Castlemaine Diggings National Heritage Park is part of the traditional lands of the Dja Dja Wurrung People whose rights were recognised through a Recognition and Settlement Agreement with the State of Victoria in March 2013. The Dja Dja Wurrung People maintain a close and continuing connection to Djandak, their traditional Country.
Found at the heart of the central Victorian goldfields, this is a rare place where you can see real traces of days gone by. Take a trip back in time to the Victorian Goldrush era.
The discovery of gold in July 1851 brought tens of thousands of migrants to the Castlemaine area. At one point it was the richest goldfield in the world! Today, the Castlemaine Diggings holds fascinating tales of the area’s golden past. Much of the gold-rush era can still be seen. Explore abandoned mines and settlements among shady Box-Ironbark woodlands. From the remains of house sites and puddling machines, to the gold mines and gullies that yielded fortunes.
The Garfield Water Wheel near Chewton is the perfect place for families to start exploring the Diggings, with new interpretive signs and several short and longer walks exploring Dja Dja Wurrung and gold rush heritage among Box-Ironbark woodland. The spreading wattles are flowering, fungi are starting to pop up, and migratory birds are passing through, so don’t forget your cameras and binoculars! The nearby Eureka Reef Heritage Walk (1.8km loop) is also ideal for families. You can download heritage notes (factsheets) and maps for both here.
Whilst in the area you can lose yourself in the autumn glory of Castlemaine itself. Tree lines streets hold fun family experiences for all interests! Visit the beautiful Buda House, an authentic goldfields villa house. Three acres of heritage gardens surround this Museums Australia accredited museum. Also on the must do list is a wonder around the Castlemaine Botanical Gardens, housing original 19th century features such as elm and oak avenue, taking in the incredible sight of the authentic steam heritage train linking the historic gold mining towns of Castlemaine and Maldon in Central Victoria (steam, whistles lights and all!) and a visit to The Mill; home of Castlemaine vintage bazaar, an artisan precinct and a must try food precinct comprised of individual small businesses offering a smorgasbord of delightful treats to feed the hungry explorer!
Castlemaine happens to be a SPECTACULAR place to enjoy the crunch of autumn leaves under your feet and have your breath taken away by the stunning pops of red, orange and gold foliage.
Check out the Junior Rangers Victorian Goldfields activity book to learn all about this historic area.
Wadawurrung believe Bundjil, the Wedge-tailed Eagle, is their creator spirit. Bundjil created the lands, waterways, native animals, and people. With a wingspan of 2.3 metres, you can see Bundjil soaring in the sky from a long distance away.
Discover the incredible diversity of birds and other native wildlife at Lysterfield Park while walking the perimeter of Lysterfield Lake and its impressive dam wall. So close to Melbourne, this park is a must-see for any Junior Ranger with a love of the water and relaxing walks in nature.
This week we continued talking to Ranger Emma about the Grass tree – Xanthorrhoea (can you pronounce that Junior Rangers?)
I started volunteering with Parks Victoria this year when I saw that they were starting the Great Gariwerd Bird Survey. The opportunity included 10 weeks of classes which I was very excited about. I was a novice bird watcher and was getting frustrated that I couldn’t identify birds because I didn’t know what I was looking for. The course looked at lots of different groups of birds and how to tell them apart. We also worked on identifying birds by their calls, which is a very handy skill as seeing bird at the tops of very tall trees is really hard!
Have you ever visited The Great Ocean Road? Maybe you live near it? Well, just a stone’s throw (not that far) you will find a Wildlife Reserve known as Tower Hill. This historic park is on the land of the Gunditjmara peoples. It erupted over 32,000 years ago (wow!) and is Victoria’s largest dormant volcano. There are so many reasons to visit Tower Hill for International Mountain day Junior Rangers so keep reading!
Hunting for Pobblebonks
There is a good chance you have heard of the Pobblebonk Frog, because it is one of the most well known frogs in Victoria! If you don’t know the name Pobblebonk, maybe you know it by its other name, the Banjo Frog? It is named this because of the banjo-like ‘plonk’ or ‘bonk’ sound it makes.
Its ok if you have not heard of this frog at all, because by the end of this article you will and you may even be able to go out and find some yourself!
Ever wonder what the landscapes and wildlife seen by European settlers in the 1840s was like? At Woodlands Historic Park, you can get a feel of just that! The park has a 150-year old homestead, Indigenous scar trees, native woodland and grassland and much much more! (more…)
Hi, this is just an update to let you know that the information in this post relates to our Spring Holiday 2020 progam. As a result you’ll find that the webinar series has ended and the Macpac competition has finished, however the remaining content is still available for you to explore, including recordings of each of the webinars. Please read on, and enjoy!
Welcome to our blog on the 30 things to do in SPRING. Our poster here has all the activities for you to complete over the holidays. Below you will find more details about some of the challenges we have set out for you plus all our webinars and videos from our wonderful Park Rangers.
Challenge no. 7 – Play ‘leaf shape bingo’. Download the bingo sheet here and look for shapes in nature that match the shapes on your sheet. The first one to fill their sheet or find 3 in a row wins the game
Challenge no. 12 – Become a citizen scientist and join our bioblitz (23 – 25 September). Sign up with iNaturalist and become a citizen scientist for our 2020 Parks Victoria BioBlitz. Look for plants and animals around where you live and upload photos of them to our page here. Our Park Rangers will be checking in to see what you have discovered so sign up today and be ready to join us from 23rd September until 25th September.
Here are our live events as our rangers come direct from the parks to your homes at the exact same time! Click on the photo to be taken to our bookings page.
Exploring Serendip’s Natural Treasures’
Join Ranger Vanessa on a virtual tour of Serendip Sanctuary and discover its natural treasures. Meet some of Serendip’s animals, like Eastern Barred Bandicoots and Eastern Grey Kangaroos, and learn about their unique features.
(The live event has now ended. See the recording here).
Life in the Intertidal Zone’
Join Ranger Ellie to explore Victoria’s marine habitats and the creatures that live in them. Learn about the diverse and fascinating ways that creatures survive and thrive in this ever-changing environment.
(The live event has now ended. See the recording here )
Wildlife super sleuths – Sharpen your super sleuth skills and join Ranger Julia to discover which animals have been around, using the clues and evidence that they leave behind.
(The live event has now ended. See the recording here.)
Thursday 1st October @ 10am. Discovering Wadawurrung with Ranger Ebonee – Join Ranger Ebonee, a proud Wadawurrung woman as she discusses the importance of Country.
(The live event has now ended. See the recording here)
Here are our Ranger videos for your access at any time during the holidays. Click on the videos to view.
22. Let’s go Birdwatching – Ranger Lily shares some tips n tricks for being a successful birdwatcher
23. Floodplains of the Goulburn – Join Ranger Emma as she shares some of the ageless beauty of Redgums living on the floodplains
24. Join a Minibeast Survey – Ever wanted to be a marine scientist? Join Ranger Yani as she demonstrates how to do a minibeast sampling survey
25. Bird Brain Quiz – Join Ranger Han to learn some bird facts and test your knowledge
26. Create a Nature Journal – Ranger Lucy shares some of her own tips designed to help you explore nature in new and creative ways
27. Join the Parks Victoria Bioblitz – Parks Victoria’s annual Bioblitz is happening between September 23rd – 25th. Join Ranger Han as she demonstrates how to get started.
28. Scratching Around – Join Ranger Kelly as she explores the secretive and surprising world of the Mallee Fowl
29. Explore the Maribrynong River – Join Ranger Sharyn as she shares some of the wonders of the Maribrynong River, both above and below the water
What did you get up to over the Easter holidays? While staying at home to slow the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19), Charli, Zoe and Joshua along with lots of other Junior Rangers were busy discovering nature in their own backyards. As our Easter program went digital, our JR families were encouraged to try out some fun activities to get to know their backyards a little better.
From bird watching to night-time critter sounds, our young rangers got to experience nature that was right under their noses. To add to the challenge, we asked everyone who completed an activity to send their treasure hunts, bird observations, creature features, and whatever else they had done, into us so we could see all the wonderful experiences that were happening around their homes. The response was amazing, and we could tell straight away that everyone was having lots of fun.
Here are some of the entries from our winners…
Macpac, our principal partner of the Junior Rangers program offered two families the chance to win a voucher to spend on their next essential outdoor item and we’re so glad that we could do it at random as it would have been so hard to choose!
You can see that our winners, Charli, Joshua and Zoe sent in some wonderful activity sheets, photos and drawings about their backyard encounters which we loved. Here is a little more about why they got involved with the Junior Rangers program and what they love about their own backyards…
Charli, enjoying her backyard with her liquid amber tree.
Charli, aged 11 from Mornington Peninsula has been a Junior Ranger for over two years. Charli could remember two Junior Ranger activities with our rangers, where she went along with her brother and sister, Will and Milly. One was at Coolart Wetlands and Homestead and the other at Arthurs Seat. Coolart was great because there was lots of bird watching and Arthur seat’s fun because they got to try and identify different animal poo. She particularly remembers the green square poo belonging to a wombat.
Charli enjoyed our nature treasure hunt and our creature feature activities over the Easter holidays because she could combine her love of arts and crafts and birds. In fact, Charli loves birds so much, she helps her family care for the finches they breed in their back yard. “There is so much to love about my backyard,” says Charli. Apart from the two budgies that belong to her, there is a possum that nests in the tree and Charli loves the liquid amber tree because the leaves are a lovely colour this time of year. Her favourite bird? All parrots! Charli often sees rainbow lorikeets them flying over her house. What a great backyard to be exploring and a worthy winner of our Macpac competition. Thanks, Charli.
Winners of our $100 Macpac voucher, brother and sister Joshua and Zoe, gave us an insight into their Junior Rangers activities by way of video interview surrounded by their incredible backyard bush. First Zoe interviewing Joshua and then Joshua interviewing Zoe. Here’s what they had to say…
Thanks to everyone who sent in their activities. Whatever your backyard there is always something to spot, even in the city! Look out for more of your entries online as we’ll be posting others on our Parks Victoria Facebook page.
Our competition has closed for now but you can still download all our activities on our Make & Do page. Why not check it out? We’d love to hear from you.
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