VIC


 * BIG TRIPPERS VIC JOURNEY **

 Geelong Big4 Riverview Tourist Park is located less than five minutes drive from the centre of Geelong and fifteen minutes from World Class beaches.

Venture into the Sphinx …a hotel, a Gaming Room and a Bistro, architecture reminiscent of ancient Egypt Egyptian artifacts; pictures adorn the rooms and the walls. Tutankhamen paves the way on the carpeted floors. There's also a little Egyptian souvenir shop.
 * Big Sphinx **

Location San Remo, Phillip Island, VIC
 * The Big Wave **

About Outside San Remo in front of surf shop, rolls immobilized the concrete Big Wave……be photographed surfing the concrete wave on the concrete surfboard. A big wave indicative of the many surf beaches in Phillip Island.

**Killer Whale** Location Phillip Island, VIC

About The Big Killer Whale gracefully pirouettes into the sky from the front yard of a designers home in Cowes Phillip Island.. Almost tasteful, the Big Killer Whale has more grace than just about any other Big Thing I can think of.

 Location Hamilton, VIC
 * Hamilton Wool Bales **

About See the Big Wool Bales and sheep shearing demos at the (five) Big Wool Bales.

**Hamilton ** 285 kilometres west of Melbourne

Wool growing heritage, majestic homesteads, Volcanic Discovery Trail, Byaduk lava tube caves. Hamilton is a gracious city located in the Western District. The city’s prosperous wool growing heritage is reflected in its many grand buildings, majestic homesteads and fine landscaped gardens. Treasures from the homesteads now part of the rich and diverse collection of the Hamilton Art Gallery, one of Australia’s finest regional galleries. Originally named Grange Burn, Hamilton’s settlement grew as a result of the Western District’s strong pastoral development. The squatters and their wool were of great economic and social importance to the growth of the town.

A town surrounded by vast beautiful landscapes of green rolling hills, ancient red gums, extinct volcanoes, waterfalls, the Grangeburn River loops its way around the edge of town and Lake Hamilton dammed at the spot where histories earliest settlers camped.


 * Activities and attractions **

· Discover the treasures on show at the Hamilton Art Gallery on Brown Street – renowned as having one of the best regional art collections in Australia

· Walk through beautiful Hamilton Botanic Gardens cnr Thompson and French streets. Heritage-listed, the Gardens include a native animal enclosure, bird aviary, band rotunda and decorative fountains

· Take one of many historic walks through the town

· View the amazing Wannon and Nigretta Falls along the Glenelg Highway, Wannon

· Explore the Volcanic Trail with its many unique features

· Enjoy fishing and water sports at Lake Hamilton or the nearby Rocklands Reservoir

· Discover aviation history at the Sir Reginald Ansett Transport Museum on Ballarat Road

· Learn about the local wool industry at the **__ Big Woolbales __** on Coleraine Road.

· Take a walk through the Hamilton Botanic Gardens

View the Grampians National Park renowned for its breathtaking rocky views, rich Aboriginal culture, European heritage and stunning spring wildflower displays, there is plenty to see and do in this rugged ancient landscape. Activities include bushwalking, camping, picnicking, nature study, rock-climbing, bike riding and fishing. The extensive network of roads makes car touring to surrounding villages another great way to explore.
 * Grampians **



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**Worm ** Location

Bass, VIC

About This tourist feature celebrates the unique giant worms of the area, which grow up to three metres long and 3 cm thick. The edifice itself is a huge concrete monster snaking across a paddock, with a museum and gift shop built inside. Out the back is an animal park featuring 'Wombat World', several fenced enclosures of mounded grey earth, each with its own wombat trying to chew through the chicken-wire to reach the grass on the other side. More like Wombat Westworld, really.

Then there's the usual array of dozing Eastern Grey Kangaroos (the Kangaroo Interpretation Centre scarcely lives up to its promise: just a shed with a couple of posters in it; no Kangaroo Interpreters going 'tch tch tch'), along with emus, dingoes, and those quintessentially Australian alpacas—freshly-shorn. Couple of koalas up a tree. Sam the talking cocky. All for the bargain price of twelve bucks a head.

Phillip Island is only a short way down the road, and for twelve dollars less than the Worm you can head to Seal Rocks and the Nobbies, follow a boardwalk across the top of some cliffs past slopes covered in pigface in bloom, and see dozens of fluffy pepper-grey seagull chicks and their full-throated, squawking, head-ducking parents, scattered about in their nests. All with a spectacular view up the coast in the late afternoon sun.


 * Ouyen **

The town of Ouyen is located just over 100 kilometres south of Mildura in the far north-west of Victoria.

Ouyen is situated within a vast area of wheat fields and sheep grazing land. Wheat loading facilities and massive grain silos are a feature of the town, located along the railway line. The Big Mallee Root, located on the Calder Highway, is the the largest Mallee stump in Australia and serves as a tribute to early settlers who cleared the land of drought-resistant eucalypt trees to make way for agricultural activities.

The commercial centre of Ouyen is located in Oke Street and includes the council offices and the Local History Research Centre which houses a collection of books and historical records in the old court house.

Ouyen is located in the heart of the vast national parks of the Mallee region. To the south-west is the Wyperfeld National Park with its network of lake beds. In the north-west is the Murray-Sunset National Park, characterized by its wide open landscapes and isolation. And to the north is the Hattah-Kulkyne National Park which borders the Murray River and features native woodlands and lakes.


 * Parks, gardens & trails: **

Hattah-Kulkyne National Park Located between Mildura and Ouyen, this park is typical Mallee country with extensive low scrub and open native pine woodlands featuring a network of freshwater lakes seasonally filled by creeks connected to the Murray River Murray-Sunset National Park Victoria's second largest national park is located north-west of Ouyen in a semi-arid environment with wide open landscapes in an isolated location Wyperfeld National Park Situated south-west of Ouyen, this huge 356,800 hectare park features a chain of lake beds connected by Outlet Creek within a semi-arid landscape offering lookouts, picnic areas and camping grounds and


 * Festivals & events: **

Great Australian Vanilla Slice Triumph // A festival which judges the best vanilla slice and baker from around Australia and includes live music, performances, art & craft displays, and a celebrity bike race

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