Darnum is a town in

West Gippsland West Gippsland, a region of Gippsland in Victoria, Australia, extends from the southeastern limits of metropolitan Melbourne and Western Port Bay in the west to the Latrobe Valley in the east, and is bounded by the Strzelecki Ranges to the south ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

, Australia, located 110 km east of

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

and a short distance to Warragul, in the

Shire of Baw Baw The Shire of Baw Baw is a local government area in Victoria, Australia, in the eastern part of the state. It covers an area of and in June 2018 had a population of 52,015. It includes the towns of Drouin, Longwarry, Neerim South, Trafalga ...

. It is nestled between the Great Dividing Range and Strzelecki Ranges. The Moe River meanders through the edge of the township which the historic Darnum Butter Factory overlooks. The town's name comes from a word for "parrot", specifically, Rosella in the local indigenous

Boonwurrung language The Boonwurrung language, also anglicised as Bunurong, Bun wurrung, and other variant spellings, is an Aboriginal Australian language traditionally spoken by the Boonwurrung people of the Kulin nation of central Victoria prior to European s ...

. The post office opened on 1 December 1882 after the arrival of the

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

. Darnum was originally a timber producing town and boasts a large stump in memory of the original timber mill's owner Clarrie Weir. Today the principal industry is dairy farming, with

Fonterra Fonterra Co-operative Group Limited is a New Zealand multinational publicly traded dairy co-operative owned by around 9,000 New Zealand farmers. The company is responsible for approximately 30% of the world's dairy exports and with revenue exce ...

, previously Bonlac Foods, operating a milk processing plant just north of town. Between 1981 and 2017, Darnum was also home to the Darnum Musical Village. A large and important collection of musical instruments, where concerts and events were held. Visitors could play some of the exhibits as tour guides explain the history of different pieces. The town in conjunction with neighbouring township Nilma has an Australian Rules football team competing in the

Ellinbank & District Football League The Ellinbank and District Football League is an Australian rules football and Netball League, based in the West Gippsland region of Victoria for smaller towns and villages in the regions of Baw Baw, South Gippsland and Cardinia. There are 1 ...

. Mal Michael is a notable player for the team.

References

External links

Darnum Musical VillageBonlac Foods
Towns in Victoria (Australia) Shire of Baw Baw {{Gippsland-geo-stub