Well we have finally wrenched ourselves away from the Dandenongs. We were woken at about 6.00 this morning to rain pouring down. But by 9.00 it had stopped and we packed up and after prolonged farewells and much advice about the best route to take, we headed for Ned Kelly Country, virtually due north through beautiful rolling hills and farmland. There is lots of grass and hay bales everywhere, but virtually no stock. After 12 or 13 yrs of drought farmers have had to sell most of their stock. Now with all the rain they have had, there is grass above fence height, but no stock to eat it. They have baled lots of it but of course no one wants it. The further north we came, the drier it got. We got to GLENROWAN at about 4.00, a distance of 257 km. The van towed like a dream and the Pajero handled it with ease, including some pretty big hills.
We had no sooner parked the van and other campers arrived to introduce themselves and enquire about our travels. Before we knew it one had turned up with an ‘anti caravan theft device’ - a metal shackle and padlock you lock over your tow ball to stop someone nicking your van while you are away sightseeing. He had owned two for years, and decided we should have his spare one. Then another guy turned up with an Aussie hat for Cameron to wear on Australia Day this Wednesday. We have been completely blown away by the friendliness of the Aussies wherever we go.
While this was happening someone else pointed out about a dozen wild kangaroos in the paddock next to the camp, so Cameron was off to stalk and photograph them. He was able to get within about 50 meters before they moved off. Then a couple of them put on a boxing display which we managed to catch on video. Cameron was on an absolute high, seeing his first kangaroos in the wild, and being able to get so close up to them.
After that we went down to the pub in GLENROWAN, which is about the size of Midhurst. We got talking to a local and asked him about what there was to see of the remains of Ned Kelly’s days, and he said “Nothing. It’s all been cleared or burnt.” All that enables the town to survive is tourism, people like us coming here, just to see where it all happened. Apparently there is a very good information centre in town which recounts the whole Kelly legend so we will have a look at that tomorrow. He was able to direct us to the site of the old pub where the Kelly gang holed up for the last time and where Ned made his famous appearance in his armour. Apparently there is nothing there except a sign indicating the spot. We’ll have a look tomorrow. The Kelly family farm was about 14 km out of town to the east, but again there is nothing to show where it was. A bit disappointing but there is still plenty of Ned Kelly memorabilia about town for us to look at tomorrow.
We’ll probably stay here for a couple of nights, taking in the sights and having a look at WANGARATTA, and then head west to ECHUCA on the Murray River where we hope to see and get a ride on a paddle steamer. Our travels after that are going to depend very much on what parts of the country are still above water. On the news tonight they estimated just over 20% of Victoria was under water with the worst still to come. At this stage we are planning to head across to TASMANIA at about the end of the first week of February.
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