Down the Yarra Podcast

BGM_Crown Casino: Deals, Darkness & the Secret that lies Beneath

Southbank’s Crown Casino is more than just poker chips and luxurious penthouses suites - it’s a fortress of fortune, secrets, and scandals. In this high rolling episode of Down the River Yarra, we pull back the velvet curtain on the largest casino complex in the Southern Hemisphere. From the high-rolling VIPs and junket operations to a Royal Commission and a long yet very persistent whisper of a secret morgue hidden beneath the floors, this is the story Crown doesn’t want told.
Trigger Warning: This Episode contains discussions of gambling addiction, criminal activity, and the continuing allegations involving sudden deaths. Listeners discretion is advised.
Is the Crown morgue real? Or is it just Naarm - Melbourne’s most chilling urban legend?
Stick around for a teaser for our next week’s episode, where we take you behind the bluestone walls of the former HMAS Pentridge Prison in Coburg - home to some of Australia’s most infamous inmates.
Down the Yarra - uncovering the hidden histories of Naarm -Melbourne and South Central Victoria.

BGM_190 Years Young: Celebrating Melbourne Day

This week on Down the Yarra, we’re marking a major milestone - Melbourne’s 190th birthday. On Saturday, August 3, 2025, the city commemorates Melbourne Day, a celebration that traces back to 1835 landing of the Schonner ‘Enterprise’ on the banks of the lower Birrarung (the Yarra River). But the actual real story is far more layered than that narrative.
In this special episode, we explore the actual truth behind Melbourne’s founding, its transformation from gold rush boomtown to becoming a world class cultural capital, and its complicated legacy that shadows August 30 for many of the First Nations people. We’ll walk you through 190 years of milestones, from the Royal Exhibition Building being open to the 1956 Olympics, and uncover what’s in store for the City’s Future - from the new Metro tunnels to the dream of Swimming safety in the Birrarung (the Yarra) once again.
We also take you inside this year’s Melbourne Day celebration across the CBD and carefully reflect on why this event is as much about truth - telling as it is about birthday cake.
Plus, don’t miss our teaser for our next week’s explosive episode on Crown Casino - a story of glitz, controversy, and power on the Birrarung’s ’ (the Yarra) south bank.
Trigger Warning: This episode contains historical references to colonisation, dispossession, and historical injustice experienced by the First Nations people.

BGM_Cells, Shackles & Secrets: Old Geelong Gaol & National Crime & Justice Museum

Step inside one of Victoria’s oldest as well some may say that it’s the most haunted prisons - Old Geelong Gaol. From child inmates and military prisoners to daring escapes and alleged ghost sightings, this episode unpacks the brutal legacy of this 19th-century bluestone fortress.
We also explore the site’s powerful modern transformation into the National Crime & Justice Museum, where solitary cells, padded rooms, and prisoners artefacts now serve as a space for reflection on Australia’s evolving justice system.
Plus, we recommend the gripping podcast Locked Up With History and their episode ‘Escape from Gaol’ for more spine-tangling stories from within its very own walls.
And don’t miss the teaser for our upcoming episode - a very special celebration of Melbourne Day as Naarm - Melbourne marks 190 years since its colonial founding.
Hit follow, share and join us - Down the Yarra.

BGM_Gippsland’s Forgotten Gold

Before Ballarat stuck it rich and Bendigo made headlines, another corner of what would become Victoria quietly glittered with promise - and then vanished into the trees. In this sparkling episode of Down the Yarra, we journey east to uncover the hidden history of Gippsland’s Forgotten Goldfields- from the remote quartz mines of Walsall’s tithe now-silent diggings of Foster, Toota, and the Strzeccki Ranges.
We explore the overlooked stone of the Chinese miners, the deep scars left on the Gunaikurnai people and their country, the rise and sudden falls of its boomtowns shallowed up by the bush, and the glimmers of history still buried beneath Gippsland’s soil.
Trigger warning: This episode contains references to colonial violence, exploitation, and the displacement of First Nations people.
YouTube Recommendation: Discovering Foster: South Gippsland, Victoria’s Lost Gold Mining Paradise - by Where In the World is Pierre.
Next Time: We unlock the dark past of the Old Geelong Gaol & the National Crime & Justice Museum. You won’t want to miss this one.

BGM_The 3 lost children of Daylesford

On Sunday, June 30 1867, three young boys wandered into the Wombat State Forest near Daylesford… and never returned home. What followed was one of colonial Victoria’s largest and yet most heartbreaking search efforts - a desperate hunt through thick bushland, involving hundreds of locals, diggers, police and First Nations trackers. Months later, one of the boy’s father would make the haunting discovery that shook the nation.
In this haunting episode of Down the Yarra, we revisit the story of William and Thomas Graham and Alfred Burman - the three lost children of Daylesford - and explore how their memory continues to echo through the region today.
Podcast and YouTube recommendations:
*ABC Rewind: The Lost Boys of Daylesford
*Untold Stories of Australia: The 3 Lost Children of Daylesford (YouTube)
Trigger Warning: This episode contains discussions of death of children and historical tragedies. Listeners discretion is advised.
Next time on Down the Yarra: Gippsland’s Forgotten Gold - the secrets of the east, buried under time and forest.

BGM_cracked Foundations: The King Street Bridge Collapse

On October 10, 1962, a sector Naatm - Melbourne’s brand new King Street Bridge Collapsed without warning, killing one young worker and shocking the public confidence in the CBD’s infrastructure. In this gripping episode of Down the Yarra, we uncover the ambition, shortcuts, and the systemic failures behind one of Naarm - Melbourne’s most shocking engineering disasters.
We explore how the collapse changed bridge design standards forever, the overlooked warnings leading up to the tragedy, and why thousands still drive across it today, unaware of the cracks once behind beneath their wheels.
Trigger Warning; This episode contains references to feral construction accidents, and structural collapse.
YouTube Recommdation: Watch Phillip Mallis’ video “The King Street Bridge Collapse” a visual breakdown of how it happened and why it matters.
Teaser: Next Episode - we head to 1867 Daylesford for a chilling colonial mystery of The Three Lost Children of Daylesford and the memorial walk that still bears their names.

BGM_Tinned Vision: Naarm -Melbourne’s SRL and the City Benefit

Victoria’s busiest transport project is burrowing through Naarm - Melbourne’s middle suburbs - but what’s the actual cost of the Suburban Rail Loop? In this speeding episode of Down the Yarra, we dive into its origins, promises, and the controversies of the SRL, from Cheltenham (well Southland) to Box Hill and beyond. We explore the homes and communities being uprooted, the eco-systems at risk, and the staggering and eye - watering price tag behind the orbital mega - project. Is it the future that Naarm - Melbourne’s needs - or just a flashy political dream?
Trigger Warning: this episode contains references on demolition of homes, community displacement, and environmental disruption related to major infrastructure projects.
Plus: A teaser on the infamous 1962 King Street Bridge Collapse in Naarm v- Melbourne’s CBD, and a YouTube video recommendation for City Mouse’s deep dive into the SRL.
Listen now and follow the River.

BGM_Goodbye Grease, Goodbye Clory: The End of This Borderland

After six years of flipping burgers pouring bottomless coffee, and serving up pure Americana in the heart of Presto, This Borderland - a beloved American style diner at 218 Tyler Street - is sayings goodbye saying it’s goodbye.
In this flipping good bonus episode of down the Yarra, we pay tribute to close friends’s passion, the community it built, the food will never forget, and the heartbreak of letting go. With all the neon warmth and late night comfort of the diner itself, this farewell hits deep.
Trigger warning : This episode contained discussions on small business closures, burnout, and as well as emotional grief tied to the end of creative projects. Discretion is advised.
Teaser : next week, we reveal the haunting mystery of the lost three children of Dalesford.

BGM_Down the Yarra Season 4 Trailer

Down the Yarra Returns Tuesday, July 29 with all new fresh episodes out every Tuesday on the Podbean app. This season, we explore the Suburban Rail Loop, the collapse of King Street Bridge in the CBD, Gippsland’s lost Gold, the rise of Crown, Pentridge’s prison past, Puffing Billy legacy - and much more. Plus, we’re building towards a massive milestone for Naarm - Melbourne this August.
Don’t forget to check out Season 2 now on your YouTube channel (Down the Yarra Podcast) - for all new episodes every Tuesday and Thursday also check out our socials as well.

BGM_Down the Yarra - Season 4 Teaser Trailer

Down the Yarra returns for Season 4 with two big changes - weekly episodes on Podbean and a new 15 -minute format. Join us as we uncover the secrets behind the Suburban Rail Loop, the King Street Bridge Collapse, the three lost children of Daylesford, Gippsland’s Forgotten Gold, the old Geelong Gaol, Naarm - Melbourne’s 190th birthday, and so much more. New episodes drop every Tuesday from July 29. Plus, don’t miss our Season 2 episodes now streaming on YouTube.