Thursday 27^th Nov, Canberra the Capital City of Australia


At the National Australian Museum


  



Spirit Exhibition

 

Spent the morning at the National Museum of Australia. Wonderful Aboriginal display. Also, a wonderful display 


Horse sculpture using technology from time past.

called “The Spirit of the Horse”!

This was the history of the horse in Australia from the arrival and survival of one stallion, one mare and two colts, through to today with Olympic 

Spirit Exhibition

riders. What a great story! Met a grade nine class in the revolving movie theatre that explained the history of the country from its birth to present day.  Very interesting theatre, it revolves around you.


Great Fun!

Great GF sandwich at the museum, chicken, brie and caramelized onion toasty! Alan had a delicious chunky beef pie. Lattes too!

Lattes





Lazing on the couch.



Water wheel.

Sheep Sculpture

Afternoon spent in the downtown looking at the architecture, sculptures and fountains.   The Canberra Christmas lights down town is set up for a spectacular Christmas light display.  Apparently it has made the Guinness Book of World Records three years running, so this year it was moved to the capital. We saw pictures of last years show - looks amazing. Unfortunately we won't be in the capital when they hit the lights! Had fun shopping in the mall and that was the end for the day!

Flat Rock - No Snakes!

Wednesday Nov 26 – Flat Rock

Flat Rock

This morning was quite cold.  I had a hard time getting out of bed.  We had a beautiful thick wool blanket on our bed and no I did not want to cut it up for hooking as I was far too cold!

We drove the local one-way gorge drive of 4 km – again a single lane on a twisty steep road! The rocks were fantastic, well worth the drive.

We next went to Flat rock. This location we learned about from a shop owner in Bendigo.  She had listed a few places for us to stop as we headed to the nation’s capital of Canberra. Our instructions included a diagram and what tree we were to turn and stop at! Somehow we made it.

Once there, we stop and climb up a somewhat derelict path.  I was particularly nervous about snakes!  At the top, I saw what I thought was a fox running past.  We were amazed at the view on top of the Flat Rock.  What a large flat rock in the middle of the country side. Well worth the stop and no snakes!

Back in town we find the Beechworth Emporium and after a good look around at the Auzzie made items we purchase a few. We stop at the candy shop and enjoy the amazing displays, but did not purchse any sweets. On the next street we find the Divine Linen store, another great local store.

On the road, our next stop is the Woolshed Falls…this was also mentioned by the lady at the Whole Foods Store.   

The sign at the falls indicates this area was at the turn of the century a location where they mined gold.  Today it is a tourist attraction. We do find near the facilities, a sign that says no entry do to exposed mining shafts in the area.  The remnants are still being felt even after all these years.

We carry on the road and make our next stop at Tarcutta to check out another wool shop.

Not far up the road we pass the Tarcutta Textile Company and stop in.  We have a very nice visit with the owners who learn of our trip, and I show them my rug hooking, and teach them how. Before I know it, I am in the back of the factory and into the working warehouse to see all the textiles, patterns and woolen goods. What fun.  They throw out all their pure wool scraps!!! Rug hookers – check them out!  They then provide me with a big bag of woolen scraps that I can take home. What fun!

We purchase a few of their Aussie products before heading on to Canberra.

The countryside changes from mountains to rolling hills, much like NZ.  It is very dry and everything is in need of water.  We loved the rolling landscape.

By chance we met this couple from Western Australia when we were looking for accommodation. The local “I” was closed, so we were looking at the map when they arrived, quite lost.  We managed to help them find their hotel, so we went there to and ended up in a lovely brick motel-efficiency unit at the local Yowani Country Club.  I even managed to get a discount.

We had dinner in their dining room and called it a night and ended up sitting with this same couple. We gave them our large bag of fresh pecans and the nut cracker, this cannot be brought into Canada. They are moving from Perth in Western Australia to Wonga Wonga in New South Wales to live near their friends.

This had been a long day on the road.

Tomorrow we are going to see the city of Canberra.

Joss House Temple

Tuesday Nov 25 – Joss House Temple

We are headed into Bendigo to see the Joss HouseTemple.  This temple was an 1800’s place of worship for the many Chinese workers here to harvest the gold during that century.

The volunteer is thorough in her explanation of how the Chinese arrived to search for the alluvial gold (above ground) in the area during the gold rush.  They established a Chinese settlement that functioned on its own apart from the city pf Bendigo.  As part if that settlement, they had a temple where they could worship.  This temple was one of 7 that they were able to learn of in the area.  It was last used in the 1930’s and sat derelict till the Second World War when a new munitions factory was developed behind the temple.  At this time, the council asked that it be protected.  It was reopened in the 1970’s as a historical sight.  It is also open to those that wish to use it as a house of worship.

After our Joss House tour we head to the Bendigo WoolenMills.  This mill makes Australian woolen items right here and we make a few purchases. They sell beautiful wool that is machine washable. Laurie would like this as it is much like our favourite wool from Bowmanville.

Picnic at Waroona Lake, I have the usual corn cakes with peanut butter and honey and Alan has found a food truck! He has a Tex Mex hot dog which is a small hot dog with Mex hot sauce, cheese, sour cream and broken taco chips, all on a large cheese bun.  He thoroughly enjoyed it!

We leave Bendigo and carry on to Beechworth.  We stop at Mooroopna to get gas.  They provide us with a bit of local information and we head on to Beechworth.

Finally we arrive in Beechworth and it is in the mountains….beautiful.  We find a place for the night at the Beechworth Cabins.

After supper we hike around the town.  It is a beautiful little town steeped in gold mining history from the 1850’s.  Many of the original buildings are still standing as a testament to the hard work of those that brought the town to life.  The trees in the local park are from all over the world and are quite spectacular.  They were planted by a rich local in the early 1800’s.  

Tomorrow we are heading toward Canberra.

Talking Tram

Monday Nov 24 – Talking Tram

The day begins with the Talking Tram Tour. An excellent way to see the city and learn its history.

Alan is fascinated by the local mail carrier here!

Once on the tram, the driver takes us on a historic tour of Bendigo.  .

The tour head through town and speaks to the history of this gold mining town and the people who participated in it.  The history goes back into the 1800’s and is very informative.  Eventually we arrive at the tram sheds and have a good look at the building with a very large collection of historic trams.  Some are in full working order, others are being restored for service. 

Back on the tracks, the tour continues as we head towards the Chinese section of the town.  The Chinese had a large contingency here during the gold rush days.  They were proud, hardworking people with large gardens.  The vegetables saved the towns people by offsetting the effects of scurvy in that age.

It starts to rain and we return back through the town in the pouring rain.  The large river beds were empty, but for a tiny trickle, and after the rain were raging.  In the 1800’s they had paved each river with large stones as the miners sent too much debris down the rivers and they would get clogged easily.

We heard that there was flooding in Eaglehawk, so we went and checked our apartment. It was fine.  After lunch we tour the down town of Eaglehawk. Everything closes at five, so we are done for the day.

Country Towns

Sunday Nov 23 – Country Towns



Breakfast Stack!

Today we head northward.  We skip breakfast and head out of the hotel.  Off to Woodend again to check out the historic town.  We had a lovely breakfast at a café. We had egg stacks for breakfast.  They started with crispy potato rosti, then smoked salmon, then spinach 
and cheese followed by a poached egg and then topped with hollandaise sauce…truly amazing.

We drive up the hill towards Bendigo but stop at first at Kyneton to shop around the town. We both like Kyneton, it has that old town charm.

At Bendigo we go into the “i” where they find us accommodation. We rent a store front, converted into a tourist apartment in Eaglehawk, a suburb of Bendigo.  It was nice, so we are going to stay two days.

Most of the day was driving and checking out the local towns, so we are quite tired.

Country Fire Department

Saturday Nov 22 – Smythesdale Fire Department



Watch for the Kangaroos, Wombats and Echidnas.

We are heading to Melbourne today.



Is this a gold nugget?

Many of the churches in the area are made of blue stone.  They are beautiful.

 


 Smythesdale is a Champion Fire Department!

4 wheel drive heavy duty bush fire trucks.

We drive through Smythesdale where a fellow is working at the local fire hall.  We turn around to take pictures and he invites us in for a tour.  We climb all over the new truck (only 3 months old) and he explains all the functions.  We take many pictures inside the truck and out and he is very happy to show us.  He also provides some good history material on the fire service which we will take back to Andrew Petrie.



Woodside Park - Amazing Horse Farm!

Ballarat is a large city and we stop at the “i”, here the attendants say it is a good thing you are not looking for accommodation here this weekend as we have a horse race event (Ballarat Cup) and all the town is fully booked.  It is a beautiful gold mining town and had we know what was here we might have stayed for a few days.  We take a few quick pictures and move on.  Maybe next time we will stop here again.

We carry on to the ladies suggestion and drive to Woodend, again no accommodation. Eventually after a lovely drive through the countryside and seeing elaborate horse farms we end up at the airport as we cannot find anywhere to stay.



Hundreds of Kangaroos!

Friday Nov 21 – Hundreds of Kangaroos!



Scenic one lane highway - Grampian Mountains.

Off To Stawell were a friend’s long-time pen pal, of over fifty years, lives.

We have been instructed to drive along the Victoria Valley road.  We are heading to Hals Gap and this road takes us through two sections of the Grampian Mountains.  We start our trek at about 10:00 in the morning and the light is perfect: a nice blue sky with fluffy white clouds.  Not far along we have to slow as there is a small kangaroo on the side of the road (a wallaby we think)…it is beautiful. 



Echidna.

The picturesque highway grows narrower and narrower until it is one paved lane.  We felt like we were on the edge of the outback again.  The trees are magnificent and very large.  They are mountains are all around us as we drive through the grassy valley.

Hals Gap is our first destination on the way to Stawell.  We stop at the Lake Bellfield a man made lake which is the reservoir for the Hals gap and Pomonal communities.

The Boroka Lookout is wonderful.  We find an Echidna on the side of the road. It is somewhat like a small cute porcupine, so I had to get out, get up close and take pictures.  It was so sweet.



Kangaroo with joey.

At the Boroka Lookout you can see for miles and miles (hundreds of km’s) in many directions.  An amazing sight and well worth the drive.

Finally off to Stawell. Here we meet with Judy and Barry, our friend Donna’s pen pal. We dropped off pictures and a letter, had a nice visit and were on our way.  It was so nice to meet them. 

Stawell is a gold mining town and the mine is still working the vein underneath the town.  At the viewing area, for the mine we see a small tunnel into the earth.  When a large Euclid dump truck arrives from out of the tunnel, we realize that the opening is enormous.

In the middle of the road is a lizard sunning itself.  It seems the local lizard (Shingle Back or Stumpy Tail). It has almost no tail!

On our return trip as we cross the plains towards Hals Gap we see and watering hole and a large group of Kangaroo’s.  It is the first time we have seen more than three or four in a group.  We turn around and take pictures. A quick count comes up with 41.



Just a few kangaroos on the cricket pitch.

After Hals Gap we are very careful to watch the shoulder.  It is bathed in shadows and we really don’t want to run into a kangaroo.  As we approach our town there on the side of the road is a great big kangaroo.  We slow and he retreats into the bush.  Around the corner we pass a little valley and there on the hill are hundreds of Kangaroos.  We quickly turn around and pull over to the side of the road.  Here are many…silently hopping around and grazing on the grass in the receding sunlight.  We watch for a long time, take many pictures then head back. We see a few more enormous herds of kangaroos before we get to town.

 As we approach the town, there are 50 more on the cricket field. We stop to watch them.  Alan manages to get an amazing video. Apparently in a month when all the grass is dead, it already looks dead to me, there will be hundreds covering the cricket green, as this will be the only grass for miles.