403. Yarra Bend Hike - Abbotsford to Rushall 11.9km

 U3A Hike No 403



Hike Report By Mark Hawley

🚂 ‘Quality over quantity’ could have been the theme this week with just 6 making the free train trip to Melbourne. From Southern Cross Station, we took the tram to Victoria St, Abbotsford.  
🏙️ After admiring the Skipping Girl sign nearby, Gordon led us towards the Yarra River. It was not a ‘walk in the park’ for the first few km as we navigated rough, hilly dirt paths along the river across from the Abbotsford Brewery.  
🔄 A better name for the area might be Yarra Bends, as the Yarra twists, turns, and loops through city bushland.  

📸 There were plenty of sights along the way:
  • 🌉 Johnson St Bridge, under which we walked.  
  • ⛪ View of Abbotsford Convent at one of the bends, with the Collingwood Children’s Farm in front.  
  • 🌊 Dights Falls, which marks the high point of the river’s tidal back flow.  
  • 🏊 Deep Rock swimming and diving area—where 70,000 people gathered in 1918 to watch a World Record 62.7-metre dive from the cliff overlook.  
  • 🚣 Studley Park Boathouse, where “Adventure Awaits Every Sunday.”  
  • 🌆 Great view towards the city from Yarra Blvd.  
  • ⛳ Yarra Bend Golf House and its public golf course. 
🏥 Eventually, we passed the site of the old Fairlea Women’s Prison, closed in 1996, and the Fairfield Infectious Diseases Hospital, which also closed in 1996 and is now redeveloped.  
👋 We said goodbye to the Yarra and hello to Merri Creek for a pleasant last couple of km walk to Rushall Station and trains back to Ballarat. Great work, Gordon, for putting this together!  

Photos by Andrew and Marianne
































LINKS

INTERACTIVE MAP

GPX FILE

SIMILAR HIKE 2021  (other side of Yarra)













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