Barwon Heads, Victoria

We enjoyed a short getaway to Barwon Heads, Victoria. We headed off a couple of nights before we met up with our son and his family at the caravan park.

Our first stop is Winchelsea. It's a charming spot with significant history in Victoria's Western District, featuring old buildings, scenic walks, and strong ties to early European settlement and military service. 

We find a spot in the free camp set in the banks of the Barwon River. One of the iconic river systems in Victoria, the Barwon begins in the Otway Ranges and flows through the heart of Geelong on its 160-kilometre journey to meet the sea at Barwon Heads, where we will be camping.

From here we go for a walk to explore.

During the 1860s and 1870s a number of enduring private and public structures were built: the stone arch bridge over the Barwon River (1867), the shire offices (1867), the Presbyterian church (1870), Austin’s Barwon Park mansion (1871), a Temperance Hall (1876) and the railway line from Geelong (1876).

The next day we have a look at the nearby lake.

It’s only a 20km drive to Tanners free camp in the Otway State Forest. It’s a nicely set out camp with lots of fire pits and individual spots. It’s very popular due to its location being close to the coast, only 25km from Torquay.

The area also provides plenty of trails for 4 wheel driving, dirt bikes and walks.

After a quiet night we explore a few spots along the beautiful coastline around Bells Beach and Torquay.

Then we settled in the caravan park. Our spot was down the end, not too crowded and had the feel of a bush camp. From here we could walk anywhere we wanted to go…into town, the beach, around the bluff or fishing off the jetty. 

We had a pleasant stay and spending time with family.

Murchison Victoria

On Tuesday morning we drove through the rich agriculture area that forms part of the Heathcote Wine Region, thanks to Mount Camel's red volcanic soil that is ideal for grape production. 

The small township of Colbinabbin is renowned for its railway history, as the Colbinabbin Station became a major wheat handling terminal around 1914.

It took a dedicated crew of 60 workers to lay one mile of railway per week, and eventually, the line was extended to the current site of the silos.

We pulled in at the rest stop to admire the Silo Art - a series of outstanding works across six silos painted by renowned Victorian artist Tim Bowtell. Completed in 2020 they that tell the story of the town’s history. We read some great stories on the panels provided. 

The silos are still in use today

A bit further 20km east we drove into Rushworth (also visited in 2021). 

It is one of Victoria's iconic gold rush towns, established during the height of the gold rush in 1853. During the 1870s, the district moved from mining to timber resulting in sawmills flourishing in the area until around the 1940s, as it is nestled amid the world’s largest Box Ironbark forest.

The town has retained much of its original character with a very well-preserved main street of heritage buildings classified by the National Trust, including the Criterion Hotel, St Paul's Anglican Church and the many shopfronts of High Street. 

We had a look around. 

Not having had breakfast yet, we couldn’t walk past the bakery without buying a pie and cake… they were delicious.

On our way out we spotted the Waranga Basin which offers fishing and water sports. It was completed in 1908 and at the time, it was one of the largest projects of its kind in the world. The basin is filled by water diverted from the Goulburn River through canals. We pass over a couple along our way, which appear quite full.

Another 20km east we arrived in Murchison, situated on the banks of the Goulburn River. During the late 1800’s the town grew with the establishment of a punt to facilitate the gold rush and then with the arrival of paddle steamers and the building of a bridge. Unfortunately its decline came shortly after the development of the irrigation and weir causing the drop in the river water levels.

The Murchison Meteorite shower which fell over the township in 1969 was world known. They have been found to contain the oldest materials known to have reached earth samples containing 90 different amino acids, only 19 of which are found on earth.

We decided to find a spot along the Goulburn River just north of town situated below the sports oval. It’s a bit of a rough track but we take our time and managed to get level with views of the river flowing past us. It’s not as inviting as the Upper Goulburn River camps near Jamieson, but it will do for tonight. 

The next morning we were homeward bound, ending our 9 day, 590km getaway.