Day 1: Melbourne to Echuca
We’d booked train tickets to Echuca but ended up on a replacement bus because of track works. The bus ride was long and hot with no breaks, but we made it. The bus took us through rural Victoria and several small towns. So we got a look at the countryside. We then had a pleasant walk through a residential neighborhood to our place.
We walked around downtown a bit then went to dinner an hour early. There was a sand sculpture competition going on.
Day 2: Paddle Steamer Trip
Today was our must-do in Echuca: a trip on a paddle steamer. In fact it was kind of our only-do. The National Holden Motor Museum used to be here, but moved, and the Great Aussie Beer Shed was too out of the way without a car.
There’s a discover center devoted to paddle steamers downtown, with lots of info on the boats, the industry, and the area.
My interest in paddle steamers goes back to a 1980s Australian mini-series called All the Rivers Run, about a woman who invests in a paddle steamer. The series and the book it was based on were inspired by the life of Pearl Wallace, who’s pictured above as one of the women river boat skippers. An outdoor display shows equipment. (That series came out about the same as The Thorn Birds and put Australia firmly on my bucket list.)
We had dinner at the local pub just up the road.
Day 3: A Walk in the Park
There’s a nice big park on the Murray River in Echuca. We wandered about on the trails there. There’s even a decent size beach along the riverbank where people were swimming. We saw several tables like the one below around town. We thought the round shape was a nice nod to the paddle steamers and it good to have some seating with shade.
As usual the Aussie birds put on a show. We saw large flocks of cockatoos, plus rosy cockatoos and magpies.
Day 4: House Tour and Back to Melbourne
We had some time to kill before our train left and our host kindly gave us a tour of the property. He’s traveled widely (135 countries? 150?) and has a vast collection of artifacts from his travels that he gives tours on informally. Plus files full of documentation. (We just have this website!) He’s also an artist and painted the mural below. Oh, and played the piano for us!
The property has several different outdoor seating areas and a variety of room types. The “gypsy wagons” are definitely the cutest.
We’d planned to spend a fourth night in Echuca, then take the train back to Melbourne to catch our afternoon flight to Hervey Bay. But Jetstar changed the schedule so we had to spend that last night near the airport in Melbourne in order to catch our now 7:30 AM flight.
Essentials
Lodging
We stayed in the one bedroom apartment at Echuca Gardens. The wagons looked really cute, but we thought they might be a little too cozy for us. The apartment had its own quirky charm and plenty of space. (We really liked the screen between the sleeping area and the kitchen/dining/sitting area.) It’s in a nice quiet neighborhood too, yet close to town and the supermarket.
We stayed at the Novotel near the airport, which was fine. It was great to be within easy walking distance (like 5 minutes) from the terminal.
Dining
We had pizza our first night at The Star Hotel downtown, with nice old pub atmosphere. (In Australia hotel is often synonymous with pub.) Our second night we ate at Taras Hall Hotel right down the street, which our host highly recommended. The Bushman and Kiev parms (short for parmesan) were good. They had outdoor seating out back, plus pub and restaurant style seating indoors. There’s a handful of other places to eat in town. Our third night we got food from the supermarket. At the airport we planned to eat at The Tap House in the hotel but it was closed so we had okay Italian at the other restaurant.
Transportation
We took the train to and from Echuca (even though one ended up being a replacement bus). Once in Echuca we were able to walk around town, though there wasn’t any way to get to outlying areas. If you really wanted to explore you’d need a car.