Mon, 27th Oct, 2014 Notleys Campground, Greater Bendigo NP

Just after going to bed last night the thunder and lightning started then the pitter patter of rain. Not enough to get the water catching device out again but as it did get heavier Steve put out a couple of buckets. The lightning and thunder were bright and loud and some were straight over us. Woke to a colder morning, though temp in the van was 21.7 degrees the wind chill was cold.

Curled up reading my book in longs and boots trying to absorb the sun that was peaking through. A magpie came and sang for me – lovely sound, here I was saying it was the Currawong that was the songster and it was the Magpie. He even sounds like he copies other birds as sometimes it sounded like a seagull or crow sound too. I videoed him.

Steve watched the news on TV and Melbourne was hit with the storms too early this morning and the trains and trams were all backed up and there was flooding – though they had only registered 21ml. Hope that all settles down before I head down on Thursday.

Can’t metal detect today so he did my hair instead!! – ready for Melbourne Cup. Another big dark cloud came but the wind is strong so it didn’t stay for long.

Nice day for staying in the van - Steve poured over maps trying to work out where the gold is hidden. I worked on where we will go when we land in Tassie at the end of November.

After lunch went for drive to Shadbolts Picnic area and Old Toms Mine and then along a few tracks to check out other places to detect. Chatted to one guy at the mine (the one I saw the other day swearing his head off at a tree!!) He had found a few bits. This is the original Whipstick Inn and the well beside it.

Into Huntly to top up with water as I had used up the truck’s supply to do the washing. Steve pumps it across into the van tanks so we don’t have to take the van out. Got a couple of things from Woolies and a card for Kim and Jay’s baby, Leah.

Back to camp for a cuppa and Steve headed off to try out the other spots while I got tea prepared etc. Sun out but the strong wind is very chilly – mightn’t be a fire tonight if the wind doesn’t settle down. 

Rang Wendy - getting excited about seeing her and the other girls again. Should be a great week in Melbourne.

The sky was clear and a little crescent moon was disappearing. 

Wind settled and everyone collected some wood for the fire. Gayle invited the newcomers, David & Maureen from Townsville with their little dog, Oscar, to join us. Another great night though we were a lot closer to the fire tonight as the breeze is biting. Mick showed us an App on his phone that shows the star constellations. He holds the phone where the stars are and it shows you what you are looking at. He held it where the moon had just disappeared behind the trees and it showed it just going over the horizon. Then he pointed it to the ground and it showed the constellations and spacestations on the other side of the world. I could get a smart phone just for that App.

Sun, 26th Oct, 2014 Notleys Campground, Greater Bendigo NP

Bit cooler start today 15.7 degrees – just when we went to less clothing!! Warms up quickly though but the breeze is cool. Washed the sheets etc today while Steve searched again for gold.

Steve Allard texted that his daughter Kim had a baby girl, Leah Jane Loft at 6.45 am today. Congratulations to Kim and Jay and grandparents Steve and Wendy.

Another lazy afternoon in the van watching the V8s on the Gold Coast. Plenty of texts from Lou about the grid girls and Miss Supercar – boys think we should go there next year as they aren’t covered up with coats!!

Another chatting afternoon and evening with our neighbours around the campfire. Rang my uncle John so let him and Jocelyn know we are on the way towards them. Will give them a call after I come back from the Cup and we will head down and stay with them. Rang Bill O’Neill too but he didn’t answer so left a message – will see them when we get to Melbourne.

No photos today.

Sat, 25th Oct, 2014 Notleys Campground, Greater Bendigo NP

Another beautiful day – enjoying this warmer weather. Got set up to do my washing. Claude & Trish popped in to chat about life on the road – they leave in 3 weeks. Steve went out for a detect – no joy. Mick and Berkeley stopped for a drink and chat before they head to Melbourne to go back to Tassie. We will call in and stay with them soon. Steve says we should be heading back to Forsyth looking at the gold they found up there.

V8 Supercars were racing on Gold Coast – Lou texted to remind us. Good reception here so enjoyed the afternoon in front of the TV.

Jon texted with a photo of his Malloo on the dyno at the Car Show. He got 483.4 horsepower at the rear wheels. He won the Naturally Aspirated V8 Class, so he was stoked. Sent photos of Tash’s dad, Pete’s hot rod too.

New neighbours moved in – Kim and Brenda from Gosford and Gayle and Barry from New Zealand. Collected some more wood and we all gathered for a chat around the fire. Amazing how small the world is, NZ Gayle & Barry are country western guitar and music lovers and drummer Steve know the same entertainment people. They were at Mildura Country Music Festival where Steve was the drummer for a band they were watching.

No photos today.

Fri, 24th Oct, 2014 Notleys Campground, Greater Bendigo NP (Bendigo sightseeing)

I thought we had a misty morning but Steve pointed out there was no breeze and cars were going past on the main road so it was just dust!!

A new van came in through the night. Berkeley is a friend of Tassie Mick’s. He had a memorable visit to Cairns when they were up at Cape Melville he had a heart attack and had to be helicoptered out. Doing well now though. He had built his own caravan so we checked it out.

Gayle’s friend who runs Gold Prospecting Aust told her that she and others were meeting the Minister for Environment or something regarding keeping National Parks free and open for prospectors in Victoria. There is an election coming up.

Into town for a sightseeing day. Into the Info centre to purchase tickets for the Talking Trams. It is situated in a lovely old building, the Bendigo Post Office.  Found a good Australia gold detecting book by Doug Stone with maps so “Merry Christmas Steve”. A lot of the others had these maps so thought it might help. Headed down to the Central Deborah Gold Mine where the Trams leave from. Decided not to do the mine tour as we had done one at Hill End.

This Tram looked like an art gallery – even had paint brushes etc inside.

Went inside to check out the displays and listen to the videos about the mines in Bendigo. Amazing to think all these mines are underneath the town and some go a kilometre down and spread for kilometres under the town.

A 16 year old Bendigo boy, Frederick James Kelly, designed and built this model between 1891-1894. It was a replica of  the mining equipment used during that time to recover gold from the depths below Bendigo. It is still functional over100 years later which shows his master craftsmanship. I videoed it working – great.

They listed the gold process along the edge of the display.

The Tram was fun, open air and the driver was a laugh – very much living the role. The commentary was great. It is the oldest tram in the fleet - 100 years old.

The Sacred Heart Cathedral was huge. They started building it in 1897 but it wasn’t finished. Years later work started again and it was completed in 1977.

The Cenotaph is identical to its counterpart in London’s Whitehall district.

This intersection called “Charing Cross” is like the one in London – bit confusing to get around and there is a big fountain in the middle of it. The area off to the right is called “Pall Mall” named after the area in London too.

Lots of old buildings around the intersection.

Soldiers Memorial Museum was completed in 1921 by public subscription to remember those fallen from the Boer War to Iraq and includes lots of memorabilia. It is built on the site of the Hustlers Royal Reserve Mine.

Lansell’s Monument is made out of quartz and is of George Lansell who arrived in Australia aged 30 and invested in many of Bendigo’s mines. He became known as “Bendigo’s Quartz-King” and was one of the richest men of his time.

Two beautiful buildings – the original Post Office built in 1887 was the largest outside of Melbourne.

And the Bendigo’s Law Courts which opened in 1896.

I spotted a green house but it wasn’t mentioned in the tour.

Passed the Golden Jubilee Monument which was erected in 1901 to mark the Goldfield’s Golden Jubilee. It depicts the goddess of good luck, Fortuna, dropping a nugget into the dish of a Bendigo digger.

Golden Dragon Museum is home to the Chinese Dragoon Loong, the oldest Imperial Chinese Dragon in the world and Sun Loong, the longest Imperial Dragon in the world and it tells the story of the Chinese in Bendigo.

St Kilian’s Church is one of the largest timber churches in the world. It was here in 1852 that Dr Backhaus (a German catholic priest) pitched his tent chapel and became the first permanent clergyman on the Bendigo diggings.

Lovely old houses – one with a modern shop front attachment – just doesn’t look right.

We stopped at the Tramways Depot – got a shot of Steve and our very old open air tram.

The Depot was completed in 1903 for the operation of the electric trams. The first depot was constructed in 1890 near the railway station. Bendigo’s tram depot is the oldest continually operating tram depot in Australia. Originally they had steam engines but everyone complained about the noise and soot and they required too much water to run. When the use of the trams died off over the years due to cars etc the government shut it down but the locals signed a petition in the 1970s and got the tramway working again as a tourist attraction.

An old jalopy drove out in front of us – looked original. Got to be quick on the camera shots around here!!

Another lovely house and great shaped trees.

Lake Weeroona was created in 1876 when 45 acres of land was set aside by the Sandhurst Council (what Bendigo was called originally till the townspeople voted to change it to Bendigo). They wanted to create a lake for boating and recreational activities. There are lanes on it for rowing.

Found the old jalopy again.

The end of the tramline stops near the Joss House which was constructed in 1860 and was originally part of the Ironbark Chinese camp. It is one of the few remaining original buildings of its type in Australia. You can do a tour and it is still a place of worship. We stayed on the tram. It is a hop on hop off tram but you have to wait and hour for the next one and we weren’t doing the tour of the Joss House. The driver just went to the other end of the tram and we flipped over the seats to face the other way and off we went again sitting at the back of the tram.

The streets are all lined with lovely trees – not so good for caravans though.

The town has these great drains – all lined with old pavers.

I have a thing for these houses!!! I missed the Vahland House – designed by German architect, Wilhelm Vahland, who came to Bendigo in search of gold but instead ended up designing many of Bendigo’s finest buildings.

Whilst the main street is wide as the tram goes up the middle – the side streets can be a bit interesting.

We got off at Charing Cross tram stop to check out Pall Mall.

This intersection around the fountain is interesting.

Our tram leaves.

The main street has old ornate street lamps that used to be gas run.

Wandered through Rosalind Park where these beautiful pansies were in bloom. Well I think they are!!

Will have to ask someone why there is plastic wrapped around some of the trees.

The park runs beside the big drains so there are these old bridges over them.

The green house we saw before was surrounded in lovely roses.

Beautiful scents. He checked for bees first!!

Some are so huge.

There were only a few plants in the green house, some had these lovely flowers.

Unfortunately all the lilies, etc have just finished so only the stems were left.

Crossed the road to get a close up of the Golden Jubilee Monument.

This was the building of the Bendigo School of Mines and Industries and now houses the TAFE.

Wandered into the Golden Dragon Museum area – unusual shrubs under the cherry blossom, I think (or is that Japanese).

Some modern plant sculptures. The kids love them.

Bamboo everywhere. Didn't go in the Museum - leaving some things to do next time.

Skinny building. Stopped at a secondhand bookstore near here - very fascinating - had two stories of wall to wall books and he knew where to go when I asked him about bird books - bit overpriced though.

The tram lines in the middle of the street.

The Town Hall apparently has stunning interior featuring elaborate plasterwork, extensive hand painted decoration, delicate gold leafing and is one of the most remarkable boom time buildings in Victoria.

In the Mall area there is a street full of restaurants/cafes. This pub must have jelly wrestling by the pool in the back - Steve might pop back!!!

In the Mall itself it is full of normal retail stores – just the same as home. A violinist busker in a full tux was playing the theme song from The Titanic – very haunting.

We looked at the timetable wrong so had 45 mins to kill and the pizza shop was calling us.

Bendigo bank is huge.

Another great car.

“After the Procession” Sculpture to celebrate the 140^th Easter Procession on 5^th April, 2010.

Found an information plaque so will have to do the history walk next time. The Beehive Mining Exchange was housed here during the 1860-70s. This building was built in 1871 after the original one was burnt down.

The original National Bank is one of three bank buildings that Wilhelm Vahland designed in “Modern Italian Renaissance”.

Jean Baptiste Loridian, a local miller and investor who later helped to establish the sugar cane industry in Queensland, had this hotel built in 1872.

A Ford Shelby Cobra drives by.

Back on the Artist Tram and back to the Mine. They had free art postcards so collected a couple to send off.

Steve liked the snow/gold cones.

Decided to check out the Cathedral as they said it was amazing and it was. So huge.

I’ve never been in a confessional!!!

The stain glass windows above the pipe organ was lovely and the organ’s pipe were amazing.

Walked around the outside.

A lovely sculpture of Saint Mary Mackillop which was unveiled on the 17^th Oct, 2014. Glass in the middle covering her rosary beads etc.

Called into Bunnings for gas bottle exchange then onto the Railway Station to organise my ticket etc for Thursday when I head to Melbourne to meet the girls for the Melbourne Cup week. Got some groceries and bought a card to send to Grant for his 50^th Birthday.

Found a park to have a cuppa and I did my updates etc. More birds to photograph too.

Back to our van for happy hour with Mick and Berkeley from Tassie and Claude and his wife Trish. Lots of stories of their gold detecting in Forsyth – we should be there!!! Berkeley showed us photos of the gold (fist sized) the local prospectors etc, who were showing the Minister around, had on display. They even had the Minister using a detector and he found gold!!! Steve said someone must have planted it!! Got the fire going later and the others joined us for a great night.

Gayle bought marshmallows so we all had dessert and everyone had their version on the perfect cooked marshmallow – she said it has to catch on fire and go black.

Mick poured some sweet chilli sauce on a log and told us to watch what happens. The most amazing blue flames appeared – Gayle the avid scientist was trying to work out why – looking at the ingredients etc, then Mick confessed it was a powder he put on the log he just put in – it lasted for ages.

 Green when I used the flash.

Great night with lots of new friends.