and pray that there's intelligent life somewhere out in space
It’s not only time for the orchid society to flaunt the seasonally gaudy it’s also time for Victoria’s native orchids to show off their more subtle and delicate flowers. Here’s a couple that I’ve found in the past week.
This first one was in open woodland in the Grampians …
This one was in the Wail State Forest …
Disclaimer … When it comes to matters botanical my id skills are suspect. Treat these names with caution.
Bendigo, another of Victoria’s gold rush towns, is just a little smaller than Ballarat but I think it offers a little bit more to the night photographer.
The plans hit paper in the late 1890’s, consecration occurred in 1901, the building was finished in 1977. It is the second tallest church in Australia (86.64 metres or 284 feet 4 inches). It’s the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sandhurst.
The fountain is 8.5 m (8.5m) tall in a 15 m (50 feet) diameter pool. Do not dive in it’s only 61cm (2 feet) deep. The grand opening was in 1881 and was attended by Princes Albert and George, sons of Alexandra Princess of Wales in whose honour the fountain was named.
Opened for business in 1887, they knew how to build them in those days.
The Shamrock began life in 1854, as a small hotel known as The Exchange Hotel, servicing miners during the Victorian gold rush including a Cobb and Co. office and a concert hall known as the Theatre Royal.
The hotel’s patronage had grown quickly with the booming goldfields and it was renamed the Shamrock in 1855. The same year the Theatre Royal hosted Lola Montez, performing for the diggers who threw gold nuggets at her feet, many of which the Shamrock staff took as tips while cleaning. Wikipedia.
A golden era indeed.
The gold rush to Ballarat began in 1851. The gold hasn’t completely run out even now. The city has a population of around 100,000 making it the third largest in the state of Victoria and also the third largest inland city in Australia.
By Australian standards the central district is rich in heritage buildings and at night it’s quite a vibrant place …
Gateway to the Avenue of Honour which extends westwards for 22km in remembrance of those that died in the First World War. It was opened by the Prince of Wales on 3 June 1920.
Turn smartly around and head east instead and you’re on the main drag – Sturt Street.
… And in the news recently for all the wrong reasons. But keep heading east.
The original town hall was destroyed by fire, this one was commenced in 1859.
Around the corner in Lydiard Street something more modern …
Well worth a visit.
Port Fairy again. Why not?
Surf was up yesterday.
A good day to clamber about on the rocks in pursuit of mountainous waves … but that deserves a post by itself.
Feathers were ruffled …
Whoever named this bird was wearing rose-tinted hearing aids.
This morning dawned fair, less windy than yesterday.
We passed through Bourke in the north-west of New South Wales fairly late in the afternoon and took the road less traveled to Shindy’s Inn at Louth. Population 35.
Like quite a few country pubs free camping brings in the grey nomads and sustains a business that could not survive on the local population alone. Indeed, at a pinch the entire population of Louth could fit in the dining room of Shindy’s Inn.
The small camping area overlooks the Darling River. Should there not be room at the inn there is plenty of free camping on the opposite bank of the river but no toilets or shower and a longer walk to the pub.
The pub is up for sale. Be quick.
All roads out of Louth are impassable after heavy rain. It was a warm evening with cloud building up. The prospect of a longer stay loomed.
The morning brought brought strong winds and a dust storm. We packed quickly and headed for Cobar under a threatening sky.
A flock of Major Mitchell’s Cockatoos was a welcome sight.
Rain came eventually but we’d made it to the bitumen by the time it caught up with us. Our destination was the Old School Caravan Park at Merriwagga. The hospitality here is almost embarrassingly good. Kel Fry is the man. He gets around the site on his quadri-cycle and makes sure everyone is happy.
It was cold, wet and very windy, the hotel was warm, dry and inviting. We succumbed. The wind died as the sun went down and the rain stopped soon after.
What a day … from the back of Bourke to beyond the Black Stump.
We pitched the tent after dark and it was dry in the morning.
And then we drove home.
If you turn right out of Nindigully on National route 46 Thallon is less than 34km away. You’ll know when you’re close …
The silos face east, so morning is a good time to photograph them. You can see from the long shadows that I’d made an early start.
This work really is a splendid piece. The artists were Travis Vinson and Joel Fergie who took inspiration from the work of three local photographers and discussions with local people.
The scar tree and view of the Moonie River is based on a photographs by Lila Brosnan, the Pale-headed Rosellas on a photograph by Gary Petrie and the sheep Chantel McAlister.
The silos are very much in use and Grain Corp would be grateful if you stayed in the designated viewing area so as not to be flattened by a truck.
Camping is available at the site and is of a very acceptable standard. The Moonie River is not far away and apparently there is a very large wombat in the park in town.
There are some outback pubs with a lot of charm. Queensland holds three of my absolute favorites, the Royal Mail at Hungerford, The Lions Den at Helenvale north of the Daintree and the Noccundra Hotel not far from Nockatunga. Now I have to add a fourth the Nindigully Hotel.
Set on the banks of the Moonie River the Nindigully Hotel has held its licence since 1864 and is said to be the oldest continuously licensed pub in the state. Between the late 19th century and the early 20th century it was a Cobb & Co staging post. These days the adjacent town has a population of just six. The night I was there the restaurant was doing a roaring trade. When the diners and drinkers had finished most of them walked a few yards to their caravans, the camp site is right outside the door and it’s free. And in the daylight it’s a very pretty spot.
The fishing is reputed to be very good. Yellowbelly and Murray Cod are there for the catching. No licence is required.
and there’s service.
Our last stop before leaving Byron Bay was Singhs Tyre Service. You may recall that we blew a tyre on the way up. That was approaching Condobolin just south-west of the geographic centre of New South Wales. It was a Saturday morning. In the olden days every little town had its blacksmith, these days it has a tyre service. In Condobolin they have the Central West Tyre Service. They close at noon on Saturdays … or they knock off early if they feel like it and on that day they clearly felt like it. They do have an emergency number should you need it. We rang it, discussed our needs and were told to come back Monday morning.
It’s an uncomfortable feeling, driving without a spare but we made it to Byron where our first priority was fixing that little gap in our confidence. Sadly the tyre was stuffed. The spare that we’d put on was also at the end of its useful life and a look at the other three led us to the conclusion that this horse needed five new shoes.
The FJ Cruiser doesn’t have a particularly popular wheel size, there were no suitable tyres on hand. No problem we will get them in. Our stay would be just two more nights. No problem, we will get them in urgently. In the meantime they lent us a brand new Micky Thompson mud terrain for a spare. We all hoped it would never touch the bitumen but if it had to it had to. They were comfortable with that.
So there we were, first thing in the morning, making that all important decision. Should the white writing on the B F Goodrich all terrains be in or out. It’s a 4WD myth that having the white out increases the risk of a puncture but gee it looks snappy.
Quickly and efficiently, Singh’s recovered their tyre and fitted ours, washed our wheels and we drove off looking very very snappy indeed.
Moral of the story … Singhs Tyre Service in Byron Bay does offer service. You can find them at 1 Jonson Street, 02 6685 7696.
If you find yourself needing service in Condobolin tough luck.
Destination Nindigully, Queensland and almost immediately we were driving through country that was tinder dry and ready to burn …
In Byron I’m staying at a friend’s house. Carole has the most amazing Grevillias, Callistemons and red pom-pommy things …
Birdlife Australia have a very handy pdf on the birds and birding spots for Byron Shire. The bird watcher should google “Birds of Byron Bay – Birdlife Australia”.
bobmcgee 