Across the divide

Featured in

  • Published 20110607
  • ISBN: 9781921758218
  • Extent: 264 pp
  • Paperback (234 x 153mm), eBook

IT’S SUMMER, AND I decide to drive the length of the Waranga Western Channel. I want to see for myself the canal system that carries water from the Goulburn River to the plains north of where I live, in Bendigo, Victoria.

I start at the weir on the Goulburn River. Built between 1887 and 1891, the Goulburn Weir was the first major diversion built for irrigation in Australia. It also contained one of the first hydroelectric turbines in the southern hemisphere. In the depths of the night men, women and children came to view the marvellous sight of the weir illuminated by electric light. So remarkable was the weir for its time, it appeared on the reverse of the ten-shilling and half-sovereign banknotes from 1913 until 1933.

Already a subscriber? Sign in here

If you are an educator or student wishing to access content for study purposes please contact us at griffithreview@griffith.edu.au

Share article

About the author

Robyn Ballinger

Robyn Ballinger is a writer and historian who has a particular interest in tracing the history of how people interact with land and water...

More from this edition

Struggling in the face of complexity

EssayTHE FLOODS THAT swept through Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria, causing death, injury and the destruction of homes, businesses and infrastructure, and threatening...

The silence

EssayMANY AUSTRALIAN JEWS take an intense interest in Israel. They find it difficult to ignore the miracle of its creation so soon after the...

The relevance of irrelevance

GR OnlineIN 1901 MARK Twain battled America's imperial designs in the pages of an American literary magazine. Remarkably, the North American Review still exists, though...

Stay up to date with the latest, news, articles and special offers from Griffith Review.