A birdyfull day at the Laverton Creek Estuary.

It’s a glorious late autumn day on Port Phillip Bay.

The Altona wetlands on Port Phillip is one of the 65 RAMSAR listed sites in Australia. RAMSAR sites are critical for supporting wetland and migratory birds around the world.

Today the birds were there in force many feeding up for migration north as the southern winter approaches.

The Pelicans hunting as a pack scooping up the shoals of pilchards in their huge bills.

Egrets were flying in to join the feast.

The Herons were also there for the hunt.

It truly was a very birdifull day to be out by the bay – to be out in nature.

The King and Ovens Valleys in North East Victoria.

The King and Ovens rivers in Victoria’s north east are central to a major gourmet region of Austraia. An area of fine wines, cheeses, other high quality produce.

The rivers with their head waters in the Australian Alps wind their way through fertile land as tributaries to the Murray River, Australia’s longest river.

It is Autumn here so the grape vines and deciduous trees add colour to the landscape.

While the night temperatures are getting cold the autumn days are still sunny and warm. This region is about 3 hours north of Melbourne with beautiful riding through the hills to get to the little cottage where I was staying.

Mount Buffalo sits at the head of the Ovens Valley and is a beautiful place for a ride and a hike. From the peak there is a spectacular view across to the Australian Alps.

The cold nights have put little snow caps on Mounts Bogong, Hotham and Feathertop.

It was beautiful hiking under a cloudless sky with beautiful views along the way.

The area has some great pubs perfect for a cold beer after a hike.

The cottage had a perfect view of the sun rising over the hills and the morning mist caught in the valley.

In the bush the old trees attract beautifully coloured birds such as the Crimson Rosella.

And the clear skies gave a perfect view of the milky way.

A perfect place to watch the stars turn.

A short trip to North West Victoria – the silo art trail

On the road to Sea Lake there is the little settlement of Nullawil with its beautifully painter silo.

This is the eastern most point on the Victorin Silo Art Trail. The trail covers around 700km of the Wimmera Mallee region and includes 13 painted silos.

As this was only a short trip I can only offer a sample of the artwork.

Nullawil

Sea Lake

Sea Lake has some beautiful street murals as well.

Heading south west from Sea Lake the village of Lascelles has the next painted silo.

Then running south there is Roseberry

Then Brim, the first of the silos to be painted and completed in 2016

The last silo on this trip was in Rupanyap.

As you can imagine this is grain growing country. Mainly wheat but also other grains and pulses.

At Murtoa, there is ‘the stick shed’. A huge grain storage shed with a floor space of 1.5 ha and the roof held up by massive poles or sticks.

There were many of these sheds built around Australia in the 1940s but this is the last surviving “stick shed”. It’s a wonderful piece of Australian national heritage.

For more information on the Victorian Silo Art Trail go to: http://siloarttrail.com

A short trip in North West Victoria – Sea Lake

Sea Lake is a small village in the Mallee Country in the North West of Victoria. It gains its name from the salt lake next to it.

It was a great opportunity to take my faithful old mighty Moto Guzzi Breva 1100 for a run.

Lake Tyrrell whose name is derived from the aboriginal word Deril which means open to the sky. It is Victoria’s largest salt lake that is believed to be formed 120,000 years ago.

The lake is a a light pink colour.

The thin film of water over the lake provides a mirror like finish and perfect reflections.

The outback sunset was just an amazing sight reflected on the lake.

The Lake is also a great place for star gazing and practising astronomy watching the endless sky of the outback.

Unfortunately the building cloud cover that added drama to the sunset made star shots not possible. But what a view this beautiful lake provided.

WOMADelaide and surrounds

The World Of Music And Dance comes to Adelaide every March. A four day festival held in the beautiful Adelaide Botanic Gardens.

A showcase of music from around the world.

We visited a couple of days of the festival basking in the beautiful warm and letting the music from.the world stimulate body and soul.

Youssoa N’Dour from Senagal the headline act on Monday night.

Sampa the Great and her all Zambian band

There were songs from Persia

Songs of the Pacific as interpreted in the Torres Straight Islands

Sexy soul from the UK

Cuban funk

Wild Romanian gypsy violin

Argentinian Tango. And much much more!

Not far north of Adelaide is the Barossa Valley. Settled by German migrants in the late 1800s it’s a centre of winemaking and one of Australia’s most famous wine regions.

A nice day trip from Adelaide.

There is also some lovely bushland for a nature walk.

The closing act at WOMAD was a an aerial dance of angels casting feathers on the crowd. Here is a sample.