Happily, I can report that the weather today was not as bad as forecast. There was some rain early in the morning but most of the day was just cloudy with only a light shower now and then. We had expected rain to fall for most of the day.
Using Google to find local attractions, we identified Byramine Homestead and Brewery as a nearby place to visit. It is an historical homestead built-in 1842 by the famous explorer Hamilton Hume. Classified by the National Trust ‘to be preserved at all costs’, because of its unique design and its local significance. Byramine Station was established by Elizabeth Hume (sister-in-law of Hamilton Hume) who trecked overland from Gunning, New South Wales, with her family in 1842. She was pregnanat with her ninth child when her huispand was murdered.
The homestead was erected from plans prepared by an English architect for use in India and is constructed from local bricks and pine from the nearby forests. It is planned around a large central hall with octagon shaped principal rooms and is totally encircled by a verandah. The central octagonal hall formed a defensive fortress in case of attack. It has survived almost completely intact since it was orignally constructed.
After tasting one of their beers and some cider, we drove on to the nearby twin towns of Yarrawonga and Mulwala.
Yarrawonga is Aboriginal, meaning ‘cormorant’s nesting place,’where the cormorant builds’ or ‘yarra’ meaning ‘waterfalls,’ and ‘wonga’ meaning ‘pigeon. It is believed the Mulla Walla people occupied the area before the first white settlers arrived in 1842.
Yarrawonga was founded as a village in 1868, with a Post Office being opened in 1874 and a courthouse the very same year. It was connected by rail to Melbourne in 1886. Yarrawonga was proclaimed a shire in 1891.
A quick look for local atractions on Google Maps highlighted a boardwalk over Lake Mulwala a few kilometers away. It provided an intersting walk across the lake but is really a part of the local bicycle trail rather than a tourist location in its own right. There is no real parking but it was relatively easy to pull off onto the side of the road. It would be a great place for ‘twitchers’ with lots of bird life around the trees that have died from being flooded in then lake.
We saw a place named “Boomanoomoona” and decided that as the location with the longest single-word place name near Victoria, it needed a visit. Its name is derived from a traditional Indigenous word translated as “thunder rolling over the hills”. Although it once had a small town with its own school, church and post office, it is now a mere collection of a few houses on the bend of a road.
The Boomanoomana Run (commonly known as Boomanoomana Station) was a massive, historic pastoral lease established in the early-to-mid 1800s along the Murray River. The property was first explored by Europeans in 1838 when Charles Sturt passed through. It was initially settled by a Colonel Henry Gwynne.
In 1863, a prominent pastoralist and politician, William Hay, acquired the property, which then spanned a massive 80,000 acres (325 square kilometers). Hay transformed the heavily wooded country into a premier merino sheep station, building a grand homestead that remains a significant local historical landmark. During the late 19th century, the station operated its own wharf along the Murray River. Paddlesteamers would dock there to load wool onto barges bound for Echuca, where it was transferred to Melbourne by rail. Parts of the run were broken up to form smaller settlements and agricultural farming starting in the late 1870s and 1890s. This led to the birth of neighboring towns like Barooga.
In Barooga, we made a short diversion to see Quicks Beach – a popular, free riverside camping and recreation area located on the Murray River It features a large, sandy inland beach that rolls directly down into the river water, making it a highly popular spot for swimming, fishing, and paddling.
Compared to major rivers such as the Mississippi or the Mekong, the Murray River is a piddly little stream. However, it and its network of tributories drain aroiund 14% of the land mass of this dry and partly arid continent.
Near the beach are the remains of an old cattle yard. These were used in the 1970s by a grazier who ran cattle in the forest along the banks of the river. This activity had to stop when the area was later proclaimed as a National Park.
Back in Cobram, we explored some of tthe local streets so see the growing collection of public street art that celebrates the town’s natural beauty, local wildlife, and history.
The toilet block in Mivo Park Toilet has a series of murals by Jimmy D’Vate that wrap around the entire structure. Like his work on some of the painted silos in Victoria, these works feature incredibly detailed, photorealistic depictions of the region’s native wildlife, including a koala, a rainbow bee-eater, local river scenery, and native flora.
By the Grand Central Hotel, a large, colorful piece of art features a vibrant sulphur-crested cockatoo and an eastern rosella.
At another site, an old shipping container provides the canvas for a moving tribute honoring Australia’s service men and women. The historic military theme features soldiers, vehicles, and symbolic red poppies.
Jill’s eagle eye spotted a silhouette of a soldier in the ‘Reversed Arms’ position on top of the disused grain silo in the centre of town. We wondered what its purpose may be – it would be ideal place for sounding the Last Post on a bugle at dawn on Anzac Day. We later saw something telling us that a piper plays the bagpipes from the top of the silo on Anzac Day. That would certainly make the hair on the back of my neck stand up!
Hi Bruce, I really like those old Australian homestead buildings with the four sided verandah -is really ideal for The Australian environment.
A must say I would prefer carpet inside! But I guess that was not an option at the time.
Cheers John B