Yes, we were let loose on the unsuspecting public via
planes, trains and
automobiles buses which
were actually working on the day, ha!
Didn't we get lucky, Mr Brumby, Pakula or whoever is steering this ship of mayhem onto the rocks of "I told ya so" with a lullaby of Tears before Bedtime.
Anyways, after doing our thang of waiting at
Bendigo station an hour for the connecting road coach to Adelaide, we tootled off into the beautiful morning sunshine to....
Dunolly.
Just click on the piccys and they'll open in a LARGER window for your enjoyment.
Long 3 day story short - we had a bloody great time, can highly recommend the
Dunolly Caravan Park, I'll be posting a review of the newly reopened
(under new owners) Welcome Stranger Cafe, the drool-worthy, delectable, delicious
Dunolly Bakery and the fantabulous bodies that live within the town confines.
On with the piccys.
Want reasonably priced collectables and books?
Dunolly Books and Collectables is the place for you!
What was the only known reliable pain killer back in the 1850s?
Think about it....
Yes, death was the only thing to relieve that nagging headache brought on by a miners pick to the back of the skull.
Or some such.
Those green, mossy lumps?
Dead bodies.
See?
Dunolly has had its famous...and infamous.
Sir Julius Vogel, Premier of New Zealand.
This is the site where Vogel pitched his tent.
Here is proof that the drought has broken, the easing of water restrictions is justified with this raging torrent... *ahem*
Yes, that really is a river bed.
This is where the aliens abducted us.
No, twas just my first effort at night photography of a TRAIN passing through the station at Dunolly.
Yes, there is a magnificent station, intact, in far better condition than the one at Clunes, which they've recently reopened, and obviously trains are able to travel on the track.
So....open that sucker already, Brumby, and I may even kiss your hand.
Aforementioned
Dunolly railway station, with electricity still attached if the blazing fluorescent lights are any indication.
I'll have a half fare return to Maryborough, fank you, sir.
See, everything in place, ready to get those bums on seats in the carriages.
Imagine, regional infrastructure lives again!!!!
This railway well is waaaaay deeeeeeep and well full of the cloud juice.
This is a cork tree which is
a bazillion over 100 years old.
The station masters house was right beside it (or vice versa) and so big did the tree grow that they had to demolish the station masters house to save the tree.
This was the Presbyterian Church originally but then at half time it changed sides and became the RSL (Returned Servicemen's League) Hall.
The weather might still make you shiver but Spring has Sprung in Central Victoria; there's nests with many other wild birds sighted gathering nesting materials, the flowers are blooming and there's a bit of heat in the sun when it cracks the clouds.
This Summer is going to be a scorcher.
*I think there's a bee in the 3rd pic, there were hundreds of them all over Dunolly, in the middle of Winter.
Where else would you park your dray?
This phenomenon is rife all over Dunolly; random bricks just start crumbling away.
Asked at the Museum what the cause was and they suspect it might be a bodgy firing process and poor/no damp course as mudbricks would at least soften then harden, soften then harden with the weather, whereas these just start going chalky.
S'ok, the bodgy brickmaker has had over 100 years to get a headstart out of town...
This was the little-advertised Dunolly tour she did.
Is lovely.
Out along Separation Street.
Daffs are always a dead give away there was once a house plonked there.
The tumbled bricks are an added bonus, as they're usually reused elsewhere long before now.
They grow big tyres in Dunolly.
Chimneys!!!!
C'mon, did ya
really think I wouldn't inflict any on you?
Pretty.
The lake at the caravan park on our last morning.
Was brilliant sunshine at 7am, fog by 8am.
The lake was actually the train station dam originally, complete with island in the centre.
Queen Victoria Fountain, 1886.
Can't promise how clear this will show up.
Window of the
Dunolly Rural Transaction Centre.
So, just pop along to see the whole town plan and photos in person.
Coach office and *gasp* Billiards?!!?
Yes, twas the
Dunolly Cobb & Co coach stop.
With billiards to while away the loooong hours they had to wait for their connecting
train tram bus coach.
An almost obligatory horse trough from
Annis and George Bills.
We discovered why these troughs were so popular with the horse set.
Beer.
James Bell's mansion, built in 1869.
Sometimes referred to as Belleview but I can't find confirmation of that title.
Footers Mansion.
Further info
HERE.
And I shall leave it there until tomorrow as there are gazillions of pics and they'll do us another day.
