Bendigo and Ballarat

Tuesday 3rd March – No picnic at Hanging Rock

Left Melbourne in the rain and headed towards Bendigo on the Calder Highway.

On the way we stopped at Organ Pipes National Park, a very small park centred on a magnificent outcrop of columnar basalt in a deeply incised creek bank. We were the only people in the place, and as we walked around a track by the creek, we came upon several Eastern Grey Kangaroos browsing on the undergrowth. Everywhere else was dry and brown so they had come down to graze greenery by the stream, One had a pouch that wriggled, but the joey didn't peek out. They didn't have much fear of us and let us get quite close before bounding off.

Next stop was supposed to have been a picnic at Hanging Rock, but when we got to the entrance, the gates were locked and the place had mysteriously closed. Everyone had disappeared - spooky or what? The best explanation we could come up with was that the high gusty winds had uprooted a gum tree up the road which brought down a power line with it ( a couple of police cars blocked the road there) and probably the loss of power meant the site had to close.

Drove onwards to Bendigo and the Central Deborah Gold Mine. This was a beautifully preserved mine with all the headgear, engines and processing equipment still working. We went on an underground tour 60m below surface. The guide was very knowledgeable and both explained and demonstrated how the mine was operated, including letting me use a pneumatic rock drill! However the highlight for me was watching an Eimco rocker shovel in operation. I had never expected to ever see one of these startlingly noisy and brutal machines going again.

Then after a quick walk about Bendigo, with a coffee at the famous Gillies pie shop (imfamously once advertised as ' The pies that fill but do not kill'), we drove to Ballarat through more dusty country even though it was starting to rain. The weather was exceptionally windy and the clouds were a strange colour as they were heavily laden with dust.

We found our apartment with difficulty as we didn't have a map, only to find the reception office closed and the phone not working. Luckily another resident rang up the management for us and they explained the key was between the screen door and the main door. As it was now pouring with rain and blowing a gale, we were very pleased to get inside.

Wednesday 4th March

Went to nearby Gold Museum in Ballarat. Intriguing modern museum explaining the history of the goldfield and the tribulations of the miners, especially the tax that led to the Eureka Stockade revolt.
Also fascinating displays of nuggets and explanations of the ways of working and the uses of gold, especially as coinage.

Then into Ballarat itself to wander through the Victorian streets built on a grand scale. The art gallery had a wonderful selection of Australian art including some striking modern pieces in a modern extension to the original Victorian gallery and was well worth looking round.

On to Geelong but by back roads because we stopped for lunch at the desolate Steiglitz National Park. Dust was blowing in between showers of rain and the gum tree and grass tree trunks were blackened by bushfires, probably a few years earlier. A strange and cruelly difficult landscape.

Found the Best Western motor lodge with the help of the information centre. I must have not been paying attention when I booked it, as Christine forcibly pointed out, as it is directly on the very busy Princes Highway with a lot of traffic noise.
On the positive side, our friend Sheila had left a message for us at reception and we spent a very pleasant evening chatting to her and her mother at their home.