Benalla

---

15 October 2002
This Benalla motel doesn’t have the most comfortable bed. It’s only because I have been tired that my sleeps have been all right. Yesterday was easy and I managed to work my way through three rooms to finish by mid-day.
I’ve been thinking how much longer I’m going to continue in this business. When I go to centres where the children are easy to work with, I actually enjoy my job. At other times, such as today, every time I thought a room was finished there was somebody new to photograph. This happens when children arrive at all times of the day and it makes a straightforward job hard. I ran out of time in the morning and had to wait two hours while the children slept before I could finish the job in the afternoon.

16 October 2002
Woke up at 5.45 in the morning and thought it was an hour later so I got up. The early start gave me plenty of time before I needed to leave the motel for the last day at the centre. Again it was very busy and was glad when I could pack up and leave. I drove about one hundred and ninety kilometers in the afternoon to the next town of Bendigo. I have been to this gold mining town before and have visited most of the tourist attractions. I decided to re-visit the Central Deborah Mine, which has been mining gold since the beginning of the last century. It is now open to the public and a tour guide took us sixty-five meters below the streets of Bendigo. For an hour he told us the interesting history of the mine.

17 October 2002
A good bed gave me a good nights sleep, which was disturbed by the alarm waking me at 7am. On arrival at the centre I was told it was a two-day session. I was due to work somewhere else tomorrow so I phoned the office to find out what they wanted me to do. I’m now staying in Bendigo for two days. It is a very large centre with over one hundred and fifty children. Lucky for me only the Kindergarten needed to be photographed. Thirty children plus ten extras. The girl in charge was very helpful and I was finished by 11.30am. There was still an extra six children due to arrive after lunch so I made myself comfortable in the staff room and waited.
When all the children were photographed I paid a visit to the local library to check on my email then filmed some of the impressive buildings that were built with the money made from the gold discovered in the area.

---