Bunyip, Victoria
Bunyip is a town in Gippsland, Victoria, Australia, 81 km south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Shire of Cardinia local government area. Bunyip recorded a population of 3,131 at the 2021 census. Its major road connection is via the Princes Highway. The town is named after a mythical creature, known as the Bunyip or Bunyeep, which according to legend lived in and around swampy areas. Mention of it is often found in Australian and Aboriginal mythology. History Before European settlement The Koo-Wee-Rup and Bunyip areas, among others, are considered to be places of importance to many Aboriginal people in Victoria, particularly the Bunurong people of the Kulin nation, the traditional owners of the area, from whom the word Bunyeep is derived. They believe the Bunyip is a spiritual being which lives near water and preys on humans who come too near. 1800-1850 The Kooweerup Swamp comprised a region of some stretching from Sawtells Inlet on Westernport Bay to the township of Bunyip in the north-east. The marsh like area was formed by the waters of the many rivers which flow down from the surrounding high country and which often created impenetrable swamplands. The first settlers had great difficulty in cultivating the land because of the dense stands of giant Melaleuca, or tea-tree, large Eucalyptus and Acacia melanoxylon, or blackwood trees, which lay under the surface. In 1827 William Hovell attempted to cross the swamp but found the scrub to be an impenetrable wilderness. He was impressed by the country, and those areas which were workable held some promise for future development. Europeans with a view to settlement first arrived in the area around 1840 and established the Buneep Run. A report in 1847 by the surveyor and Commissioner of Crown Lands, Charles Tyers, confirmed the earlier findings but no major drainage works were attempted until decades later. In 1847, a road was surveyed through virgin forest to "Buneep", as the area was known by its indigenous inhabitants, which enabled travellers to follow a track that led further east into Gippsland. The survey showed a building, 'Andersons', at the future site of Bunyip. 1850-1900 In December 1857 the Buneep Run was surveyed with a view to establishing a village on the Melbourne to Sale Road and Messrs. Connor, Vale and McKinnon purchased most of the allotments in the area. This site was between the Bunyip River and the present Ellis Road (referred to now as Tonimbuk) north-east of the current town. Connor built the old "Buneep Hotel" around 1858 to accommodate coach travellers on the long route, a journey that usually took 36 hours. The names recorded in this era for the old town included Buneep, Burneep Burneep and Burra Burneep. At around the same time and in the same area the transport company Cobb and Co established their own trading post. In 1859, a new road, later known as the Old Telegraph Road was surveyed in an attempt to avoid the bad conditions of the previous route