Big Ben's Virtual Victoria

Pieman's Falls

Alpine N.P., Victoria, Australia

Pieman's Falls with a light coating of powder snow.

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(Requires JAVA)

Erskine Falls (3)

Otways, Victoria, Australia

Erskine falls before they built the board walk in the interests of "public safety".

1. View the Panorama at the base of the steps
2. A wee bit closer
3. Near the base of the falls
(Requires JAVA)

(view on the map)

Mt Howitt

Alpine N.P., Victoria, Australia

Mt Howitt and the Crosscut Saw late in the snow season. My second QTVR from a Hasselblad SWC.

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(Requires JAVA)

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Mt Stapylton and Flat Rock

Grampians N.P., Victoria, Australia

In the middle of the Amphitheatre. From this spot you can hear people talking at the cliffs below Mt Stapylton.

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(Requires JAVA)

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The Crosscut Saw

Alpine N.P., Victoria, Australia

Fog covers low lying areas as far as the eye can see. This QTVR has labels for identifying other mountains.

With the cursor in the panorama, you can use the space bar to toggle the names of the surrounding mountains while you pan.

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(Requires JAVA)

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Mt Abrupt (Teragen Render)

Grampians N.P., Victoria, Australia

OK, so this is cheating a bit. This is a computer generated image rendered entirely in Terragen with no post processing.

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(720kb small, 11Mb enlargement)

(view on the map)

Aire River

Otways, Victoria, Australia

A trial plantation of Californian Redwoods next to the Aire River.

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(Requires JAVA)

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Aradale Psychiatric Hospital, Ararat

Western, Victoria, Australia

The front entrance to the old psychiatric hospital on the edge of town.

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(Requires JAVA)

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Ararat Cup

Western, Victoria, Australia

The running of the Ararat Cup

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(Requires JAVA)

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Arts Centre at Night

St Kilda Rd
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

The Arts Centre at night. Personally I preferred the old spire. The "light show" on the spire doesn't seem to fit the facility.

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(Requires JAVA)

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Polly Woodside

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

The Polly Woodsids is located within the Maritime Museum next to Jeff's Shed.

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(Requires JAVA)

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Portsea Camp

Regional Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

A self-portrait on at the top of the big swing :-)

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(Requires JAVA)

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Mt Oberon (2)

Wilson's Promontory, Victoria, Australia

The view from the top. At busy times of the year you have to take a bus to the carpark from Tidal River.

1. View the Panorama
2. Sunset
(Requires JAVA)

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Barmah Lake

Murray River, Victoria, Australia

Canoeing near the top of Barmah Lake. Taking the shortcut through the trees to Budgie Creek.

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(Requires JAVA)

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Kayaking Through the Grass

Murray River, Victoria, Australia

Slicing through the grass with my sea kayak. The sleeker lines of the kayak made this much easier going than a canoe.

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(Requires JAVA)

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On the Bank of Budgie Creek

Murray River, Victoria, Australia

Resting beneath a huge River Red Gum "on" the bank of Budige Creek.

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(Requires JAVA)

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Upper reaches of the flood (2)

Murray River, Victoria, Australia

One of the difficulties of paddling around such a large expanse of water was finding somewhere to get out and have a pee ;-)

1. View the Panorama
2. Heading off
(Requires JAVA)

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The Pinnacle

Grampians N.P., Victoria, Australia

The Pinnacles Lookout provides a great view over Halls Gap and makes a good day walk from the caravan park.

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(Requires JAVA)

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The Jaws of Death

Grampians N.P., Victoria, Australia

The Jaws of Death were renamed to The Balconies for fear of scaring away international tourists who were superstitious about the names of the places they would visit. The steel rails had been cut off illegally for a photographic shoot but they have probably been replaced by now.

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(Requires JAVA)

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After the Flood

Murray River, Victoria, Australia

The bank of Budgie Creek a couple of weeks after the kayaling panoramas were shot. A ggod view of the roots of a redgum.

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(Requires JAVA)

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Lake Little Hattah (2)

Murray River, Victoria, Australia

It's a bloody long drive from Melbourne... You would've done the same thing ;-)

1. Kayaking on the lake
2. Redgums by Moonlight
(Requires JAVA)

(view on the map)

Chalka Creek/ Murray River

Murray River, Victoria, Australia

I waited for a minor flood to travel down the Murray before driving up to Hattah Lakes in the hope of paddling from here to Lake Hattah.

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(Requires JAVA)

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Lake Brockle

Murray River, Victoria, Australia

The uniform depth of the water (only ankle deep) produced an equally uniform wave pattern.

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(Requires JAVA)

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Pig Faces

Murray River, Victoria, Australia

A sample of the vegetation surrounding the lakes.

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(Requires JAVA)

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Mistletoe

Murray River, Victoria, Australia

Another sample of the vegetation around the lakes... a redgum with several mistletoe trees growing on it.

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(Requires JAVA)

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Open Woodland

Murray River, Victoria, Australia

Yet another sample of the vegetation in the area. Nearby Chalka Creek connects the lakes to the Murray River.

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(Requires JAVA)

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Rialto Observation Deck

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

This panorama was shot through the windows of the observation deck so there was a fair bit of "cheating" to get it to work, but it's very cool.

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(Requires JAVA)

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Mt Lookout

Alpine N.P., Victoria, Australia

Stopping for a rest break below Mt Lookout while hiking to Bryce's Gorge.

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(Requires JAVA)

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Guy's Hut (3)

Alpine N.P., Victoria, Australia

Guy's Hut is a handy stop over in winter for the trip north to Mt Howitt.

1. Guys Hut
2. Creek crossing
3. On the bank of the creek
(Requires JAVA)

(view on the map)

Boroka Lookout

Grampians N.P., Victoria, Australia

My dad at Boroka Lookout

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(Requires JAVA)

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The Grand Canyon

Grampians N.P., Victoria, Australia

Above the "Grand Canyon". Steel pipes and ladders have been placed along the walk to make it "safer" for tourists.

There's my dad again ;-)

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(Requires JAVA)

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Herod's Gate

Walls of Jerusalem, Tasmania, Australia

This was mainly an excuse to stop and rest, being a psychological milestone for the day... no more up hill sections to the campsite.

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(Requires JAVA)

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Camp site: Day1 (3)

Walls of Jerusalem, Tasmania, Australia

A few panoramas from around my first camp site. This was a nice little spot out of the wind.

Being the middle of a drought, it was fairly easy exploring the surrounding areas although you could see how wet it could get while walking around the cushion plants.

1. The camp site
2. In amongst the Pencil Pines
3. Cushion plants
(Requires JAVA)

(view on the map)

On top of the Walls of Jerusalem (3)

Walls of Jerusalem, Tasmania, Australia

Camp site, day 2, was on top of the Walls of Jerusalem, south of King David's Peak (don't you just love the names in "theme parks")

1. Dawn, King Davids Peak
2. Morning atop the West Wall
3. Camp site
(Requires JAVA)

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Damascus Gate

Walls of Jerusalem, Tasmania, Australia

Another excuse to stop, this time to psyche myself up for the climb with a heavy pack.

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(Requires JAVA)

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Pencil Pines

Walls of Jerusalem, Tasmania, Australia

These trees are unique to Tasmania, and also under threat from a fungus. Hikers should clean their boots thoroughly between hikes.

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Ascending Solomon's Throne

Walls of Jerusalem, Tasmania, Australia

A lot of sweat must have gone into creating this stone staircase for hikers.

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(Requires JAVA)

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Flinders St Station

Flinders St
Swanston St
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Flinders St station from the corner of Swanston and Flinders streets.

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(Requires JAVA)

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Interiors (3)

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Inside the building during the International Flower Show

1. Central ground floor
2. Above the main entrance
3. Upstairs, west wing
(Requires JAVA)

(view on the map)

Outside the main entrance

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

The gardens around the buildings remain as much of a feature as the buildings themselves.

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(Requires JAVA)

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Gardens 2

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

The gardens are big enough to spread these markers out ;-)

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(Requires JAVA)

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Pond 1

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

I'm so glad this section of the map is high resolution as i have enough panoramas to provide you with a small tour.

Let's start in the shade next to a small pond.

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(Requires JAVA)

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Northern End of the Gardens

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Just squeezed onto the edge. This is near the northern edge of the gardens.

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(Requires JAVA)

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Proteas

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

This section of the gardens contains a wide variety of proteas.

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(Requires JAVA)

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Cameleas

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

I guess the title says it all. These two lawn areas are surrounded by several varieties of cameleas.

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(Requires JAVA)

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Emerging from the Ferns

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

A small track takes you through a fern gully down to the main "lake"

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(Requires JAVA)

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Red

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Apologies for over-saturating the red in this image... This is the "red" end of the gardens.

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(Requires JAVA)

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Daffodils and Azaleas

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

The "top" end of the gardens features daffodils and azaleas next to large grassy areas.

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(Requires JAVA)

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The Gorge

Alpine, Victoria, Australia

Probably one of the most spectacular gorges in Victoria, certainly in terms of sheer height.

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(Requires JAVA)

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The Chalet

Alpine, Victoria, Australia

Rosellas picking up crumbs out the front of the chalet.

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(Requires JAVA)

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The Cathedral

Alpine, Victoria, Australia

One of the best things about Mt Buffalo (for toursists) is that there's lots of spectacular scenery within a short distance of a bitumen road.

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(Requires JAVA)

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The University of Melbourne

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

This is the view from the top of the Redmond Barry Building (on a clearer day than this satelite image). Photographed in BW infrared.

The panorama also loads 4 high resolution images to allow zooming.

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(Requires JAVA)

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Welcome to Big Ben's Virtual Victoria.

This site contains panoramas from around Victoria. You can sort the lis of panoramas by Place or Category using the tabs at the top right of the window. Please fell free to leave comments at any of the locations.

Every loaction is linked to a panorama. The number in brackets after the title indicates the number of panoramas for locations with more than one panorama.

Featured Locations:

> The Grampians N.P.
> The National Rhodoendron Gardens
> Alpine National Park
> Barmah Forest in Flood
> Hattah Lakes

(view on the map)

Collins Street

Collins Street
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Beneath the newer skyscrapers are some vestiges of real architecture. This is a few years old now. The city is now fast filling up with apartment buildings.

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(Requires JAVA)

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The Black Spur

Regional Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Another famous Victorian landmark... and a pain in the neck in holiday traffic. The combination of bumper to bumper, slow-moving traffic and impatient idiots can make this a scary drive.

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(Requires JAVA)

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City Square

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

The city square has undergone a number of reincarnations but it never really seemed to function as a central focus for a thriving city. The latest reincarnation included allowing the development of a hotel on the eastern side, making it not much more than the front yard of the hotel.

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(Requires JAVA)

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Carisbrook Falls

Otways, Victoria, Australia

This is one of the highest waterfalls in the Otways. While it's only a short walk from the Great Ocean Road, it does involve a bit of scrambling over large rocks towards the end.

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(Requires JAVA)

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Chalambar Golf & Bowls Club

Western, Victoria, Australia

This is where I learnt to play golf as a young child. While I may be a little biased, this is definitely one of the nicest golf courses in Victoria and is worth the drive from Melbourne for a day of golf. The back nine often has kangaroos on the fairways.

This pano, though, is between the two bowls greens ;-)

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(Requires JAVA)

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Fairfied Boathouse

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Farifield Boathouse is a great location on a hot summer's day.

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(Requires JAVA)

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Loy Yang Open Cut

Gippsland, Victoria, Australia

Loy Yang open cut coal mine.

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(Requires JAVA)

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Studley Park Boathouse

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Studley Park Boathouse is a short row downstream from Fairfiel Boathouse, and just upstream from Dight's Falls. Studley Park has more space to walk around, with a sizeable bit of native forest for somewhere so close to the CBD.

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(Requires JAVA)

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Southbank Footbridge (2)

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Melbourne is finally waking up to the fact that it's built on a river... albeit a very brown, litter-strewn one.

1. By day
2. At dusk
(Requires JAVA)

(view on the map)

River-side Walk

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Next to Flinders St station.

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(view on the map)

Pavement Art

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Pavement art by Beverly

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(Requires JAVA)

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Melbourne Central

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

The Shot Tower inside Melbourne Central. Since they couldn't knock down this Heritage listed structure, they just built around it. And now they're building some more, so this space is now getting smaller.

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(Requires JAVA)

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Feeding the Swans

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

The kiosk by the lake. Occasionally some kid is also "lucky" enough to pull an eel out of the lake with their hands.

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(Requires JAVA)

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Shady Path

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

The Royal Botanic Gardens can provide some relief on a hot summer's day.

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(Requires JAVA)

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Sphinx Rock

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

One of the attractions of the tip of the Mornington Peninsula is having an ocean beach and a bay beach only minutes apart.

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(Requires JAVA)

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Above "The Gorge"

Alpine N.P., Victoria, Australia

Heading back to the car after the long weekend I was getting tired.. so here's another excuse to stop and rest. I'm glad I did because I like the light in this panorama.

The starting point for the hike was the carpark below The Gorge (The first white splodge on the satellite image to the ESE.

To keep the footprints out of the shot I walked up behind a tree and then used the rocks to get to the camera position.

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(Requires JAVA)

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Winter Road Closure

Alpine N.P., Victoria, Australia

This is the southern point of the winter road closure for the Mt Howitt Road.

More information

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Maits Rest Rainforest Walk

Otways, Victoria, Australia

I have yet to link in the full set of panoramas, but here is one shot on a fallen tree fern trunk. (I also have to verify the location)
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(Requires JAVA)