Wildflowers, Hattah-Kulkyne National Park
Wildflowers, Hattah-Kulkyne National Park, Victoria
Sydney Trip June 2010
On our wanderings through Hattah-Kulkyne National Park I not only had my head held up looking for birds to photograph, I also looked around on the ground – well, below eye level, anyway – for any bushes and trees in flower. My wife spotted this beautiful example of an Atriplex plant (we’re not sure which species), a member of the saltbush family of plants.
It’s a very attractive plant, I’m sure you’ll agree.
Wildflowers, Hattah-Kulkyne National Park, Victoria
Hattah-Kulkyne National Park
Hattah-Kulkyne National Park, Victoria
Sydney Trip June 2010
On the last day of our trip home from visiting family in Sydney earlier this year we planned to spend a few hours in one of our favourite places – Hattah-Kulkyne National Park. This park is south of Mildura in far north west Victoria. The park has two predominant habitats: eucalypt mallee scrubland and large eucalypt riverine vegetation around the creeks, river and lakes. The park contains over a dozen ephemeral lakes which fill when the nearby River Murray is full, or in flood. In recent decades the lakes have been artificially allowed to fill.
On this visit we came in from the Mildura, or northern, end. We left the Calder Highway and followed the route of the old highway through the mallee section of the park (see photo above). When a section looked promising for birding, we stopped for morning tea and a spot of birding. (Go to Trevor’s Birding for details.)
Hattah-Kulkyne National Park, Victoria
Happy Birthday to my blog
Ama Dablam, Nepal
This blog about my travels is now four years old.
I started this blog exactly four years ago in the dining room of my son in Sydney. He had just set up the domain name and busily went about teaching me how to blog. He was a good teacher for I was soon off and away with blog entries. And I haven’t let up in the intervening years. I try to post every day but during the last two years I have also been trying to complete my Master of Arts in Creative Writing which has impacted on how frequently I have been able to write articles here. I’m also in the last stages of completing the writing of a novel for children as part of those studies. It has all taken a lot of my time.
During the life of this blog I have written about many places, including a visit to Thailand and trekking in Nepal. By far the majority of the nearly 600 articles are as a result of travelling here in Australia, including New South Wales, Victoria, Australian Capital Territory and my home state of South Australia of course.
I’d like to thank all my many regular readers, those who have occasionally dipped into various pages and especially those who have taken the trouble to leave comments. I value you all – you people make this blog a worthwhile endeavour.
A special thanks to my son Sim’ who looks after the background administration of this and my other blogs, keeping them ticking over nicely.
Mt Lofty Botanic Gardens
Sacred Heart Cathedral, Bendigo, Victoria
Sacred Heart Cathedral, Bendigo, Victoria
The most prominent building in a city of beautiful architecture would have to be Sacred Heart Cathedral in the heart of Bendigo, Victoria, about an hour and a half drive from Melbourne.
This magnificent building was commenced in the 1890s and was officially opened in 1901. Built in the midst of a depression – to give out of work miners an income – it is a lasting and glorious testament to the vision of the early settlers of this lovely city. While the official opening may have been in 1901, work continued on the building for the next 100 years.
While I didn’t enter the cathedral on this visit I did so some years ago. It is an unforgettable experience in a land where there are few grand structures on this scale.
You can read a great deal more information about the cathedral here.
Sacred Heart Cathedral, Bendigo, Victoria
Sacred Heart Cathedral, Bendigo, Victoria
Sacred Heart Cathedral, Bendigo, Victoria
The Hotel Shamrock, Bendigo, Victoria
Hotel Shamrock, Bendigo, Victoria
Another of the wonderful historic buildings in the regional city of Bendigo is the Hotel Shamrock, pictured on this page. This city bristles with beautiful old buildings like this one. I haven’t ever stayed in this hotel, in fact, I haven’t even been inside it.
If the interior is as beautiful as the outside, it is sure to be magnificent.
Bendigo is about an hour and a half car trip from Melbourne, along a fine modern freeway.
Hotel Shamrock, Bendigo, Victoria