The walk through time was an initiave of the Diggers Rest Primary School and supported by the Melton City Council.
TILE No: 1
THE DREAMTIME
Presented by Matthew and Caitlin
Welcome to the first tile of the tour. This tile is about the Dreamtime. The spiral in the tile represents the beginning of a journey. Before the year 1788 there were officially seven hundred languages spoken around the world. Indigenous people always kept to themselves. The men hunted animals such as emus, kangaroos and massive turtles. The women and the children collected fruits, berries and any other food that they could find for their family. If they lived on the coast they would eat fish, mussels and oysters. To celebrate an important event the indigenous people would put paint on their bodies and dance and sing around a campfire. The men used to sit with their left leg crossed and their right leg straight out. The ladies used to sit with their legs crossed.
TILE No: 2
WURUNDJERI TRIBE
Presented by Kayla and Laura
Welcome to the second tile. This is the Wurundjeri tile. The Wurundjeri tribe was the first group of people that occupied the Melbourne area. The Wurundjeri gathered on the land where the M.C.G now stands. Two totems of the tribe were the Eaglehawk, pronounced Bunjil and the crow pronounced Waang. The territory of the Wurundjeri lies within the inner city of Melbourne and extends north of the Great Dividing Ranges. In the tile you can see the Aboriginal flag, a club and a spear. They were used as weapons and for finding food. The Wurundjeri tribe and Aboriginals lived near the area of Diggers Rest and Sunbury. The Martin Balluk tribe occupied land near west Maribyrnong River and Sunbury. The same tribe rested near the Yarra River because it provided food such as fish, native animals and plants. William Barak was the last leader of the clan. He witnessed the signing of the Treaty between the elders and John Batman. Clans from two other tribes also claimed parts of the western region.
TILE No: 3
THE RESTING DIGGER
Presented by Joshua and Andrew
One hundred and thirty seven years ago a young American was tragically killed whilesleeping on the road on the way to the goldfields. He was reburied in a permanent grave in Houdini Park, at Diggers Rest, not to far from where his fatal accident occurred. His fatal accident occurred on May 12, 1855. He was identified by his former headstone, only as J.A Sanger, from Woodstock in the United States. He was previously buried near the Calder Highway, but his bones had to be moved when the new Calder Highway came through. His original shallow grave was on the northwest side of Punjel Estates. In March 1989, 217 students from Diggers Rest Primary School began working on a wall hanging, called the Resting Digger. It shows an old digger at the goldfields, complete with goldpan and pick. Eighteen months later they completed the wall hanging. It is now hanging in the corridor near the library at the new Diggers Rest Primary School. Diggers Rest artist Liz Pattison worked with the students, on the wall hanging for the full 18 months. She was delighted by their enthusiasm.
TILE No: 4
CAROLINE CHISHOLM
Presented by Jake and Matthew
Welcome to the Caroline Chisholm tile. Caroline was a woman from England. She wanted to help people ever since she was a child. Caroline’s husband Archibals was sent to Australia because he was in the army. When she got to Australia she saw women living on the streets. So she asked the governor, Mr Gipps for some land to provide a home for the homeless women. After much persuasion Mr.Gipps gave her some immigration barracks. Her quest wasn’t over because the barracks were dark and full of rats. When the English women came to Australia they thought that they could easily get married and get jobs, but they couldn’t so Caroline gave them a place to stay. In April 1855, ten shelter sheds were chosen to be built at: Essendon, Keilor, Robertsons, The Gap, Gisbourne, Diggers Rest, The Black Forest, Woodend, Carlsruhe, Malmsbury and Elphinstone. Mr. Richard Fitzgerald won the contract to build ten shelter sheds. After about a year Caroline found jobs for over 11,000 women around the community. Caroline Chisholm was 69 years old when she died in 1877 in her home in England.
TILE No: 5
HARRY HOUDINI
Presented by Lee and Rachel
Welcome to stone 5. As you can see this is about Harry Houdini. Harry Houdini registered his name in the history books as the greatest escape artist who ever lived. At 8am on Friday the 18th of March 1910, Harry Houdini flew into the air from Plumpton Road’s paddock in Diggers Rest. Harry Houdini bought his Voisin Bi Plane to Australia at the request of the Arial League. As you already know Harry Houdini was an escape artist. For one of his famous tricks he chained himself up and jumped into the Yarra River. As he picked the lock, he moved around and knocked a dead body. It floated to the top. Everybody thought that it was Harry’s body, but then he popped up and people cheered to see him alive.
TILE No: 6
SUNBURY ROCK FESTIVAL
Presented by James and Shannon
Welcome to the 6th tile. As you can see the tile is about the Sunbury Rock Festival. Sunbury was established in 1835. Two men named Sunbury after a town in England. In the early 1970’s the 1st Woodstock Sunbury Festival was held on a nearby farm in Diggers Rest. It did very well with 40,000 people attending. People came from all over Australia to see some of Australia’s best bands at the time. Huge speakers were set up all around. The bands that came were Johnny O’Keefe, The 69ers, Black Feather and Mighty Mouse.
TILE No: 7
TODAY
Presented by Catherine and Ashlee
Welcome to the year 2003. In this tile we can see a girl playing computer games. In the middle of the tile we can see a boy playing Soccer. Children in the year 2003, play sports called Soccer, Football and T-Ball. As the years go by Australian children use different computer games and sport equipment. At Diggers Rest Primary School we have 3 computers in each room and we have games such as Carmen Sandiego and The Magic School Bus. This year the children have learnt how to do Powerpoint Presentations and they all know how to use the Internet and Softweb.
TILE No: 8
THE FUTURE 2103
Presented by Hillary and Hayley
Welcome to Diggers Rest Primary School, a 100 years in the future. This is the year 2103. As you can see, learning is different from that of today. All the might wear learning helmets, just like the girl in this tile. The helmets would teach the children everything that they need to know, just like a teacher. In the year 2103, children might learn how to drive space shuttles and children children will not have to ride bikes, or walk anywhere. Robots will be very useful in the 2103. They will help out around the house. They will also help children with their schoolwork. Hayley Moss designed the girl with the learning helmet. Jake Patterson designed the space shuttle. Shannon Kilty designed the robot. We would like to thank the children who created the tile.
TILE No: 9
VARIEGATED THISTLE
Presented by Nikki and Shaun
Welcome to tile number 9, our last tile. Just a little note that the variegated thistle is not a plant – it’s a weed. The variegated thistle is a very poisonous weed that can kill cattle and sheep. The variegated thistle can grow up to 3 metres high. The spines on the weeds can cause injury to other animals such as domestic dogs. The variegated thistle was a nuisance to the Diggers Rest area. The farmers didn’t want them anywhere near the cattle. The variegated thistle was chosen as one of these tiles as it is taken from a drawing by a former student Jean McKewen who entered her drawing in the Jubilee Exhibition in 1922. Jean was 13 years old at the time.
Written by Diggers Rest Primary School Students.