I am currently reading a fascinating book about the major Australian explorers between 1813 and 1876, who struggled to find ways across the Blue Mountains, the Great Dividing Range and the numerous deserts of the country in order to find new areas to inhabit and farm.
The book is written as extracts from the journals that they kept during their adventures, and those journals contain extraordinary prose which, although often long-winded and tediously detailed ( sound familiar?), makes gripping reading.
These 'pre internet blogs' are illustrated with detailed pencil drawings and watercolours in place of photographs, and it appears that some of the gentlemen adventurers were more competent artists than they were explorers. These guys spent days drawing and sketching the scenery and flora and fauna that they encountered in painstaking detail. I think we will stick to photographs however.
There are tales of abuse of the indigenous people, slaughter of the native wildlife, and near slavery of the convicts they took with them to provide the leg work.
I am reading each adventure as we cover the area in question, so will add a few quotes as we progress.
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Sunday, July 6, 2008
Daylesford
Moving further north to avoid the bad weather in south Victoria ( forecast rain every day this week apart from Thursday...when it will snow ) we arrived in Daylesford, a very foodie town where our mission was to suss out the free range pig farm competition at Fernleigh Organics. Not sampled the sausages yet ( in the freezer at the moment) but the saddleback pork leg roast we had last night was delicious. We also found a butcher who has been running his butchery and red deer farm for less than a year and we are looking forward to the saddle of venison with duck stuffing that we have stashed on board.
The whole town is very food and wine orientated, and the population appears to support a lot of ladies in sensible shoes with hand woven alpaca ethnic garments and fluffy pedigree dogs. There is a lakeside second hand bookshop and cafe which I spent ages in, and as a bonus the lake had water in it. The town has made it onto the list, and not only by virtue of its post office.
We are currently in Bendigo, a large city which also made its money out of gold mining. In fact there was more gold found here between 1850 and 1900 than anywhere else in the world. This led to enormous wealth in the city and the place is dominated with ostentatious victorian buildings including the biggest post office we have seen to date.
We are camping here tonight because we have excellent tv reception in the van and that means I can sit up tonight and enjoy the Wimbledon men's final live while tucked up in bed.
The whole town is very food and wine orientated, and the population appears to support a lot of ladies in sensible shoes with hand woven alpaca ethnic garments and fluffy pedigree dogs. There is a lakeside second hand bookshop and cafe which I spent ages in, and as a bonus the lake had water in it. The town has made it onto the list, and not only by virtue of its post office.
We are currently in Bendigo, a large city which also made its money out of gold mining. In fact there was more gold found here between 1850 and 1900 than anywhere else in the world. This led to enormous wealth in the city and the place is dominated with ostentatious victorian buildings including the biggest post office we have seen to date.
We are camping here tonight because we have excellent tv reception in the van and that means I can sit up tonight and enjoy the Wimbledon men's final live while tucked up in bed.
Saturday, July 5, 2008
The battle of Eureka Stockade, Ballarat
Ballarat was occupied by indigenous people until the 1800's when European settlers began to arrive and establish pastoral properties. In 1851 gold was discovered and a gold rush ensued that the town infrastructure was unable and unprepared to cope with. The Governor sent police and troops in and imposed a policy of gold mining licences ( £2 for every 3 months prospecting).
The diggers rebelled against the licence police and demanded a tax on discovered gold to replace it. The upshot was a rebellion at Eureka when the diggers shut themselves into a stockade and an ensuing massacre by police and troops in 1854. It is seen as a significant event in Australian's history, and is outlined in the Eureka Museum in Ballarat.
The cynics amongst us would suggest that the trigger factor was a drunken brawl followed by a witch hunt which has been glorified over the years to suggest it was a victory for the underdog against the oppressors, but as I am not at all cynical.....
Meanwhile...back to Lake Wendouree . There is a 1919 Melbourne tram which has been restored and the tram line runs around the lake.
The tram driver looks like a man who was born to drive vintage trams or steam trains (probably the Hogwarts Express).
The diggers rebelled against the licence police and demanded a tax on discovered gold to replace it. The upshot was a rebellion at Eureka when the diggers shut themselves into a stockade and an ensuing massacre by police and troops in 1854. It is seen as a significant event in Australian's history, and is outlined in the Eureka Museum in Ballarat.
The cynics amongst us would suggest that the trigger factor was a drunken brawl followed by a witch hunt which has been glorified over the years to suggest it was a victory for the underdog against the oppressors, but as I am not at all cynical.....
Meanwhile...back to Lake Wendouree . There is a 1919 Melbourne tram which has been restored and the tram line runs around the lake.
The tram driver looks like a man who was born to drive vintage trams or steam trains (probably the Hogwarts Express).
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Lake Wendouree
We arrived in Ballarat in time for brunch so Ness chose the Ballarat Botanical Gardens as a scenic pit stop. The guide books emphasise that the 40 hectare gardens are enhanced by their proximity to Lake Wendouree so it sounded an ideal spot despite the rain.
What, no water?
The guide books fail to mention that due to a combination of drought and local government mismanagement Lake Wendouree has been empty since 2005. A rescue program to refill the lake using storm water and recycled waste water will commence when the necessary $2.2 million has been raised.
This was a seriously large well utilised lake, and was used to host the Olympic rowing and kayaking events in the 1956 Olympics. It begs the question just how much tourist and recreational revenue the 'Lake City' has lost while dithering about investing such a small sum to rectify the problem.
They could always commission 'drought busters' to park in the Botanical gardens for a couple of months, I am sure we could generate enough water to fill it for a lesser fee.
Wendouree is an aboriginal word. Translated, it means 'Go Away'
What, no water?
The guide books fail to mention that due to a combination of drought and local government mismanagement Lake Wendouree has been empty since 2005. A rescue program to refill the lake using storm water and recycled waste water will commence when the necessary $2.2 million has been raised.
This was a seriously large well utilised lake, and was used to host the Olympic rowing and kayaking events in the 1956 Olympics. It begs the question just how much tourist and recreational revenue the 'Lake City' has lost while dithering about investing such a small sum to rectify the problem.
They could always commission 'drought busters' to park in the Botanical gardens for a couple of months, I am sure we could generate enough water to fill it for a lesser fee.
Wendouree is an aboriginal word. Translated, it means 'Go Away'
'drought busters'
Heavy rainfall and high winds have driven us inland away from the coast. We are now in Ballarat, Victoria's largest inland city, currently under stage 4 water restrictions ( these run from 1-5, the higher the number the more restricted the water usage). It rained heavily all day and all night.
Our solution to drought conditions:
Place a pom, a kiwi and a small ginger dog in a Winnebago.
Point towards severely stricken area.
Stand well back.
We may start to charge for our services. So all you councillors in rain depleted areas.....'who you gonna call?'
Our solution to drought conditions:
Place a pom, a kiwi and a small ginger dog in a Winnebago.
Point towards severely stricken area.
Stand well back.
We may start to charge for our services. So all you councillors in rain depleted areas.....'who you gonna call?'
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
warrnambool and whales
The final stop on the Great Ocean Road was Warrnambool, whale watching capital of Victoria. Southern right whales stop in the bay to give birth and then nurse their calves for several weeks before moving on to deeper oceans.
The day prior to our arrival there had been several sightings of a mother and calf, but when we arrived the weather was filthy and we spent a day getting cold and wet and no whale to be seen.
We decided to extend our stay another day, and were very lucky to get to see an 18 metre long female and her calf ( estimated to have been born 20 days ago).
The bay is very deep and the whales will come as close as 250 m to the viewing platform- we saw her about 800m off shore and she and the calf were in the bay for several hours. It was well worth waiting for, amazing animals.
Apologies to Terri for the picture quality, she was quite a distance away, I will try and attempt a close up video as requested next time!
The day prior to our arrival there had been several sightings of a mother and calf, but when we arrived the weather was filthy and we spent a day getting cold and wet and no whale to be seen.
We decided to extend our stay another day, and were very lucky to get to see an 18 metre long female and her calf ( estimated to have been born 20 days ago).
The bay is very deep and the whales will come as close as 250 m to the viewing platform- we saw her about 800m off shore and she and the calf were in the bay for several hours. It was well worth waiting for, amazing animals.
Apologies to Terri for the picture quality, she was quite a distance away, I will try and attempt a close up video as requested next time!
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