Quaint and Quirky
​Victorian Escape 2024

MELBOURNE TO SHEPPARTON

Welcome to our wonderful Quaint and Quirky Victorian Escape tour! With chauffeured pickup from home, we are transferred to meet our O’Shannessy’s Quality Tours coach and crew.  This morning we join the Hume Highway and make our way to Euroa where we stop for lunch. This afternoon, we experience living history as we travel along a stretch of the Calder Woodburn Memorial Avenue, one of the longest Avenues of Honour in Victoria and the only planting to be completed by one person.  We’ll stop briefly at the Calder Woodburn Memorial Rest Area and RSL Monument before we continue on to Shepparton to visit the Museum of Vehicle Evolution, the home of up to 100 classic, heritage and muscle cars including motorcycles and vintage bicycles.

OVERNIGHT:  Quality Hotel Parklake, SHEPPARTON 

EXPLORING THE AREA

This morning look out for Moooving Art as we start our touring today!  Moooving Art is an ever-changing public art exhibition of life-sized 3D cows. These bovines are scattered throughout Shepparton and surrounding towns in public gardens, playgrounds and businesses and are full of colour, spunk and personality. With over 90 in the herd, we’ll be bound to spot more than a couple today. We now make our way to Tatura and the Tatura Irrigation & Wartime Camps Museum. There’s also a wonderful mural on the side of the museum. Next we’re off to Colbinabbin where artwork features across six silos. Next stop is Rochester where we look around and take in some of the amazing wall art. The GrainCorp silos are a pleasant surprise as we view the artwork. After lunch at the Rochester Historical and Pioneer Museum, we move on to Tongala; the town features over 40 murals, mainly located along the main street. Last stop for the day is Kyabram, to view The Kyabram Water Tank, painted by Jimmy DVate and completed in March 2022.

OVERNIGHT:  Quality Hotel Parklake, SHEPPARTON

SHEPPARTON TO SWAN HILL

The charming town of Boort is our first stop; here, we Salute Oliva – an organic olive farm that has won many awards. Our tour includes the olive trees, factory and showroom. Peter and Marlies Eicher produce high-quality olive oil, olive products including soap and home-made jams from their fruit trees. We then make our way to Godfrey & Bear Cafe where we’ll enjoy our lunch and have the chance to check out the range of Country Wool Bedding and Woolly Warmers right next door! This afternoon, we’ll visit the amazing garden of the Spanner Man.  The garden is scattered with dozens of unique life size and larger than life sculptures made from farm spanners. Your eyes will be drawn to the incredible workmanship, all done without using plans or drawings. After a great day, we head to Swan Hill, our home for the next two nights.

OVERNIGHT:  Swan Hill Resort, SWAN HILL

EXPLORING SWAN HILL

Following breakfast, we visit the Swan Hill Regional Art Gallery. Recognised as having one of Australia’s most comprehensive collections of naïve art, the gallery also features a collection of works on paper, prints and drawing.  From the new to the old we are off to the Pioneer Settlement Museum, Australia’s first outdoor museum, for lunch. We’ll then have time to wander through living history as well as enjoy a cruise on the mighty Murray River aboard the PS Pyap Paddlewheeler. Whilst observing the abundant wildlife we’ll hear the Captain recount fascinating anecdotes of the paddleboat’s years of service as a trading boat. After our interesting day, we head back to our motel for dinner. But the day isn’t over yet! This evening, we return to the Pioneer Settlement where we’ll see Heartbeat of the Murray, based on the banks of the Little Murray River.  This night-time spectacular laser show will trace the story of the Murray River - a journey thousands of years in the making.

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OVERNIGHT:  Swan Hill Resort, SWAN HILL

HOMEWARD BOUND

Leaving Swan Hill this morning we head south on the Murray Valley Highway to Lake Boga, home to the famous Catalina Flying Boat A24-30 - one of only four in Australia. Lake Boga was an ideal stretch of water on which the mighty flying boats could alight. The Flying Boat played an integral part in the allied defence of the South Pacific during World War II, with all types of Flying Boats that were serviced at Lake Boga being represented in the Museum. A special section is dedicated to the United States of America and the Netherlands aircraft and crew who visited Lake Boga during World War II. Next, we continue onto Bendigo for lunch and then head home to round off a great 5 day break. Our chauffeurs will be waiting as always to take us home to our very doors - all part of O’Shannessy’s Quality Tours superior service!