April, 2013

After a couple of months in Temora and area, having a great time celebrating birthdays and Easter, we finally began our next big trip, this time to Queensland.
Our first destination was to Parkes to visit with some friends and a couple of days later we continued on to Wellington.

Wellington Caves Caravan Park

Phosphate Mine, Wellington, NSW



Dinosaur Bones, Wellington Caves, NSW

We stayed at the Wellington Caves Caravan Park and while there we toured the Cathedral Cave and the Phosphate Mine.
The Cathedral Cave tour was very well presented and the stalactites and stalagmites quite beautiful. The caves also contain very good bone samples form Diprotodon and Thylacoleo dinosaurs which can be seen as you explore the caves, in particular the phosphate mine. Phosphate was mined there in the early 1900's, especially during World War 1 when phosphate was usually mined at Noumea which was then controlled by Germany and as phosphate is used in the manufacture of explosives and ammunition it was in high demand during the war.
We also drove into Wellington, a town with many old buildings and then took a trip to Burrendong Dam.

A New Year - New Direction

2013, New Destinations

Our travelling this year started in January when we were accompanied by Cynthia on a trip to the Beechworth area in Victoria. Beechworth was our choice for a base camp and we enjoyed wandering around the historic old town viewing the old buildings and learning about the history of the area.

Beechworth, Vic

Set in an old gold mining area, Beechworth is also famous for its connections with the bushranger, Ned Kelly and his gang. Ned Kelly's trial was held in the local court house and  interactive re-enactments are conducted for school children on excursions. Ned Kelly and his mother were both detained in the old Beechworth Gaol.



Beechworth Court House

Beechworth Gaol

All the historic buildings have been well maintained and provide a great deal of information about the events and life during the the 1800's.

Chinese Burning Towers

The Chinese presence in Beechworth during the gold mining period is also well represented and a trip to the cemetery, which includes a Chinese cemetery and burning towers is well worth a visit.

While in the area we also took a day trip to the nearby towns of Yackandanda, Mt Beauty, Bright and Myrtleford. The scenery is breathtaking and at this time of year the daytime temperature is pleasant and the nights are a good temperature for sleeping without air conditioning. The only disappointment was the smoke haze from nearby bushfires restricted our view and didn't make for great photos.

Yackandanda

Another day trip was to Tarrawingee, Wangaratta, Rutherglen, Chiltern and Eldorado.
Chiltern appeared to have been frozen in time, the late 1800's. The old buildings, winding streets and the fact that is was Sunday with very little traffic made us think we might see an old miner wander along the street with a pick and shovel and a horse and cart. The hotel has a grapevine in the beer garden which was planted in 1867 and still bears fruit.
Our return trip took us to Eldorado with an old gold dredge, high and dry now, and the town claims to have the smallest hotel in the state.


We all enjoyed the week, we met some great people in the park, saw some interesting areas that Crawf and I had never seen and some Cynthia had not seen since she was on a school excursion as a child.