A scenic journey through Western Victoria to South Australia.
After visiting family in Melbourne, we are pleased to get back out in country Victoria to continue our travels. We’d left our big rig, a nine-metre fifth wheeler, at the Bannockburn Member Stop Over Facility (near Geelong) to drive into the city in the LandCruiser – a very stressful 70-kilometre journey up the Princes Freeway that felt like a 500-kilometre trip to me!
From Melbourne to Glenrowan: Following Ned Kelly's Trail
With Melbourne behind us, we head north to Glenrowan, our base camp for a few days. The caravan park is a few kilometres out of town, almost opposite a cherry farm (in season you can pick your own cherries for $5 a kilogram). There’s lots of bushranger history at Glenrowan, a town famous as the site of the Kelly Gang’s last stand. There are basic services (a newsagency/post office, bakery and cafes) and it’s very quiet through the week, but the town comes alive on weekends. A must-see attraction is Kellyland Glenrowan, a theatrical reenactment of the siege using animatronics that have you on the edge of your seat. Kate’s Cottage museum is another excellent historical display, with documents, photos and artefacts from the Kelly Gang era.
Exploring Winton Wetlands and Warby-Ovens National Park
Other nearby points of interest are Warby-Ovens National Park and the magnificent Winton Wetlands. Here, the lagoons teem with birdlife – ducks, ibis, herons, egrets and swamp hens, while in the trees there are huge flocks of sulphur-crested cockatoos. The abundance of big old gums with lots of hollows obviously provides an excellent breeding ground for the cockies. Further attractions include a sculpture trail through the wetlands, wineries and the Black Dog Brewery.
