Sands of storybook wonder

That crazy story about a daydreaming — or delusional — young girl who goes on an adventure down a rabbit hole meeting all kinds of weird and wonderful characters and situations.

I still loved the story as a teenager, and as an adult.

So much so I got a tattoo of a disturbed-looking more adult Alice falling down a rabbit hole, surrounded by keys and cards, a pocket watch and vial, with her very own forearm tattoo of the Cheshire Cat, on one of my thighs.

There have been times in my life I’ve related to her, or at least her confusion.

So naturally, when I saw there was an event called Wonderland on the Murray in Echuca for the summer, I made time to check it out.

Here’s where the sandcastles come in.

Wonderland on the Murray is a series of Alice in Wonderland-themed sand sculptures on a walking trail along the Murray River between Echuca and Moama.

There are nine of them — a couple of those double-sided — depicting scenes from the classic tale.

They’re not your ground-level, easily crumbling sandcastles built with a small plastic bucket and spade on an ocean beach.

No, these sandy sculptures are larger than life-size with intricate carving and pretty obviously deep packing given they weren’t all wiped out by the powerful wind and hailstorm that had passed through a few days before our visit.

Starting with the ‘Rabbit Hole’ at Echuca’s Riverboat Dock, the trail leads you through the historic Port of Echuca before taking a turn over the vehicle (and foot) bridge into NSW, where the seventh to ninth sculptures can be found at the Moama Soundshell.

It’s around 2.5km one way, so roughly 5km if you plan on returning to your starting point.

It’s an easily achievable distance for many, but a bit of a slug if you’re already tired (pre-Christmas for us) and it’s right in the middle of a hot day.

The only son of my three who came with me — the eldest (another was working, another hates the heat) — and I walked the path until we were over the river, but there was still quite a length of bridge to go, so we opted to return to the car and drive to the soundshell.

It had been hours since we put sunscreen on and I could feel my pale skin burning.

In between sculptures, there are other decals on the ground marking the way, but also inviting active participation through hopscotch boards, ‘eat me’ heart tiles and rabbit images to jump between, as though the unmarked ground in between was lava.

The path and the sculptures provided enough entertainment to fill a couple of hours, but impressively, the two border towns and further surrounding towns have several businesses, clubs and organisations on board with the theme, enhancing the whole experience for visitors.

Throughout the school holidays, Campaspe libraries — in Echuca, Rochester, Kyabram, Rushworth and Tongala — are offering Alice in Wonderland activities, including tea parties, flower lantern-making and story walks.

Eateries and venues have themed food items and galleries, and crafters have displays — other places have photo props.

You can join a photography walk to capture the displays, engage in art workshops, drink glittering drinks and paint your own cookies.

There’s even a Wonderland Geocaching game and an escape room.

You can find things as far away from Echuca-Moama as Kyabram, Tongala, Toolleen and Torrumbarry.

We had limited time to take it all in, but we did grab some Queen of Hearts tarts from Echuca’s Beechworth Bakery to bring home to my sons who missed out on our little adventure to a sandy Wonderland.

Of course, they’re more food-motivated at their teen ages these days than concerned with missing out on seeing magical storybook displays that their own mother never grew out of.

The event is on until March 9, so who knows, we might get back over that way again to ‘keep following our curiosity’ before it ends anyway.

For more about the event, its deals, offers and activities, visit the website at visitechucamoama.com.au/wonderland-on-the-murray