Shepparton: Mooving Art

More cows in Shepparton.  They have a Mooving Art exhibition that has local artists painting fiberglass cows that are placed around town.  To celebrate the town’s dairy industry, I believe.  We had a second visit to Shepparton and I can attest that the cows did move (or mooove) locations.

The day we were having our van serviced we had a picnic lunch in a quite visible park.  It’s on the way into town and is surrounded by constant traffic.  I’m sure we were quite entertaining to those driving by as we took pictures of the painted cows.  Not to mention the crew removing the gigantic Christmas decorations from the park’s trees.

The kids wanted pictures with their ‘babies’.  It was all quite hilarious.  This rainbow cow was gorgeous.

This cow has the Australian flag on it.

I made the kids sit next to it in hopes of a better shot of the flag.

Meanwhile, at the car.  TurboBug was asleep so somebody had to stay there.  See the traffic?  It was a busy spot.

I was amused to see Australia’s spot near the…um, tail.

Who wouldn’t love a construction cow?

Parting shot…

LadyBug wanted me to take a picture of this spot in the grass because it’s shaped a bit like Australia.  :)

We saw other cows around town, I wish I’d gotten a picture of the strawberries & cream cow, and the soccer cow, and the bananas in pyjamas cows. 

Shepparton: Kidstown Playground

These posts are going to be a bit out of order while I get caught up on some blogging.

After the holidays we headed to Shepparton because we needed to get our caravan serviced and made an appointment at a place there.  We have been having a problem with our gas heater (we have central heating in the van).  We dropped the van off and headed into town to explore.

I’ve heard about this big playground in Shepparton with huge slides and multiple play areas.  They ask for a gold coin donation as an entrance fee.  We were excited to finally check it out.  There was a huge donation bin near the entrance and we all dutifully put coins in.  (Why are kids always so happy to put coins in these things?) We headed straight for the big slides.  I love that these metal slides are under shade.

Then we started exploring.  I had to get a picture of the kids in front of the giant cow.  Cows are quite the theme in Shepparton.

This kid is the cutest thing ever.

Giant sand pit with digger.  Check.

Toddler area with cars to sit in.  A big hit with the little guy, as long as he was the one driving.  No one else was allowed to touch the steering wheel.

Doesn’t this remind you of a Fred Flintstone car?

This guy is ever the clown.  Cute picture.

Not so sure about the purple dinosaur.

But loved the slide.

This one loved the monkey bars, of which there are many at varying heights.

The little guy got a turn on the slide too, with some help.

And how could we miss the miniature train?

Huge flying fox.  I don’t know how she stayed on so long!

Cows, more cows.

And the painted cows…there are many, many painted cows in Shepparton.

 

We didn’t know it at the time, but this wouldn’t be our only visit to Kidstown!

Point Lonsdale

So many beautiful pictures from Point Lonsdale, I don’t know where to start! 

We drove down to the lighthouse and walked around the point.  The landscape is amazing.  The first thing we saw was the gorgeous old pier. 

  

Check it out on the map! See the pier?

We walked down the beach toward the lighthouse, then around the point.   

You can see from the map above that when you round the point (right behind these rocks) you are no longer facing the bay, you are facing open ocean.  What a beautiful sight.

I’ll have to break up this post and put more pictures in the next one!

Just for fun…our cute toddler…

Before we took off in our caravan after the holidays, there was a massive rainstorm in our town.  In less than an hour we had soooo much rain.  Our toddler had never gotten out of the caravan on his own before.  He chose that afternoon, with all those irresistible puddles, for his first escape from the van.  He was so proud of himself.

He’s taken to stealing the car keys as well!  A true escape is in the works, I’m sure!

On the Road Again!

After three weeks at home for the holidays, we were more than ready to get back on the road!  The kids are seasoned travellers now.  The little guy (rubbing his eyes in the picture below) didn’t even make it out of the yard before he was asleep in the car.  The others had their backpacks and pillows all ready to go.

First stop: Shepparton, Victoria! 

More posts coming soon!