English Corner – That’s All of Australia

A ride around Victoria is visually like a ride around England but without the ugly parts.

Everywhere resembles somewhere and everything is named for somewhere in the old country. We have visited Sale, Quorn, Stratford, Richmond, Anglesea, Torquay, Peterborough (more than one), Kingston … the list goes on.

Some of these places really do look like their namesakes; riding to Macclesfield through the Adelaide Hills you could imagine a drive across the Peak District into Cheshire with grazing sheep, sparse trees, and a few rocky windswept outcroppings. You have to ignore the odd kangaroo for this illusion to work of course.

Mansfield was actually named for Mansfield, Nottinghamshire but bears no resemblance to the one I know. The one here is in the foothills of the Victorian Alps, was founded on gold discoveries, and is now the gateway to the ski resort at Mount Buller. Like almost every town we have discovered in Australia it’s fresh, clean, friendly, and energetic – not so the other one.