Day 118 - Tuesday 25 April - ANZAC Day in Bendigo

Day 118

Tuesday

25 April 2017 – ANZAC Day

Echuca – Bendigo - Moama

We had a heavy shower last night. Big, fat raindrops bombarded the roof of the van waking us then a gust of wind had Paul out of bed and winding in the awning before it filled with water or took off. He came back to bed all soggy.

We didn’t wake again until 8am and we were both feeling a little slow. I attempted to log into the net and begin the slow process of loading photos, but it wasn’t responding, which seems to be my luck of late. It was super frustrating. Instead I read my book until Paul eventually crawled out and went for a shower.

I decided to pull myself out of bed as well, it was 9am after all.  I continued to attempt to log on, but it just wasn’t happening. We ate breakfast, I showered and then it was time o think about getting on the road.

Today we made our way to Bendigo, about an hour and 15min from Echuca. As we drove through Rochester we stopped briefly as the ANZAC march was occurring. We watched the short parade go by and then we went on our way once again.

We arrived in Bendigo at 11.45am, found a place to park for free and then proceeded to walk through the town. Like Ballarat, this town was built on gold and a number of buildings reflect the grand gold rush architecture, but there does not seem to be as many as Ballarat.

We walked down Chancery Lane, a trendy coffee shop strip. There are many wall murals along the lane and fancy Gaudi inspired gates at one end. As we popped out we were faced with many ex-service men making their way from the ANZAC service, some were still milling about the memorial building.

We walked down Pall Mall to the Alexandra Fountain, passing an old tram. They have a tram that has been “Yarn Bombed”, covered in crochet inside and out, but we didn’t see it.

I took photos of the fountain and then we crossed the road to walk through Rosalind Park. Here the strange screeching noise from above had me searching for the owner. In the trees roosted large Fruit Bats, most were cocooned in their wings, hanging like some enormous brown and black chrysalis from the small branches.

We made our way to Poppet Head Lookout, a large, metal, mining structure that has been converted into a viewing tower. After having our quads burn walking the hill to get to it we were confronted with a further 124 steps to reach the top. Once there Bendigo was laid out in all her glory with the old sandstone structures taking pride of place along with the gothic Sacred Heart Cathedral and its 7m tall, 3 tonne cross.

We returned to the ground, checked out a couple of sculptures and then took in the majesty of the Law Court buildings, before tucking into a pie and walking the main shopping street.

We returned to Rosalind Park, passing by the conservatory and on to the Golden Dragon Museum, a tribute to the Chinese miners. We passed through the gardens and then returned to the car.

We navigated out to True Brew, another brewery in an industrial estate. Finding it open, we made our way inside, chatting with one of the brewing brothers, Cameron while Paul tasted a few of their beers. It was fairly quiet at the venue, but I  could see it being popular. Paul came away with a mixed six-pack and we returned to the centre.

My work mate, Sue, had lived in the town in the late 80’s and had text me the old address, so we did a quick drive by and sent a photo before moving on to Lake Weeroona and completing a lap of the lake. I spoke to Sue on the phone as we wandered, catching up with all the news at her end and wishing her safe travels for their European trip starting on Monday.

We finished our walk with a delicious hot chocolate at the Boardwalk café on the lake’s edge and then it was back to the car and a return journey to Echuca. We were fortunate the weather had held out for our time in Bendigo and in fact was quite warm and sunny when we walked the lake.  I was however watching the clouds gather and look ominous on our trip home, wondering if they were making Echuca wet.

We stopped briefly at Coles on our way through the main town and then it was back to the van for 4pm. It didn’t seem to be too wet, however much of the ground around us was quite muddy.

After unloading the car, it was straight into the tech, the internet was up and I was eager to dump as much as I could, but it was still unbelievably slow and much of the Facebook upload was being refused. GRRRRR

I persevered for the next 2 hours, going from quiet indignation to downright peeved, not getting much further with my work and feeling like I was wasting my time. I did load up the photos from today in between, it was just such a pain in the proverbial.

At 6pm we dressed for dinner, opting to go to the Moama Bowls Club for a meal. Dad had told me about this place on the phone the other day and said we should check it out for its grandeur. We made our way over the Murray River and as such over the border into New South Wales. The bowls club was all of 4km away.

Dad was right, the bowls club was huge, most of it taken up by pokies, a bit like a mini casino. We however, made our way into the bistro, were seated and then ordered our meals.

The food was served promptly and while not amazing, was more than generous for the price. We finished with a cold rock style icecream bucket and all the toppings we wanted. Yum.

Once done, we wandered around the large complex, checking out the sad and sorry sight of the oldies sitting at the pokies. Paul was going to feed a machine with coins he had in his pocket, but he didn’t understand how many of them worked and opted to keep the small amount instead.

We returned home to enjoy the quiet, no screaming kids next door, as NSW holidays finish today, yay! Paul reviewed some more beers while I continued on the net, having a little more success. Before long though it was time for bed and hopefully one not interrupted with rain.