The sun is shining this morning in Bendigo, promising to be a warm summers day. We are heading further west on our journey to the King Valley wine district today. But first a yarn, Bendigo become the centre of the Victorian gold rush in 1852 when tens of thousands of people descended on the area in search of riches. The town originally a tent city grew out of land that formerly ran Sheep, grown for wool that had very much put Australia on the map as far as mother “England” was concerned. Before the gold rush, after and even now the area would be known for the quality of wool raised here. Therefore It wouldn’t come as a surprise to know that Bendigo has a woollen mill. This is Amanda’s first order of business for the day. Check out the famous Woollen Mill that crochet and knitting enthusiasts of Australia have made a household name.
After our visit to the mill and Amanda has a car full of yarn we venture back into the city to checkout the Victorian architecture that all that gold paid for back in the day. The town is surely something special with its trams that trundle around town electrified by overhead cables, its cute weatherboard cottages, magnificent Cathedral, fountains and buildings from yesteryear.
Once on the road our first stop takes us to the little town of Colbinabbin, where once again we stumble on Silo Art. We are still in grain country, so an abundance of blank canvas Silos to paint. this whole set is the most ambitious we have seen yet, telling the story of this tiny grain growing town.
We cross the Goulburn river as we travel northwest, a rickety old bridge takes us over the flowing waters where a heritage listed travellers inn dating from 1871 still stands.
When I think of these times it reminds me that we are also in Ned Kelly country, the infamous bush ranger that met a sticky end in Glenrowan. A town we will shortly be driving through, the statue of Ned in full armour still remains from our last visit but now there is a large information centre, that features key elements in Ned’s story.
As we leave Glenrowan the vista opens up revealing a wide open plain with the Barry Mountains as a backdrop. Whitfield in the King Valley sits in a plain created by volcanic uplift at the foot of mountains that host ski resorts at Mt Bulla, Mt Hotham and Falls Creek. The King Valley started off its agricultural life as a testing area for tobacco and hops, but Italian migrants by the 1980’s started growing grape vines. One of those vineyards is credited with bringing Prosecco to Australia. Now the area is pretty much dominated by a small number of high quality wineries.
