Monday 17 November 2014

30 - 31 October 2014 - Glenrowan and Maryborough


We left the Snowy Mountains and drove to Khancoban on the Alpine Way. This road took us over the Snowy Mountains via Thredbo and was a long and winding road with very long down-hill and up-hill stretches. All went well although the breaks did get very hot on one stretch. After a cup of coffee in Khancoban we set off along a highway until we were tired and decided to stop for the night. Completely unplanned we ended up in Glenrowan which was the site of Ned Kelly's last stand. We had a delightful spot in a small caravan park with our own ensuite bathroom for no extra charge.

In the morning we stopped in town to view an exhibit on Ned Kelly. We met the owner, Bob Hempel, who is the great-grandson of the man who made the armour for Ned Kelly! We had a very interesting chat and he was very critical of Tony Robinson who did a TV program on Ned Kelly. We then treated ourselves to the animatronic show explaining the events leading up to, during and after the last stand as well as the execution of Ned Kelly. It was an extremely good show and the only one of its kind in Australia.

Back on the road we drove until we decided to stop early in a town called Maryborough. This caravan park was opposite a railway siding where the train started shunting at 2 AM! Anyway. We did some washing before the rain arrived and walked down to the lake where there were a pair of black swans with 7 half-grown cygnets. While having our sundowners we saw our first Musk Lorikeets.

The watershed of the Great Dividing Range of which the Snowy Mountains are part
The pass over the Snowy Mountains
Long, steep descents!
Glenrowan caravan park and the 'sundowner bench'
Ned Kelly statue
Animatronic show with Ned Kelly behind the bar talking to the town folk
The Shootout

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