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Published: December 12th 2008
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part of The Great Aussie Beer Shed
The place is the size of a medium-sized airplane hangar - and there are all manner of things on show. Cans, bottles, stubbies, jugs, mugs, steins, hats, stoppers, bar taps, matches, shirts, - anything 'BEER' Well - it's been a few weeks!!! After leaving Echuca we headed north (back into NSW) to Deniliquin, then east to Finlay, south to Tocumwal (Vic) and on to Cobram. Spent 3 nights 'on The River' at Cobram then back over The River to Barooga. There we met up with Patrick (Sharon's workmate from Ray White). He was recently engaged and has 'come home' to celebrate with his family. It was also his Mum & Dad's 60th Wedding Anniversary and we were all cordially invited to attend the celebrations on Sunday afternoon. At least Sharon KNOWS Patrick - but we were feeling almost like gatecrashers!!! But, 'county folk' being how they are, we were made to feel very welcome and we had a nice afternoon.
From there we went east to Albury/Wodonga and I met up with Christine (Garry 1's sister) and had lunch with her. Was very nice to catch up with her. After 2 days in Wodonga we headed south-west through Rutherglen (as in Rutherglen Wines mmmmmmmm) to Beechworth. Beechworth is where Ned Kelly had his hearing on murder charges. He was remanded in custody to stand trial in Melbourne on those charges, where he was subsequently convicted
The Ettamogah Pub
... looks JUST LIKE the cartoon and hanged. From there to Glenrowan, where Ned Kelly and his gang staged their 'last stand'. All his gang was either shot dead or burned alive when the troopers set fire to the guest-house where they were holed up - except for Ned. Ned sustained a reported 24 !!!! gunshot wounds and was captured the next morning. Next to Benalla, then west to Shepparton where we spent 3 days.
Sheparton is home to the SPC/Ardmona Company and they have a HUGE factory outlet there open to the public where things are VERY cheap. It's mostly dented cans, cans without labels, over-produced items or stuff that's nearly at it's use-by-date - but it's VERY cheap. So, who cares if it doesn't have a label !! Shepparton also has an OLD butter factory with 1854 on the wall !!! A feature of Shepp (as the locals call it) is their painted cows - sculptures that are scattered all around the town. There is quite a herd of them in one of the local parks - they're SOOOOOO colourful.
Next stop Bendigo - most of these mid-west country towns in Victoria are over 150 yrs old. There's some magnificent architecture and
Our campspot at Cobram
3 days of quiet bliss - and free too !!!!! history around these parts. They all stem from the Goldrush Days. Some have been maintained exceptionally well in 'heritage colours etc' some have been 'let go' and in need a serious facelift. In Bendigo they have "talking' Tourist Trams with various tops throughout the city at some of the more popular tourist attractions. They are very colourful and some even operate as a moving restaurant !! Others can be hired for parties etc. Bendigo has a very strong Chinese presence (from those heady Goldrush Days) and the Chinese Museum is one of the THE BEST things I have seen to date on this trip so far. It is just fantastic!! Bendigo boasts the OLDEST Imperial Chinese Dragon IN THE WORLD (Loong) and the LONGEST Imperial Chinese Dragon IN THE WORLD (Sun Loong). Most of the very colourful dragons leave the museum every Easter for their Chinese New Year parade/festival. The Bendigo Joss House is the oldest still-used Joss House in Australia.
From Bendigo, west to Inglewood, St Arnaud and Horsham, then south through The Grampians to Hamilton. North-east to Ararat and on to Ballarat. The Gold Museum in Ballarat is an eye-opener (to say the least). The largest 'nugget'
Merry Christmas
one of Bendigo's Tourist TRasm all decorated up for Xmas. It picks up the kids and takes them for a ride to see Santa !! ever found in Australia weighed in at 2217 oz !!!!!!! They have a replica of it on show as well as a cast of The Hand of Faith. They keep a sort-of 'running total' of the gold extracted throughout Australia to date - it currently is about 7 billion ounces !!!!!!!! Ballarat is also home to 'The Eureka Stockade' - get out your history books or go to Google! The miners were fed up with being ripped off and charged ridiculous permit fees and cheated on their gold prices and fined to the hilt for minor indiscretions - this led to the rebellion and subsequent shoot-out with 'Authorities' where about 30 miners were killed and several more injured. Remember - in those days a 'mere peasant' had no rights at all and were hardly considered more than animals. This build-up and rebellion actually led to the government of the day having to recognise peoples' rights and finally was the catalyst for the introduction of democracy in Australia - where "all men are considered equal" and entitled to vote etc. Ballarat is home to "Sovereign Hill" a tourist pioneer village. It has replicas of 'diggings', gold smelters, old shops, tradesmans' businesses,
Bendigo's 'Talking' Tourist Tram
You can get on & off anywhere/anytime for 2 days and see all the attractions houses (both rich & poor). They also have re-enactments at various times through the day. You can have a wheelwright demonstrate how they used to make wagon wheels - it's a very precise and time-consuming trade and - they had none of the modern-day tools or technologies of today. The streetscape is how it would have looked in The Goldrush Days - the butcher, the baker, the candlestick-maker, jeweller, blacksmith, apothecary, a ride in a Cobb& Co coach, etc etc. Very well-worth the admission price ($37) - spent 5 hours there !!!! Even the 'staff' are all dressed in 'period costume'. Heading off south now to Lismore then east to Geelong and into Melbourne for Christmas/New Year with Brett & Brierley and Gavin.
Chat to you again soon in the next instalment !!!
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