Heading North

On Friday last week we continued to head north after lunch.  Our destination for the day was Mick's doing.  Right from when we arranged to collect our van in Melbourne he announced he wanted to come home via the inland, primarily as the driving was easier for getting used to it all.  

As we headed along we noticed a rather large waterway to the right of the road on the map, so of course we had to make a detour and check it out.  We certainly had time.

Waranga Basin is rather picturesque, and like every other body of water we saw, was rather full.  See the sign at the end of the boat ramp....way out in the water.

As we left I saw this dirt road.  One of those roads you would like to explore.  I wonder where it goes?

Canola started to feature more as we headed into the flat country.  Those rain clouds were building again too.  We had showers on and off most of the day.

The next feature in the landscape was orchards.  This may give you an indication of our destination.

Mick had announced he wanted to visit Shepparton.  No particular reason, but that was good enough for us.

We knew very little about the area.  I had visited once on a holiday as a kid, toured the SPC Cannery and then, after Dad had enquired as to what happened to all the apricot kernels (they were canning apricots at the time) we toured another little factory that made "Perzipan", a product similar to marzipan. (Marzipan is made from almond kernels.) Not all that exciting as a kid. I don't remember anything else.

When I had looked at van parks on the net I had come across "Victoria Lake" near the centre of town and there was a park on its banks.  That was good enough for us.

That's us on the left.  A terrible place to camp don't you think.  Very pretty.

Fortunately, the weather held off for a while and we were able to go for a nice stroll around the lake shoreline in the early evening.  There were well established paths and gardens and loads of birds.

Enjoy some eye candy,

There was even one man fishing off the jetty.

We met quite a lot of people enjoying the surrounds, and the fact that it wasn't raining.

We had fun spotting birds.

Firstly, a flock of corellas took off overhead.  They always seem to signify the south west  area to us.

Naturally, there were plenty of ducks.

A kookaburra kept an eye on us for a while.

There were a few pelicans looking rather settled.

We kept hearing a rather loud bird chirping away.  We knew where it was hiding in the dense bushes and long reeds, but just couldn't get to see it.  Finally, we caught a glimpse.  A local saw us looking for it and informed us that it was a reed warbler.  We hadn't brought our bird book along for the ride, so were pleased to have it identified.  The bird book, certainly will get added to the packing list.

The local we had talked to told us that the Lake area had been spruced up by the council about ten years ago.  Prior to that it was just a wasteland.  They certainly have done a marvelous job and created a delightful place to visit.

By then the daylight was fading, so time to return to our home away for home and prepare dinner.

It was nice to see a sunset, rather than rain.........however it rained quite a lot during the night.  Fancy that.

The following morning was a bit showery, but I was surprised that there were no early walkers or joggers going past.  That all changed at about 8 o'clock.  The Lake is the venue for Park Run.  Lots of people took part.  It is rather a lovely setting for the weekly event.

I'm not sure what else Shepparton has to offer, as we didn't really do much exploring.  It was just nice to wander around the lake.  It certainly is a large regional centre and, like all the places we had visited so far, worth a better look when we have more time.......one day.

Where to next?  We'll soon see.