Moe

With a population of around 10,000, Moe is the main residential and administrative centre for the coal-rich La Trobe Valley, 135km east of Melbourne. The region between Moe and Traralgon contains some of the world's largest brown coal deposits which fuel power stations that produce 85 per cent of Victoria's electricity. Moe's tourist centrepiece is the Gippsland Heritage Park, a living museum of 30 authentic heritage buildings including the McMillan Homestead, which was built by Gippsland explorer and pioneer settler Angus McMillan and relocated from Bushy Park. The one 'ring-in' is Loren - a house imported from North Melbourne as an example of the prefabricated iron structure which housed thousands of miners during the gold rush. To visit the park is to step back in history through working displays of old crafts and rides in horse-drawn vehicles from the stable of restored carriages, buggies and wagons. A popular local playground for campers, swimmers and water-skiers, Lake Narracan's parkland shores are equipped with picnic facilities.