The heavy rains early February brought with it floods in many parts of Victoria.  Many parks were affected, particularly in the eastern parts of Melbourne and in the hills.  Currently Lysterfield Lake Park, Churchill Park, Birdsland Reserve and Cardinia Reservoir have closed their walking trails and mountain biking tracks.  Only the picnic areas at Lysterfield and Cardina are open. The rest remains closed until insurance assessors can review the tracks and repairs can be effected by Parks Victoria and volunteers.

So what makes people think that all the bunting and signs put up do not apply to them?   Already many people have had to be rescued by the CFA at Lysterfield because the fire tracks are not currently accessible by ambulances.  There have been injuries and many people fined for walking or riding through Lysterfield Lake Park alone.

I was at the park today, taking photos of the lake, the lost beach, boats, etc and saw people walking across the weir. I thought perhaps it must be open so went to the start of that track myself. No, there is bunting there and a sign clearly indicating the tracks are closed. And yet, there were two people of a quite mature age walking at the other end and up the hill. I wonder how far they got before they were stopped by the Parks Vic rangers, or fell into difficulty themselves?  A young man came up to me while I was taking the shots below and asked about the track being closed. He had an accent so perhaps he can’t read English but I explained the tracks are indeed closed and if he goes, he may get fined, or even injured on a track. He went away again.

The two people I saw walking up the track – I later saw them heading up the hill, instead of turning back.

This shows how high the water did get after the flooding rains.

I’ve never seen water in the slipway before.

The beach is covered by water or washed away, and the path along the front of the lake is under water in many places as you can see below.

Win a family pass to the 2011 Yamaha Phillip Island Round Superbike World Championship 25-27 February

Superbike racing is all about showcasing the latest generation of high-performance four-stroke street bikes, with seven manufacturers set to battle it out for the 2011 world championship – Honda, Kawasaki, Yamaha, Suzuki, Ducati, BMW and Aprilia.

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Our students explain what they like most about Melbourne University.

Students talk about the unique Melbourne experience; the campus, the facilities and the Melbourne Model. For more videos and everything you need to know about Change of Preference visit our web site: www.unimelb.edu.au

You  just never know what’s going to happen in Melbourne.

To hit the news on the radio this morning was a family of ducks walking along the Monash Freeway holding up the traffic.  They were waddling down the emergency lane and a VicRoads van was quick to be guarding them from harm until Wildlife Victoria could come and rescue them.

If you’re into cycling you may well be watching the coverage of the UCI Road World Championships being held in Geelong today, which is not that far from Melbourne. Gorgeous weather, our Spring has really just begun.  Of course the Australian favourite is Cadell Evans but there are lots of great riders there and favourites from other countries.

It’s not being covered live online as far as video footage is concerned but there is a regular live update (text) here.

This race has a bigger audience (156,000) than the AFL GF yesterday and it cost nothing for anyone to go along to watch it.  Great event, gorgeous day, great location.  And those overseas watching it get to see our beautiful ocean and the lovely Geelong city and surroundings.