Introduction

Winton Wetlands is a bit of a story of human hubris.

The wetlands are in a shallow valley just north of Benalla in central Victoria. Despite the marshy conditions it was used for cattle farming.

In the 1970's the government decided that the shallow basin would be a suitable place for a reservoir to collect water for agriculture. Doing so required the displacement of a small township and multiple farmers.

A 7 kilometre dam wall was constructed, at the time considered the longest in the southern hemisphere. A shallow lake formed which was used recreationally by the local community. At the lake edge was a large carpark, picnic tables, a boat ramp and holiday stays.

However by the early 2000's it became apparent that it just wasn't effective as a reservoir. As it was quite shallow most of the water was lost to evaporation. And in 2010 a channel was dug in the dam wall to let it drain and the long task of rehabilitating it back to wetlands began.

Martins Bridge

To try and make up for the loss of recreational facilities millions of dollars were spent to create:

A unique outdoor experience that combines nature, wildlife, arts and culture, special interest walks and bike trails.

Ah this is the start of the Arts trail. You turn of the main road onto Boggy Creek road, a gravel road that runs alongside the Wetlands.

I thought this piece of 4 colourful cows on a barge was a good start. The barge was actually used to transport cows to graze on high areas with the wetlands,

Fish Trees

This artwork, called "Fish Trees" is fish painted on trees. I think if you look at the all the yellow splodges on the trees at the right angle its supposed to look like a fish. Sorry I couldn't get that angle for you.

Greens Hill

Now we are getting wetlandy. The hill that they used to bring the cows to now has walks, picnic tables and a campground with nice views over the swamp.

The CFA Tank

I showed this shot to Avril and she asked "What am I looking at".

I said "Well I call this photo 'Painting of old man on small water tank in middle of stark gravel clearing surrounding by skeletal trees where leaks make it look like he is crying.'"

Not sure why they went with 'The CFA Tank' on the official maps.

Winton North

This is Winton North. Here you can visit Winton North School (Bare ground surrounded by skeletal trees), the Good Shepard Church (remains of gate, bare ground surrounded by skeletal trees) and of course the infrastructure used to bring it together (bare road, stark power pole surrounded by skeletal trees)

Sorry about the skeletal tree frenzy. They are just so goddamned arty.