Shepparton shines on television show

There were plenty of local faces on screen during the crosses that people will have recognised.

One of the more memorable crosses was one where Mr Johnson tried his hand at milking a cow — unsuccessfully — as a promotion for International Dairy Week which is on in Tatura this week.

Farmer Lachlan Andrew brought a cow and calf along to the live coverage, shot on the shores of Shepparton’s Victoria Park Lake.

In a hard-fought competition, Mr Johnson also came up against Shepparton’s former BMX champion Leigh Egan in what he described as a “BMX blender battle”.

Pedal power from the stationary bikes was used to blend smoothies, with the winner whoever’s smoothie was ready first.

“Sadly I lost. It’s no surprise I didn’t beat the former world champion,” Mr Johnson said with a laugh.

The battle was to showcase City of Greater Shepparton’s role in the 2026 Commonwealth Games, hosting the BMX competition and the road cycling time trials.

He also had a walk through the Shepparton Art Museum and tried out his colouring skills in the children’s gallery.

He also tested his kite making and decorating skills as part of the Activities in the Park down by the lake.

Shepparton Search and Rescue members featured heavily in the background of the final cross from Shepparton in recognition of their hard work during the October floods.

It was Mr Johnson’s first visit to Shepparton and he said the town was chosen because Weekend Today wanted to showcase it as a great place to visit and show it was back open for business after the floods.

It’s my first time here, and I was massively surprised how beautiful it is,” he said.

“Other than it is a huge agriculture town, I didn’t know much about Shepparton.”

And an overnight stay as well as the live crosses on Sunday morning was enough to show him just some of what the region has to offer, including the friendly people who live here.

“Coming for Sydney, you forget what people can be like (in regional areas),” he said.

“Everyone was so friendly.

“It was great to have people smile and say hello.”

He was particularly impressed with the Shepparton Art Museum.

“It’s amazing to have something like that in a regional town,” he said.

“This was an opportunity to showcase that regional towns offer so much for family getaways.”

With the area where filming took place flooded in October, Mr Johnson said it was easy to forget that places like Shepparton had faced adversity so recently.

“We wanted to showcase that it is open for business and a great place to come,” he said.

City of Greater Shepparton Mayor Shane Sali was pleased the show had chosen Greater Shepparton to feature on Sunday.

“It was a great opportunity to … share the great things we have on offer,” he said.

“The main message to get across was we’ve had a challenging time through the floods and recovery, but we are open and we want to get people back.”