What a hectic week it’s been.

I think this is about the longest time I have gone without posting since I began this blog.

Work seems to have been meeting after meeting leading to one late finish after another all week.

Then finally heading home on time yesterday I got a call from E my eldest, that her car had broken down. So I drove to where her car had stopped and waited with her for the RACV (The Royal Automobile Club of Victoria) breakdown guy to come and have a look.

The verdict, a dead alternator, being new enough to have electronic fuel injection etc her car came to a grinding halt. The RACV guy ordered a tow truck so we had to wait in the cold and dark until the tow truck turned up (it is winter down this way remember).

Anyway E’s car is back on the road today after a new alternator was fitted.

Now finally after close to a week away from the blogosphere I am getting to post.

Tonight I am going to post about two things:

a photo essay on one of our weekend trips;

and another blurb for your comments (assuming you are kind enough)

SO…


About a month ago Deb and I drove up to Beechworth North Eastern Victoria.

Our very brief trip (we were in the town for less than two hours) has whet my appetite and I guess we’ll be going back.
Like many Victorian towns it was a gold rush boom town. Most of the buildings in the main street were built in the gold rush days between 1855 and the 1870s.

Which of course gives me an opportunity to get shutter happy!

So while Deb took the opportunity to check out some purveyors of Alpaca fibre, I went scenery shooting.

We parked across the road from the old courthouse.I loved the way the soft light was playing across the front of the building.
Next door is what looks at first sight like an old style gaol (that would be jail). In fact it was the Government ‘Sub-Treasury’I’ll let a piccie explain the building.On the other side of the courthouse is the original telegraph station.

I strolled down the road to snap these autumn colours.Behind these trees is the Beechworth Prison which is still in use as a minimum security facility.Across the road from the courthouse was more autumn colour.Another ‘resident’ of the main street is the post office.I snapped this road sign because I thought non-Aussies might find some of our place names interesting.I guess I should do a post on place names some time. Many of our place names are tedious rehashes (for example I think there is a Windsor and a Richmond in every Australian state), but the names derived from Aboriginal languages are simply fascinating.

Directly opposite the post office is the old Bank of Victoria building.The ‘Bank of Victoria’ basically went bust in the 1980’s and was bought up by another big Aussie bank. So the building is no longer in use as a bank.

And of course all gold rush towns had to have their fair share of pubs.‘The Commercial Hotel’ is a fairly typical Aussie ‘bush pub’ although probably more elaborate than most.

In the side street are a few other interesting buildings including:
the original fire station (still in use).

And ‘J. H. Ingram Booksellers’One wonders if they have any link with the modern international book distributor by the same name?

So that is Beechworth.


Now (once again) a request.

I have been tinkering with my blurb and wonder what you think now.
Here we go…


1937, Ebi Gausel is riding high as a member of Germany’s elite guard, Hitler’s SS.

An unexpected romance arrives in Ebi’s life in the form of the fiery Katharina.
Even with Europe teetering on the brink of war their happiness seems assured.

But Ebi’s certainty comes crashing down as Katharina disappears,
leaving hints of a dark secret.

In a war fought in the shadows…
those who live may do so at the cost of their humanity.

Two lovers united by passion
…and divided by hate.

As they fight for survival…
their most ruthless foe might be one another.

Uncle Harry Saves the Day

I am tired and cannot think tonight. Yet, I have an urge to post. I guess I must be well and truly becoming a blog junky.

Well we were out and about again on the weekend.

But because I can’t think I’ll put on my Uncle Harry hat and play the tour guide.

Two hours drive from our humble abode lies the Central Victorian town of Clunes.

Clunes, like many towns in Victoria was founded during the 1850s Gold Rushes.

In fact Clunes was where the first gold was found in Victoria and was the home of the first gold rush in the then Colony of Victoria.

Clunes had a boom in the early days. Like many gold rush towns it went into decline when the local mines closed. Development stopped dead.

Today walking down the main street is like stepping back into the Nineteenth Century (apart from the cars).Most of the shops look like they are still in the 1800s including the sign-writing.
In fact I guess most of the “old” signage is in fact not too old. The town was used as a set in the 2003 film Ned Kelly, starring Heath Ledger.

Clunes is today taking advantage of the time warp it seems to be caught in with some businesses aiming squarely at tourists and day-trippers (that would be me).

Some carry things to excess
Of course there are all the conveniences we expect in the Twenty First Century.
Including a "modern Garage".

Like many of the gold rush towns there was enough money around to build some reasonably impressive public buildings.

The Post Office.The Town Hall and Police Court.And finally a building to keep the writer (and reader) in me happy.
The original library.