Spring 2017
Silly us, we thought that it would be nice to walk around the Winton Wetlands and pictured short boardwalks around a small swamp. We parked our cars and realised our mistake when we saw the enormity of the swamp system. It is 8750 hectares in area and we certainly weren’t up to a 9 or 15km walk on a seriously hot day. Instead we had a coffee in the café, admired the view and at the advice of staff equipped ourselves with a map and took off down Boggy Bridge Road. At the sight of the painted Fish Trees we just had to stop and marvel at the illusion that had been created on a row of long dead trees now colourfully brought to life. A right turn and we were in Greens Hill camp ground a perfect spot for tent camping and worthy of an overnight stay just to try out the swinging fire pit. A little further on and we found sensitive murals painted on a CFA Tank and Ashmead’s Swamp Art Gallery of painted trees.
A few minutes up the road and a world away we were in Glenrowan tasting wines and buying locally grown cherries straight from the farm. One day, when it’s not so hot we’ll return to the Wetlands to see more, much more.
Where is it? Just to the west of the Hume Highway between Benalla and Glenrowan in North East Victoria. Regular travellers on the Hume Highway would know it as Lake Mokoan, once a reservoir but now it is a refuge for wildlife and a delightful repository for art.
itchingforhitching 
What a fabulous place to visit!
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We’re kicking ourselves for having driven past so many times thinking there was nothing to see there.
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Some people come up with wonderful ideas don’t they?
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Apparently it was inefficient as a reservoir. It seems that its new role will be better for the environment anyway.
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Reminds me of Fogg Dam, a failure as a rice farm but a rich wetlands.
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Where’s Fogg Dam?
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45 mins out of Darwin, a great place to see birdlife and maybe some crocs. You can read about it here http://www.foggdamfriends.org/fogg-dam/fogg-dam/
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Great thank you.
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Will you please stop talking about the heat, and fresh cherries and so on? It’s upsetting to us freezing Brits 😉 ? Seriously, this looks a wonderful place, inspiring and imaginative. Now just get out there and do a 15 km walk so you can explore every inch!
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So sorry (not) but can you believe that I’m baking Christmas biscuits with the blinds drawn and the aircon blasting. To us nothing feels more like Chrissie than when it is hot damned hot and we can all lay around and say “Aw this is a hot one!”.
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Must check it out next time we pass through. Looks great
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Well worth it and a delightful view from the cafe too.
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What a delightful open air art and nature gallery. Finding these unexpected discoveries is what travel is all about.
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Indeed it is.
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You are seeing the most interesting things and having grand adventures!
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As the saying goes ‘Adventure before Dementia’
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what a saying! But yes live in the moment for sure
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Even a little walk in that area on such a lovely day would make me feel so happy.
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