The+Paddle

The bike ride and the Kayak are the outdoor activity parts of the program, they are also providing a means for you to learn more about Melbourne and its history.

Before you head off for your paddle you need to do the following [] || []
 * ||  || 1. Locate the Yarra River on Google Earth starting at Herring Island and follw your route into Docklands noting the different land use along the way ||
 * ||  || 2. have a read about Herring Island
 * ||  || 3. Browse through this site to find the answer to three questions[]
 * How did the River get its name?
 * Why did the southern bank become a 'tent city'?
 * when was the biggest recorded flood and what did it destroy? ||
 * || [[image:cremorne_gardens_map.jpg]] || 4Map showing features of the Cremorne Gardens amusement park. The notes on the backing sheet housed with the image read: 'Cremorne Gardens was formerly Wright's Swamp and was turned into a privately owned amusement park and pleasure gardens in the 1850s. There were ten acres of beautiful country with a lake which had originally been a billabong. The first white swans in the colony swam there. There was a dance floor, a theatre, zoo, gondolas on the river. Regattas were held on the river, flower shows and public banquets were held, and all sorts of public entertainments. Coppin and his partner poured money into Cremorne Gardens. They ran special boats from Princes Bridge and there was a special railway station. Cremorne Gardens was the terminus of the line which now runs over the river to South Yarra and to Dandenong. There was a high trapeze and the first balloon ascent in the colony was held there. In 1856 when building workers won the eight hour day they marched to Cremorne Gardens and celebrated at a victory dinner. However, Melbourne's weather wasn't suitable for outdoor amusements and Coppin and Brooke went broke.

The site of the gardens no longer fronts the river because of the construction of the South Eastern Freeway in 1961. The area of Richmond in which the gardens were located was formally renamed Cremorne in 1999 and is used by locals as much out of historical respect as to avoid the old working class implications of the name Richmond ||