As news of John Batman’s wondrous discoveries of the lands encompassing the western sector of Port Phillip Bay spread, so began the influx of squatters, John Pascoe Fawkner being amongst the first . . . Whilst Batman and the Port Phillip Association were documenting, corresponding and formalising their findings with the British governance; squatters packed their belongings, together with their livestock, and Read more…

The Yarra River once swung in an elegant loop that was surrounded by pristine swamps full of bird life.  John Batman described this stunning landscape in his journal of exploration dated in the year 1835: ” . . . We then made the Rim, I had gone up a few days [?] intending to come on the opposite side of the River and Read more…