Wangaratta   Victoria   3676
Population: 16,300,  
Height above sea level: 150,  
Latitude: 36.21.21
Longitude: 146.19.37
Location:   250km north of Melbourne
Highway: Hume Hwy (31) 
Nearest Major Town: Albury
Nearest Airport: Albury
Touring Area: Bushranger Country
Merriwa Park near the city centre is a pleasant place to relex and enjoy a picnic.
Wangaratta was first seen by Europeans when explorers Hume and Hovell passed by in 1824 and twelve years later Major Mitchell passed on his return to Sydney. The crossing of the Ovens River at Wangaratta became the most common point for early travellers along the route from Melbourne to Sydney and a town sprang up around it. It was originally called 'Ovens Crossing' but the name was changed to Wangaratta, which means 'resting place of the Cormorant'.
As gold was discovered in the area, notably at Beechworth in 1852, the township became a popular crossing and the punt operator, 'Billy the Puntman' was said to have earned up to $200 a day ferrying prospectors and diggers across the river.
The gold rush also brought bushrangers to the area. Among the most notorious of these was 'Mad Dan Morgan'. His headless remains are in the Wangaratta Cemetery. Ned Kelly and his gang were captured at Glenrowan just south of Wangaratta.
Today Wangaratta is a vibrant city perfectly situated for touring the many wineries of the area, taking excursions to the snowfields only an hour east, or to the Murray River just to the north.
There are many things to see and do in the town. Just east across the freeway at the airport is an Air Museum, housing a collection of historic planes and memorabilia which is well worth visiting. In the centre of town Merriwa Park offers plenty of room to picnic and relax in leafy surrounds, and the King George Gardens are a pleasant respite in the centre of the city.
Wangaratta is the western end of the Great Alpine Road across the snowfields to Bairnsdale in Gippsland, and the western end of the bike trail following the disused railway along the Ovens Valley to Bright.
SEE A MAP OF WANGARATTA
PLACES OF INTEREST:
ACCOMMODATION & SERVICES:
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INFORMATION CENTRE:
Wangaratta Visitor information Centre
100 Murphy St. Wangaratta. VIC 3677
Ph: 03 5721 5711. Fax: 03 5721 9867 Free Call 1800 801 065
Email: tourism@wangaratta.vic.gov.au
HOW TO GET THERE:
By car along the Hume Hwy from Melbourne or Albury. Along the Great Alpine Road from Gippsland (Summer Months Only)
  • Light Plane to Wangaratta airstrip. Domestic airport at Albury.
  • Coach or Rail
    •    © Copyright Peter W. Wilkins 2009