In Abbotsford, known as Carran-carramulk for thousands of years, meaning prickly myrtle. On the lands of the Wurundjeri-willam Custodians of the Kulin Nation.
Dights Falls existed on my mind's map long before I visited. I'd heard it was some kind of man-made waterfall, just above the Convent. I'd heard it was near Deep Rock, an iconic swimming spot in times past, and the site of new efforts to recommence swimming in the Birrarung, courtesy of a group of early morning dippers who called themselves the Yarra Yabbies. Still, it took me years to finally walk down the hill into the valley and see what I'd heard so much about.
There's a sensation at Dights Falls of being somewhere that holds many memories. The hills curve downward in a kind of bowl. Carved rock formations climb the other side of the river. The water is deep and wide above the falls, and you can hear the rush of it beneath your feet. Remains of the old flour mill, one of the oldest in the state, peek out from beds of moss and silt.
Something easy to miss is the view from down on top of the mill, where you can see the old grinding stone. Hundreds of years have passed but it's somehow still easy to imagine the past, living. It probably helps that for most of the 19th century this was an area of heavy industry, inaccessible to the public. Before that it was a contact zone between First Nations and colonial settlers, and stretching back much further, a meeting place for First Nations people. History has been written over those ancient stories here. And yet they still remain.
View of Dights Falls from below the rapid
The waterfall exists because people wanted to harness the power of the river. The dam built for the flour mill in the 1840s dramatically changed the form of the Birrarung (Yarra) river. In recent years a fish ladder was added, to help creatures make the transition between above the falls and below. Small and careful adjustments.
It still feels ancient here. But it also feels a little forgotten. A place where deep time and inner city life sit alongside each other, not always comfortably. Maybe some things we haven't quite figured out.
