Gib Wettenhall
Deep in wild and rugged gorge country, the 84km-long Lerderderg Track between Daylesford and Bacchus Marsh now has its own guidebook, thanks to the Great Dividing Trail Association (GDTA).
A team effort by GDTA committee members, the Lerderderg Track Walk or Ride Guide was launched by the walking group’s patron, Olympian and marathon runner, Steve Moneghetti, on Wednesday at the Bridport St lookout. The event included a smoking ceremony by local Djaara Elder Uncle Ricky Nelson.
Moneghetti had high praise for the Guide. “I think this trail guide is in a class of it’s own,” he said. ” It’s not just a book of maps and trail notes; it also tells the stories of the people and the landscape along the way.” He remembered cycling the entire route in a single day with an ultra-marathon friend. “This is a very tough and rugged track but this book makes the adventure that much more manageable. I recommend it to long distance walkers and day-trippers alike.”
“We now have complete map and track note coverage of the whole of the 300km-long Great Dividing Trail Network captured within a sturdy wiro-bound guidebook format,” said the guidebook’s editor and publisher, Gib Wettenhall.
The Lerderderg Track guidebook will act as a companion to the GDTA’s highly successful, award-winning Goldfields Track Walk or Ride Guide. More than map spreads, the guidebook follows a similar style and format, sandwiching the large scale 1:17,500 ratio maps & accompanying track notes between essays on the Lerderderg’s wildly diverse natural beauty and vivid slices of its cultural heritage, people and places.
“Although close to Melbourne, the Lerderderg’s formidable, complex terrain has rendered it largely inaccessible – until now,” commented Gib Wettenhall.
The publishing of the Lerderderg Track guidebook is timely. After three years consideration, the Victorian Parliament finally agreed last month to the formation of the new 44,860-hectare Wombat-Lerderderg National Park, which will double the area under state parks, and embraces the whole of the Lerderderg Track.
A significant new feature in the Lerderderg Track guidebook is Welcomes to Country from the two Kulin Nation language groups whose traditional lands encompass the Lerderderg Track – the Dja Dja Wurrung in the north and the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung in the south. These Traditional Owners are expected to co-manage with Parks Victoria the new Wombat-Lerderderg National Park, when declared in 2026.
Both of the track’s shire councils, Hepburn and Moorabool, provided funding support for the guidebook, as did two of the local Bendigo Community Banks, Daylesford and Bacchus Marsh.
The launch was followed by a guided walk around Daylesford’s top cultural heritage spots and concluding with a picnic lunch in the Wombat Hill Botanical Gardens.
The book is available from Paradise Books in Vincent Street and from the Daylesford Tourist Information Centre. On-line orders can be made through the GDTA website at gdt.org.au/shop. For more information, contact Gib Wettenhall on 0419 370 342 or email: gib@empresspublishing.com.au
Gib Wettenhall is an editor and principal of Em PRESS Publishing. He is the Media and Communications manager for the Great Dividing Trail Association.
