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Published: March 31st 2010
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Today’s plan was to take in the goldmining heritage of the area. Our first visit had to be the Arc de Triomph, or Victory Arch as they call it here (yoohoo Nicky & James!) (and Hannah B!) There is also a Remembrance Avenue that is over 22 kilometres long and has a tree planted for each person from Ballarat who served in WW1.
We visited the Ballarat Art Galley to have a look at the original Southern Cross Eureka flag. I was struck at how large it was - I don’t know why, but I was expecting something much smaller. There was a special event on at the Art Gallery focusing on Queen, John decided not to go in as it was rather expensive and he also spent a considerable amount of time moaning about the cost of memorabilia in the shop!!
As we left Ballarat, we visited the old cemetery which had monuments to both the miners and the soldiers killed in the rebellion. It should be noted that the memorial to the miners was erected a year after the insurrection, yet it was several years before the state built one for the soldiers! It’s always sad looking
round cemeteries of this age - if a disease got into one tent around the goldmines, then everyone was at risk, and we saw graves for children from one family who all died within a month of each other.
We visited a woollen mill in Creswick, which reminded me of Monica visiting merino wool mills in NZ. Here I was looking at the most fabulous alpaca and pure wool throws, scarves, socks and clothing. I’m not quite sure how I managed to leave empty handed, but I think it might have had something to do with the strong Aussie dollar versus the weak British pound (thanks Gordon!) - and our excess baggage problem!!
Yeehaw! We were in Clunes - which reminded us of a wild west town - it was just so incredible to see a mining town as it would have been almost a century ago. It has actually been used as the backdrop for several films (yeah, don’t ask me which ones, but next time I jump up in the cinema shouting ‘I’ve been there’, you’ll know!)
We followed on with a visit to Talbot, another old gold town. It didn’t have quite the main
street of Clunes, but it was interesting to see how spread out everything was from when there was a much bigger population. We had fun visiting the station, which has been out of use for ages and is now falling into disrepair.
Castlemaine was also on our itinerary, with our intention to partake of an XXXX - however, believe it or not, we couldn’t find one! Lovely town though, despite the absence of a good pub!
Have you noticed that everywhere we go, each town needs to have a claim to fame? Some of these are a tad tenuous ... the biggest lobster probably being the winner in that category! I’ve found this quite amusing although one local admitted to it being slightly embarrassing as this seems to be the way they differentiate between towns.
So, some could say that Maldon’s claim to fame is that it was declared Australia’s first ‘most notable town’ in 1966 or that it was awarded the ‘most intact heritage streetscape’ in 2006. It really was the most beautiful town that we’d visited throughout the gold route.
But for us, Maldon’s best claim to fame is that it was the birthplace
of Alfred William Harrowven in 1873. John positively burst into town looking for evidence of ancestors, starting with the tourist information. Apparently the local museum is really helpful ... unsurprisingly we managed to visit on the day they are closed! (have you noticed a theme here?) We also went to several churches, all of which were also closed (no comment!)
With time getting the better of us, all we could manage was a whistle-stop tour of Bendigo - a shame really, as our intention had been to go down the gold mine and take a tram tour around the city. Still, Echuca was calling and after laboriously slow processional drive to the city and a frustrating hour trying to find our campsite, we finally arrived. Boy was it worth it! If only you could be where we are now; parked on the banks of the Murray River surrounded by a fiery sunset and amazing bird chorus. What’s more, after more years that I care to remember, I’ve finally heard the laugh of the kookaburra that I sang about back in infant school!
So, first impressions of the Goldfields area - well worth a visit, especially at quiet times
- turn up when there aren’t many cars around and you’ll get a real feel of what things must have been like 150 years ago. Some made me think that they’d been frozen in time - especially when I saw the schoolgirls in their gingham dresses with short white socks and black shoes!
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