Meadanering about Maryborough

After a cool wet week we were looking forward to the long weekend's forecast of mild sunny weather. We were going to stick a pin in the map and see where we ended up but the week of heavy rain and many flooded areas put paid to that idea. Instead we took a more organised approach looking for somewhere that had not been rained out and our destination of choice was Maryborough, a lovely town in the Central Goldfields Shire. With a rich history dating back to 1840 there was plenty to keep us amused for the long weekend.

We arrived late on Friday night after work and managed to get the camper trailer set up with a minimum of fuss. I think most other people were all tucked up in bed but it wasn't long before we were tucking into our dinner and not too much longer before we too were hitting the sack. Our campsite was flat grass tucked in beside a couple of permanent vans and nice and close to the bathrooms. I thought that with the park being full showers might be problematic but not once did we have to wait and once again very clean. Maryborough Caravan Park gets a big tick of approval from these intrepid travellers.

Saturday morning was a chilly but sunny start to the day and after breakfast we started our meanderings with a walk around Lake Victoria. This is a man made lake and a favourite spot for locals & visitors to get their morning exercise. We passed many people walking their dogs and keeping fit. With swans, ducks, a few beautiful white geese and many other water birds to keep us amused we enjoyed our stroll as well. Along the way we passed the beautiful Grand Stand at Princes Park. This was built in 1895 and the nearby Band Rotunda was built to commemorate Maryborough's Jubilee. Along the way we saw a number of old motorcycles on the field and soon discovered there was a veteran meeting in town. That explained the number of bike trailers in our park. We never saw them again so have no idea what they got up to for the weekend.

After our walk we headed off to the town to have a look around and after a coffee we set off on a self guided discovery tour armed with a map picked up at the tourist information centre. We found many beautiful old heritage buildings in Maryborugh and thoroughly enjoyed our walk around the streets finding each new site on the map. McLandress Square with the Court House, the Post Office & the Town Hall is known as one the finest cluster of civic buildings in country Victoria. All built between 1858 and 1893 the buildings are as impressive today as they would have been back then. The Bull & Mouth Hotel, the Old Fire Station, Mandeville Coffee Palace (no more coffee), The Old Library and even William's Buildings were all beautifully preserved and add to the character of this town. Our last stop on our walk was the magnificent old Maryborough Railway Station which was built in 1890. This building was remembered by Mark Twain as 'a station with a town attached'. It is said to have the longest platform in country Victoria - I didn't measure it! The beautiful tessellated tiles and timber ceilings together with the old fittings in the entrance make this station a masterpiece. The antique shop & cafe next to the waiting room just add to the ambiance of the place.

After leaving the grand old station we headed home for lunch and soon after were on the road again this time to see the natural attractions of the area. Our first stop was the Paddy Ranges State Park where Bill spent some time chasing after the beautiful little Honeyeaters, Shrike Thrush & Golden Whistlers that we could see flitting around the treetops. This is a beautiful Box Ironbark forest and it is dotted with relics of the areas Gold mining past. There is still gold to be found 'in them thar hills' but a miners licence is required so we didn't try our luck this trip. Maybe we'll try prospecting another time. We drove though the park along Possum Gully Track and stopped at Martin Dam for a half hour or so. While here Bill took a walk around the dam and soon came across a Wallaby that decided the quickest way out was to swim across the water. Bill's last pictures of him have him hiding in the reeds. We hope he got out the other side.

Our next stop was at the Goldfields Reservoir where we spent an hour or so wandering along the 1.7 km walking track around the reservoir. This was a lovely tranquil way to finish off a busy day and we enjoyed every moment of it. From here we drove on home where we put the feet up for a while before cooking dinner and a nice glass of Red. We finished the night looking at Grant & Jill's photo's of their last trip to Europe and then two very tired adventurers put ourselves to bed for the night.

Sunday's another story but I'll leave that until tomorrow..........