EXCEED APRIL 2017 | Page 17

TRIP REPORT
We picked up River Road which then joined Sandridge Road. We stopped and wandered through the old mustering
yards near the Dharnya Cultural Centre. These were quite an impressive piece of construction from a long past era
when they had cattle roaming free in the forest and mustering was how they sorted and culled the herds. They would
round them up and cut and draft them in the yards - all post and rail from local red gum. (If you’re interested the
annual muster (read B&S) will be held here 28 – 30 April).
From the muster yards we went into Hut Lake a few km further down the track and on the way in saw a mob of
brumbies, about 25 – 30 horses. In great condition with a few stallions keeping an eye on their mob. The lake was
low, as one would expect for this time of year, but there were still quite a few birds visiting. This was also considered
as an alternative campsite.
Leaving Hut Lake we backtracked to Trickey’s Lane which then took us back to the Barmah Rd which we then picked
up and travelled via Picola and down to Nathalia where we stopped for lunch. After lunch we went to the Visitor’s
Centre to learn about the industries of the River Red Gum forests – lots of sleepers (wood cutting & saw milling - 2),
cattle grazing & mustering, bee keeping & leech collecting. The Barmah forests are the largest continuous red gum
forest in the world.
The trip was closed here with some opting to quickly head for home. Graham split from us at Shepparton and
went on to do some shopping at SPC before heading home. The rest of us travelled south together but became
fragmented with the heavy traffic build up on the Hume as we got closer to the city.
EPILOGUE
These areas along the Murray near Echuca offer great attraction, particularly being just a couple of hours out of
Melbourne. We had a great group and I believe everyone had an enjoyable-+ time, and as poets, we had a lot of fun
also. Consider a trip up there the next time a three day weekend comes up. Plenty of camp sites, great tracks and
lots to see and do.
Ron Reed (963)
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Vol 34 No. 3 - April 2017