BENALLA
Benalla is another of those towns on
the Hume Highway that deserves an extended stopover. A visit to the
Rose Gardens and/ or Catholic Church will cement this is objective.
Benalla is also a heritage town, and recent efforts are bringing
positive results.   
The
site was originally taken up as a pastoral run by the Reverend Joseph
Docker in 1838 and called Benalta Run, from the Aboriginal word
for Musk Duck. A town was laid out on the site in 1846. The Post
Office opened on 1 December 1844 but named Broken River until 1
January 1854

The
Broken River can cause extensive flooding. There is a park and walking
track along the river at Benalla, featuring a ceramic sculpture
community
that was created as part of an employment project for local artists
some years ago.
Industries include agricultural support services, tourism, a medium
density fibreboard factory, Thales Australia ammunition factory and
aviation. The rose gardens and the annual Rose Festival dating from
1967 have contributed to tourism.
Benalla has a regional airport YBLA (BLN) which began life as a major
RAAF training base during World War 2 and now also serves as the home
of the Gliding Club of Victoria as well as a ballooning and ultraligt
centre.
Benalla is where champion cyclist Baden Cooke was born and the place
of war hero Sir (Ernest) Edward "Weary" Dunlop's education.
The
churches in Benalla are all century plus buildings.
 
The
Catholic and Anglican being grand and unique design.
The
hotels in Benalla are spread throughout the town.
The railway being the catalyst for two of the pubs. 
The
Benalla War Memorial incorporates the Weary Dunlop acknowledgement.
The
Benalla Museum is also the info centre and gives a good insight into
the history of the area.
To get the most out of Benalla a two day visit is recommend
Heritage diary
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