27th - 31st March @ Shepparton

We have had a glorious week at Shepparton beautiful weather everyday... we havent done much here but sit around and relax and go for walks...and the occasional drive to the shops etc...

This is a lovely spot we are at and will come back here again to stay Im sure...We over look a beautiful lake...we only booked to stay here 3 nights but changed it and we have been here a week...They look after the lawns and every where is so nice and green..

They have cows all over town which are painted...the call it "Mooving Art" they were introduced to the Shepparton area in 1999 at Christmas time.

  

Greater Shepparton produces a large percentage of Australia's dairy exports, making the cows a natural choice for the unusual exhibition. There are more than 90 cows in the herd and they are displayed outside businesses, in gardens,in paddocks and even in buildings...They make a colour sight....

 Jelly Bean Cow

 Strawberry's & Cream

Afternoon Tea

We did not get to see them all of course as they are all over the areas but here is a link if you want to check out some more..

http://www.sheppartonmooovingart.com.au/cms/index.php?option=com_joomgallery&func=viewcategory&catid=1&Itemid=97

Last day today so we are packing up...we will go out for our usual dinner out tonight and we head off early in the the morning to Porapunkah which is just outside Bright.

26th March Saturday...

Well today is voting day State elections fro NSW....and we thought we could vote on line but apparently that closed yesterday....whoops....so because we are not too far from the NSW boarder we decided to drive to Moama which was just outside Echuca which is a place we wanted to go look at anyway...it was only an hours drive and such a lovely day.. so off we went...

The drive was all country roads... lovely drive... after voting we had lunch at the old post office that had been changed into a restaurant... lovely food...

I drove back gave John time to relax and have a look around.....

25th March Friday Travelling to Shepparton

The weather fined up... but was still cold... headed off and had a nice drive to Shepparton, booked in at the Victoria Lake Holiday Park.. we got a really nice spot ...the park is very nice....plenty of space and we could leave the trailer on...

24th March Thursday

Another cold windy rainy day :( Packed up ready to leave tomorrow....

As usual we went out for dinner on our last night... we picked a place out of my phone..I have an app that allows you to search for places to eat...it came up with Manchester Arms Hotel...and what a good choice...the food was exceptional.. and so much on your plate and so cheap...it was a great little intimate type pub..with a lovely warm fire...

23rd March Wednesday

It was a cold rainy day today.... we went to the Bendigo Pottery...nothing to get over joyed with...because of the weather we went home after that...and watched a movie...

22nd March Tuesday

We stayed around home today... John did some work on RV and I did the washing and house work...

21st March Monday Tram Ride

Today we headed to Bendigo town centre as the information centre yesterday advised us to take a tram ride around Bendigo...Its called the "Talking Tram" as you travel around on it it gives you the history of Bendigo.... $13.00 each and that was concession ...what a waste of money...and a load of crap...

As you can see the tram is not overloaded hahahah only us on it !!!

From there we went and had lunch and then went to have a look at the Scared Heart Cathedral

you can see how big it is by the size of John on the steps...

That was the highlight of the day...beautiful church !!!

20th March Sunday

Woke up very early to a lot of hussle and bussle... and apparently it was Market day... and they were all arriving to set up...

View from our front window

We had a walk around the markets after breakfast...and I had done some washing...not much there a lot of junk...

Then we went into town after lunch to the information centre..and had a look around Bendigo...

19th March Saturday Travelled to Bendigo

We took our time getting organised and then headed to Bendigo...it was a nice drive through country side.

We arrived after lunch at the Bendigo Showground which was a great spot...plenty of room...I love these show grounds they are cheap to stay at and always plenty of space to leave the trailer on which is always a bonus.

Set up and relaxed for the afternoon..

18th March Friday

We spent the day packing up and getting organised for leaving tomorrow....

17th March Thursday..

Had a nice relaxing time around the park...after our full day yesterday.

But I did notice that Ballarat do grow different flowers to us...

Check out these Agapanthus....

16th March Wednesday Sovereigh Hill

Well today we decided to head to Sovereign Hill, setting off at 10am its opening time... the day was mild so should be a lovely day to walk around and explore...We saw it in the dark the other night now its time to see it in daylight....

Its set back in time in Australia's exciting gold rush days. Set on a former gold mining site, this outdoor museum recreates in fascinating detail the hustle and bustle of life in the 1850s. There is so much to do and see.
Sovereign Hill's Main Street is busy with people in colourful costumes and horse-drawn vehicles.

Craftsmen are at work throughout the township, with a variety of shops and businesses open to purchase goods - grocers, blacksmith and jewellers.

In the diggings you can pan for real gold!

Witness $50,000 of molten gold being poured into a bullion bar at Sovereign Hill's Gold pour.

We watched a demonstration on how to make candles...

We had devonshire tea scones and jam and cream freshly baked at Hope Bakery, pastry cakes and breads are freshly baked each day in the wood-fired brick oven also.

You can play bowls as they used too... with wooden bowls and skillets.

You can be photographed in Victorian costume, which of course I wanted to do but John didn't :(


We also enjoyed live street performances

and a ride in horse drawn coaches.

What I thought was a wonderful idea they take in school children on a 2 day camp excursion.

The Sovereign Hill Costumed School Program is a unique, two-day costumed role-play experience where children are fully immersed in the 1850s, learning about manners, costume, behaviour and re-living the discipline of school life on the goldfields....

We were able to look in at the classroom while the children were having lessons, they were writing on slate and using pen and ink...what a great thing for them to appreciate the school life they have now....

They lived in character for the whole time they were there.....

We enjoyed exploring the cottages and looking through them to see how the richer miners lived in the gold rush times..

WHO REMEMBERS THESE YUK!!!

And also how the poor miners lived too.....

The Butcher shop... Meat just hanging in open air.. in scorching heat :(

And the even poorer ones were just in tents...

We had a nice cold beer in the bar...set back in time...

Our last thing to do was go down the mine to see what the conditions were they worked under..The took us under ground in a train and it was TOTALLY dark they wanted to give us the same experience the men got when they travelled down..only they went down in cages...

This is a little section underground where they had there lunch...they had to warm the water up by candle light...

We had a great day and we found the whole thing very interesting..

John finished off buying a beautiful hand made wool English cap...and I must say it sure suits him....