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Your chance to tiptoe through the canola!

August 25, 2023 BY

Hello yellow: Visitors have been flocking to a field in Cornella for the annual Canola Walk. Photo: SANDRA JAMES

GLORIOUS sunshine accompanied the opening weekend of this year’s Cornella Canola Walk, where visitors immersed themselves in a field of the brilliant yellow flowers.

New and return visitors were already waiting at the gate for the opening of the event with locals, people from Melbourne and beyond, with some from as far away as Nepal.

The 360-degree views offer a perfect for opportunity for photographers, drones, families and friends to create Instaperfect lasting memories.

Some visitors wore the National Dress of their birth countries while children played and families connected.

The idea of the Canola Walk was conceived by Brian Spencer and his son Spencer Page, owners of the Shiraz Republic Winery at Cornella, about 20 minutes from Heathcote.

“I saw a program on TV where farmers complained about people breaking down their fences and trampling crops just so they can get a closer look,” said Mr Spencer.

He created a walk through his own field last year and saw more than seven hundred visitors attend.

This year, his neighbour Peter Hamilton and share farmers Tom and Tim Hill allowed Mr Spencer to make a walk through their crop.

Canola crops need rotation and cannot be planted in the same soil in consecutive years.

Mr Spencer said hopes to welcome more than 1000 visitors this year.

“It’s wonderful,” said one visitor, after climbing on the old Bedford truck at the end of the walk. “Being able to see the crop up close and for as far as you can see, is magical.”

The Cornella Canola Walk is at the Shiraz Republic Winery, 507 Hamblin Road at Cornella.

It’s open Friday to Monday 11am to 5.30pm, through to mid-September.

Future events at the winery include Wine under the Stars, in conjunction with the Astronomical Society on Saturday, 23 September, and Oktoberfest on 22 October.