We hired a car and got “out and about” today, driving up to Castlemaine about 90 minutes from Melbourne.
Castlemaine is an old gold rush town, with beautiful buildings dating back to the gold rush in the mid 1800’s. We wondered around and had lunch in Saff’s. I can recommend this café/restaurant and it was good to get off the beaten track too!
We drove to see the Monster Meeting place. Back in the late 1800’s, about 15,000 people gathered to protest against a hike in gold mining fee’s proposed by Governors. The signs told of the gold miners destroying the landscape and taking the land as their own. The land is now returned to the Dja Dja Wurrung people as you can read in the pictures below
Tonight, we visited The Old Melbourne Gaol for a lantern lit tour – I packed a torch, just in case my lantern went out!
I am happy to confirm that the torch wasn’t needed but I wish they hadn’t told us about the ghosts that haunt the building. I am sure I kept seeing white dusty like figures floating in the distance… The tour was exceptional and clearly told of the hardship suffered by both men and woman prisoners. Upon arrival they were showered with 4 buckets of cold water and coated in louse powder. They were then paraded naked in front of the other prisoners and put in a cell for about 6 months with only 1 hours exercise a day.
We were showed the gallows where over 130 men and woman were hung. They told of the errors the early hangman made and how the science of hanging and the Hangmen became a much sought after skill and job!
They told us of the hardship many woman suffered, and how some had to choose between the life of their child or survival themselves
It was a very good tour, informative and educational and one which made me glad to be born in 1973 and not one hundred years before
On Saturday, we booked a tour to visit the Queen Victoria Market, regarded by many as the best market around! And it didn’t disappoint. We spent two hours with our expert guide Irene, tasting samples from cakes, to kangaroo, chocolates and cheese. It was an absolute treat!
We first saw the market during lockdown (when we also saw The Ghan railway for the first time) when we were watching Michael Portillo visiting Melbourne as part of his great train journeys document – you can watch that here https://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/tv-series/portillos-greatest-railway-journeys
To see the market view their website https://qvm.com.au
Our tour guide left us sampling beer and we chatted to the others who had toured with us, people from Adelaide, USA, Switzerland and India then departed to shop. (yes, more shopping… I have never shopped as much as this last week…) We purchased some merino wool socks from Bruce Goose (find out more by clicking on Bruce to visit his website) and we then returned to the food halls and purchased a four course supper consisting of kangaroo, beer, icecream, tomatoes, brie, a 5 year matured cheddar, ciabatta bread, fruit, bacon and beer (did I mention beer already?)
We returned to our department to relax, pack and eat. It is our last night in Melbourne. How did that happen? Tomorrow is judging at the Cairn Terrier Club of Victoria with an entry of 53 Cairns, then we fly straight to Sydney.
Enjoy these pictures taken of our tour around today
1 & 2 the gaol. 3, the sign at Monster meeting. 4, not a great picture of a statue outside the woman’s hospital. 5, Monster Meeting. 6, sign about Monster meeting. 7 & 8, views in the market. 9, 1 & 11 views of Castlemaine. 12, Melbourne. 13, 14 and 15 Castlemaine.
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