Around Victoria

After leaving Koroit we spent the next week or so meandering through the state of Victoria. Did a day trip up to the little town of Hall's Gap in the Grampian Mountains west of Melbourne, stopped for a couple of days in the Gold Rush town of Ballarat, then moved further east to the little town of Beechworth - another gold rush town founded during the heady days of 1851-52 when the area exploded with miners seeking their fortunes in the gold fields. Apparently the rush nearly emptied the city of Melbourne as every male between the ages of 15 and 80 headed for the hills. Story is that 75% of the male population of Melbourne (including the Mayor) left the city virtually overnight.




Did a tough (and hot) hike up at Hall's Gap - straight uphill to this pretty lookout overlooking the valley below. Rita would NOT approach the end any closer than this.





Lots of photo ops on the way back down. It was a sunny day but a hot one - pushing 90 deg., so we were pretty spent by the time we returned to the car park in the afternoon.






On the drive to Beechworth we stopped off in the town of Echuca for lunch. The place used to be a major transportation hub back in gold rush days - it was the place where the rail line from Melbourne met the ferries that plied the river. They still offer ferry rides on old sidewheel steamers for the tourists.

One of our side trip after we got to Beechworth was to Glenrowan - the site of "Ned Kelly's Last Stand". Ned Kelly was the most famous of the Australian Bush Rangers (outlaws) of the 19th century. For some reason the Aussie heroes tend to be outlaws - they don't have any law enforcement icons like a Wyatt Earp or Elliot Ness - and Ned Kelly was one of the worst of the bunch. After a 10 year career of horse stealing, cattle theft, and at least 4 murders of police officers, he was finally captured here in Glenrowan in 1880 after a shootout and siege that lasted most of two days. It ended when Kelly appeared wearing a homemade suit of armor (made from ploughshares) and dared the police to fire at him. They obliged, to little effect at first because of the protection of the armor, until they realized that it was only his upper body that was shielded, so they sot him in the legs until he went down. He later recovered from approximately 50 bullet wounds well enough to be hung at Melbourne jail. Why he's such an icon given his murderous history is a mystery until you realize that he was an Irish outlaw in a predominately Irish part of Victoria. Anyway, he's considered a big hero in Australia. Glenrowan and the surrounding area does a big tourist trade for being in "Ned Kelly Country".



Subtlety is not the watchword when it comes to Ned Kelly association with the town. This is the display that you see as you enter town on the main road - Ned in his suit of armor.



There's a Ned Kelly walk around the area, where you can retrace the steps of both the gang and the police as they shot it out. This is the spot where Ned finally went down. Note the bullet hole representations on his legs - no detail is omitted.



Spent a couple of days in Ballarat - once the richest city (per capita) on earth thanks to the riches of the gold finds in the surrounding area. Today it's a beautiful small town just a 2 hour drive from Melbourne.




The old Provincial hotel - located across the street from the (still functioning) railroad station.

After Ballarat we drove over to Beechworth - about as deep in the bush as we're likely to get on this trip. The weather had been getting progressively hotter by the day, until it was pushing 95 during our time in Ballarat. So, when rain was forecast for our last day we welcomed the prospect of a refreshing shower and some cooler temperatures. But, as the saying goes, be careful what you wish for...