The Island, Thompson Bend, Warrandyte, River island and Victorian Heritage site in Warrandyte, Australia.
The Island at Thompson Bend is a landmass surrounded by channels of the Yarra River in northeastern Victoria. The water divides into separate flows that completely encircle this natural formation.
During the 1850s gold rush, miners dug a channel through the river to reach deposits below the riverbed. This project permanently changed the river's natural course and created the current island shape.
This place shows how the river meant different things to different groups of people over time. Walking here today, you notice traces of these various uses scattered across the landscape.
You can walk to the island using nearby trails or arrive by water if you have boat access. The Warrandyte township nearby has parking areas for visitors exploring this site.
Heavy floods after the digging actually widened the artificial channel, making it the river's main course by natural force. What miners created as a shortcut became permanent through nature's own power.
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