Out and about in Melbourne last week...

This time last week, DH and I left Ballarat and headed off for Melbourne, the capital of the state of Victoria. We stopped in Bacchus Marsh to have a look around.

A hotel in Bacchus Marsh

The Anglican church in Bacchus Marsh

Then it was back on the road and heading south through lovely undulating countryside.

Our first stop in Melbourne was at the beach suburb of St Kilda. On a Sunday, the markets are operating, so we wandered around the stalls which were selling a  variety of handcrafted items. We also wandered up the busy main street, checking out the shop windows. After a while DH suggested we move on to another old suburb, Prahan.

After walking around Chapel St for an hour it was time to head for our hotel in Richmond. Richmond is close to the city and has an excellent tram and train service. The hotel we stayed in was on the banks of the Yarra River and best of all, the trams stopped right outside. On our first night there (and all the other nights as well!) I enjoyed listening to the soft noise of the trams 'trundling' and swishing (it was raining) past the hotel. I'm a 'tram tragic'; trams were an important part of my childhood but were taken off Brisbane streets in early 1969, but my suburb 'lost' their tram service in December 1968. I'm still sulking about that! lol When we travel and visit a city with trams, DH (who was a tram conductor in his late teens) and I always get 'our fix' and have lots of tram trips.

Luna Park; Amusement park in St Kilda

The old Palace Theatre in St Kilda

Tram heading towards the St Kilda business district

The markets along the esplanade at St Kilda Beach

A side street in St Kilda

Lovely old terrace houses in St Kilda

Driving up Chapel St, Prahan (and yes! another tram photo)

At our hotel; looking towards the bridge and the Riverwalk beside the Yarra  River

The view as we leave the lift on 'our' floor of the hotel at Richmond

More of our Melbourne adventures in future posts...

Some more Victorian towns...

Thank you for comments that some of you have left saying how you are enjoying 'travelling' with me. I have also learned so much about other states and countries from reading blogs too. Long may it continue! lol

On our way to Ballarat, DH and I also stopped at another old gold mining town of Maldon.

This is a smaller town than Castlemaine, but still full of history. Like a lot of the towns in this part of Victoria, there are a lot of galleries and arts and crafts’ people’s shops.  We again strolled around the streets and we again noticed how the gutters were ditch-like, quite wide, and lined with cut stone or bricks. Every now and then there were little wooden ‘bridges’ over the gutters to access the footpaths.

A row of shops across from where we parked the car

The old gutters

DH and I walked up to the Beehive Mine. There was one old mine shaft near the pathway, which was fenced off. We peered through the wire and undergrowth and the shaft certainly looked deep to us! Most of the infra-structure of the old mine was long gone, not even a poppet head left but there was a giant chimney stack which was all that was left of the ‘battery’.

An old mine shaft at Beehve Mine

The chimney stack

Now it’s not often these days that you see a post box like this, but this one was in the main street of Maldon.

When we were back in the car and setting off again, I asked DH to slow down so I could check out this bright red display of flowers in a side street. When we got close I realised the display came from a mass of geraniums! They were magnificent.

While we were in Maldon, we also headed to the old Railway Station. This line is no longer open but there is an historical railway excursion which travels between Castlemaine and Maldon a few times a week but alas not on a Friday. So DH and I walked around the station taking photos. The station is beautifully restored, as are some carriages and some engines.

From Maldon, we headed towards Ballarat with a lunch stop at another charming town, Creswick.

The view from the cafe in Creswick

Castlemaine...

On Friday DH and I left Bendigo and headed for Ballarat which is another old gold mining city in Victoria. There were a number of towns that we would pass through and the first was Castlemaine. Castlemaine had the richest alluvial gold deposits in all Australia apparently. The result is another town full of magnificent old buildings.

A beautiful old house near where we parked our car in Castlemaine

We wandered around the streets past quaint old shops and hotels.

Notice the old 'hawkers' carts' displaying goods on the footpath

Lots of iron lacework

Because the explorers Burke and Wills passed through Castlemaine on their expedition to cross the continent in 1861, a monument honouring them was erected high on a hill overlooking the city.  (Sadly even though the expedition got to the northern coast of Australia, they perished from lack of water on the way back)

My BIL and SIL (from my previous marriage) live in Castlemaine and I rang their home but they weren’t home. DH and I decided to drive around to their place and take a photo of the house for my 2 daughters as they also have never seen their Aunt and Uncle’s house. It was out of the town a bit and their street was not sealed; it was gravel and sand, a dirt road in other words. From what I could see of the house, it was exactly as I expected. A very old house in a wild garden; they had restored 2 houses in Melbourne before they moved to Castlemaine. We then headed back to the highway...

It's hard to see the old rambling house set in the huge garden

Dirt road

We've arrived in Bendigo...

We had a dream run, traffic wise, to the airport this morning, but as Judy pulled up to let us out, the ‘heaven’s opened’! So we had to scuttle into the terminal pretty quickly. Our flight left on time and we actually arrived a little early at Tullamarine. It wasn’t long before we were in our hire car and heading towards Bendigo.

Our lunch stop was the charming town of Sunbury. We ate at a bakery and the hot food was a great way to warm up. Yes it’s quite chilly down here!

Sunbury

Autumn leaves are evrywhere

Honouring the cricketers Bradman and Grace, Sunbury.

We reached Bendigo late afternoon. Drove around some of the streets looking at the lovely historical buildings, and then headed for our motel. DH and I lounged around for a while ( I worked on a crocheted kitten blanket for the latest K4BN challenge) and then we  went back into town for dinner. I had been told by another member of K4BN, that the Shamrock Hotel is a great place to eat...so that’s where we went tonight. The food was wonderful and the surroundings elegant and beautifully restored.

Just inside the main entrance of the Shamrock Hotel

The Shamrock Hotel, Bendigo

Tomorrow we have tickets for the 10 o’clock session of the Grace Kelly Exhibition. I’m hoping that cameras are allowed so I can write a post and show lots of photos of Princess Grace’s film costumes as well as many of her own (designer ) clothes. When I went to see the Valentino Exhibition in Brisbane last year, I was ‘blown away’ by the beautiful ‘workmanship’ on those clothes.

A new adventure looms...

Today is DH's birthday. Tonight the family will gather at a local restaurant to celebrate. The girls decided a few weeks ago that 'going out' would be better for DH and I as there would be no cleaning up needed. Because tomorrow morning the two of us are flying to Melbourne. At Melbourne airport we are picking up a hire car and then driving to Bendigo.

Bendigo is an old gold mining town and it has a thriving Arts scene. DH knew that I wanted to see the Grace Kelly Clothing Exhibition which is in a gallery in the town. So he organised it all, and using some of our frequent flyer points, it will be quite an economical holiday break. There is lots to see and do in this area of Victoria and DH and I plan to make the most of our time down there. Naturally I'll write about our adventures in this blog, so stay tuned! lol

So...
My neighbour Judy is going to give us a lift to the airport ...

She is also going to feed Eduardo

And water the tomato plant which has flowers

Collect the orders for the Church pie drive next Monday, and put the items in our freezer

She's a wonderful neighbour isn't she?

I've also packed a bag of knitting ready to take away. I will make a start on my entry into our Parish Art Show as to my horror, I realised today that the show is only 4 1/2 weeks away!!

The laptop is packed ready and DH organised a USB internet connection which is great because travelling in Australia, internet access can be expensive or you have to queue to use communal computers. So we'll have our own just in case. (I've always been a bit wary of the free WiFi in public places)

'Mitzi Micra' is also having a holiday. DD2 is going to borrow 'her' while I'm away.

I still have to pack my warmest clothes into the suitcase. We have been warned that it is very cold in Victoria at the moment. Sounds like a lot of fun! As well as sightseeing, we will catch up with family as well :-)