World’s largest river red gum forest

Our hostess, Louise, stopped us for a chat as we were leaving.  We had plenty of time and enjoyed discovering a little about life in Echuca and how Louise had ended up living there.  We took her advice and had breakfast at the Watson Street Pavilion with its lovely views over the houseboats moored in the Murray.

Retracing our route across the bridge to Moama, we took a quiet road out of town passing caravan parks located on the banks of the river.  A number of roads led into the Murray Valley Regional Park but we stayed on the main gravel road.  At one junction, a guy raced past on a motorcycle, only to return to warn us that there was a large red belly black snake on the side of the road.  Fortunately, it had moved on by the time we passed its location. 

It was lunchtime when we reached Barmah and we found a lovely spot on the river with the requisite shade and seat.  Nearby was the old punt that served the township for 37 years until it was decommissioned in 1966 with the opening of the bridge.  Barmah is the only Victorian town located north of the Murray River. It is also the location of the Barmah Choke, one of three locations where the Murray River narrows, creating significant water delivery constraints, potential flooding and bank erosion.  

Once we had checked into the nearby caravan park, we cycled the 7kms to the Barmah National Park, which together with the adjoining Murray Valley Regional Park and National Parks in NSW, forms the largest Red River Gum forest in the world.  We could only imagine how it would look in the wet season as we followed the red arrows of Lake Loop track.

Home to the Bangerang people of the Yorta Yorta Nation, it is renowned for its towering River Red Gum trees, some of which are over 500 years old.  The most intact freshwater floodplain system along the Murray, the forest relies on the seasonal flooding of the river and is a breeding habitat for waterbirds.

Reaching the wetlands of the Barmah Lakes, we took the track along the foreshore to Broken Creek. As I turned onto the main road out of the park, a police car stopped and the young policeman asked how I liked the area.  As we chatted, he mentioned that the muster was in town which would give us something to do over the weekend.

After showering we walked the short distance to the nearby pub for a beer before returning for our leftover pasta dinner. 

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