Blogs from Castlemaine (Australia), Victoria, Australia, Oceania

Years after prosperous gold mining days passed, Castlemaine established itself as a town with a thriving agricultural, arts and tourism industry. Lots of interesting historic buildings to discover during this time with Emma before she left Australia to return to Norway. Theatre Royal - Behind the 1930s facade is one of the longest continuously operating entertainment establishments in Victoria. Imperial Hotel - 1861. Another hotel built with an interesting mansard roof and extensive cellars. Telegraph Office - The first telegraph communication was on 1 January 1857. Albion Hotel - Once known as the Albion Hotel it is now called the 'Empire'. Williams' Buildings - E D Williams redeveloped this site as his grocery and general merchandise business expanded. Oriental Bank Chambers and Bank of NSW - The Oriental Bank Chambers 1862 was subsequently a printing works, ... read more

After a pleasant camp at Mt Tarrengower, we were fresh and ready for more tours of the goldfields. First port of call though was the Castlemaine dentist (to assess a damaged tooth)! We celebrated surviving the dentist with morning tea (including something sweet of course) and then drove around Castlemaine checking out all of the lovely old buildings. We stopped at the Castlemaine Market building (which is now unfortunately a visitor information centre) and took some photos before driving up to the hill and inspecting the old jail site. Castlemaine was a central area from where smaller rushes (in what became outlying suburbs) occurred. We drove out to Chewton and then out in to the bush a short distance to inspect the remains of the Garfield Wheel. There are only the stone supports remaining now but ... read more

We had a drive around Junee before leaving next morning, driving up to look at the old homestead of Monte Crisco, a large two-storeyed building with many sheds surrounding it. A lot of the land has been sold off, there are quite a few new streets and homes around it now. Our next stop was an interesting town called Coolamon, with old shops and wide main street. There was an old grocery store at the top of the street, built 1906, and with the original long counters, shelves and trolley rails for the money to be carried to the office up above. Nowadays, it's used as a hall by the locals - there were a couple of men unpacking antiques for an upcoming auction. We were in pretty countryside until Narrandera, (on the Murrumbidge River) but ... read more