation as a Sportsman’s Paradise, due to their good fishing. This fact is reflected in the original name of Fisheries Road which leads to Cannons Creek – which was Fisherman’s Road. In our next blog post we will look at the more recent history of the area.

Cranbourne Meteorites

The first meteorite discovered in the Cranbourne region was in 1853. The first time they came to the public notice was in 1854 at the Melbourne Exhibition when a horseshoe was exhibited made from a specimen of iron from Western Port. This iron turned out to have come from the Cranbourne No. 1 meteorite. Another crop of iron (Cranbourne No.2) had also been discovered 6km from the first however it wasn’t until 1860 that the two outcrops of ‘iron’ were identified as meteorites. This publicity bought to life another meteorite which had been unearthed in 1857. This meteorite is known as Cranbourne No. 3. These meteorite discoveries created interest overseas partly due to their size, and were reported in scientific papers.

We will look at the meteorites in detail. Cranbourne No. 1, weighs 3,550kg is now housed at the National History Museum in London. It has been in England since 1865 when it was acquired by the British Museum. It was found around Craigs Road in Devon Meadows.

Cranbourne No.1 or No.2, being unearthed in 1862. Photographs by Richard Daintree, held at the State Library of Victoria.

Cranbourne No. 2 weighs 1,525 kg and is at the Melbourne Museum, though it was initially purchased by the British Museum for £300 in 1862. Colonial scientists strongly protested at the loss to England of both these meteorites and so Cranbourne No.2 was returned to Melbourne. It had been discovered in Clyde at the property owned by James and Charlotte Lineham. In an article (reproduced below) in the Pakenham Gazette on October 3rd 2001, there was an interview with two great grandchildren of James and Charlotte, Glenda Tait and Jean Hermon, who remembered stories their grandmother Susanah Beazley (nee Lineham) told of the meteorite Grandma said the meteor was worshipped by the Aborigines who came to the property and that it was special to them and they cried when they saw it being taken away.

Cranbourne No.3 was discovered in 1857 and was 6.8kg. It was found on the same farm as Cranbourne No.1 and had been broken in two, one part being used as a kitchen hob. Unfortunately both pieces are now lost. Cranbourne No.4 is 1270 kgs and Cranbourne No.5 weighs 356 kg. They are both at the Melbourne Museum and were both unearthed in separate locations in 1923 in the Devon Meadows area between Browns Road and North Road.

Cranbourne No.6 was discovered in Pakenham, west of the Toomuc Creek, during works connected to the widening of the Princes Highway, in 1928 and weighs 40.5 kg. Numbers 7 & 8 were both discovered in 1923, in the same paddock as No.5 and weigh 153 kg and 23.6 kgs respectively. Numbers 4, 5, 6 and 8 are at the Melbourne Museum and no.7 is at the University of Melbourne.

No.9 was discovered in 1876 in a railway cutting about three kilometres east of the Beaconsfield Railway station and weighs 75 kg. It was broken up into samples which are now at various Institutions around the world. Cranbourne No.10 was found at Langwarrin in 1886, by a farmer ploughing his field. No.11 was discovered two kilometres north of Pearcedale in 1903. No.10 is 914 kg in weight and is at the Melbourne Museum and No. 11 is at the National Museum in Washington, and weighs 762 kg.

Number 12 was also found in Pearcedale, in 1927 though it was not identified as a meteorite until 1982. This 23 kg piece is on display at the City of Casey Civic Centre at Narre Warren. The last and thirteenth meteorite was found on a market garden at Clyde, and weighs 85 kg. The farmer had being working around this rock for years, but it was only dug up and identified as a meteorite in 2008. Though he could have sold it for a large sum of money, he generously donated it to the Melbourne Museum and it is now on display at the Casey RACE Leisure Centre at Cranbourne.

This map, showing the locations of the Meteorite finds, is reproduced from a tourist brochure produced by the Shire of Cranbourne to promote their Meteorite display on the South Gippsland Highway in Cranbourne. Click on image to enlarge it.

Most of these meteorites were discovered by chance, mostly by farmers ploughing their paddocks. The Meteorites were all located in a straight line, except for the slight deviations of No.6 and No.11, and are 21 kilometres apart (see map above). There are no large craters, such as the one at Wolfe Creek in Western Australia, as the Cranbourne Meteorites impacted at a low angle on swampy or sandy ground. Our meteorites are iron of the Octahedrite type, the most common type of iron meteorite and are some of the heaviest in the world. For more scientific information on the Meteorites follow this link to the City of Casey website. They have reproduced a report from the 1982 Australian Gem and Treasure Hunter Yearbook by William Cappadonna. I also googled “Cranbourne meteorites” and came across an interesting report (citation below) where the Cranbourne No.1 meteorite was used to test the theory that there was water on the moon. The actual experiment involved comparing the akaganeite which formed on the meteorite to akaganeite taken from rocks collected by Apollo 16 from the moon. The Cranbourne Meteorites are of international importance and I wonder how many other meteorites may still lie undiscovered in our area?

The article referred to is Experiments on the stability of FeOOH on the surface of the moon by Lawrence A. Taylor and Jacqueline C. Burton. Published in Meteoritics, v.11, no.3, September 30 1976.

Ruffy Brothers of Cranbourne

The Ruffy Brothers were some of the earliest European settlers in the Cranbourne area. They squatted on the Tomaque run, after having arrived from Tasmania in 1836 (though some sources say they left Tasmania in March 1837). Tomaque was situated between Dandenong and Cranbourne. The brothers had Tomaque until 1850, however in the 1840 they also took up the Mayune Run of 32,000 acres. Mayune was situated around what is now the town of Cranbourne. The Brothers held Mayune collectively, until Frederick took over the lease from 1845 to 1850. The Ruffy brothers also owned the Cranbourne Inn, which some suggest was the original source of the name of the town of Cranbourne. Cranbourne is a town in Berkshire, England.

Frederick Ruffy. Drawn by George Henry Haydon. Reproduced from The Good Country : Cranbourne Shire by Niel Gunson.

Who were the Ruffy brothers? There is not a lot of information on the brothers but from various sources we can piece together a bit of their family history. William Joseph Ruffy and Louisa Ann Kingham were married at St Martin in the Fields in Westminster in London on May 15 1799. Ruffy was a joint editor of the Farmers Journal and Agricultural Advertizer, an English publication, from 1808-1832. The Farmers Journal was one of the first Agricultural journals in England. They had nine children of which five sons lived at Western Port - Thomas (1800-1882) William James (1802-1884) Frederick (1804-1872) Henry (1808-1847) and Arthur Wiggett (1817-1893). William Joseph Ruffy died in Launceston in 1836 aged 61 and Louisa Ruffy died in Campbell Town in 1859 aged 79.

Of the five sons who came to Cranbourne - Henry died while the brothers where at Tomaque, Arthur married Caroline Sawtell in 1852. She was the daughter of Edwin Sawtell. I presume that this is the same Edwin Sawtell, after whom Sawtell Inlet in Tooradin is named. Sawtell was a storekeeper who arrived in Melbourne in 1838. It seems likely that he had land in the area and that Thomas Rutherford, after whom Rutherford Inlet is named, managed his run. Sawtell died in 1892 aged 94. William married Janet Stewart in 1867. I cannot find any record that the other Ruffy brothers married and the only off spring I can locate of the two married brothers were the two children of Arthur & Caroline, of whom the eldest Frederick lived only 15 months (1853-1854). Their other son was Arthur Edwin Sawtell Ruffy, born in 1861.

Squatter hut, drawn by George Henry Haydon. Reproduced from The Good Country : Cranbourne Shire by Niel Gunson.

By the 1850s the Ruffy Brothers had moved on and had taken up leases on various runs around Seymour, Avenel, Longwood and Molesworth, and since the township of Ruffy is in the centre of these runs they presumably had the township of Ruffy named after them. Frederick Ruffy was at one time (from 1860-62) the licensee of the Royal Mail Hotel in Avenel. There are accounts of the Ruffy Brothers and other early squatters in the novel The Australian Emigrant : a rambling story containing as much fact as fiction by George Henry Haydon. Haydon spent New Years Day in 1845 with the Ruffy Brothers at Mayune, and sketched them and their hut - shown above. Haydon himself was an adventurer, who arrived in Melbourne in 1840 and returned to England in 1845. During this time he spent six months on French Island chopping mangroves and reducing them to ash for use in salt making, he also sold illustrations to the news papers. Collections of his illustrations are held at the National Library of Australia.

Victorian Government Gazette

For those of us interested in local and family history there is a fantastic new on-line resource available. The Victorian Government Gazette and its predecessors have been digitised for the years 1836 to 1997. The Gazette covers all official notifications of Government and Legal activities and was the main way that the Government communicated with the Public.

Family Historians will immediately go to an index or type in a family name in any database, so I naturally typed in one of my family names Weatherhead. I came up with a patent application by my great grandfather Horatio William Weatherhead, a saw miller, for an improved mechanism for operating the throttle or cut off valves of engines from their governors. The notice goes on to say that the Commissioner of Patents, Thomas Prout Webb, accepted the ‘complete specification’ of the patent application, on the 13th day of August, 1890. We knew that Horatio was quite inventive and that this trait has been passed down to his descendents, but I was surprised to discover that he had been granted a patent.

Victorian Government Gazette August 15th, 1890 issue 66, page 3253.

Horatio Weatherhead (1853-1925). Horatio and his six sons arrived in North Tynong in 1909, having previously operated saw mills in Lyonville. He was living in Lyonville when he applied for his patent.

Your ancestor may not have applied for a patent, but there could be a record of their appointment or dismissal from a Government position, they may have been granted a miners right, become insolvent, been granted land, applied to register a trade mark, became a Cemetery Trustee or many other activities.

For local historians you can find out information about your area. I found seven references to Cora Lynn and discovered the town was officially proclaimed on May 31st 1910. I also found a set of rules and regulations governing the use of the Recreation Reserve at Cora Lynn.

Victorian Government Gazette, February 8th 1933, issue 22, p. 632.

Aerial of the Cora Lynn Recreation Reserve, taken August 1960. The football was on and you will see lots of water lying in the surrounding paddocks. The Main Drain is at the front of the picture.

For larger towns, such as Cranbourne, there are over 1500 references in total referring to both the township and the Shire. Much information can be gained from the Gazette concerning the day to day working of a Shire, including land use, staff appointments, by-laws and loan applications.

Victorian Government Gazette, January 3rd 1890, issue 1, p.54.

The Cranbourne Market operated from the 1870s to the 1930s, it was covered by the by-laws published in the Victorian Government Gazette.



The Shire of Cranbourne was formed in 1868 and the Municipal Buildings at Cranbourne were built in 1875. The building housed a Post Office, Court House and Shire Offices.

The Victorian Government Gazette can be found on the State Library of Victoria website, http://www.slv.vic.gov.au/ Click on the link on the right hand side. You can download or save each Gazette as a PDF and print off relevant pages.

Dandenong High School - 90 years of Education

Dandenong High School is turning 90 this year and celebrations are planned over the weekend of 12th -13th of September, 2009. Various functions will be organised for ex-students and it will be a great opportunity to catch up with old friends and see the new changes that are taking place at the School since its recent amalgamation with Doveton Secondary College and Cleeland Secondary College. Dandenong High School has been attended by many people from the Casey Cardinia area over the past 90 years, so I thought it would be interesting to present a short history of the School.

Dandenong High School, nearing completion (above) and in the 1940s (below).
Both photographs are from the Dandenong & District Historical Society collection.

The Dandenong High School (DHS) was opened on March 10th, 1919. This was later than the usual School opening date due to the outbreak of pneumonic influenza that was prevalent at the end of the First World War. DHS is one of the earliest High Schools in the State. In 1919 the other State High Schools were Melbourne, University, Geelong, Castlemaine, Colac, Mansfield, Warragul, Leongatha, Kyneton, Maryborough, Stawell, Horsham, Bairnsdale, Echuca, Mildura, Ararat, St Arnaud, Essendon, Williamstown, Coburg, Benalla, Hamilton and Kerang.

When the School opened it was in temporary premises with the junior students housed at the Old Fire Station and the senior students at the Temperance Hall and Church of Christ. There were 104 students. The foundation stone of the permanent building was laid on November 21st, 1919 and the School was officially opened in late 1920. In 1920 the DHS enrolment was 150 of which 60 students came from the Berwick, Pakenham, Garfield, Bunyip, Hallam, Lyndhurst, Cranbourne, Koo-Wee-Rup, Carnegie and Murrumbeena areas.

The staff in 1922. The Head Master, Percival Langford, is in the centre at the front.
Photograph from the Dandenong & District Historical Society collection.

The First Head Master of DHS was Mr Percival C W Langford. Mr Langford served in the 4th Light Horse Regiment and saw action in France and the Sinai-Palestine campaign. He was invalided out of the Army in September 1916 suffering from Enteric fever (typhoid).He then undertook recruitment work for the Army. Mr Langford served at the School until 1934 when he transferred to Mildura, then to Frankston in 1937 where he worked until his retirement in 1948.

The colours of the school are those of Mr Langford’s Regiment, the 4th Light Horse, and are red and two shades of blue. The School Crest (shown above) was designed by the Art Mistress, Miss D.McKinnon. The motto of the School is Faber, Quisque, Fortunae “Every man is the architect of his own destiny”. In 1920 there were six Houses – Bluegum, Clematis, Orchid, Wattle, Boronia and Waratah though this was soon reduced to four with the loss of Boronia and Waratah. The names and colours of the houses were chosen by Miss Dora Taylor, the senior Mistress.

According to existing school Records the following students are the original 104 students of Dandenong High School. The 55 boys are listed first, followed by the 49 girls.

George ALEXANDER, John ARNOLD, Leopold BAILEY, Charles BLAIN, Theodor BOWMAN, John BRAKEWELL, Colin BREWIS, Charles BUCKLEY, Hugh BUNTINE, Wilfred CARLISLE, Norman CASBOLT, Henry COOPER, Clive FIGGINS, Roy FINK, James GARDNER, Claude GILCHRIST, Leonard GODFREY, John GROGAN, Darrell HARVEY, Robert HAYES, Robert JONES, Arnold KEYS, Charles MCCORD, David MCCORD, Alexander MCINNES, William MCKINNON, Charles MCPHERSON, Austin MEHRENS, Eric MEEKING, Terres MIDDLETON, John ORDISH, Arthur RALSTON, Fred RANDALL, Hector RANDALL, Donald ROBERSON,
John ROBERTSON, William ROWLANDS, William RYAN, Norman SCOTT, Frederick SEARLE, Allan SHANNON, John SHARKIE, Arthur SPETTS, John STAUGHTON, Edward STRACHAN, Edward STUTTERD, Marcus SWANN, Earl TATHAM, John TAYLOR, Frank THARLE, Harvey THARLE, Percy THRELFALL, Norman TRASK, Edgar VIAL, Edward WALKER, George WEETMAN, Mervyn WILLIAMS.

Some of the Foundation students, 1919, with the Head Master, Mr Langford.
Photograph from the Dandenong & District Historical Society collection.

Jean ABBOTT, Gertrude ALLCHIN, Isobel ALLEN, Jessie BOWMAN, Eva BUCKLEY, Evelyn BULLIVANT, Jean BUNTINE, Gladys BURNS, Margaret CAMPBELL, Maude CARLISLE, Ellen CORRIGAN, Maura CROWE, Mernda CURRIE, Lorraine DAY, Marie FACEY, Gladys GILBERTSON, Helene GILL, Nellie GORMAN, Elsie GRANT, Ruby HARRIS, Norah HILL, Jane MCCORD, Jean MCNABB, Jessie MITCHELL, Kath MORPHEY, Elsie MURRAY, Ellwyn NIELSEN, Mabel ORGILL, Lola PEARSON, Sadie PEARSON, Mary QUIGLEY, Chrissie RAVEN, Ethel RAYNER, Maud REEVE, Mabel RICHARDS, Doreen SHARKIE, Olive SHARP, Lillian SIMS, Madge SLATER, Edith SNELL, Norah STRANGE, Tasma STATTERD, Ena THARLE, Louisa THARLE, Mary THOMAS, Dorothy TRASK, Marion WALKER, Dorothy WANGMAN, Gladys WANGMAN, Eva WINN, Frances WOOLARD.

Students from 1919.
Photograph from the Dandenong & District Historical Society collection.

Source : A history of the Dandenong High School, 1919-1968 by K.B.Mitchell. Published by the School in 1968.
The photographs are from the Dandenong & District Historical Society Collection.

Arcuate ridges and other landforms

If you have ever travelled along Ballarto Road then you may have noticed the sand ridge which follows Hobson’s Road at Rythdale. This is an Arcuate ridge, or a curved ridge or one shaped like a bow. The Rythdale ridge is three kilometres long and up to 100metres in length.

The Rythdale Arcuate ridge can clearly be seen in this 1980 aerial. Ballarto Road cuts across the centre of the photograph, above the oval trotting track. Hobsons Road runs towards the top of the photograph and the curved object is the arcuate sand ridge. On the left of the photograph are man made drains to carry the water from the Deep Creek and Toomuc Creek to the Bay, part of the Koo-Wee-Rup Swamp drainage works.

There is also an acruate ridge on which the township of Cardinia is built on. This ridge rises five to eight meters above the surrounding countryside and is partly due to the depression of the adjacent area caused by the compaction of the peat soils after the Koo-Wee-Rup Swamp was drained. The Rythdale and the Cardinia Ridges are the remains of the walls of ancient lake beds.

This aerial photograph was also taken in 1980 and shows the town of Cardinia, built on the arcuate ridge. Starting at the bottom of the photograph, is the Cardinia Recreation Reserve. Ballarto Road runs along the right of the Reserve to the top of the picture. The town is bi-sected by Dalmore Road to the left of the picture, and Cardinia Road to the right. The curve of the sand ridge can be clearly seen.

These ridges are considered to be sites of Geographical and Geomorphical statewide significance. If you go to the Victorian Resources online website, which is part of the Department of Primary Industy website, there is a lot of interesting information about landforms in Victoria, including the list of Victorian sites of Geographical and Geomorphical significance. These landforms are part of our early history, plus they also give me another opportunity to show you some of our extensive collection of aerial photographs which are kept in our Archive.

The Casey Cardinia region has a landform of International significance, the Western Port Bay Tidal Watershed. This is the area north east of French Island , between the Lang Lang River and Palmer Point. This area is a tidal divide and the dynamics of the tides here effect the tidal flow in the rest of the Bay. The sea floor sediments of the watershed 'are of considerable interest for the data they hold concerning the development of the on-shore Swamplands' due to the fact that they record historic changes in the sea level.

The inter-tidal flats between Lyall Inlet and the Bunyip River are of National significance and are shown here in this 1968 aerial. The South Gippsland Highway bi-sects the photograph from left to right. The first inlet from the left is Lyall Inlet. The farm complex is Harewood house, built for William and Annabella Lyall in the 1860s. The straight channel on the other side of Harewood is Cardinia Creek and the channel on the right is Moody Inlet. If you click on the photograph to enlarge it you will see the Cardinia Creek Boat Club marinas where Moody Inlet crosses the South Gippsland Highway.

On a National level, the inter-tidal flats between Lyall Inlet and the Bunyip River outlet (between Tooradin and Koo-Wee-Rup) are significant as the area shows the impact of the drainage of the Koo-Wee-Rup Swamp on the adjacent coast land and is a reference point for measuring the rates of coastal change. They are shown in the photograph above.

Of regional significance, is the tidal meanders of Sawtell Inlet at Tooradin as the area is a ‘clear display of of the development of flood tide meanders' and is thus a site to study tidal flow in a narrow inlet.

This 1986 aerial shows the town of Tooradin and the meandering Sawtell Inlet. The other inlet on the right is Evans Inlet. Tooradin's mud flats are also apparent.