DRIVING HOME

On our recent road trip, it was good to find ourselves on the way home looking at the welcoming countryside. The hills so green, the crops of canola resplendent in bright yellow and the wattles in bloom, while sheep and cows grazed contentedly on the Spring grass. However well one passes while away on holiday, the return is always pleasant with thoughts of home uppermost in one's mind.

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme,
and also part of the Friday Greens meme.

BENALLA

Benalla is a small city located on the Broken River in the High Country north-eastern region of Victoria, Australia, about 188 kilometres north east of the state capital Melbourne. At the 2006 Census the population was 9,129. It is the administrative centre for the Rural City of Benalla local government area.

Prior to the European settlement of Australia, the Benalla region was populated by the Taungurong people people, an Indigenous Australian people. It was first sighted by Europeans during an expedition of Hamilton Hume and William Hovell in 1824, when the area, first named "Swampy" was noted that agricultural settlement. The expedition was followed by that of Major Thomas Mitchell in 1834.Reverend Joseph Docker settled in 1838 creating a pastoral run called Benalta Run, said to be from an Aboriginal word for Musk Duck.

An attack by indigenous people on the camp of sheep herders George and William Faithful became known as the Faithful Massacre; eight settlers were killed in the incident. Following the massacre in 1839 a police station was established and the name of the settlement became Broken River.The Post Office opened on 1 December 1844 originally named Broken River. A bridge was built over the Broken River in 1847 and the following year the town was surveyed. In 1861 it was proclaimed a town.It was proclaimed a city in 1965.

Benalla is situated on a mostly flat floodplain of the Broken River catchment situated directly to the north and west of the Great Dividing Range. Lake Benalla is an artificial lake created in 1973 from the Broken River as an ornamental feature for the centre of the city. Broken river forms a green belt along the north-south spine of the city. There are three major crossings of the river at Benalla. The main street in the Central Business District is Bridge Street East. Another large artificial lake, Lake Mokoan is 7 kilometres to the north east. To the south of the freeway is the heavily forested Reef Hills State Park.

This post is part of the Weekend Reflections meme,
and also part of the Scenic Weekends meme,
and also part of the Sunday Bridges meme.

BENALLA CERAMIC MURAL

Benalla is a rural city of just over 9,000 people located just off the Hume Freeway in north-eastern Victoria, Australia, about 40 kilometres southwest of Wangaratta. Its Local Government Area is the Rural City of Benalla. The site was originally taken up as a pastoral run by the Reverend Joseph Docker in 1838 and called Benalta Run, from the Aboriginal word for Musk Duck. A town was laid out on the site in 1846.

The ceramic mural is a very special place alongside Lake Benalla, draws on elements of nature and has been called "the largest community artwork in Australia". The structure includes an amphitheatre, viewing platform and two sets of sound pipes ("thongaphones") for performances. The mural project started as a community arts project in 1983 under the auspices of Forum (now The Centre). Funding from the Australia Council Community Arts Board saw the appointment of Judy Lorraine as Artist-in-Residence. Further funding from the Commonwealth Government in 1985 enabled a workshop to be set up at the Benalla Aerodrome.

Opportunities for all skill levels encouraged the community to participate in creating the ceramic forms. Local primary school children helped design the clay pavers which surround the circular entrance seat. In 1988, a grant from the Australian Bicentennial Authority enabled the appointment of noted Australian ceramic artists to complete the "cave seats" in the colonnade.

This post is part of the Monday Murals meme.