In the Elwood Canal, deep in the wilds of Melbourne’s inner southern suburbs, lives a rat, but not just any old rat.
If you see one dive into the water, don’t worry – it knows what it’s doing.
The Australian native rakali, or water rat, has partially webbed hind legs and waterproof fur that makes it a strong swimmer.
Jeannie Marsh and her singing group, the Elwood Community Choir, reckon it’s a rodent worth celebrating, and so they wrote a song called the Rakali Hop.
Amused locals have recently spotted the choir, beside the canal, singing the 1950s-style rock and roll tune with words and actions about tidying your whiskers, scratching yourself, farewelling your babies and diving into the water to hunt for fish.
“Dive right in, do the Rakali, Hop right in, do the Rakali…” goes the chorus.
Jeannie Marsh, front, and the Elwood Community Choir sing and dance a piece about the rakali, or native water rat, beside Elwood Canal.Credit:Luis Enrique Ascui
The canal’s Foam Street bridge is one of 12 stops in a new, free 6.8-kilometre self-guided Elwood Singing Walking Trail, which starts at Poets Garden behind Elwood + St Kilda Neighbourhood Learning Centre on Tennyson Street.
When you scan the QR codes on signs along the trail, the lyrics appear on your smartphone inviting you to can sing along with the recorded choir.
At one stop, in a park on Mitford Street, the Yiddish love song Tumbalalaika is a nod to the post-war migrants who settled in surrounding apartments.
At Robinson Reserve in Barkly Street, once the site of a quarantine station, there are two songs to sing: The Wark o’ the Weavers, a Scottish folk song in tribute to Scottish weaver John Craig, a migrant on the ship Glen Huntly who died of fever here in 1840, and also a hymn that was recited at Craig’s burial.
Passerby Samantha Taplin, of Elwood, dances as Elwood Community Choir sings at the Elwood Singing Walking Trail stop 6 near Point Ormond and the beach, with Melbourne CBD in the background.Credit:Luis Enrique Ascui
In the picnic area behind Elwood Sailing Club, the song Nerm, written by Marsh, tells how this area, known as Nerm, was a thriving wetlands and hunting ground for First Nations people.
Other songs on the trail include the Depression-era-style ditty Carry On near the site of a now-demolished dance hall; a song about Elwood Sourdough Bakery (In Toast We Trust), and several pieces set at Elwood beach.
The trail idea came from Marsh’s 2018 trip to Koenigsbronn, Germany, where she stumbled on a Singender Wanderweg (singing trail), featuring folk song lyrics and sheet music pinned up at scenic sites.
Last year, during COVID-19 lockdowns, Marsh thought creating an Elwood trail would enable her choir members to practice outdoors, and it would entertain the public.
Jeannie Marsh at the front of the Elwood Community Choir as it sings at Robinson Reserve; stop 5 on th trail and once the site of a quarantine station, abattoir and rifle range.Credit:Luis Enrique Ascui
She said people who don’t like to sing in public can just listen, or read the information, on their phones.
They don’t have to do all 12 stops. “Somebody might decide: ‘I like Tumbalalaika. I’m going to sit at song site number 2 in the park with my dog and play that song over and over because I love it’,” she said.
Marsh hopes the trail makes people laugh or gives them “a sense of connection and respect for this rather special part of the world”.
”I hope they enjoy the activity of singing together and that they’re proud to show the place off to friends from other parts of the world,” she adds.
Elwood resident Kate Drinnan smiled when she saw the choir perform Rakali Hop, saying it lifted her mood.
One of the Elwood Singing Walking Trail logos by graphic designer Consuelo Fernandez-Ortiz from Be Marsupial.
“I think it’s beautiful,” Drinnan said.
The Elwood Singing Walking Trail is accessible any time via QR codes on-site or at esnlc.com.au/elwood-singing-walking-trail
Elwood Community Choir will host Sunday Strolls, which the public can join, on the second Sunday morning of each month from January to May; details at esnlc.com.au/elwood-singing-walking-trail-news-and-events
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