Sharing Bunurong culture through design

The Level Crossing Removal Project acknowledges that we are visitors on Bunurong Country. We recognise Bunurong Peoples cultural and spiritual connection to the land, waterways and sky. We honour and pay respects to Bunurong Ancestors, and Elders past and present.

We’ve removed the level crossings at McDonald Street in Mordialloc and Station Street in Aspendale to deliver faster and safer journey times by building new rail bridges. The new premium Mordialloc Station opened on Thursday 21 May.

In partnership with Bunurong Land Council Aboriginal Corporation, the Registered Aboriginal Party encompassing the project area, we’ve created an interpretive trail throughout Groves Reserve, Aspendale.

The interpretive trail gives visitors a place to learn about Bunurong culture, history and ecological knowledge through the natural environment, path details and interpretive signage.

This location was chosen because it reflects the area’s continued importance as a significant place for Bunurong peoples. The area has been a place for generations of Bunurong people to meet and camp, sharing stories, song and tradition.

A place for story telling

The interpretive trail’s design is based on three key theme shared by the Bunurong Land Council Aboriginal Corporation about the relationship between land, water, and living beings.

Shaping Country

Mordialloc Creek and Carrum Swamp attract a wide range of animals, including diverse birdlife drawn to the richness of this coastal place. For generations of Bunurong peoples, Mordialloc Creek has been a place where life gathers, and where stories, traditions and songs continue to be shared.

Across Bunurong Country, from these wetlands to the forested ranges to the east, ground-dwelling birds like lyrebird shape the land as they forage, forming mounds across the forest floor. These traces reflect the ongoing relationship between living systems and Country.

The trail design responds to this theme through a communal gathering area made of reclaimed tree stumps and logs that supports biodiversity and soil health. This 3 dimensional formation mimics the behaviours of a lyrebird mound.

The sustaining waters of Mordialloc Creek

Mordialloc Creek flows into the salt waters of Naarm warranh:
Port Phillip Bay Sea Country. This place is closely connected with Bunurong women, their knowledge and cultural practices.

Bunurong women dived for freshwater mussels in Mordialloc Creek and many waterways across Bunurong Country. Shellfish are a highly valued source of food and the remains of meals shared on Country can be seen in shell midden places located along the Naarm coastline.

Shell middens are the archaeological remnants of Bunurong people collecting shellfish and discarding the shells. They provide valuable insight into daily life as their locations were often used for generations and are remembered as areas where families came together to talk and share food.

The trail responds to this knowledge through a retaining wall with multiple shell layers, reflecting the appearance of shell middens built up through time. With reclaimed log seats, the space is a place for stories and knowledge to be shared.

Connections across Bunurong Country

Mordialloc Creek connects the vast wetlands of Carrum Swamp with Naarm warranh.

This waterway, and many like it across Bunurong Country, supports abundant life. For Bunurong peoples, the shortfinned eel, Anguilla australis, is one of the most important species, valued for its seasonal abundance and high calorific value. These connected waters sustain life, movement and knowledge through this place. This knowledge is represented via a dry creek – featuring sedges and other native grasses – running throughout the centre of the trail. Its meandering layout references the old creek lines of Mordialloc Creek.

We thank the Bunurong Land Council Aboriginal Corporation for sharing knowledge and stories of Country as part of their collaboration on the interpretive trail design.