The Barooga Community Botanical Gardens are the envy of many centres and towns in the Cobram/Barooga region.
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The gardens themselves are beautifully laid out and provide not only a pleasant respite for visitors travelling through our region, but for locals also they are a focal point and have hosted numerous family picnics, weddings and markets.
And if they were not special enough already, a new craze has seen the gardens gain just a little more magic through — of all things — painted rocks.
Cobram mum Ellen Weeks is administrator of the Facebook page Cobram and Surrounds Rocks, and along with about 133 other members — and a growing number of other painted-rock-related Facebook pages — is determined to make the world just a little bit brighter.
‘‘Not only am I painting the rocks and doing ‘rock drops’ myself,’’ said Ms Weeks, referring to the practice of depositing painted rocks in a location so they can be found by others, ‘‘my four-year-old Sian is now painting rocks and doing rock drops.
‘‘She has realised the importance of leaving some of the rocks she has found for someone else and not taking everything she finds home.’’
It appears as though painting rocks and leaving them to be discovered has brought not only a touch of magic to children’s lives — it is also inadvertently encouraging them to get some exercise.
‘‘I am really happy to see kids not stuck indoors but going outdoors and taking part in hunting for the rocks,’’ Ms Weeks said.
The Botanical Gardens is not the only location to be touched by this handcrafted ‘‘stone art’’.
‘‘The areas around the Cobram Library, Mivo Park and Levings Park behind McDonald’s in Cobram, they are all spots we have dropped the rocks,’’ Ms Weeks said.
Asked to recall the most interesting rock she has seen or found in her travels, one comes easily to mind.
‘‘One of the gents in our group, Jimmy, decided to paint a couple of Ned Kelly rocks. He dropped them off at one of our regular locations, he put the word out that he had ‘‘made the drop’’ — they weren’t found by anyone! No-one got on Facebook and said they had picked them up.
‘‘Jimmy goes back, finds them, attaches a $5 note each to the two of them, posts on Facebook ‘Ned Kelly wanted dead or alive, reward offered’ — and sure enough the two were found.’’
If you want to get involved with an unusual fun community activity, check out the page Cobram and Surrounds Rocks on Facebook.
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