At the end of the last Ice Age, between 7,000 and 10,000 years ago, the sea level rose and flooded through The Heads between Point Nepean and Point Lonsdale, covering the lower reaches of the Yarra River and its vast river plains and wetlands to form Port Phillip.

Stories of this event have been passed down through hundreds of generations of the local Indigenous tribes, describing how fertile hunting grounds shared by the Boon Wurrung, Wurundjei and Wathaurong tribes were lost to the rising sea waters.

Boon Wurrung Senior Elder Aunty Carolyn Briggs tells the story of this time of chaos which created Port Phillip and the shoreline on which Melbourne now stands:

“The Boon Wurrung and the other Kulin nations were in conflict. They argued and fought. They neglected their land and their laws. The sea became angry and began to rise until it covered the great plain and threatened to flood the whole of their country. The people went to Bunjil, their creator, and asked Bunjil to stop the sea from rising. Bunjil told his people that they would have to change their ways. So they made a promise to follow Bunjil. Bunjil walked out to the sea, raised his spear and directed the sea to stop rising.”