owlane David Whitley explores the Murray River region on a slow-paced self-drive


DESTINATIONS MURRAY RIVER | AUSTRASIA


i travelweekly.co.uk


t doesn’t take long driving along the ‘mighty’ Murray River to realise that it is more than just Australia’s longest river. As it snakes its way from the Australian Alps, creating most of the border between the states of New South Wales and Victoria, it gives life to a vast network of farmland and vineyards. Humans have used the Murray


River to transform the land around it, shaping Australia’s industry and agriculture in the process. It should come as no surprise, therefore, that a road trip that starts out being about nature ends up packing in an awful lot of heritage, too.


MELBOURNE TO ALBURY How far: 202 miles See: Getting to the source of the Murray is nigh-on impossible without an expeditionary crew and a helicopter pilot willing to fly into deep mountain wilderness. But once out of the Australian


Alps, the twin cities of Albury and Wodonga are the first major settlements along the path. On the way from Melbourne,


there are a couple of interesting detours. The King Valley is home to several excellent wineries – Brown Brothers being the most famous – that are open for tastings and often lavish lunches. Meanwhile, Glenrowan is home to several little museums about Ned Kelly, Australia’s most notorious bushranger, and some handsome 19th-century architecture. Just outside Albury, near the base of the Hume Dam, is an unexpectedly moving site. Bonegilla Migrant Reception and Training Centre was where more than 300,000 European migrants were sent when they arrived after the Second World War. Some of the old shacks host displays on what life was like in the camps, the prejudices immigrants faced and their impact on the country.²


2 JANUARY 2020


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