On a stormy and miserable day i didn’t have the gear or the heart to trudge out to the Great Ocean Road, so i packed up the car and headed to Ballarat instead. Sovereign Hill to be exact for a taste of history at the remodelled frontier village there.
Period costume at Sovereign Hill
I was treated to actors in period costume, mocked up tent villages showing how the original Melbourne pioneers would have lived. I learned the value of my weight in gold, i was terrified by the appearance of fire trucks again in the slightly out of town spot that it is. It was quite a sight to see the modern truck edging up the 1800s high street!
Gold Mines at Sovereign Hill, Ballarat
Replica Melbourne Homestead, i fell in love with the little touches that made it homely. can you spot the love hearts?!
Frontier living at Sovereign Hill, Ballarat
It was nice to drive again, i loved driving back in the UK (as much as i may have bemoaned the Pangbourne commute!) it’s liberating and my time to think. I took my time en route to Bendigo and arrived just in time for dinner.
My rest stop was the new and perfectly formed Art Series Hotel Schaller Studio . Situated at the top of the town but still walking distance, or cycling if you wanted to borrow a bike it’s the perfect location. The rooms are small, but have all the amenities that i needed to switch off and chill out.
Fun and funky decorations at the Art series Hotel Schaller Studio
My Welcome message at the Art Series Hotel Schaller studio!
My only plan for Bendigo was to visit the art gallery, it’s famous locally for lots of smaller galleries so i had intended to wander round and see what i came across. That was until i found the Bendigo district RSL Museum… My first thoughts as i walked in were that it was quite twee, the building is stuffed with memorabilia from the boer wars to Afghanistan all arranged in no particular order. What can i learn from such a jumble? i thought to myself. Then one of the guys that runs it started talking to me, the museum was created organically by local RSL members that started donating their kit from various wars. There was never an intention for it to be created, they just got to the point where there was no room to hold RSL functions there any more as the memorial hall was filled with so much stuff!
The best museum ever! Bendigo District RSL Museum
The beauty of this place lies in the stories behind the artefacts. Along with each item (anything from weapons to first aid kits and love letters) is a little note saying who it belonged to. Two separate rooms hold what i deem to be the real treasure, which lies in peoples personal stories. The middle room holds many books filled with copies of formal and personal letters, family histories and tales of resettlement as soldiers returned home.
I ended up lost in this room for about 4 hours, reading through soldiers correspondence with their families & friends. Tales of battle recounted, love maintained through old fashioned letter writing and loves lost through telegrams. There were PoWsChristmas day menus from Changi, Singapore and observations of treatment there. Some of these were so humbling “i’m not sure if this is important or not, but i thought i would write it down anyway” was written at the start of the recounting of severe mistreatment of PoWs which was later used in war crimes trials.
The family histories and letters were a wonderful way for me to get to learn about the recent history of the area. Many soldiers were allocated land on their return from war, in an attempt to give them the foundation for a successful life post military service. The story of where they built, what they grew and how their families grew after that investment were all laid out. It was very moving.
I ended up chatting to the men that run the museum, they made me tea (i don’t think that i was ever going to leave i think!) and helped them find out information about people that they were looking for in the UK. So it was a fruitful day for all!
I did manage to make it to the beautiful art gallery in Bendigo with a stunning mix of old and new architecture and fascinating collection of modern European influenced and indigenous art. But it wasn’t a patch on the personal stories at the military museum. If you are ever in the area and have even a slither of an interest in history then you have to go and tell them i sent you for a free cup of tea!
Beautiful Bendigo Art Gallery
Heading back way down south now to prepare for Portsea polo party time with the Caribbean Prince now, Baci a tutti!
x x x x
