Could you ask for a more appropriate venue?

There ’s so much to see and do in the Great Otway National Park.
Explore ancient rainforests, spectacular waterfalls and magnificent scenic landscapes.
Melba Gully is one of the smallest and the most intimate of all and is named after our greatest opera soprano ~ Dame Nellie Melba. Check out the Melba Gully Boardwalk during your visit and experience the lush, green forest filled with myrtle beeches, blackwoods and tree ferns or discover glow worms and carnivorous snails that are famous for this region.

Parking & ticket tent at Lavers Hill School where shuttle buses will take you into Melba Gully. Parking not available at Melba Gully.

A little bit of history

The following are extracts from a speech which was delivered at the ceremony when Melba Gully was handed over to the people of Victoria ~ (with thanks to relatives of Anne Madsen)

Melba Gully is today being donated to the people of Victoria by Mr. and Mrs. Axel Madsen. This magnificent gesture heralds a new era for Melba Gully. In the 1930's and 1940's this beautiful area was visited from people from all over Australia who came to enjoy the cathedral-like atmosphere under the majestic myrtle beeches.

The history of Melba Gully however, goes back further to about 1916 when a Mr. Charley Robins erected a mill in Melba Gully about 500 yards south of the Crowes station.
It is not clear when logging finished in Melba Gully but in 1921, Melba Gully, a property of 90 acres was bought by a Mr. Kingham for his daughter Mrs. Jessie Fry. Melba Gully proved to be a most popular place with the friends and relatives of Mrs. Fry who would frequently spend several weeks there camping in tents. In the early 1930's Mrs. Fry was approached by Messrs. Whithers, owners and managers of picneers tours who needed a half way house between Apollo Bay and Port Campbell. They arranged with Mrs. Fry for the provision of luncheons at Melba Gully for the bus tourists. This business thrived for many years.

It is not known who actually named Melba Gully although it is clear that it was named after Dame Nellie Melba. Apparently Mrs. Fry was a patron of the Arts, her sister being a classical pianist. Melba Gully appears to have been named around the time Dame Nellie Melba died and it may be reasonable to suggest that Mrs. Fry or a member of her family may have been responsible for it's naming.
Melba Gully will in the future, be managed by the National Parks Service of Victoria. The incorporation of Melba Gully into the National Parks estate will ensure that the beauty and splendour of the area will once again be available to those people in search of that natural bushland atmosphere so perfactly represented here. - 21st March. 1975.