A short stay in Traralgon, Victoria
Our cabin in Traralgon, Victoria
Our holiday in Victoria
September 2007
Yesterday I wrote about our long – and cold – journey from Canberra. Our destination was fuzzy – we planned to get as close to Melbourne as possible. As the sun was setting we pulled into a caravan park in Traralgon, several hours east of Melbourne. The photo above shows the cabin we stayed in for the night. It was one of the best we had encountered on our holiday, certainly far superior to the one we had in Queanbeyan near Canberra (see “A poor choice of accommodation“).
It was very interesting travelling along the south coast of eastern Victoria. This was a first for both of us as we had never gone far east from Melbourne on previous holidays. We travelled past many interesting places, including a number of National Parks well worth investigating. Another trip dedicated to this part of Victoria alone would be very worthwhile. I would avoid the high trourist season of summer. The fact that there happens to be more than a dozen caravan parks plus numerous motels, hotels and B & Bs in Lakes Entrance is a sure indication that this is a popular summer destination.
Another spot I’d love to visit is Wilson’s Promontory National Park which is quite beautiful I believe. We saw the signs but had to drive on. The same applies to Phillip Island where there is bridge access for cars. We will see it one day – sooner rather than later I hope.
Travelling from Lameroo to Balranald
Balranald Caravan Park, NSW
On the first day of our 2007 holiday in New South Wales and Victoria we travelled from home in Murray Bridge, South Australia, through to Lameroo where we had a picnic lunch. After lunch we travelled on into Victoria. We drove through the small towns of Murrayville, Underbool, Ouyen and Manangatang, where we stopped briefly to refuel. Several times we stopped on the side of the road for my wife to take photos of native plants flowering. I took the opportunity during these short breaks to take a short walk and to observe the birds along the way.
At Tooleybuc we crossed a very narrow bridge over the Murray River. This bridge allowed only one vehicle at a time to cross. Fortunately the town is rather small and the traffic is never heavy, so it would be rare to have to wait more than half a minute for the bridge to clear. Crossing the river meant we were now in the state of New South Wales. That meant we had been in three states of Australia in about three hours.
We pressed on towards our destination for the night. Originally I had planned to reach Hay by sunset, but our late start in the morning meant we would be about a hundred kilometres short of there. We settled for a cabin in the caravan park of the small river town of Balranald. This park is right next to a busy interstate highway. The heavy trucks roaring past all night were a little disturbing, far noisier than what we are used to at home. Despite that we managed a reasonable night’s sleep.
One disturbing sight just before reaching Balranald was a dead kangaroo on one side of the road and a dead Wedge-tailed Eagle on the other. This is the largest of our birds of prey and a magnificent bird to see soaring on high. This unfortunate bird must have been feeding on the carcass of the kangaroo and hadn’t flown away in time to avoid being hit.
Historic mural, Ouyen, Victoria
Historic mural, Ouyen, NW Victoria
Several years ago we had a short holiday in Victoria and New South Wales. Our main objective was to take my mother-in-law to her sister’s funeral in Parkes. On the first day of our trip we stopped for lunch in the small mallee town of Ouyen in north west Victoria. This town is a service centre for a wide area of wheat and sheep farming in this district. It was beginning to decline but has had a boost in recent years due to tourism.
Historic mural, Ouyen, NW Victoria
We were fascinated by the mural painted on the side of one of the buildings in the town centre. This mural pictorially depicted the history, growth, development and industries of the town and the surrounding district. It also featured some of the wonderful flora and fauna found there.
Historic mural, Ouyen, NW Victoria
The mural tells of the struggles of the early settlers in this harsh environment as they attempted to make a living from the land. Early forms of transport are shown along with farming equipment and buildings. One scene depicts a steam train unloading water into an open drain. This water would probably have come from the River Murray some distance away. There are no natural river courses near Ouyen and water would have been essential for the farms to develop, as well as for the farm animals. The evaporation from the drains was enormous – probably as much as 90% in summer, so desperately needed pipelines were later installed.
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