"Balla Arat"
"Aborigine" is Latin for "from the beginning" - a fitting name for a people whose culture is probably the oldest surviving on earth. It is believed the first Australians island-hopped from Southeast Asia before 40,000 BC.
Prior to European settlement, clans like the Wathaurong, who occupied the region from the Bellarine peninsula to the Pyrenees including Geelong, and Ballarat, dwelled here, undisturbed, for tens of thousands of years.
The name "Balla Arat" was derived from the Aboriginal meaning "resting" or "camping place." There are a number of significant Aboriginal sites in and around Ballarat like Kirrit Barreet - "a place of creation" (now known as Black Hill), and Lal Lal Falls to the south-east of Ballarat. These locations are two of many important spiritual places across Victoria.
Ballarat Koorie Heritage Trail
Ten sites situated in and around Ballarat have been linked to form a driving tour. Interpretation boards at each site tell of a history of the Wathaurong people.
Sites include the Wathaurong Plants Trail at Lake Wendouree, the south-west edge of Lake Wendouree, once a camping place, and Yarrowee Creek in Sebastopol, another camping place.
Download the brochure at Ballarat and District Aboriginal Cooperative, www.badac.ballarat.net.au