A taste of things to do in Goulburn Valley
There has to be a little sightseeing and leg stretching between meal stops, right? Luckily the Goulburn Valley has a diverse landscape to explore with a fascinating selection of places where you can get back to nature and get among the local culture. Below is just a sample of the many things to do and see in our bountiful region. With so much to see, do and sample we encourage you to book a stay.
Head to Shepp & GV for a full range of accommodation options to suit every traveller from 4 star hotels, unique storied stays and fully self contained, perfect to cook up a feast with all your fresh produce finds.
Australian Botanic Gardens Shepparton
The transformation of an old tip site into landscape architect-designed native gardens is stunning. The lookout of the gardens rises from the redgum forest like an ancient stone ziggurat. Broad, accessible paths lead through different plantings to the summit overlooking a landscape that mirrors the Goulburn Valley. Flowering acacias, grevilleas, banksias and grasses paint an ever-changing palette of colour tied to the seasons.
Cussen Park
This bushland-style park encompasses 33 hectares of wetlands, woodlands and open space on the northern outskirts of the town of Tatura. You’ll find constructed wetlands, bird hides, observation decks and well-developed paths and signs to help you observe many bird species up close. It’s also a lovely place to picnic and watch the sunset. While you’re there, look out for the migratory bats that call this sanctuary home.
Dookie Rail Trail
This short but sweet flat gravel track gives you a 7.7km taste of Dookie’s rich farming country. To the east of Dookie, the trail meanders through the orange and olive groves of Yabba Flats. Look out for Willy the Wombat, who lives under the road drain at the third intersection. To the west, the trail enters the open cropping country with wide skies home to families of wedge-tailed eagles, kites and hawks.
Dookie Emporium
The sprawling Dookie Emporium is both a wondrous collection of bric-a-brac and a welcoming cafe. Browse the army surplus, old furniture, quirky antiques, rare vinyl and rock posters, then settle in for coffee and a chat with Sol over jelly cake, creamy milkshakes, hot pies and other tasty treats.
Kidstown
For those travelling with children, be sure to visit KidsTown, rated by Timeout as one of Victoria’s best adventure parks and playgrounds. The all-abilities park celebrates our food bowl status with a giant fruit bin and dairy maze.
Mooving Art Herd
A herd of 90 or so fibreglass cows dot Shepparton and surrounding towns, each illustrated with a different design. Some are painted after Andy Warhol or Mondrian, some by school groups, and some by famous artists such as Tank and Tammy Lee Atkinson. You’ll find these colourful cows in parks, outside council buildings, and in random places across Shepparton and the Goulburn Valley. Check out www.sheppandgv.com.au to learn more.
Mount Major - Mulana nin iyoga walking trail
For millennia, Mount Major has stood looking out over the Goulburn Valley to the south and the Murray Valley to the North. It is a place of immense power and beauty, and invites visitors to take in the vista with a dedicated walk to the summit. From here, you can see the creeks and rivers snaking lazily through river gum forests and a farming landscape that changes from the yellow of canola in the spring seasons to the deep straw of stubble in first and second summers. The Yorta Yorta Indigenous people have called the trail Mulana nin iyoga or Spirit of the Stone. Allow a little over two hours for the return walk
Mural Art Trail
We are a creative bunch in the Goulburn Valley. You’ll see so much street art and murals across Shepparton, Mooroopna, Dookie, Lemnos and Tatura, as well as the silo art of the nearby towns of Devenish, Tungamah, Goorambat, Colbinabbin, Rochester, Kyabram and Picola.
Murchison Rail Trail
An 8-kilometre section of trail from the Murchison Township to the rail bridge at Channel Inlet Road which includes the recently refurbished historically significant bridge over the Stuart Murray Canal and borders the unique ecosystem of Doctor’s Swamp wetlands.
Murchison Heritage Centre
In the spring of 1969, a great green flash was seen in the sky above Murchison, followed by a mighty boom. A scientific marvel, Murchison Meteorite is recognised globally as the oldest material on earth and contains amino acids linked to the start of life. Today you can see a sliver of the famous 4.6 billion-year-old meteorite, surrounded by history displays of the town including artefacts of the Indigenous people who lived in the area.
The Museum of Vehicle Evolution (MOVE)
The Museum of Vehicle Evolution is a huge, expertly curated collection of independent collections of cars, bikes, trucks and machinery housed in a modern warehouse. MOVE tells the story of cars from the first to the latest, from the smallest to the fastest. It also tells Goulburn Valley’s trucking story of moving food from farms and orchards to the market and houses the priceless Loel Thompson Clothing Collection that depicts the changes in everyday wearable fashion through the years.
Shepparton Art Museum (SAM)
This modern art museum rises from the shores of Lake Victoria by the Goulburn River. Shepparton Art Museum (SAM for short) is recognised for its significant Australian ceramics collection, and its nationally significant collection of Indigenous art. SAM includes four galleries over two floors and is home to travelling art exhibitions, the biennial Sidney Myer Fund Australian Ceramic Award and the national Indigenous Ceramic Award. It is also the base for Kaiela Arts Indigenous gallery, the Greater Shepparton Visitor Centre and Elsewhere.
Tatura Irrigation and Wartime Camps Museum
The Tatura Museum includes details of early families, the intern camps and stories of the entrepreneurs who established Tatura and the Goulburn Valley. The collection explores three main themes: the history of irrigation in the Goulburn Valley; the local and family history of Tatura and the district since white settlement; and the History of the seven World War 2 Prisoner of War and Internment Camps, the Garrison and Hospital.
Goulburn Valley – Wide Open Roads
One of my favourite drives in the country is to head north on the Goulburn Valley Highway, then west just after Nagambie to Kirwans Bridge. This wooden bridge was made from hand-hewn river red gum in 1890 to cross the newly built Goulburn Weir. It is over 300 metres long and single lane, with passing bays built to allow two-way traffic. After Kirwans Bridge, the Murchison-Kirwans Bridge Road meanders parallel to the Stuart Murray Canal. The road passes old barns and homesteads surrounded by gnarled peppercorn trees before it swings around into Murchison. A stop at Longleat Vineyard for a bowl of pasta is par for the course.