SATURDAY, APRIL 26

Today we decided to go to Bendigo – to find the

Bendigo Woollen Mill.

It looked like a fairly simple matter to navigate to the north of town…. Ha! The roads change names when they turn corners around here so we somehow ended up on the wrong road. When we pulled over to check the map, there was a wallaby – right in the middle of town. Of course, my camera was still in the backpack. I’m not leaving the condo without it around my neck from now on! We found the way back to the main road and started northeast through the towns of Creswick and Castlemaine – part of the Goldfields Route.

It was foggy on the way so we didn’t see much of the scenery but what we could see was like the foothills of Alberta. And this is sheep country for sure – they’ve been shorn and they blend in to the background that sometimes you had to really look to be sure it was a sheep and not a clump of dried grass. We stopped at the Information Centre in Castlemaine to find a map of Bendigo. The lady at the information centre pointed out where Lansell Street was – it made us happy to see that it was at the south end of the city. She also told us that the large number of motorbikes we were seeing was because there was a bike run from Castlemaine to Maldon on the Anzac long weekend and it was a huge event. Off we went to Bendigo, happy to know exactly where the street was but, surprise! there was no wool factory on Lansell Street. John asked a man who was in his yard and he didn’t know anything about it. Hmmm, back to the map. Turns out there are two Lansell streets in Bendigo – the other one was in the

centre of town. We found the street, with much confusion, only to discover that it stops and continues in another location off another street. Luckily, we had picked up a brochure of Bendigo at the Information Centre and it showed the location of the mill. With a few twists and turns, we located it. Inside the factory store, it was interesting – yarn was displayed in large bins and there were knitted samples for all the wool. It took a while, but I found some wool (with John’s help) and we headed back out of town. There is a trolley tour in the town, the rail goes down the centre of the street but people were parked on the rails, waiting to turn to the other side of the road. We were wondering what would happen if the trolley came along while there were cars there when we saw one approaching. It had to stop and wait for the traffic to clear.

From Bendigo, we took a detour to Maldon. The bikers had arrived for lunch there – there were thousands of bikes – apparently, for this event, they were all supposed to be British made motorcycles. There were a lot of Triumphs and some Nortons, Lee Enfields, and BSA’s. We did see a few Harley and Japanese made motorcycles but the majority were British. It was totally amazing to see them lining the street – and then we looked down another street and saw them lining that one too. We wanted to stop for photos but there was absolutely no parking anywhere in the town. Back to Castlemaine, to find some lunch. Castlemaine was busy too – we found a parking spot finally and wandered up and down the streets (well I wandered while John went to Subway). I did spot a wool shop but I restrained myself from going in *lol* When we were leaving the town, we spotted a number of motorbikes outside a hotel. One of the older ones even had a sidecar.

The fog had lifted when we came back – and we could see the Pyrenees Mountain Range in the distance. There was also this sign on the highway. Who knew they had snow and ice? Apparently, there hasn’t been much precipitation lately and the towns in this area are on strict water conservation measures.

Temperature on Saturday: 16 C – windy with heavy rain at times

They must actually get some cold weather

SUNDAY, APRIL 27

We’ve been wondering about going to the airport and this morning decided to drive down that way – to time it and to find out where the rental car is returned. We headed off (and didn’t get lost this time). A short way down the highway, I noticed a castle on the hill. We did a U-turn and discovered Kryal Castle. Apparently, it is the only “medieval” castle in Australia – and it does reenactments of medieval times (no we didn’t see that, it wasn’t the right time for a tour). It was pretty impressive to see.

After that detour, John noticed that the gas tank was below 1/4 so we started looking for a gas station. We saw an off-ramp (we were on a freeway) for a town so we went looking for a gas station. Apparently, if the town sign doesn’t show a gas pump, it means there’s no gas station there. John was given instructions to go to the next town – however, when we got there, the gas station was closed because it was Sunday. Back to the freeway, and about 6 km along it was a truck stop/gas station/KFC – of course the gas was more expensive than Ballarat but what can you do? Shortly after getting on the freeway again, we noticed a field of prickly pear cactus with fruit. It was being cultivated. All along the roadside were other prickly pears but not in as extensive quantity as that one place. We kept looking for a field that we could get a photo of but of course there weren’t anymore. If we go past the field in the daylight on Tuesday, I’ll try to get a photo. The route to the airport was well marked as was the rental car return area so we drove through the departure area and found ourselves back on the freeway. Oops, not the right freeway. We finally found a spot where we could turn around and go the opposite way and then we watched for signs to take us a back way to Buninyong and then to Ballarat. The scenery on the road was fantastic –

 you could see miles before there was a mountain. The weather, however, was deceptive. It looked warm but there was a very cool wind when you got out of the car.

When we got back to the condo, John was ready for a powernap but I decided to head out to the grounds and take a few photos. I checked out the exercise room , the hot tub and the swimming pool (just a lap pool – only 1.5 metres deep) and then walked around the grounds a few times. It was brisk and I was the only person out there. The swan came swimming up to me, hoping for food but I disappointed him. Tomorrow, we have to do laundry, find a post office and a bookstore. Maybe there will even be some time to explore downtown Ballarat now that we’re a little more familiar with the city.

Temperature on Sunday: 10 C – sunny but windy

MONDAY, APRIL 28

We found the post office easily and had a nice chat with the lady who runs it. We sent the parcel off – will have to stop collecting as much in the way of books and pamphlets as postage is just as bad as it is at home. Our next stop was Lake Wendouree, site of the 1956 Olympics Rowing, Canoeing and Kayaking events. We had heard that the drought had affected the lake but we were surprised to see just how much. The information pamphlet I read stated that “A recently announced ‘rescue plan’ should see the Lake at full capacity again by 2008.” They were a little out on their planning.

This is how the lake looks now – the building in front is the Ballarat Yacht Club

And these are the yachts at the Yacht Club.

We found the site where the Olympic Rings are and couldn’t resist the chance to take a photo with our Olympic wear. My hat has the Olympic logos on it as does John’s shirt. (Lizz – my Olympic shirt is on the way home – the letters are coming off!)

John at the Olympic Rings

Chris at the Olympic Rings

We found these signs amusing while we were at the lake – you’d think they might change them slightly now that the lake is dry (well, John said it was a little damp where he walked but definitely not wet).

After driving around the lake, we went further into the downtown area and went looking for a bookstore. It was really windy while we were walking – and we really wished we had heavier clothing with us! The main street in town contains a “Sculpture Walk”. The sculptures range from a contemporary art structure called Eternal Flame to statues of

Robbie Burns and Queen Victoria. We found a large bookstore called Book City. Word of advice – if anyone is coming here and they want paperbacks to read, either bring them with you or try to find a used bookstore (or possibly thrift store). The paperbacks on the shelves were $20. We did find a book for John in the bargain bin and I found some guides to birds, mammals and reptiles found in Australia. They probably weigh as much as the papers we sent back already today *s*

Now it’s time to do the laundry and figure out how to pack everything for the flight tomorrow. Not sure when there’ll be internet access again – possibly in Coober Pedy. Will post again when we can. With today’s temperature, I’m really looking forward to getting to the desert.

Temperature on Monday: 10 C – clear but windy