Lake Hattah, Victoria, June 2011

Sydney Trip June 2011

In recent days I have written about our short stay in the Hattah-Kulkyne National Park in north west Victoria earlier this year. This was on the last day of our holiday staying with family in Sydney.

We had lunch on the shore of Lake Hattah. This park, and the lake in particular, is one of our favourite places. We’ve had many wonderful weeks camping here. This included many hours canoeing the network of lakes which fill when the nearby River Murray is in flood. Sadly this area, and the catchment area for the river system has been in drought for many years. The lakes have suffered terribly as a result of this lack of water.

This is a Ramsar site – you can read some details on the photo of one of the signs near Lake Hattah. The managers of the national parks can do little about a drought, that I will grant. But to allow the lakes, camping grounds, picnic areas and other amenities to deteriorate like they are at present is a deplorable state of affairs. At best, I would describe it as environmental neglect. I could be really nasty and call it more like environmental vandalism. Lack of governmental funding is probably an element as well.

Sure – the whole region suffered during the drought, and the irrigators would have been demanding all the water they could get. But if we are to have sites like this listed as Ramsar sites – international agreements on environmental protection – then it has to backed up with action – not mere tokenism, posturing and hollow words.

Lake Hattah, Victoria, June 2011

Lake Hattah, Victoria, June 2011

Sydney Trip June 2011

On the last day of our trip home from Sydney in June this year, we stopped at Lake Hattah for lunch. We found a convenient log on which to sit and enjoyed a quiet, peaceful time. We reminisced about the many times we’d been camping here over the years. This area still holds a special place in the memories of our children too, now long since grown up.

We’ve also enjoyed many hours of canoeing on the system of lakes which fill from the nearby River Murray when it’s in flood. Sadly, the lakes have suffered over the last decade due to severe drought. Now they are once again full there is some hope for the future of this wonderful environment.

Lake Hattah, Victoria, June 2011

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

Narrandera, New South Wales

On the first day of our road trip to Sydney earlier this year we covered a lot of territory on the first day. We left home in Murray Bridge early in the morning , had morning tea at Lameroo, lunch at Ouyen and arrived in Narrandera in the dark for a late dinner. Along the way we didn’t stop much, only to change drivers or to grab a quick bite to eat.

As we drove I kept a lookout for birds, making short lists here and there, especially taking note of interesting birds. I’ve already written about some of these on my  Trevor’s Birding site. Instead of repeating that here, I’ve made some links back to that site:

• Australasian Grebe at Lameroo
• There were no Galahs at Galah
• Some birds seen in Ouyen
• Ouyen to Narrandera

It was a very tiring day of driving and we were pleased to have arrived at our motel in Narrandera. Even though this was near the intersection of two very busy highways,  the noise of trucks throughout the night couldn’t keep us awake.

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

Bendigo Bank building, Bendigo, Victoria

The city of Bendigo in central Victoria is a very historic city. It boasts many beautiful old buildings of the Victorian era of the nineteenth century.  Some of the more modern buildings make an interesting contrast with the old. One such building is the very modern Bendigo Bank building shown in the photo above.

While we were passing by alarm bells were coming from the building. No-one seemed terribly perturbed and the building didn’t seem to be in the process of being evacuated. I’m not sure exactly what was happening.

Bendigo Botanic Gardens

On my last visit to Bendigo I had a brief visit to the Bendigo Botanic Gardens. We had on previous occasions stopped here for either morning tea or lunch. Some years ago this was a very pleasant, well mantained park with a pleasing collection of native and exotic plants.

Bendigo Botanic Gardens - Swamp Wallaby enclosure

A feature of  the gardens was the large pond – a small lake really – filled regularly by the nearby Bendigo Creek. This lake was home to a wide range of native and introduced water birds, adding to the attractiveness of the park. On this visit however, the lake was completely dry, with no birds.

Centrally located were also several large aviaries containing a range of native and exotic birds. By stretching one’s imagination and generosity of spirit, one could consider calling this a very small zoo. A more accurate description would have been to call it a small fauna park.

Bendigo Botanic Gardens - Swamp Wallabies

On this latest visit I was very disappointed at the poor state of the whole gardens, and the deplorable state of the animal collection. Either you have animals and birds on display in an attractive way – or you have none at all. The sad, run-down condition of the wallaby enclosure spoke volumes. Whoever is in charge either has no interest in the display or no budget to improve things – probably both.

Bendigo Botanic Gardens - Bird aviary

The large ugly looking aviary in the photo above shows the cockatoo enclosure. It was once a monkey cage. at least that would be mildly interesting. The poor parrots in it were quite bored and most of the species represented could easily be seen outside in the natural environment by any amateur birder.

Bendigo Botanic Gardens - Bird aviary

To be fair to the local authorities, the region has been undergoing severe drought conditions over the last decade. The drastic water restrictions meant that the lake could not be filled, nor could the exgtensive lawns be watered much. Many of the exotic plants were showing signs of stress.

Bendigo Botanic Gardens - Sulphur-crested cockatoos

Since my visit the local city council has announced a total revamp, extension and upgrading of the botanic gardens. This is long overdue. The plans can be seen here.

Further reading:

• White Hills Botanic Gardens Bendigo – plenty of background information and photos of the gardens.
• A visit to Bendigo - article on my birding blog

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

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

Bendigo Post Office, Victoria

Bendigo is a beautiful regional city in a lovely rural setting in the central north of Victoria. It is situated about an hour and a half drive from Melbourne along a modern freeway.

Bendigo has a rich and colourful history, built initially on the gold mining which brought great wealth to the area. Now it is a regional centre, tourist destination and boats many beautiful old buildings of the Victorian era.

One of those beautiful buildings is the historic old Bendigo Post Office, shown in the photos on this page. For more details of this building click here.

Bendigo Post Office, Victoria

Bendigo Post Office, Victoria