Benalla is the centre of many different worlds.
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I have counted nine roads out of town and they all branch to an even larger choice of destinations.
An hour's drive in any direction is rewarded with countryside that is capable of growing a wide variety of produce.
We are surprisingly multicultural in the north east because of the 19th century goldrush.
Those who stayed introduced new farming and created small communities with unique personalities.
That is why three Sues set off up the Hume Hwy towards Albury, but turned onto the Snow Rd and headed for Myrtleford via Milawa.
Myrtleford was once a tobacco and hop growing area and the cultural influence was Italian.
Today it is very multicultural with a touch of Aussie, which gives it an edge that is exciting to visit.
The countryside is looking beautiful and the naked trees allow greater opportunity to see everything, even snow in the distance.
The old corrugated iron drying kilns stand out and provide unique architectural curiosity.
Our goal was to picnic beside the King River and have plenty of time to explore Red Ramia's amazing shop with his exotic imports.
We knew he had recently unpacked new stock.
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I knew Red when he was in Geelong.
Now his whole family is involved in the business and they search the world for interesting things.
Their restaurant is Moroccan in décor and food.
As soon as we arrived in Myrtleford we headed for Coffee Chakra, but it was not its opening day.
What we found instead was the new shop nearby that specialises in leather, timber and skulls!
There are other great shops including a Melbourne fashion designer who specialises in linen high fashion designs.
She too has relocated her business to Myrtleford.
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A crowd always attracts more people and that is how we found the Vietnamese shop Tu, which sells street food.
We instantly knew where we would get lunch to take and eat in the park beside the river.
The park has been cleverly designed and landscaped using concrete, local stone and timber showcasing another local industry.
It also has wonderful sculptures.
The whole town carries the same design elements.
Speaking of parks, there are nine children's playgounds in Myrtleford, but you have to see the Cundy Park adventure playground in residential O'Donnell Ave, next to the Hospital.
My three-year-old granddaughter thinks it is "the best playground in the whole world".
What impressed us is that Myrtleford has a population of just 3193, yet portrays itself with prosperous style.
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We intended heading straight home, but detoured to Beechworth.
A good decision that enabled us to show one of the Sues Beechworth Gorge and swimming hole.
This is now a one-way road that starts from the Wodonga Rd and finishes, so you can see Newton Falls and the old stone bridge, crossed when entering Beechworth from Wangaratta.
The road is very narrow and shared by walkers who may have children or dogs, so be prepared for a slow but lovely drive.
Leaving Beechworth I suggested that the others look out for something quite unexpected on the right hand side of the road, in the first paddock past the houses.
It is beautiful and you might miss it unless you look carefully.
Already we have planned another trip to Paradise Falls or Sheepwash Falls or to find Bennies Reserve in the King Valley.
There is so much to see and do in a day.
- Suzie Pearce
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