Red Rock Reserve, Colac

On Saturday, April 13 1912 Mr. W. H. Edgar, Minister of Public Works, and Mr. Catani, Engineer for Public Works, accompanied by the secretary of the Colac Progress Association, visited the volcanic lakes at Red Rock, on Mr. R. S. Murray's Wool Wool Estate. It has been proposed to have this part of the property reserved as a public park, and the party was invited to visit it, so as to be informed on the subject, at first hand, should the matter come before Parliament. The visitors were much impressed with the great natural beauty of the spot. (The Age April 15, 1912)

A year later in May 1913, Carlo was back in the Colac region. Carlo accompanied by the Colac Shire President, Cr Dunoon and the Shire Engineer, Mr Neylan, amongst others.Their mission was to mark off a block of land on the grass-covered elevation overlooking the Corangamite Lake, and to have it reserved as a public pleasure ground. The site of a really magnificent picnic area was inspected from a vantage point known as Red Rock plateau. The future holiday makers of the Western district will overlook a sweep of lake and timber and pastoral country such as is not to be met with elsewhere in Victoria, if in Australia. This morning, when Mr. Catani and the others made the ascent, a
wonderful vista of sun and shadow and cloud effect was playing over the wide-extending waters of Corangamite; over the five or six basin lakes below; over the dazzling green of the islands in the distance, and over the far-sweeping, darkly outlined contour of the Otway Forest against the horizon.   (The Age, May 8, 1913)

This painting shows the view towards Lake Corangamite, from the rocky outcrop known as Red Rock, near Colac. It was formerly attributed to Nicholas Chevalier on the basis of its supposed resemblance to other work by him. Dated 1862/63.

Caption and image from State Library of Victoria - Image H11609

The Red Rock plateau was part of the Wool Wool Estate, owned by Robert Stuart Murray. The Wool Wool Estate was taken up by Andrew Murray in 1838 - the book Pastoral Pioneers of Port Phillip*, described it as 8,000 acres on the eastern shore of Lake Corangamite.  Robert was Andrew's son. The land seems to have been gradually sold off and Red Rock Reserve area was acquired during one of these land sales - The chance came when the Wool Wool estate was put on the market by Mr R. S. Murray, and steps were immediately taken which resulted in the necessary land being provisionally secured and pathways and roads surveyed by Mr George Cornthwaite, assisted by Mr C. H. Neylon, the Shire Engineer. An estimate was then secured in regard to the cost of the land, fencing and improvements, and as a result, Mr Johnstone [local M.L.A] visited Sir Alexander Peacock, the Acting Treasurer, to-day, and asked for a vote to enable them to secure the reserve. After hearing what Mr Edgar and Mr Catani had to say, the Minister promised a vote of £300 towards making the Red Rock a public reserve. (The Herald, June 18, 1913)

Panorama from Red Rock (Rose Series postcard)
The house is Coragulac, built in 1873 for George Pringle Robertson.

State Library of Victoria  Image H32492/2674

The Reserve was officially opened on December 4, 1915 by the Hon. W. Hutchinson, Minister of Lands - other officials included Hon. D. Mackinnon, M.L.A.; the Hon. John Gray, Government Whip; Mr S. Barnes, M.L.A., chairman, of the Railways Standing Committee ; Mr Allan Cameron. M.L.A.; Mr J. D. Mitchell, M.L.A.; Mr J. M. Reed, Secretary for Lands; Mr C. Catani, Chief Engineer of Public Works; and Mr A. G. Sainsbury, Chief Commissioner of Police, Mr J. G. Johnstone, M L A, plus a raft of local councillors. There were many speeches, extensively reported in the local papers. You can read the reports here and here.

The view from the 768 feet summit was described as The tract of country spread out to view was seen at its very best. From the Otway ranges in the south to the wheat-bearing plains in the north a charming variety of scenery was disclosed. The vast expanse of Lake Corangamite, the largest lake in the State, glistened beneath the sun on the one hand, while the darker waters of Lake Colac presented an imposing picture on the other. The numerous lakelets, reposing in craters at the foot of the hills, showed a wide range of tints. All around the farm lands, broken by clumps of pines, told a tale of Nature's fertility and man's industry, which greatly impressed not only those who saw the panorama for the first time, but also those, who, familiar with the scene had never viewed it under more perfect conditions. (Colac Reformer, December 7, 1915)

My favourite part of the speeches is this (also from Colac Reformer, December 7, 1915) When the people of the district climbed this modern Pisgah, they had a finer view - more beautiful, more prosperous, and more picturesque - than had Moses when he viewed the Promised Land. They had the advantage of Moses, in that he was only to see the land, whereas they had the right to possession. That was the Hon, W. Hutchinson.  The opening ended with luncheon and afternoon tea arrangements [which] were in the hands of Mrs E. E. M'Kean, and were most efficiently carried out. Mrs E.E M'Kean who catered for this glorious occasion was Edith Elizabeth M'Kean - listed in the Electoral Rolls as a confectioner. An article in the Colac Herald of May 7, 1915 said that Mrs M'Kean had been in business for herself for eight to nine years and including the time her husband was alive, for twenty five years, so she was very experienced. I wonder what was on the menu on the day?

The Red Rock, Colac (Rose Series postcard)

State Library of Victoria Image H32492/2676

When Red Rock Reserve, which is technically at Alvie, 15 kms from Colac,  was established with Carlo's assistance it was set aside largely because it offered a panoramic view of the surrounding countryside, however the region now has International significance as part of the Kanawinka Geopark. It is on the eastern edge of the park, which goes through to south east South Australia. Victorian Resources online has this to say about the significance of the area -
Red Rock is one of the most complex eruption points in the Newer Volcanics Province and includes maars, tuff rings and scoria cones with a basal lava flow from another source (probably Warrion Hill). Up to 30 eruption centres have been mapped in the area measuring 4 km by 3 km just south of the township of Alvie and there are several small eruption points just north of the township. The eruption sequence includes an initial extended phase of maar and tuff ring formation with minor intervening scoria phases when phreatomagmatic activity declined due to depletion of groundwater. There are nine entire craters up to 75 m deep, some containing lakes including Lakes Purdiguluc, Werowrap and Coragulac. Lake Purdiguluc is formed by at least five coalescing eruption points. Following the maar activity there was an extended phase of scoria eruption in the north around Lake Werowrap which buried part of the maars and tuff deposits. On the basis of a single radiocarbon assay, a date of approximately 8,000 years has been advanced for the age of the Red Rock tuff eruption.  You can read the full citation at http://vro.agriculture.vic.gov.au/dpi/vro/coranregn.nsf/pages/corangamite_eruption_points_red_rock
There is another, less scientific description, here http://otway.biz/redrock.html

*Pastoral Pioneers of Port Phillip by R.V. Billis and A.S. Kenyon (Stockland Press, 1974_

I have created a list of newspaper articles, including the ones referenced here,  from Trove and websites on the Red Rock Reserve and the Kanawinka Geopark, you can access it, here.

Thank you to my fellow Carlo researcher, Isaac, for Carlo/Red Rock connection and the information on the Kanawinka Geopark.