seymour.

Back in 2014, we did a lot of traveling to small towns around Victoria. Mostly for work - Ben's job took him all around the state for a few weeks at a time, and I was able to follow him around, exploring and documenting. We stayed in places like Shepparton, Donald, Portland, Penshurst, Metung, Lakes Entrance, Bairnsdale, and Geelong, and on the weekends we were able to visit amazing areas like Cape Bridgewater, Mount Gambier, the Buchan Caves, Raymond Island, and Grampians National Park. Some of these locations were more picturesque than others, but all in all - I love exploring small Australian towns.

This month, Ben was scheduled to spend a week in Seymour - about a 1.5 hour drive from Melbourne. It was actually his suggestion that we come along. Arden has a lot of trouble settling to sleep without her Dada (a welcome change from the first year of her life, when it was mostly Mama doing the night-settling!), and he didn't want to leave her for a full week. "Plus, I'd miss you guys too much," he insisted. I swear I'm not making this up.

visiting Dada at work

Our hotel! Just kidding. It's an old jail, preserved for historical purposes.

I really enjoyed our time in Seymour. It's located on the banks of the Goulburn river, a beautiful spot. Along the river is an easy trail that spans 4.5 km, which was perfect for my morning runs with Arden in her stroller.

Trail jogging.

Arden is 100% walking now, so it's really fun to take her to children's parks - which Seymour had plenty of. There were a few small ones scattered throughout town, a fun park by the old black vintage train near the Seymour train station, and a really cool one at the Goulburn River Tourist Park that had lots of fun play equipment including a baby climbing wall. Of course, Arden had no interest in most of it. Her current favourite park activity is grabbing a bunch of woodchips and throwing them up in the air. But it makes her very happy!

Sprinkled around Seymour are tanks and a helicopter on display, mostly as part of a Vietnam war memorial, and also due to its location near a large Australian army base. The Vietnam Veterans Commemorative Walk is a curved wall of names and photographs, and is reportedly the only one of its kind in Australia dedicated to Vietnam veterans. I really appreciate and enjoy visiting all of the war memorials found in Australia's towns, and this one was especially creative and powerful.

the Vietnam Veterans Commemorative Walk

Seymour has a few quaint art galleries, which I enjoyed walking through during one of Arden's naps. The gallery at the old post office features works from Australian artists, most of them for sale. Across the street is the Seymour Art Society, a gallery located in an old courthouse.

Pioneer Park is an old cemetery, featuring large headstones from long, long ago. It's located in a quiet and peaceful area, with a dirt path meandering around clusters of graves and memorial stones.

this headstone caught my attention - a three-year old boy, memorialised by his grieving parents in the 1800's.

a memorial dedicated to the pioneers of Seymour

I also happened to pass by Victoria's Tidiest Street in 1997 and 1998. This alone made the trip to Seymour worth it.

Agriculture is big in Seymour, and we saw a few farm animals in peoples' yards - mostly sheep, and one adorable little horse. I pointed them out to Arden, who is beginning to enjoy animals that aren't puppies or seagulls. We also saw many cockatoos, and heard even more of them - particularly at 6am on the dot every morning as they gathered above our hotel room. It would have been a terrible wake-up call (cockatoos are very loud), except Arden was very much awake (yet sleep-deprived) by 6am, so it made no difference to us.

Around the main city area are various metal sculptures to accompany a few landmarks (a judge by the courthouse, a policeman by the police station, etc.). My favourite was this koala and cockatoo by the Goulburn River walk.

One of my Australian friends highly recommended Gaffney's Pie Kitchen to me, and I wasn't disappointed. (These aren't dessert pies though - meat pies are an iconic Australian cuisine.) During our visit I had two vegetarian pies here and they were pretty amazing. Ben enjoyed a few of the meat pies as well. And Arden's review after a few bites of mine? "YUMMYYY. YUMMYYY."

One week was enough time to get a good taste of Seymour and experience many of the town's highlights. It's a fun area - I especially loved the gorgeous walking trails, and the art (both gallery works and public sculptures). I'm glad Ben asked me to come along on the trip, as I've missed my little small-town Australian adventures. Exploring (and traveling in general) is a bit different with a toddler in tow, but it's still manageable. Arden has always loved being out and about in her baby carrier, so she enjoyed the change of scenery as well as seeing the various animals, parks and beautiful views.

Thanks for a great time, Seymour! Perhaps we'll be back soon to see more... ;)

CK