Apart from a few sparse surviving remnant riparian bushlands, the majority of the creek's length has been heavily urbanised, and it has been degraded in much the same way as other Melbourne eastern suburban streams such as the Mullum Mullum Creek and Koonung Creek. The Gardiners Creek Trail follows the creek for most of its length.
The creek's original name was Kooyongkoot, from the Woiwurrung language of the indigenous AustralianWurundjeri-Baluk group,[1] which translates to 'haunt of the waterfowl'. This name appeared on early maps such as the 1840 Thomas map.[2] The creek's current name was given in honour of early Melbourne land speculator and banker, John Gardiner, who settled near the junction of Kooyongkoot Creek and the Yarra River in 1836.[3]
Geography
Course
Gardiners Creek is over 30 km (19 mi) in length. The creek originates in the suburb of Blackburn, where drainage from many smaller streams and gullies converge around Blackburn Lake. It then flows southwest through Box Hill South, Burwood, and Ashwood. Approximately at its junction with Scotchmans Creek in Malvern East it turns northwest, then continues through Ashburton, Glen Iris, Malvern, and Kooyong, before finally flowing into the Yarra River in Hawthorn.[4]
The Gardiners Creek Trail, a shared use cycling and pedestrian track, follows the general course of Gardiners Creek from Box Hill's boundary with Blackburn to the Yarra River, where a bridge over the river links it to the Main Yarra Trail.[4]
The Monash Freeway/CityLink follow the Gardiners Creek valley from Malvern East to the Yarra River.[4]
