Hopkins River, Gnotuk, Ballarat, Bendigo, Echuca and Tocumwal

Time now to head for home! Someone was missing his family and wondering how his garden was surviving without water and tender care. Hearing that the Grandchildren were staying at Dubbo to see the zoo there made Sam determined to get there to see them before they continued their holiday elsewhere! Urgency reared its head for the first time on our trip!

We left Hopkins River and followed the Princes Highway passing Terang before stopping at a tiny place named Gnotuk where we had a cuppa under some shady trees in a roadside park. The day was really hot and, as this was the last shade we saw for some hours, it was a good decision!

 At Gnotuk we left the Princes Highway and took a very quiet and less travelled route, seeing only one vehicle, a farm ute, along the full length of the road. The road, although a minor route was very easy to drive, mostly rolling hills sparsely covered in electric, parched grasses. When I got out of the van to take a few photos I felt that I and the grass under my feet could easily blow up in flames. At the southern part of the route there were a few small lakes where a few waterbirds could be seen gathered around the edges. From the map we knew that there was a much larger lake, Lake Corangamite on the Eastern side of the road and at one point we caught  a glimpse of it. Or so we thought! It could have been a mirage as the heat bounced off the land tricking our vision along the way.

Lake Gnarpart, Victoria

This road ended at another tiny place, Duverney, where we briefly joined the Hamilton Highway as far as Cressy where we again took a minor route passing tiny settlements such as Rokewood and Enfield before arriving at Ballarat. 

Some years ago I was fortunate to have a few days in Ballarat with my sister and her girls and we took in the Sovereign Hill night show. I  had hoped to share this experience again with Sam as it had given me a real appreciation of the fight early Australia immigrants, miners, had put up to secure the political rights we enjoy today. These rights need to be actively and vigilantly safeguarded - my travels overseas have shown me how easy it is for them to be sneakily eroded. This re enactment of the colonial government's savage response to the gold miner's rebellion, in December 1854, against the corrupt and arbitrary treatment they received by soldiers collecting taxes gave us our Southern Cross flag and hastened the end of colonial rule. The pull of grandchildren for Sam was too great so we gave this enlightening show a miss and hurried through the town.

During this road trip we passed through many very small settlements and places that would be called "villages" in many other countries and it always amazed me just how many churches even tiny places had. Then I remembered that many of those now small or even tiny places were, in times past, very much bigger and also that religion dominated lives far more than it does today with strong demarcation lines between churches. No inter denominational services those days.

Cathedral at Bendigo

Bendigo was an interesting looking town with many colonial buildings that I'd like to get into however time was short so I stopped only to take a look at the impressive Cathedral. It reminded me of the Christchurch Cathedral in New Zealand where I often attended Sunday Evensong to enjoy the music. Sadly that Cathedral is no more as it came tumbling down during the recent massive earthquake that wrecked that city.

Church at Echuca

Stop we did at Echua though! This is a very pretty little town on the Murray River and it used to be a busy inland port in the 1850s. Sadly we didn't have time to take a paddle wheeler steamboat river cruise or explore the cute river houseboats tied up at the wharf. Once again many churches stood out. The one above now has a life as a childcare centre. Echuca is definitely on my list of places to return to.

Onwards we went and across the State Border into New South Wales where we stopped for the night at a place with an unusual sounding, almost Mexican, name - Tocumwal. I checked to find that Tocumwal is an Aboriginal word meaning a deep hole in the river. The river is the mighty Murray and the hole must surely be deep, judging by the number of fishing and boating people with camps set up at the water's edge. The famous Murray cod had pride of place alongside the banks.

Murray River, Tocumwal

Murray River Cod

After a very pleasant night among the gum trees we took a last look at the Murray. 

Murray River, Tocumwal

 Next stop - Dubbo. And Grandchildren.