Historical Walking Trails
In Wodonga you can walk along the Wiradjuri Walking Track to learn about the ancient history and the at-one-with-nature lifestyle of the Wiradjuri people who lived along the Murray.
Follow the self-guided Chaffey Trail in Mildura and learn about how the Canadian Chaffey Brothers, from small beginnings in 1887, developed the mallee country through irrigation around the Murray, and how from their work sprung viticulture, agriculture and the extensive dry-fruit industry of today.
Museums
At Yarrawonga you’ll find the National Trust-listed Byramine Homestead, built for Elizabeth Hume, sister-in-law of explorer Hamilton Hume. The area around Yarrawonga was rife with bushrangers like the notorious Harry Power. See some of the bushranger artefacts, including Ned Kelley’s teapot, at the Yarrawonga Mulwala Pioneer Museum.
Swan Hill has a first-rate Pioneer Settlement Museum, which has more than 20,000 items relating to life in a river town. It’s collection includes the river vessels PS Pyap which served as a floating shop and the luxury PS Gem. The museum also boasts a large collection of steam engines and an all-steam workshop.
More recent history is on display with a WW II communications bunker turned into a Flying Boat Museum at Lake Boga – the lake served as a wartime flying-boat repair base. The museum has a collection of memorabilia and a theatrette shows authentic war footage. A Catalina flying boat is on display. At Holbrook in the local park there’s a fuselage of an Otway-class submarine and a model of the submarine used by Commander Holbrook, VC, during World War I.
Paddlesteamer
At Echuca, you could ride on the worlds oldest wooden hulled Paddlesteamer; PS Adelaide, dating back to 1866, it certainly is a living jewel of the paddle-steamer era. Echuca was the boisterous colourful hub of the riverboat trade which opened up inland Australia from the 1860’s-1900. At the peak of this era in 1872, more than 240 paddlesteamers were cleared through the Port of Echuca. The massive redgum wharf, once 1.2kilometres in length, the buildings, rail lines and many of the boats, have been faithfully restored or preserved,
Aboriginal History
The history of the Aboriginal people is the history of humanity itself. Evidence of a society dating back 40,000 years, can be seen at the World Heritage Mungo and Willandra Lakes National Park, reached from Mildura or Wentworth.
Historical Architecture
Visit Wentworth for its historic buildings like the 1870s Anglican and St Xavier’s churches, the Customs officer’s house, as well the first Australian-designed gaol.
