150 years after the rabbits were introduced to Australia at Barwon Park just outside Winchelsea town centre, Barwon Park held a Family Day to commemorate the event. On a beautiful warm, sunny day, Barwon Park and its grounds were open to visitors enjoying ferret races, a ball-throwing challenge by Winchelsea CFA, ice-creams, pies, coffees, Devonshire Teas on the Mansion's verandah, face-painting (rabbit-faces only of course) and a wander around the magnificent Barwon Park Mansion itself.

Upper Barwon Landcare had a stall with information about the rabbit and the damage it has done to Australia, along with other introduced species such as the fox. The Dry Stone Walling association also had a display on this remarkable skill. The Winchelsea Lions Club provided lunch in the form of rabbit sausages. Dan the Amazing Magic Man roved around, enthralling audiences young and old alike. Small ones had a rabbit-shaped jumping castle to burn up energy on. A number of market stalls added extra interest, including Barwon Plains winery offering tastings and wine by the glass.

To complete the picture, some very sleek (and very low) sports cars graced the front lawn of the Mansion.

The fabulous weather brought out lots of visitors, making for a very successful Family Day for Barwon Park Mansion, set up under the guidance of Trudi Toyne, the National Trust manager for the property.

Barwon Park was built by Thomas Austin, one of many early settlers who brought sheep, cattle, horses, dogs, cats, hares, partridges, pheasants, sparrows, hawks, starlings, thrushes and blackbirds to Australia. In 1859 Thomas arranged for his English family to send 12 pairs of rabbits from England so that he could breed them for hunting. He built enclosures and employed a game keeper to oversee their breeding - which succeeded beyond Thomas' wildest dreams, attracting wide praise. Today the praise has turned to blame, however Thomas Austin wasn't actually the first to bring rabbits to Australia. Rabbits first came with the First Fleet in 1788.

Rabbits now cover the whole southern part of Australia, from northern New South Wales through Alice Springs across to the West Coast. There are different stories as to how rabbits escaped to the wild - in 1864, the Barwon River flooded and washed away the fences holding the rabbits in at Barwon Park, and the local people also liked to catch and eat rabbits (cutting holes in the fences to allow them to escape). A third theory is that a small hole was cut in the fence so that when the Duke of Edinburgh visited Barwon Park he had easy targets to shoot as the rabbits ran through!

Barwon Park is located at 105 Inverleigh Road, and is a majestic 42-room bluestone Mansion managed by National Trust. It is open every Wednesday and Sunday from 11am to 4pm. For further information, phone Trudi Toyne 03 5267 2209.

The National Trust is a not-for-profit community funded organisation dedicated to preserving Victoria's heritage for future generations to enjoy.