History
Think of each stride between the gate from the carpark and this point as representing 1000 years – about 65 strides.
The first step takes you to the time of the Vikings.
The next to the birth of Christ.
One more takes you to the start of the Iron Age in Europe.
Another to the time when the pyramids were being built in Egypt.
Now consider that the Traditional Owners of this land, the Bunurong people, have been continuously living here for up to 65,000 years. Their understanding and connection with this land, and care of it, runs deep.
After colonisation, Endeavour Fern Gully is a very small part of the 21,300 acre Arthurs Seat run originally licensed to Andrew McCrae in 1844. It changed ownership several times, in 1865, 1866, 1900 and 1927, when Victor Holmes inherited a portion of the property and built a saw mill on the upper part of Stony Creek, milling much of the timber in the area.
The next section of the path takes you past the old sawmill shed, so as you walk, imagine the sounds of axes and saws, vehicles moving and people shouting as they go about their work, and the smell of freshly milled timber. Did some of the trees here survive due to the terrain, or because they are in a damp gully? We may never know.