River Stories

Hi, I’m John Forrester from the Werribee River Association and longtime resident of Werribee. I’d like to tell you a story about how, as the principal of a local school, I was constantly amused, but browned off by some kids stealing the cloth waterhoses in the fireboxes on the grounds of my school.

So constantly during summer over a period of some years, we would always notice that the hoses were being cut off of a weekend, say, two or even three times a year. And to my disgust, I had to find money to pay for new hoses, and of course, the problem of just getting them fixed took a lot of time in itself.

And then it dawned on me that as I walked on the river, which I was well used to doing, being a member of the Werribee River Association, was that on certain gum trees, high up above the surface of the water and dangling down from branches, perhaps five and 10 meters off the water, were fire hoses with big knots in the bottom or even car tires attached to the bottom. It seemed the local kids had taken the hoses from my school and use them to swing things out onto the river on glorious hot summer days on the Werribee River.

Do you have a story related to the river that you’d like to share? We have our ears out for funny anecdotes, quirky wildlife encounters and intriguing plant mysteries.

Send your story to: riverkeeper@gmail.com