Barwon River Walk, Geelong Metro Area Circuit - 13.6 Kms

 U3A Hike No. 241

Hike Report by Alan

This being the 5th Thursday of the month we were scheduled to head for Geelong. Twelve of us met in Forrest Street, Buninyong and set off for Geelong and the start of our hike at Barwon Valley Park. Here we were joined by Leona, Geoff, and his brother Chris.

Led by Jan and Fiona, and walking in a north westerly direction, along the south bank, we followed the Barwon River upstream. The path was wide and well maintained which made it easier to walk and chat with people. There were a lot of trees which occasionally parted on our right to give beautiful views of the wide river.

We then continued along The Stan Lewis Walk and came across a marker showing how high the river had flooded in the past. Passing a golf course on our left, there was still evidence of the recent flooding on the fencing between the path and the golf course. Soon an old paper mill came into view across the river, this was the former Buckley Falls paper mill.

Shortly we arrived at a viewing platform of Buckley Falls, here we stopped for morning tea. Once refreshed and the obligatory group photo, we were given the choice of continuing with our hike or going on a little further and down some steps to Buckley Falls. Unanimously we voted to go to the falls, this turned out to be a great choice as we all agreed that it was a beautiful tranquil place.

After many photos were taken, we headed back along the path and crossed the river onto Redgum Island. Here is where The Barwon and The Moorabool Rivers merge and continue to flow south as one. Leaving the Island, we crossed another bridge to the north side of the Barwon River.

A few kilometres later we turned and went across Princes Bridge and arrived back at our starting point. Here we sat along the river's edge to have our lunch. Geoff and his brother told us how the area had changed from how it was when they were young boys. The sun shone down, and it was quite warm. It was very easy to just sit there and watch the river slowly make its way to the sea.

Big thanks to Jan and Fiona for a lovely day out in the Geelong sunshine and showing us all more of this beautiful country.

Photos by Alan and Andrew 














EXTENSIVE HISTORICAL NOTES ABOUT THE PAPER MILL VIA THE LINKS AFTER THE PHOTOS














LINKS



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