Mooving Art

As we stopped at the bakery for lunch supplies, one of the customers asked where we were headed. He lived in Maroopna and gave us some advice on the best roads as well as asking us if we were taking Kirwans bridge.  We confirmed that was our intended route.  

Heading out of town, we were still in horse country as the road offered views of the expansive lake system. As we approached the bridge there was an ominous road closed sign.  We continued on, confident that the friendly local would have advised us to take an alternate route if the bridge was not passable.

Sure enough, it was open to pedestrians but we were not brave enough to cycle, given the gaps between the wooden planks.  Another friendly local chatted to me as I pushed the bike, advising that the bridge had been closed for years.  Funding had recently been approved to repair the bridge but she felt that nothing would happen for years.  As it is only a 10 minute detour by car no one seems to be too bothered about its continued closure. At 300 metres long it is the longest timber bridge in Victoria and was closed after being damaged by floods in 2022.

We turned onto River Road with its river glimpses and made good time along the quiet, sealed back roads.  It was clear that the Goulburn Weir supports a major irrigation network given the number of canals we crossed. 

The Murchison Bakery provided a timely morning tea spot and we recalled the last time we had visited with Julie and Andrew back in 2023.  We revisited the park with its collection of cows, part of the Mooving Art trail.  There are over 90 life-sized cows scattered across Shepparton and the Goulburn Valley, initially created to increase the profile of the local dairy industry which produces a large percentage of Australia’s dairy exports.

As we continued on long, flat roads, I amused myself by spotting interesting mailboxes. We took a five km detour for lunch in the park at Toolamba, with its motto, “Little Town – Big Heart”.  The park was very pleasant with two colourful cows to keep us company.

Back on the main road, we passed Norbert, a bright yellow dragon created in 2017 as a holiday art project by a local family based on the dragon from Harry Potter.  

Maroopna, known as Fruit Salad City due to its surrounding orchards, had its share of cows and we took the bike path through to Shepparton emerging at Monash Park and its veritable herd of cows.  

After passing Daisey, the cow that jumped over the moon, we continued onto Coles to stock up for the next two days and then treated ourselves to a gelato before heading on to our Airbnb in East Shepparton.  This turned out to be one of the nicest Airbnbs we have stayed in so we were happy to be cooking dinner and having a relaxing night in.

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