Remembrance hour at Bendigo
After leaving Shepparton, we stopped at Echuca to have a look at the
Paddle Steamers on the Murray River.
We had lunch there, quite a busy place, with many people boarding the
Paddle Steamers for lunch & a cruise.
We stayed the night at a free camp on a farm that sells handmade woollen quilts
and green tomato preserves. We had a beautiful spot on grass,
overlooking the dam, complete with geese.
Ian & Marilyn were such friendly & welcoming hosts,
we wanted to stay on another night, as another couple staying there from Mandurah did,
but we wanted to move on to Boort the next day,
to visit Piccoli's Spanner Sculptures.
The morning parade down to the dam.
The Spanner Man just out of the little town of Boort, creates all his sculptures out of spanners,
using only spanners, a mig welder, & chain blocks. When you see the sculptures, that alone is
so impressive & creative, but then consider
that he makes all of these sculptures from his wheelchair!
He contracted Polio at the age of 8, but that hasn't held him back.
He also has Macaws on his farm, as well as Deer, Alpacas, Pheasants, & Peacocks.
This is some of the source of his material, which he buys from
Swap meets, garage sales etc.
He has created over 130 sculptures out of 125,000 spanners, at a cost of$250,000
Shearer with his fleece.
Black Marlin, over 7 metres tall
Horse & wagon, weighs 3.5tonne, & contains over 6000 spanners.
John the Spanner Man
Boort memorial hall
Metal sculptures on the Lake foreshore in Boort.
Moving on to Bendigo, we only intended to stay a couple of days, to have a look round,
but we arrived just before the Bendigo Blues and Roots Festival, over 4 days, 50 venues,
and over 140 acts. The best bit was, almost all the entertainment was free!
We decided to stay over the weekend.
As a bonus, we attended a Rock'n'Roll Dance on Friday night, with 3 bands playing
at the Bendigo Club, entry free!
Met some Rock'n'Rollers that were at Shepparton Shakeout when we were there.
One of the overseas acts, from Alberta, Canada
Just a few of the acts we watched, too many to see even a percentage.
Many interesting music & eating venues in Bendigo, as well as narrow laneways
with quirky little boutiques & cafes.
Chancery Lane one end.
Wall art at the other end of Chancery Lane
Took a tram ride round the city in one of the original Trams that has been
lovingly restored by a small group of craftsmen & enthusiasts.
They date back to 1903.
When Bendigo was in its goldrush heyday,
it was the richest gold town in the world for a time.
The mine doesn't operate anymore, but tours will take you down 228 metres,
which was the deepest goldmine in Australia.
Beautiful parks & architecture in Bendigo.
Below are just a few
Statue at Buddhist temple outside of Bendigo
Tomorrow, we travel to Geelong, through Castlemaine
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