Heading home

All good things have to come to an end and Sue and Keith's trip to Australia was almost at an end so we had to part company - they to WA to daughter Bourby where they would pack their big suitcases in readiness for their trip back to the UK; and us back to sunny Queensland.
Before we parted company we visited the shops in Gisborne (where Bob and Kathy live) and Sue was able to find herself a couple of cuddly souvenirs.

Surprisingly the souvenirs Sue found were actually made here in Australia! It is getting more and more difficult to find souvenirs that are affordable that are made in the country you visit! More often than not they are made in China.
Sue and Keith were dropped unceremoniously at the airport and fast and furious goodbyes were said, Colin and I packed our cases and left in our clean red Corolla the following morning.
Not too many photographs were taken on our homeward trek. We seemed to be more intent on "getting home" than on wandering from the direct route. However the sight of a landlocked submarine in the middle of New South Wales did encourage us to take an unscheduled break!

The town name Holbrook was in honour of a highly decorated submarine captain who lived there and the towns people bought the shell of the submarine "Otway" after it had been decommissioned. More can be found out about the place by doing a Google search for "Holbrook submarine"

One very small detour off the Hume highway was made so that I could take a couple of photos of the Dog on the Tuckerbox. there is a famous Aussie song about this dog. The first statue was very different from the present one, I have included both dogs so you can see the difference!

The first dog was nine miles from Gundagai and the newer dog on the tuckerbox is five miles from Gundagai - so that it is closer to the town and to the highway.
The sight of a bank of wind generators brought the camera up to the eye again - this time to Colin''s eye! There has been a lot of reporting in the press about how these wind turbines are causing illnesses among the people who live close to them. We were not close enough to hear them but they certainly look very impressive high on the hilltop.

We booked in for the night at Goulburn, we turned of the highway and came face to face with a mighty Merino sheep! The sun was sinking by this time so it looked very striking in the golden glow of evening.

We had made the choice to drive via the coast road rather than struggle with the flooded roads of the inland so we took the M7 to bypass Sydney and joined the Pacific Highway (which bypasses just about every city on the east coast!) It was an easy and fast run with the allowable speed 110 kph for much of the way. We were amused at the "koala crossing" overhead near Newcastle. I wonder how many koalas cross the road on these aerial bridges!

You can see the inward leaning fences that prevent the animals from climbing over the top of them, on the left. I guess they have to climb lots of different trees to find the one that has the road bridge attached! What a strange idea!
I love bridges too, so when we drove over an opening bridge (one time I did see it open) out came the camera again.

This time Colin was driving so I could take the picture myself! We drove and drove until we reached home - we crawled into the garage at eight in the evening - just as our son arrived home with his tour bus. Next morning, before he left I noticed that the tree at the end of our drive way was reflected in the windows of the coach.

I couldn't really let you see the red car - it was smothered with yellow bugs! Its good to be home - but now I will have to keep busy to keep the blog alive!
AJ

Hanging Rock and Maceton hills

Kathy had taken a day off work so she could have some time with us (Sue, Keith, Colin and me) so in two cars with Bob driving one and me the other, we drove out to enjoy the sights around Gisborne. Firstly we stopped briefly in front of the house in which Bob and Kathy used to live and then drove through some beautiful mountainous lanes with huge trees and flowering agapanthus (blue and white) decorating the sides of the roads, until we reached a restaurant at the top of Mount Macedon. A walk from the restaurant led to a mighty cross that towered above the trees and overlooked the amazing view over the valley below.

The gardens leading up to the cross were planted with hydrangeas and these were the strongest blue that we had ever seen on this plant.

 The avenue leading to the Cross

Hydrangeas range from white through to pink, to purple and to blue, depending on the alkalinity or acidity of the soil.

 Keith capturing the blues of the Hydgrangea

On one side of the gigantic cross was embedded a huge bronze sword. Having taken a couple of photos from the approach to the cross I almost didn’t look up when I reached the other side so I almost missed seeing it.

After our walk we undid all the good we had done by eating two of the largest scones with jam and cream that we had ever had! Of course it was necessary to have a little more exercise to make things right again so we drove on to “Hanging Rock” – the same place that was the inspiration for the book and movie “Picnic at Hanging Rock”. Once there we really had some exercise! The sun had come out so it was a lot warmer – the morning was cool enough for jackets. The scenery was stunning. I enjoyed walking up the steep steps and taking photographs of the amazing rock formations.

 We all have different degrees of fitness so it was only Sue, Keith and me who reached the “Summit” and the “Eagle” – Colin and Kathy made it as far as the “Hanging Rock”

before returning to the café at the base of the outcrop to order iced coffees for everyone.

 This is the formation known as "Hanging Rock"

The views from the top were spectacular between the rocks. It was well worth the extra exertion! 

 Here is another view in a different direction.

The grass is rather brown at this time of year (summer) so these same view would look so different in three months time when all is green and lush.

AJ

Tent city to rich city

Before leaving Swan Hill and our beautiful and gaudy purple motel There just had to be a few photos of the Town.

 The purple motel

We wanted to see the Pioneer Settlement down by the river, the entrance used to be through the old paddle-steamer “Gem”. The entrance has been moved – and as a result the old timber vessel may last a bit longer – but the Gem is such an unusual water craft by the standard of today that I enjoyed the opportunity to take a few shots of it while there were no people around.

 a former Murray River paddlesteamer

Unfortunately the cost of entering this tourist village was rather exorbitant and since we only had an hour in which we could take a look through we decided that we would rather drive on to Bendigo and spend a bit of time there instead. It was a little disappointing at the time (not to go around the Pioneer Settlement) but as it turned out we were able to take a tram tour around Bendigo and still not be too late getting to my brother’s home near Melbourne.

I asked our tram driver to pose beside the 1914 tram that he was going to drive.

 Our tram driver in authentic uniform

We started out in a tram that was much younger than this and when we pulled into the tram depot all the passengers were asked to dismount and transfer to this timber lined tram.

 The timber interior of the 1914 tram

Our trip on the tram took us past a few of the things we had walked around on foot. We passed the Golden Dragon Museum that houses the Chinese dragons that are used in parades for Chinese New Year.

We saw the wonderful ornately decorated roofs of the temples and pagodas in the grounds of the Golden Dragon Museum.

The tram journey took us past many early timber buildings and it was slow enough to stand up and take photographs out of the open windows.

Bendigo grew because of the gold fields of the 1850’s, many of the poppet heads from those days have been preserved and some of the mines are open for tourists.

The Deborah Mine, which is also the start of the tram tour, has many levels of mine underground and it is possible to spend half a day on a tour with an experienced guide, exploring the nine levels of tunnels and shafts.

I think a quick look into one tunnel might be interesting, I am not sure if I could get pleasure from spending several hours in a tunnel!

AJ