It winds for 240km from its source in the mountains to the coast, emptying in Port Phillip Bay. “The river has always been vital to the city, not just as its major natural feature, but also in early settlement days as its gateway to the rest of the world,” writes DK Eyewitness Travel Australia guidebook. Today the river is also used for sport: “rowers in training are a daily sight and cycle trails run along much of the river.”