NSW road trip begins

It may be winter, but that has not stopped us from setting off on a road trip into Southern New South Wales. Left home on Saturday and stopped for lunch at Gooram Falls, between Merton and Euroa. The falls were tumbling across the boulders with gusto after all the recent and current rain.

Our first overnight stop was at Chiltern - where we stayed in October. A nice little caravan park by Lake Anderson. We set up camp and went in search of some local geocaches. Zac is holding a 'nano' cache below that we found on a metal statue of two ladies overlooking the lake.

Another was found on the platform of Chiltern station - as were a couple of rusty penny farthing sculptures that screamed 'climb aboard'!

Saw a historic old red brick homestead called 'Lake View House' which was built in 1870. At one stage the home of the Richardsons, whose daughter became the author known as Henry Handel Richardson. Their jonquils were out in full bloom!

We geocached around Chiltern until the sun went down... literally!

The next morning we hooked up and drove north, crossing the Murray River near Howlong - a famous crossing point as this is where Major Mitchell crossed on his inland expedition. The rain was on again and off again all day, but fortunately was off again while we set up camp at the lovely little caravan park at Lockhart. We had the place to ourselves, right by the water. The caravan park entrance saw a rusty dragon sculpture - there were many sculptures around town.

After another period of rain, we walked up the nearby main street of Lockhart. Lockhart is known as the 'verandah town' as a way of promoting itself to tourists. Its wide main street and wide verandahs do live up to this. The entire main street is classified by the National Trust.

Overnight the rain cleared to a clear sky today - it was freezing cold, with ice all over the car and grass. We were warm and snug in the caravan though.

Went for another walk up the main street of Lockhart - it really is impressive. Much of the original shop signage is still in place! The Blue Bird Café has been around for donkey's years, having been started by a Greek family as an oyster bar. 

We drove just out of Lockhart, around 15 kms to Galore Hill Nature Reserve, a 200 metre high 'mountain' amidst all the flat of the NSW Riverina. We drove to the top and enjoyed the magnificent views. Found another geocache up there too!

There's some history to this place, with the infamous bushranger Mad Dog Morgan said to have hidden in a series of caves. We set out to find and explore them along some rough rocky paths...

Daz & Ethan enjoyed some morning tea on a rock while taking in the view and discussing all manner of interesting topics...

 

Back off the 'mountain' we found a geocache on part of a disused rail line, just off the Sturt Hwy (between Wagga Wagga and Narrandera). This was significant because it was our 100th geocache find!

Back in Lockhart for lunch and an afternoon wandering around town, finding more geocaches, several more sculptures out of rusty metal. We also went and enjoyed milkshakes at the Blue Bird Café which was quite retro with its fixtures and fittings!

Bendigo

The last couple of days of our Bendigo trip were quite busy. The weather was fantastic and we made the most of it! We visited the 'Central Deborah Gold Mine' and did a Mine Experience tour.

 

We all put on hard hats and travelled 61 metres underground to wander an old mining tunnel. There are kilometres of mine tunnels under Bendigo stretching down well over 200 metres in depth.



 

We then wandered around the other displays back on ground level, including some gold panning. It was then to the top of the Poppet Head we went!

 

After lunch we went and toured the Tram Depot - where they not only store the Bendigo trams, but they restore and repair trams from all over the world. They often fix them up then send them off to other tourism destinations.

 

Our tram ride ticket used yesterday was valid for 2 consecutive days, so we rode a complete circuit again, this time on the quaint old number 17, the 'toast rack'. Had to explain to the children why it was nicknamed that and what a toast rack was / is... when was the last time anyone used one of those?

 



 

Zac punching a hole in our tickets... helping out the conductor.

 

This morning we drove a few kilometres up the Calder Hwy from Marong, heading north/west and then took some very little used dirt roads to do some 'Geocaching' - treasure hunting using a GPS and looking for deliberately hidden boxes or containers which contain note pad to log your find, plus sometimes some small 'treasures' to swap. The kids love this new pastime! Caches are generally hidden in hollow stumps / logs, under bark, hanging from trees etc.

 

 

This little journey got us to some remote little spots we'd never have known about if it wasn't for Geocaching, so it was a great experience. Loved this old truck parked under a tree!

 

One of the Geocaches was near the 'Great Stupa' which is a massive Buddhist temple under construction on the land of 'Old Sandhurst Town' - the former old village, like a mini Sovereign Hill. A different experience, but we got to go inside the concrete temple, with hardhats and have a look.

 

 

Driving back to Bendigo, we got some pictures of Sacred Heart Cathedral which we'd visited on the first day here, which was drizzly and wet. It looked so much better today!

 



 

We walked around, the kids scootered around Lake Weerona to finish the afternoon.

 



There was a nice sunset out the back of the caravan park tonight, followed by a great view of the Lunar Eclipse! A pleasant evening... heading home tomorrow.

Bendigo

Today was a busy one, which began as a cool but sunny morning at the caravan park!

 

In Bendigo, we began with a wander through the tranquil Chinese Gardens which form part of the Golden Dragon Museum which celebrates the remarkable achievements of the Chinese in this part of the country, all beginning during the gold rush.

 



 

 

The children got to feed the many goldfish of various sizes.

Morning tea in another Chinese pavilion, before going into the museum itself.

 



 

The forecourt of the museum features this colourful Lotus Flower which contrasts beautifully with the classic architecture of Bendigo!

 

Sun Loong, the dragon that requires more than 115 people to operate is due to come out of the museum for the Easter parade next week, if the weather is okay!

 

After some lunch, we walked up impressive Pall Mall, past the courthouse, GPO (now the Visitors Centre) and the Soldiers Memorial, all the way to the Alexandra Fountain. It was there we caught the 'talking tram' and rode a complete loop.

 

If that wasn't enough, we then drove back out to Bendigo Pottery to pick up the works the children created the other day. Then, with more energy to burn we took them back into the city centre to ride their scooters in Rosalind Park. They loved the downhill sections and showed no fear in tearing down them! We also climbed the poppet head lookout to take in the views of town.

On the way back to the caravan at Marong, we stopped and looked for some hidden Geocaches. Were successful on both searches. This has become a new hobby of ours when we are out and about! Tomorrow we are booked in for a Mine Experience at Deborah Central Mine.

Bendigo Bound...

Rain... rain.. and more rain as we drove to Bendigo on Wednesday. It continued to rain lightly all night and then pretty much most of Thursday too! After a visit to the Visitors Centre and the old Post Office Museum next door on Thursday morning, we went and looked inside the impressive Sacred Heart Cathedral.

 

 

Then we met our good friends the Jacksons - they were on their way to visit their Great Nanna in Echuca and were in Bendigo around lunch time. We all tucked into yummy burgers at 'Grilld'. Continued the 'burger crawl' to McDonalds for coffee and a chance for the kids to play on the playground.

 

After lunch we said goodbye as they continued on their journey. We drove out to the famous Bendigo Pottery as the rain continued to steadily fall. We arrived just in time for the afternoon pottery wheel sessions and signed the kids up for a new experience! They had a ball and kept surprisingly clean... meal times are sometimes messier!

 

They were able to make two items on the wheel and with a little bit of help from the instructor they made vases and bowls, which we can pick up later in the week. We looked around the museum part of the pottery as it was included in our 'Experience' Pass we'd bought in the morning. Interesting history of Bendigo Pottery and exploring through the old sheds, old kilns etc.

 

On Friday morning the weather had cleared and looked a lot more promising. We drove up to Echuca for the day, the main reason being to visit Jeanette's Great Aunt Evelyn.

 

'Measured' Zac alongside the old barge 'Alison' in Echuca - something we first did when he was just a few months old.

 

Had lunch down by the river watching and listening to the paddle steamers tootle by, before returning to Bendigo Marong Caravan Park where we are staying for the week. The kids had fun on the jumping pillow and at the playground.

 

The flying fox was a hit...