Historic sights in Victoria
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Tower Hill Reserve Visitors Centre
Tower Hill, 15km west of Warrnambool, is a vast caldera born in a volcanic eruption 30, 000 years ago. Aboriginal artefacts unearthed in the volcanic ash show that indigenous people lived in the area at the time. It’s jointly administered by the Worn Gundidj Aboriginal Cooperative, which operates the visitors centre with Parks Victoria. There are excellent day walks, including the steep 30-minute Peak Climb with spectacular 360-degree views. There’s a fascinating painting in the Warrnambool Art Gallery by Eugene von Guérard of Tower Hill painted in 1855. After a century of deforestation and environmental degradation, this incredibly detailed painting was used to…
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Whroo Visitors Centre
South of Rushworth is Whroo Historic Reserve (pronounced ‘Roo’), an old gold-mining ghost town with relics aplenty: old mine shafts, cyanide vats (used for separating the gold from quartz), puddling machines, and the Balaclava open-cut mine – walk through the tunnel. Whroo visitors centre has a café and a newly produced DVD and history book for sale; see the area as it was and trace the local history. The town once had over 130 buildings, but the ironbarks have reclaimed much of it. There are walking tracks and signed nature trails twisting through the scrub, and the evocative cemetery nearby on Spring Hill. Headstone inscriptions indicate that life was hard for…
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Historic Port
The most wonderful thing about Echuca is its Historic Port. Attractions are spread along the waterfront, and you buy a passport at the entrance that admits you to the three main sections: Echuca Wharf, the Star Hotel and the Bridge Hotel. Everything is original – you’re exploring living history as you walk along the pedestrian-only Murray Esplanade. Complimentary (and very entertaining) guided tours with Buster and Rocky the cocky set out from the gift shop.
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Old Psyche Bend Pump Station
The Old Psyche Bend Pump Station is where Chaffey set up his system to supply irrigation and drainage over 115 years ago. The system is still used, except the pumps are electric now and placed a bit further up the river. You can walk around the old centrifugal pumps and Chaffey’s triple-expansion steam-engine pump. The old pumps run on special occasions; ask at the visitors centre.
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