Visitors to Groves Reserve in Aspendale can now learn more about Bunurong culture and history through a new interpretive trail developed as part of the Mordialloc level crossing removal project.
Created in partnership with Bunurong Land Council Aboriginal Corporation, the Registered Aboriginal Party for the area, the interpretive trail celebrates the deep cultural connection Bunurong Peoples have with the land, waterways and skies.
Located throughout Groves Reserve, Aspendale, the trail shares stories about the relationship between land, water and living beings across Bunurong Country through a series of landscaped spaces, interpretive signage and path features.
The trail celebrates the role of Mordialloc Creek, Carrum Swamp and the area's diverse wildlife with a communal gathering space, featuring reclaimed tree stumps and logs that draws inspiration from the mounds created by lyrebirds as they foraged across the landscape.
Another section of the trail highlights the importance of Mordialloc Creek, with a retaining wall featuring shell layers to represent shell middens – the archaeological remnants of discarded shellfish shells – and seating areas created from reclaimed logs, providing spaces for people to gather, learn and share stories.
A winding dry creek feature planted with native grasses will run through the centre of the trail, referencing the historic creek lines of Mordialloc Creek and the journeys of species such as the short-finned eel, which has long been valued by Bunurong people.
To find out more, read our Mordialloc and Aspendale – interpretive trail fact sheet.
The Mordialloc level crossing removal project is nearing final completion, following the removal of the level crossings at McDonald Street in Mordialloc and Station Street in Aspendale and the opening of the new Mordialloc Station in May.
