Farewell Bright and Milawa

Hi everyone,

Unfortunately, North Melbourne played about as well as Collingwood did! But as I keep saying to Rob – at least his players aren’t getting arrested or going on drunken benders!! Sigh.

This morning, we packed up our unit and had brunch at a local café in Bright. Again we were glad we had booked in advance – many were being turned away. We each had a great meal and enjoyed a nice outlook over the river. The only thing that worried us was that our table was right next to the cash register, and many people kept standing way too close to us.

After eating, we walked along the Ovens River for a little and enjoyed watching some ducks riding the strong current and the rapids. It was like their own version of white water rafting!!

Then we tried to drive up Mt Buffalo to a lookout, but unfortunately you needed chains due to the time of year it is so we didn’t bother. We brought our Milawa Cheese tasting forward to 1pm and headed off there instead.

We arrived a little early, so checked out Brown Brothers and the cemetery in Milawa first. Some of the graves there were very old, and we found ones commemorating Anzacs and those fighting on the Western Front quite interesting.

Then we headed to Milawa Cheese. Usually you can try cheese for free in their shop, but not at the moment due to limits. We paid $10 each and were taken to a back warehouse type area with outdoor heaters and tables spaced apart. We each got to try eight cheeses while a staff member talked us through each one. They were delicious! So delicious we bought ourselves three of the cheese to take home.

We are now home watching the news, which is super depressing and I wish we hadn’t bothered. I sincerely hope that the next time I am typing my blog I am in Hamilton Island in the first week of the September holidays, and our government has stopped messing everything up. It has been such a strange time to go away, but we were really happy to get out of Melbourne. It’s very frustrating when you’re trying so hard to do the right thing and people on the news and people that you see out in public are so carelessly flouting the rules. Hopefully we can get on top of this again soon.

Love to all,
Claire
Xoxox

Murray to Mountains Rail Trail

Hi all,

Due to having had a big lunch yesterday, we didn’t need much for dinner. We stayed in, ate some of the food we had brought from home, and watched the footy. Unfortunately Collingwood were absolutely terrible. That’s all I need to say about that!!

This morning we set off on another bike ride. Rob bought me my new bike in March as lockdown was starting and we were no longer able to go to the gym, play basketball etc. I am so grateful he bought me the bike. I have absolutely loved discovering our local bike trails with him. I’ve also begun to ride to and from work one day per week (it takes about 50 minutes each way), and I’m planning on maybe twice a week once Winter is out of the way. On this trip, having our bikes has allowed us to explore some new trails together. It’s a great way to get outside, get some exercise and clear your head - particularly in this crappy year.

Today we tackled a 30km stretch of the Murray to Mountains Rail Trail. The whole trail runs from Wangaratta to Bright (approx. 80km), along the former Bright railway line. Bright became an important location as gold was discovered in the local area in 1852. Previously called Morses Creek, it gained its name ‘Bright’ in 1862 when it was named after an English politician called John Bright. The railway out here was constructed in 1890 as rail travel became increasingly popular and a way for Victorians to travel around the state during that time. As personal motor vehicles became more popular post-World War II, the railway line out here dwindled and in 1982 the last train ran along the tracks. Since then, from 1993-2003 the old railway line was converted into the bike track that it is today.

This morning was absolutely freezing. When we woke up, it was a balmy 0 degrees (again – we laughed that we are meant to be in Hamilton Island where it is 24 degrees!!). By the time we set off on our bikes, the temperature had risen to 4 degrees (oooo!). I wore thermals on my top and bottom, gloves, a scarf and a woollen headband on my head…and I was still cold for the best part of the day!! Nonetheless, we loved the ride. The trails were really well paved and mostly flat. We enjoyed the different trees and shrubs along the path, the many bridges we got to ride over, and some animals along the way (goats and an alpaca). Smelling the open fires all the country homes were burning as we went past was nice as well. A highlight was Eurobin station, and a lowlight was a section of the path covered in worms that ended up all over our tyres which was pretty gross!!

In some parts there was a lot of low lying cloud, but as we arrived in Myrtleford we could see some sunshine and blue sky. Here we went to the local bakery and each enjoyed a pie, a coffee and a cake. They even had two outdoor tables that people were allowed to sit at, so we nabbed one of those and enjoyed people watching (from a distance).

Then we headed back. Feeling reenergised due to our stop at the bakery, we made it back a bit more quickly and even rewarded ourselves with a stop at Ringer Reef Wintery just outside Porepunkah (about 8km from Bright). Enjoying a beautiful view, we bought a bottle of Sauv Blanc and had a glass each at a table outside. We then rode back past the old Bright train station platform (the only brick one on that old train line) and the supermarket. We headed back to our unit before driving quickly out to Wandiligong before it got dark. It started to rain on the way here, and again we commented on how lucky we were that it started raining after our ride like on Thursday. After checking out the river and Chinese Bridge here, we drove back to Bright.

Tonight we are having takeaway burgers in our unit and watching North Melbourne play the Bulldogs. I hope tonight’s game is far better than ours last night!

Tomorrow we head home, but I will post about our day on the way home as we have a couple of things planned.

Love to all,
Claire
Xoxox

Beechworth

Hello everyone,

Last night we each enjoyed a Parma at the Star Hotel, and then watched the first half of Carlton vs St Kilda back in our unit. We were so tired after our big ride that we didn’t make it to the third quarter!!

This morning we took advantage of the morning’s weather forecast and set off at 8.30am. The forecast said it wouldn’t start raining in Beechworth until 3pm, so we wanted to do everything before this.

The last time I had properly visited Beechworth was with my family in 2006, and Rob reckons his last visit was around then too. In 2016 on my way home from a pre-season Collingwood match in Wagga, I dropped by to literally by a beesting and then drive home. Needless to say, we were both looking forward to exploring for the first time properly since we were kids!!

Our first stop was of course the original Beechworth Bakery. We each enjoyed a beesting for breakfast, and had a laugh as we spilled icing sugar all down our fronts. It reminded us of inhaling icing sugar from beignets in Jackson Square, New Orleans, and having a massive coughing fit!!! COVID has of course effected how they operate. You can’t sit in and eat, and one door is ‘in’ and one ‘out’, with markers on the floor. But we still enjoyed our beestings nonetheless, even though we had to eat them whilst leaning on Rob’s car.

Next we walked to the historical and cultural precinct, home to the former government buildings. Beechworth is home to 30 buildings listed with the National Trust (and has been dubbed the “finest group of provincial public buildings in Victoria), and these were a few of them. They were built by convicts. We walked past the Court House, Telegraph Station, Gold Office, Sub Treasury, Chinese Protector’s Office, Warden’s Office, Police Stables and Stone Lockup. Rob then went into the tourist information office. Due to COVID limits on how many people could enter, I waited outside and we texted about what walking tour we could join. He booked the 2.15pm one, and once a few people left the building I came in to have a look too. To my delight they had some socks with magpies on for sale – I just couldn’t help myself!!

We tried to join a Beechworth Gaol tour, but all were booked out. So we then visited the Court House, which ironically was built by prisoners! Again, travelling around during the pandemic sure makes visiting places interesting. Upon entry we were asked for our postcode (at this stage, I wondered what would happen if we quoted one of “the ten”). We then had to sign in, and the kind lady behind the screen gave us a rundown of how we needed to follow arrows around the building. The courthouse was operational in this building from 1858 to 1989, and is mostly original. Whatever has been restored has been done so in a way that keeps with the original layout and features. Forty people were sentenced to death here, and 13 of these executions were carried out on site. Ned Kelly had one of his committal hearings conducted here, and Elizabeth Scott who was the first woman to be hanged for murder in Victoria was sentenced here. We walked through the Judge’s Room, the Library (which had books from 1823 making it the oldest law library in Australia) and the main court room before exiting.

Next, we walked through the streets and did some window shopping before ending up at the façade of the original hospital here. For a time, this was the only hospital between Melbourne and Goulburn so it obviously received a fair amount of visitors. As well, due to Beechworth being a huge gold rush town, they would have been kept pretty busy during this time when disease outbreaks occurred. During the gold rush days, the population here swelled to as many as 20,000 people and then sharply fell to 2,000 soon after. Sadly, in the 1940s the hospital except for the façade was demolished. In the post-World War II environment, all salvageable materials were used for other required buildings due to shortages.

Next, we drove to nearby Yackandandah where we had a quick walk around to kill time before our lunch reservation in Beechworth. The streets were getting crowded by this stage and we got sick of having to basically walk into oncoming traffic to distance from unaware people.

Our lunch reservation was at Bridge Road Brewers, and we were so glad we booked. We felt terrible for the owner who kept having to turn people away even though usually he would have fitted them in easily. Most people were understanding, but some got their back up a little which we could see was really awkward for him. We enjoyed a drink here, as well as the most delicious pizza I’ve had since Italy two years ago. Mine had bocconcini, prawns, chilli and tomato. Rob’s had smoked ham. Both were exceptional. Would highly recommend booking in if you’re up this way!!

We then joined the 2.15pm walking tour. It was ok, but not the best one I have ever done. To be fair, it was not the guide’s fault. We had a really weird lady from Wangaratta and her daughter on it with us. The lady constantly interrupted the guide to talk about herself. You could tell the guide felt awkward and didn’t get through half of what he wanted to say. We did however see a cell Ned Kelly and his Mum Ellen had each been held in, the ‘but but’ tree which had a trunk about 10m wide, and the entrance to the Chinese Gardens. Rob and I were pretty over it by the end because of the annoying lady, so were glad when it ended. We queued up to enter the lolly shop, but unfortunately some local kids spoiled it and we left the queue. Four teenagers stood centimetres away from an elderly man coughing their guts up and swearing every second word. I had to whip out the teacher voice, and after telling them they should be ashamed of themselves we walked off. Instead, we visited the bakery again and bought a donut each.

Our final quick stops for the day were a drive past the Asylum, a drive past Lake Sambell, and then a quick visit to the Cemetery. It had started to rain by this point so Rob stayed in the car. I enjoyed finding the oldest graves I could (1858 was the best I could do!) and I also found the Chinese section interesting. The cemetery was built in 1856, and due to a lack of sanitation in the gold fields and numerous disease outbreaks, began to fill up pretty quickly. Between 1853-1860 in Beechworth, one child died per week on average due to disease. The Chinese section of the cemetery had 2000 Chinese graves, and housed two burning towers. When someone was being buried, paper tokens were burnt and offerings such as pork and wine were included too. Fire crackers were even set off as it was believed they would scare devils away.

Then we drove back to Bright in the rain. The rain set in for the afternoon/evening at this point, and we commented on how lucky we had been for most of the day to avoid the rain given that the forecast had looked pretty bad.

Now we are getting ready to watch the footy (go pies!) and are having toast and a donut for dinner.

Love to all
Claire
Xoxox