Canberra
Why are we in Canberra? Well we have diverted from the Ned Kelly trail back to Canberra for the annual Hayes siblings’ Christmas get together. This year the event has been centralised at the Palmer Close free camp in Queanbeyan, managed by Homealone’s brother Stuart and his wife Maree. A pleasant establishment with plenty of hot water! The whole gang is present along with some children of the siblings and also a child of the children of the siblings. Or in other words a grand child. Apparently, a ‘meeting’ of siblings had been held to agree to this new development. It was to be hoped that opening the event to the new generation would revitalise the Secret Santa tradition. And it did! Just throwing the dice to decide the decision making in the pass the parcel ‘Secret Santa’ made the night. Everyone got something that they didn’t necessarily not want. The company, food and hospitality was great also and enjoyed by all.
Allthego was particularly stunned by the local artisan bread rolls designed and created by Stuart in the local oven. Allthego didn’t have an ‘artisan’ category in his bread roll contest. So Stuart’s buns, I mean his rolls, took first place in the artisan category! Very comparable also with the commercial rolls. A great crunchy crust and soft interior. Earlier, on the way to Canberra, we had some rolls from Glenrowan, very impressive in size and softness. On a par with Inglewood and will check back in on these on our return trip to Glenrowan in a few days.
Stuart’s artisan bread rolls!
The Glenrowan rolls, note the size!
Now, a trip to Canberra can’t be let slip by without going to the National Gallery! In our case it was to see Sydney Nolan’s sequence of 27 Ned Kelly paintings, painted Allthego thinks in 1947. They depict various stages and events in his bushranging activities and life. They are recognised internationally as an important contribution to national life. A must see if you are on the Kelly trail!
BUT DO YOU KNOW WHAT? THEY ARE ON TOUR!!!!!! FOILDED!!!! They are on the road to Darwin of all places! They will then head to Cairns! They will be back in Canberra mid 2020. The gallery guides didn’t sympathise that we had come all the way from Brisbane to see them. Thought we should just come back when they came back! So here are some of them anyway , photos of prints. Maybe we will come back. It was suggested we should check the website for dates! But we are nomads and rely on out of date printed tourist guides! Perhaps we should rely on the website in the future? So we saw that famous painting bought by Prime Minister Gough Whitlam way back in 1973. Blue Poles. Actually, it is quite impressive. Not bad at all!
Blue Poles
So after these few days in Queanbeyan with relos we head back south to Beechworth to rejoin the Kelly trail.
Benalla Silo Art Trail
The rural area around Benalla is getting in on the Silo art movement. These old relics of our agricultural past are mostly sitting relatively idle or simply unused beside railway lines around the countryside. Towns trying to capitalise on tourism are having them painted in all sorts of ways. The ones below stretch along the road out of Benalla to Tocumwal on the Murray.
Goorambat silo
Goorambat UC
Sophia mural at Goorambat Uniting Church
Goorambat a few kilometres out of Benalla has a couple on their silos and the local Uniting Church has had a mural inside the church on its front wall. An imposing representation of the feminine ‘form’ of the Holy Spirit, Sophia. ‘Sophia’ means “wisdom” in Hebrew. Very out there indeed! It attracts quite an audience.
Devenish silos
Tungamah silos
St James silos, GJ Coles of Coles fame was born and bred here. The family still has connections.
All of the silos have been done over the last 3 years or so. All quite fresh and interesting. We had a hamburger lunch along the way at the old hotel at Devenish. The publican told us a tale about the old closed pub up the road a bit that claimed to have had Ned drink in its cellar on a number of occasions. Subsequently, it was revealed that the pub was not built until 3 or 4 years after his death!
Fish trees at the Winton Wetlands
The water tank in the Wetlands, there is an unfortunate little leak in the tank. There are 3 fire fighters painted around the tank.
We finished off by driving through the Winton Wetlands into Glenrowan on a back road and then out on to the Hume Hwy and down to the caravan park at Benalla. We are now heading to Canberra for the Hayes’ sibling annual Christmas get together. A visit is also on the cards to the National Gallery to see the Nolan sequence of Ned Kelly paintings.
Ned’s town
Benalla was the major town closest to Ned’s home in Greta. It was in Greta that Ned started to have his run ins with the police. On one occasion he and a mate decided to ‘borrow’ a horse, this was one of his Uncle Jim’s tricks of the trade. Once ‘borrowed’ the horse would be hidden out in the bush. The owner believing it had run off would offer a reward to anyone who tracked it down and return it. Ned and the mate went out and ‘found’ the horse, returned it and and claimed the reward. The owner caught on and Ned was charged with horse stealing, but nothing came of it. On another occasion a Chinese peddler claimed Ned had robbed him, which was not the case. The charges were fabricated and Ned was able to escape conviction. Members of the extended Kelly family made frequent appearances in the court during this time.
The bootmaker’s shop were Kelly had a fight with police still stands today opposite the old courthouse, now part of the Anglican Church complex. During the fight one of the police performed the famous ‘Christmas hold’ on Ned, this caused Ned some distress and he threatened that if he ever killed a policeman it would be him. In fact this was the case, the officer was shot by Kelly at the Stringybark Creek shoot out some months later in 1878 (but more of this is to come).
Benalla courthouse
The silk sash
Bootmaker’s shop, site of the ‘Christmas hold’ event
The local museum holds much memorabilia on the Kelly’s. Among them the portable cell in which Ned was held on one occasion. Pride of place is held by the green blood stained sash worn by Ned at the Glenrowan siege. Over at the Art Gallery is Sidney Nolan’s big tapestry depicting the siege of Glenrowan. In the cemetery is the grave of Joe Byrne one of the Kelly gang members, every so often flowers mysteriously appear on the grave. The cemetery also hosts the graves of Ned’s grandmother and his Uncle Jim along with other Kelly family members.
Nolan’s tapestry of the Glenrowan seige
Joe’s grave
Joe Byrne’s body being photographed hung up outside the Benalla gaol.
As we found on our travels every town has another favourite son. Sir Edward ‘Weary’ Dunlop the famous leader of the POWs on the infamous Burma Railway during WWII was born and lived here. There is a significant memorial and documentary to him in the museum, the Botanic Gardens also has a bronze statue recognising him and his service.
Egg and lettuce on Benalla buns, not bad, but note the size. Small, and Allthego is using the same plate size in this bun review! Inglewood still the best.
‘Weary’ Dunlop
The Dunlop memorial in the Botanic Gardens
We next head off on the relatively new silo art trail to the north west of Benalla and a visit to the Winton Wet Lands.
Benalla
We are now in Benalla, not far up the road from Avenel. Greta, where the Kellys had moved, is a little bit off to the east. Glenrowan further up the road. It was in this general area that Ned would be particularly active in his teenage years. But we are going to leave Ned alone for awhile and have a wander around the township checking out the street art.
Benalla is famous for not only Ned, but also it’s street art. For the last five years it has run the ‘Wall to Wall’ festival. The festival attracts street artists from all over Australia and also from overseas. There is street art everywhere. All sorts of pieces on the building walls around the town, must be up around 100 at least. Here a few of them.
The one with the red skeleton on a blue background was particularly fascinating because they had a mobile filter stand and you could look at the art through red and blue filters which showed the painting up without the skeleton which revealed the girl with flowing hair and flesh covering the bones and swimmers underwater!
One of the things Allthego has now realised is that the art is meant to be viewed in its setting, not in isolation from all the parked cars, trees, assorted junk and rubbish bins around it. So instead of getting frustrated about not being able to get a clear photo of the art you just go with the flow and snap away!
We will get onto Ned again in the next post!
Ned’s early days
Our remaining time around Seymour was spent checking out Ned’s early days. Seymour lies between between Beverage (to the south) and Avenel (to the north). Beverage is where Ned is thought to have been born in December 1854, some think he was born around mid 1855; some think he may have been born in nearby Wallan. What we do know is that he was living in Beverage in the late 1850’s. The family house is still there today in a dilapidated state. It was extended by subsequent owners from its original form by the addition of more rooms. But the original construction can be still clearly seen. The local hotel has a sketch of what it might have looked like in better condition!
The Kelly house in Beverage. The original bit is in centre
In the hotel at Beverage
Artist’s impression of the house
One of the things that hits you early in the search for Ned Kelly is the enormous range of statues that are erected everywhere. Steel, stone, wood and plastics. All look a bit different and show him in different poses. The following 3 are in Beverage.
Statue of Ned in his armour at Beverage
Another one of those statues outside the Beverage Hotel, The Hunters Tryste.
And another statue, inside the hotel!
And .………………………………………..an enterprising lot have put him on a can. Whisky and cola, there are 3 alcohol strengths of whisky and cola available in cans. But the Kellys were Irish and would not have liked the way whisky was spelt!
A Ned’s whisky and cola. But the Irish spell with an ‘e’ whiskey!!!!
Ned’s father John (“Red”) was an Irish convict settler, originally transported to Tasmania for 7 years, subsequently moved to Victoria where he married Ellen Quinn. They were battlers and settled on land in Beverage where they eeked out a living of sorts. Red was a bit of a scoundrel as were other members of the extended family. They engaged in what we would class as petty theft, horse stealing and cattle duffing, abusive behaviour and getting a bit worse for wear at happy hour. But in those days these were ‘major’ crimes and the authorities started a relentless pursuit of the Kellys and their associates, which ultimately saw them leave Beverage and move further north and settle Avenel.
We had a light lunch in Avenel at the Bank Street Wood Fired Pizza café. Rather nice pizza on a thin crust. Bit of a wait though as there was a big Hen’s party in progress. A bus load of ladies of all ages (the groom we were told was 53 and the bride
, a bit painted up so not quite sure) from Shepperton were on a cruise around the district. The bus driver was the groom’s brother and could have been a wealth of stories but apparently what happens on the tour stays on the tour he said!
Harvest Home Hotel in Avenel
That pizza
Also dropped into a woollens/antique shop where the owner told us that Kelly’s were really ‘just Irish law breaking thugs’. He much preferred the recognition of one Arthur Bailey who had made the first gold discovery at Coolgardie in WA and later moved to Avenel to settle. He died aged 31 and there is an imposing head stone on his grave in the cemetery. These little towns always seem to have a famous person lurking away in the background!
Baileys more imposing gravestone !
In Avenel it was much the same for the Kellys. By this time the family had grown to 7 children. Times were tough and drought conditions prevailed. They operated a small dairy herd. Red was gaoled for 6 months for stealing a calf from a neighbouring property to help feed the family. He died at the age of 45 shortly after his release. He is buried in the Avenel cemetery. At 11 years of age Ned took his fathers place on the farm.
Seeing his father off to gaol!
Red Kelly’s grave in the Avenel cemetery
This is the land that the Kellys farmed at Avenel
Earlier Ned had saved a younger boy from drowning in a creek and had been declared a town hero. He was awarded a green silk sash by the child’s parents who ran a local hotel, The Royal Mail. Ned wore this sash at the Glenrowan siege under his armour. The blood stained sash is on display in Benalla in a glass case (more about this later in the story).
For saving the young boy
Royal Mail Hotel, now a private residence
The Avenel stone bridge of 1869. downstream from which Ned saved the young boy.
After Red’s death Ellen started to become a bit cranky, abusing people and generally being ‘unfriendly’. She ended up in court twice, with fines. Ned’s family were not good role models for the young Ned and he too started to take a dislike to authority. He had been accused of stealing a horse, but nothing came of it.
An Uncle’s influence
Memorial to those who lost their lives
The Vietnam Veterans Wall at Seymour
So, the Kelly’s moved further north to Greta to escape the continuing police harassment. Greta was also where Ellen’s family, the Quinns had moved and she wanted to be closer to her married sisters.
Back in Seymour we spent some time down at the Vietnam veterans’ Memorial Wall. The wall has 106 panels, 53 back to back stretching along a walk way. The names of every veteran from each of the services is listed on the panels which are backgrounded with scenes from the conflict. Separate panels remember those who died whilst on service and also those who were awarded VCs. Very impressive memorial.
We are now also moving north, not to Greta, but to Benalla.
Ned Kelly……the end
Here we are in the Old Melbourne Gaol. We had arrived in Seymour the day before with the plan to go to Melbourne the next day by train to check out the Old Melbourne Gaol and the State Library of Victoria. Along the way from Jerilderie we had stopped for lunch. A bread roll of course from the Jerilderie Bakery. It was a little smaller than the other rolls we have had and when you squeezed it between ones fingers it sort of collapsed, like a balloon with the air going out of it. Nonetheless, it was still fresh and tasty. But we still rate the Inglewood roll the best so far!
Why are we both in here? Surprise. I’m innocent, she’s guilty! Even looks guilty!
Jerilderie bread rolls, with left over sliced mince lamb rissoles.
It is about an hour and half by train from Seymour to Southern Cross Station, a pleasant wander through the countryside without the hassles of negotiating Melbourne’s peak hour and finding parking. At the Seymour station we were cornered by a platform attendent wanting to help us struggle to work out the intricacies of the Victorian public transport Myki card system, it’s interplay with interstate Seniors cards and the special Victorian $1 a week travel concession for seniors. Being Queenslanders, it seemed we could get the actual Myki card ‘cheap’ for $3 but only Victorians got the $1 week travel concession special. Oh, to be a Victorian for a week! Only. After alighting at Southern Cross we hopped on a vintage City Circle tram which took us around to Russell St followed by a short walk to the Gaol. It was here where we were arrested and incarcerated behind bars whilst on the Gaol Experience tour.
Eventually one of these came to take us to the Old Melbourne Gaol. Homealone didn’t want to dally getting on whilst Allthego took a photo!
This was the Sargeant who took us on the tour of the cell block. A pleasant lady with an unpleasant demeanour towards us prisoners.
We are there
Ned was executed here by hanging on 11th November, 1880. The date is by coincidence, what we now recognise as Remembrance Day marking the end of WW1. Ned’s execution is the most recalled of the more than 180 hangings in this gaol, Victoria’s oldest, that operated from 1842 to 1924. Those very gallows remain where Ned’s famous last words were spoken. A particular section of the Gaol is dedicated to telling the Kelly story and particularly his time in the Gaol prior to being hung. Some time earlier he had been shot and captured at the siege of Glenrowan during which the other members of the gang were killed. More about the Glenrowan siege later in the journey.
Kelly being led to the gallows.
Ned’s face mask
The gallows, still much the same today as when Ned was hung.
After he was hung his head was cut off and a face mask made from which a cast was made of his head. This was common practice at the time. The cast of the head was studied by phrenologists. This was a bit of accepted whacky science at the time that attempted to predict criminal behaviour from the various bumps on a head, they were thought to indicate particular personality traits. Kelly’s body was then buried in the gaol yard. Apart from the cast head there are other bits of memorabilia on display including one of Ned’s guns.
One of Ned’s guns used at the Glenrowan siege.
A somewhat typical prisoner from the late 1800s.
An inmate checking out passers by.
After wandering around the cells we left to have lunch down in nearby Lygon Street, had a rather nice pasta in an Italian joint. Time was starting to get away so we set off for the State Library. The Library houses the armour that Ned wore at Glenrowan, as well as one of his boots. There are also some pages from the Jerilderie letter. But! The Library has chosen to close the exhibition for some needed restoration work and upgrade. It wont reopen for some months. So maybe we will need to come back at some stage in the future.
So it was out to the tram stop and back to Southern Cross Station for the return train journey to Seymour. Arriving around 6pm we found the car was still there, parked in a backstreet. We each have a Myki card with about $7 on it for next time. On the finding Ned journey we are next time going back to where it all began in the early days.
Jerilderie and the end is nigh
We have spent three nights in Jerilderie, this is one more than Ned Kelly and his gang spent here in February 1879. In a little over 20 months, in November 1880, he would be hanged in the Old Melbourne Gaol. At the age of 25.
We are now, sort of in Kelly country. Jerilderie is in NSW just across the Murray River and a little removed from North East Victoria where Kelly was born and spent most of his 25 years. We are here out of convenience because it is the first Kelly Trail spot you encounter on the drive down the Newell Highway. So our adventure is starting out when Ned’s was not long off ending!
Our camping ground
The camping ground we are based in is first rate. Grounds and facilities are immaculate and a short distance from the sixteen Kelly sites in or near the town. After 140 years some of the sites are no longer what they were back then. Some are just bare earth and grass, buildings have been reinvented as something else and in a couple of cases we couldn’t find the site at all.
Dear readers, do not be concerned that you are going to get a blow by blow history of the Kelly gang. A few words here and there and some photos will do.
The Kelly Gang had been emboldened after a successful hold up of the bank at Euroa, two months earlier back in Victoria, and had now set their sights on the Bank of NSW in Jerilderie. The raid on the town took place over two full nights and days.
Site of the old Police station and cells.
This is the Post and Telegraph Office, the original. It is being conserved. The telegraph wires and posts were cut here.
The Police officers are locked up in their own cells.
They arrived in town and locked the local police in their own cell, dressed as police and checked the layout of the town, helped the wife of one of the officers prepare the courthouse for Sunday mass, robbed the bank of NSW of 2140 pounds and held more than 30 hostages in the Royal Mail Hotel.
Today’s Royal Mail Hotel
The Royal Mail Hotel is at the right of this old photo.
The rest of the money was in a safe requiring two keys to unlock. In all 2400 pounds were taken, a ‘fortune’ in today’s money.
They then proceeded to cut the telegraph wires as Ned sought out the editor of the newspaper to have him publish what is now known as the Jerilderie Letter. This was a lengthy manifesto, attempting to justify what he had done over the years in ‘fighting’ the harassment and oppression of the ‘little people’, including his family, by the establishment. He was unsuccessful in getting it published. The document was then ‘lost’ but reappeared ninety years later. So much for the story, to be continued at our next stop.
Where the Jerilderie letter was going to be published.
The Jerilderie letter was not published until 90 years later!
We have had a good time wandering around the sights. The local bakery is excellent, some good pies and Ned memorabilia.
At the Bakery
Steak and mushroom pie at the Jerilderie Bakery.
The Royal Mail Hotel and Bank of NSW are not what they were in Ned’s time. It was substantially remodeled in 1927(9) with another storey being added and the bank premises folded into the structure. It now only opens a few hours a day for lunch and dinner time, it seems to struggle. We had an excellent steak sandwich in Kelly’s Bistro’. The lady publican told us she goes off to Cobram to buy slabs of beer at their BWS to sell, as the delivery charges from the breweries make them uneconomic suppliers! Such is life in Jerilderie!
Getting ready for a steak sandwich
Waiting for lunch in Kelly’s Bistro
The bar of the Royal Mail Hotel
Jerilderie has another famous face from our past. General Sir John Monash, Australia’s WWI army general, lived here as a child between 1874 and 1877 and it has been thought that he was back in Jerilderie in 1879 on school holidays when Kelly was in town. The rumour is that he held a horse for Ned, Monash never denied or confirmed it. Some locals want to erect a bronze near the Monash home commemorating the possible event. Some historians think it was actually Monash’s former teacher who held the horse. Fact or fiction it remains a mystery.
As a child Sir John Monash lived in this house.
Sir John Monash, in the town Library meeting room.
Did Sir John Monash hold Ned’s horse for him? The locals want to erect a bronze statue of the event.
As a short aside, the comic pictures included here are from a comic book history of the Kelly Gang by the famous comic writer Monty Wedd. It was published over many weeks in the Sunday Mirror, between 1974 and 1977. It is a great read and reputedly a very sound historical record. I trust no one will mind my short excerpts here and there through this blog.
Ned shouted the bar before leaving town.
So, while Ned leaves town we head for Seymour to see more of the early years of his life!
On the Road Again
‘On the road again
Goin places that I’ve never been
Seein’ things that I may never see again
And I can’t wait to get on the road again’
With the words of Willie Nelson echoing from a day ago we are now charging down the highway headed for Jerilderie, just this side of the NSW/ Victorian border. It is going to take 3 nights, so we are just rolling along and not charging! Great song anyway!
After departing Inglewood we first stropped at the bakery on the way out of town for some bread rolls. Allthego likes bread rolls. But, they are of varying quality. So, on this trip he is going to focus on ‘what has been the best bread roll so far’! Rather than the best sausage or meat pie.
Inglewood buns
Also, Allthego and Homealone have become students of silo and water tank art. It seems rural Australia has in recent years exploded in creativity and expressionism and art is flourishing on these great old structures from our agricultural past, albeit some are still in use by our grain growers. Yelarbon, midway between Inglewood and Goondiwindi, has recently added to the collection. There are a number of silos, side by side, along the highway into the town that have been adorned with artwork depicting the wetlands near the town. A young boy sits in the water floating off paper boats made from old newspapers found in the town gaol. It is supposed to represent today’s youth remembering the lessons of the past, but using their energy and creativity to drive the future. The painting is half finished and will be extended across the other silos when funding is achieved. A little further along the road at Goondiwindi is a water tank that has been painted with some local river scenes. Goondiwindi in indigenous thinking means ‘resting place of birds’. Brolgas and emus feature in the work as significant birds in aboriginal life.
Yelarbon silos
Goondiwindi water tank
Yelarbon lagoon
Leaving art behind we are now head in earnest down the Newell Highway. After a night stopover in Coonabarabran we aim for Forbes. Going through Dubbo we stopped for lunch and picked up some buns. Like the Inglewood buns we have some corn beef and salad. But you know they were not quite there. A bit flat and airy. The Inglewood ones had a little crunch and then the bread was munched on. Inglewood buns so far!
Dubbo buns
We made it into Forbes. Despite a dust storm blowing in from the west. It is very dry out in these parts. Rain is needed. We stopped over in a free camp just out of town beside the river. There were a few vans here and it is was quite civilised. Marie, wife of Stuart, a Homealone sibling, was on tour in Forbes visiting her family. Stuart was off in Orange trying to play in a long weekend golf tournament. We do not know his progress. She called by our camp site to say hello. Earlier in the day her dad had welcomed Allthego and Homealone to Forbes on the local FM radio station, where he is a volunteer announcer. He had played a Neil Diamond song maybe “Sweet Caroline” a Homealone standard, not “On the Road Again” or “It’s great to be back home again” (another Homealone standard).
Forbes dust storm
Hay bales on the way north near Forbes.
More dust at Forbes
It was NRL Grand Final night and Allthego decided to listen in on the radio. It would have been nice for Canberra to win! But they didn’t. But you know, there is always someone who takes umbrage at you having the radio on at 10 pm with commentators reliving why Canberra lost. So a gentlemen from a van across the way suggested we should TURN IT OFF. Probably a sore loser, but he was very polite. Maybe AFL. So we turned it down, amidst the turmoil of our hot water system blowing a tube and shedding water everywhere. With the hot water sort of fixed it was off the next morning to Jerilderie.
Going through Narrandera it was another painted water tower up on the hill overlooking the town. These works of art had not been long finished and they were quite remarkable. Overlooking the town, great statements of presence.
Narrandra water tank
Lockhart water tower
The other side of the tank.
Further along we diverted off the Newell Highway into the town of Lockhart. This little town has a simply wonderfully painted water tower, smack bang in the middle of town. A lot of other street art and eateries. Great spot for a Hayes family Christmas get together!
We are now in Jerilderie. Ned Kelly awaits.
Such is Life
Here we go again. This time off down to north east Victoria.
Why does one go to north east Victoria? You may well ask. One of the attractions down there is nearby the town of Glenrowan, the famous Bailey’s vineyards. They produce some big red wines and also a great old vintage port. Very tasty.
But, Glenrowan is also famous for the Ned Kelly siege. And that is why we are going to north east Victoria. It is the home district of the late 1800s bushranger Ned Kelly. Allthego thought it was worth a trip to delve into the story of his life. Homealone was enthusiastic too for this adventure. We are also dropping into Canberra to visit her siblings for the annual Christmas get together and the now traditional secret Santa ceremony, which has become like a version of pass the parcel. More on this at the time of the event which is ten days or so off.
We left Brisbane on time today at a little after 10am. There had been some enthusiasm to get away a bit earlier, but why rush. We have made our way to Inglewood, about 100 km west of Warwick and a similar distance east of Goondiwindi. There is a free camp here on the outskirts of town beside a creek which is very pleasant and it is a regular stopping place for us on journeys south. Bit of traffic passes but you get used to the noise.
Here we are in the free camp at Inglewood
Much has been written about Ned Kelly. He morphs between folk hero and villain, depending on the observer. Where does the truth lie is a constant question. Fact and fiction are blurred by the passing of time and rose coloured glasses. We are off to see the towns and sites he, his associates and adversaries have made part of history. Maybe we will learn something of this Australian icon!
When he was about to be hung in Old Melbourne Gaol in 1880 it has long been reported that he said the famous words “Such is Life”. There is actually some doubt about this. But who cares it’s a great line!
“Such is Life”………….now did he say that?
It’s all over for Ned but the story is just about to start!
So our next stop south will be somewhere to the south of Coonabarabran.
A ‘funny’ thing happened at the airport
We have had a couple of relaxing days in Vegas after the river rafting trip. Allthego has had some good sleep ins after the long days on the river. The young’uns have left and gone to Houston as planned. So we have had a little wander around town, been here before a couple of times. There is always something to see that you didn’t see last time. Vegas is a town of many colours and flavours. Mostly loud and noisy. People of all nationalities and sizes, some conservatively dressed others with very little left to the imagination. You feel quite safe wandering around the Strip, even late at night. There is so much neon light that it is almost daylight.
Caesars Palace
Gordon Ramsey’s Hell’s Kitchen outside Caesars Palace.
Trevi Fountain replica
One of the things we do like doing here is going to some shows, don’t do it much at home. A favourite of Homealone is a Cirque du Soleil show. So we went off to see ‘Mystere’. Not sure what it was all about, very ‘arty’, but there were great costumes, some spectacular acrobatics and high wire trapeze action. We also caught up with another Homealone favourite Human Nature, the Aussie vocal group, doing a Motown and others show. Full of 50s and 60s hits by artists like Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, Supremes, Sam Cooke, Drifters, Righteous Brothers etc. Some of the songs …… Runaround Sue, Under the Boardwalk, Stand by Me, Unchained Melody, Wonderful World, Why Do fools Fall In Love and You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’. Great night out. After the show Homealone managed a photo op and an autographed CD to add to the collection.
Cirque du Soleil
Human Nature concert
That photo
Back in the hotel we do a bit of packing before our departure the next morning, have to be out by 11am for a 3.30pm plane to Los Angeles and then a 10.30pm to Brisbane. Will finish this blog off at the LA terminal if possible.
So we made the short journey to the Vegas airport in a taxi. A funny thing happened at the Airport after arrival that illustrates the saying that ‘things come in 4s not 3s! Or, you hope that the 4th isn’t the start of another string of 3s! Readers may recall from an earlier blog Allthego’s three earlier experiences. Well you couldn’t believe it but there has been a 4th. Allthego has a black ‘carry on’ camera bag and we made the mistake of getting into a cab with black seats and black floor mats, the bag blended in well with seats. The camera bag also has some other lens and on this occasion Allthego’s reading glasses and phone.
Duly alighting at the Alaska Airlines terminal the driver emptied our luggage onto the street, we put it on a cart, paid the driver and went into the terminal. Staring around a bit working out where to go Allthego got that Sinkin’ Feelin’. Yes, the camera bag was still in the cab, but the cab had long gone somewhere else. Mmm. Despondency set in fairly quickly. Homealone suggested that maybe the cab had got in the line of cabs taking people from the airport and Allthego could intercept it there. A good idea, so off Allthego went. Downstairs two levels to Arrivals and onto the street. The line of cabs disappeared into the distance. Allthego slowly walked the line. He couldn’t remember the cab company, the cab colour (except the black seats and the long haired toothless driver) and he didn’t have a fare receipt either. He stuck his head in a random cab and asked the driver for a solution. The driver was helpful and said there were about 8 cab companies, his company covered three of them and if I rang a number he gave me they could put a notice about the lost bag on the computer and maybe the driver would see it and some how we might get it back. Worth a try Allthego thought. So back to where Homealone was based and onto the phone. Usual thing, a computer answered and gave Allthego a choice of about 6 numbers to press, none were for ‘bags left in a cab’. Eventually a person came on the line, pleasant lady, and I set about explaining our difficulty. Hadn’t got much out when she suddenly said ‘Are you the guy at the Alaska Terminal’? To this Allthgo said yes and she then said well ‘wait outside on the street, the driver is on his way back to you with the bag right now’. Allthego was a bit dumbstruck at this and did as he was told. The cab duly arrived, driver alighted and returned the bag with a big toothless grin. All’s well that ends well. There are many lessons to be learnt from this experience, but Allthego won’t go into them now! Homealone doesn’t think there are any lessons to be learnt other than ‘DON’T LEAVE YOUR BAGS BEHIND IN CABS’.
So it was onto the plane and we are heading for Brisbane and home. Homealone is eager to do the washing. Allthego continues to wonder whether things come in 4s or 3s.
Grand Canyon
We had a few days with Mitchell and Piper in Houston. Since our last visit he had settled into his own house in Cypress (a suburb of Houston), having previously rented in nearby unit complexes. He was working the last few days of his summer school commitments, they finish around 3 pm, and we spent the time looking after Piper until he returned for the evening. Some good recovery time from our Scottish travels. The four of us left Houston and headed off to meet up with the other parts of the Brown family in Las Vegas. Libby and Shane with their two kids, Alyssa and Jordan, together with Gillian had been doing their own touring around Southern California for a bit over two weeks.
Granddaughter, Alyssa all ready to go!
Covered wagons used as sleepouts at Bar 10 Ranch
Allthego, closely followed by son, Mitchell, heading off on the trail.
We were meeting in Las Vegas to start a Colorado River rafting trip on the lower section of the Grand Canyon. The first day of the trip involved getting to the Bar 10 Ranch. We left Las Vegas around 11am on a bus and later transferred to a light plane for the flight to the ranch. We arrived around 1pm and spent the afternoon engaged in various ‘ranch things’ a bit of horse riding, looking around old parts of the ranch, some skeet shooting and generally hanging around the lodge. That evening, after dinner, there was some country and western entertainment performed by the ranch staff. Some was not too bad and some was well a bit on the rough side. Hey, but at least they tried! The food was good. Allthego, Mitchell and Gillian slept in the open under the stars on the lodge deck, the four Mc Conochies ‘roughed’ it in a lodge bunk room.
Sunset on the range. The south rim of the Grand Canyon is in the bottom right. We are on the north rim.
These are the two rafts we travelled in or on. Sitting sideways.
Helicopter flying in fellow rafters.
Early the next morning after a 6.30 am breakfast it was off to the river in a 7 minute helicopter ride, skimming across the landscape, down into the Canyon and then at a low level along the Colorado River. Great experience!
There were 20 other fellow rafters on the trip, plus 5 crew. Two powered rafts. Some years ago we had spent a few days at the top of the Canyon on the South Rim, looking down. After this experience Allthego had long had it as one of those ‘bucket list’ items to do a rafting trip on the river. There had been a couple of false starts in the past at organising a trip, but now we were here. River Runners at last! Homealone was not of the same mind though about this rafting stuff and stayed behind in Las Vegas with Piper (who was unfortunately too young to go rafting).
On the river
Canyon view
One of the larger rapids, dropped into a ‘hole’ here and bounced out. A wall of water came over the top, thorough drenching of all!
So, off we went down the river on the rafts. Some great scenery and views of the Canyon walls. The part of the river we are travelling is fairly gentle compared with the sections upstream from our entry point. The Canyon walls are also not quite as high. It didn’t take long to realise that taking photos of all these rocks was a bit counter productive. Whilst in ‘real life’ the rocks were spectacular and quite awe inspiring, endless photos were just more rocks. Better to sit back and take it all in! Experience the rapids and the gentler sections of the river where we could just drift along in the current.
Another canyon view
Looking back from where we have come
Some more rapids
We stopped along the way for lunch and some side trips before pulling in for the night. Sleeping out under the stars. One of the tricks of this river rafting is that it is National Park rule that surplus liquids have to be disposed of into the river, not on the land. Including pee! So one has to stand in the river semi submerged and do one’s business. For the other end there is a porta loo facility hidden up in the bushes for privacy. The water temperature is around 55 F, a bit chilly. It is also hot! We read a high temperature of 125 F, which is a tad over 51 C. So wading around in the water was also quite refreshing. Very dry heat, we also had a light wind to blow it around. No flies! Lying awake and trying to sleep at night one could feel the heat radiating from the Canyon walls. Eventually cooled off a bit.
Allthego cooling down
Sunrise at our overnight stop
Allthego’s sleeping arrangements beside the river.
Another early rise the next morning for a 6am breakfast, scrambled eggs, pork sausages and muffins for breakfast. It is very difficult to get beef sausages in the USA. Off down the river for some more rapids until lunch time. This particular river section had some more vigorous rapids than on our first day, which kept us damp!
Rafts moored for a stop
Our fellow rafters
Jordan’s cliff jump
After lunch we transferred to a jet boat to take us out of the Canyon and to our take out point on Lake Mead. Then it was a bus back to Las Vegas. The bus suffered heat stroke on the way back and after waiting about an hour we swapped onto another bus to complete the journey, arriving around 6pm.
All were pretty exhausted. But a great trip.
The plan was for the Brown siblings, Shane and the ‘kids’ to return the next day to Houston. Homealone and Allthego would have a couple of nights in Las Vegas before heading back home to Brisbane.
On the way back
After leaving Tammie Norrie in the morning we spent our last day on the Shetlands wandering around Lerwick. Our ferry south to Aberdeen left at 5.30 pm so we had a few hours to fill in on the streets. Lerwick is a relatively old place and dates back to the late 1100s. It has always been an old sea port and fishing centre.
Lerwick harbour
Replica of an 1860s Danish cutter
JImmy Perez’ house, star of the BBC show ‘Shetlands’
The town is built back from its harbour with rows of 1800s early 1900s double storey buildings separated by narrow streets and lane ways. It is really a bit of a rabbit warren. It all looks a bit Dicksonian. Once you get to the top of the hill and overlook the Bay things spread out and the town modernises.
Baines Beach
Lerwick square
Lerwick street
Overlooking the Bay is Fort Charlotte. Rows of cannons have been staring across the Bay here for 350 years. The enemy? Those old foes the Dutch and the French. Apparently, the Dutch were very keen on Lerwick as a base for their fishing expeditions into the North Sea and their vessels were frequent visitors to the port during the 1700/1800s. The Town Hall has some amazing stained glass windows, which record much of Shetland’s Scandinavian era and maritime history. There is an imposing window of the Grand Master Mason of Scotland, the Earl of Morton. He owned Shetland in 1761. The window was a gift of the local Masons in the 1880s.
Fort Charlotte
Town Hall
Grand Master Mason of Scotland
We boarded our ferry at the appointed hour and set off in a bit of gloomy weather for Aberdeen on the east coast of Scotland. Along the way the ferry stops in at Kirkwell on Orkney at 11pm to do a pick up/set down of passengers before resuming the overnight journey to Aberdeen, where we arrive at 7am. After breakfast on board we head off for Inverness to return the car and catch a plane to Glasgow. It was quite a pleasant drive through the Scottish Highlands and along the malt whisky touring route past numerous distilleries. Stopped in for a look over the hedges and walls at Cawdor Castle. The Castle is well visited because of it’s loose association with Shakespeare’s play Macbeth. Trouble is, whilst Macbeth did become the Thane of Cawdor in the play (he didn’t in real life), this castle wasn’t built until the 15th century and King Macbeth was around in the 1100s. Shakespeare took more than a few liberties with history.
A Lerwick laneway
Leaving Lerwick
Last fish n chips takeaway on the Lerwick waterfront
Back on the road we arrived at Inverness Airport in plenty of time to drop the car off, Allthego to leave his wallet in the car, lock the car, then drop the keys in the locked key return box at the departure terminal. Homealone had not alerted Allthego to the fact that he hadn’t taken his wallet with him when getting out of the car. Allthego didn’t push this point at all but the wayward wallet was somewhat important and all efforts were now directed at getting it back. Two phone calls and ten minutes or so later the guy who was already coming to pick the car up arrived and said wallet was retrieved. A bit of luck here timing wise. But all is well that ends well.
It was a good flight down to Glasgow, via a stop over on Isle of Lewis & Harris. At Glasgow the saying that ‘things happen in threes’ played out quite nicely. Back tracking a little, Homealone had left our passports and some rings in a hotel safety box in London and Allthego had to go back and retrieve them some time later, fortunately they were still there. So counting the wallet affair that is two. Number three was Allthego’s lap top. It seems the hostie on board the plane didn’t alert Allthego that he had left the lap top in the luggage holes above the seats when he left the plane at Glasgow. This oversight was discovered whilst waiting for the luggage. Allthego tried to wander back onto the plane to retrieve the laptop, but security people thought this was not the way to do it and directed him to a service desk. Homealone was left on the other side of security to await the bags. The service desk was very helpful, somewhat amused though, and understanding. Seemed to take forever though for the lap top to return with a very helpful staffer, Allthego had been getting increasingly concerned that the plane would turn around and go some where else.
Anyway, the lesson from all this is for Homealone in the future to have a checklist.
The Reni Mc staircase
Waiting for the taxi
Before moving on to the United States and continuing the journey home we recuperated for a couple of nights in the Glasgow Central Reni McIntosh Hotel, located in a building dating from the 1600s. No lifts and we were on the 4th floor up about 8 flights of steps, with sloping floors and low doorways. A slight trial for the knees and muscles. Small room but reasonably comfortable.
We are now in Houston staying with our son Mitchell and grand daughter Piper for a few days.
Shetlands
We were greeted on our arrival in Lerwick, the major town on the Islands, by fog. We haven’t had fog yet and the forecast said we were to have fog all day. It was a short drive to our self catering unit just out of town, opposite the brewery. Very comfortable lodgings with some nice lounge chairs to relax back in. It has been some weeks since we have had a lounge to lounge in! We are staying in a unit called ‘Tammie Norrie’ which is some sort of local lingo for ‘Puffin’, appropriate we thought. All the other units are similarly named after sea birds.
Everyone is welcome in Lerwick
Inside Tammie Norrie
60 dg north
Our host suggested that we should go south first as his read on the weather was that the fog was going to clear from the south. So after settling in we set off. He was partially right and we did get some views of the countryside along the way. The rolling green hills were similar to those of Orkney, so were all the sheep! What was somewhat different though were the farmhouses and small villages, places tended to be of more ‘modern’ construction. There was less renovation of old structures. Along the way we past by the 60 dg north sign, the equivalent latitude in the south would put us a long way south of Tasmania.
Scalloway harbour
Sound
West coast beach
We followed a similar pattern as we did on the Orkneys, wanting to see the west and north coast as well as the south. The west of the main island is supposed to have a slightly different climate than the rest. It can be sunny there when it rains elsewhere. So we tried it the next day and it did clear somewhat for us to see the west coast beaches. No swimming. Along the way we passed by a small village called Sound, this was were John Clunies Ross was born. Ross was responsible for colonising the Cocos & Keeling Islands in the Indian Ocean, his family ran the islands up until 1978 when Australia took them over. There always seems to be able to found some link to Australia in these parts of the world.
Shetland pony
Sheep enjoying the view
Eshaness cliffs, near the lighthouse
We woke to bright sun on our next day and took off for the north, many rolling hills and sheep. There are a lot more black sheep here compared to the other places we have been. Quite a lot of Shetland ponies out in the paddocks and beside the road, very friendly little fellows. In the north is an ancient volcanic landscape and the cliffs along the Eshaness coastline were very impressive. Allthego and Homealone are starting to get a little weary on the road as the afternoons drag on into the late twilight and so we headed back to Tammie Norrie to put our feet up and enjoy some home cooked food. Evidence of the ancient past here in the Shetlands appears to be able to be found in numerous places, like on the Orkneys. But we have preferred to pass by this and just enjoy the countryside.
Orkneys
One of the things we have learned whilst we have been journeying around the north of Scotland is that you can’t rely on the weather forecasts that pop up on the mobile phone. For starters they show that rain is forecast for most days. And it does rain or drizzle on most days that it is forecast. But there are also periods of sunshine amongst the Scottish mist. And, so it was on Orkney. Rain was forecast on each of the 4 days we were there, but we got some reasonable periods of sunshine on 3 of them. So we made the best of it and got around to see most of the touristy sights on the main Island.
We caught the early ferry across from Thurso in very unpleasant drizzly conditions. The seas were quite smooth and it took a little over an hour to reach Stromness. Along the way we passed by the Old Man of Hoy, the great big stack just off the island of the same name. Lots of sea mist around and drizzle as we went past. This is the easy way to see the Old Man, the other is to do a lengthy 9 km return walk along the Hoy headland and sea cliffs, so it would have been a lengthy effort for the Old Man of Mt Ommaney.
Old Man of Hoy
Stromness township
In Stromness we stayed in Asgard a rather elaborate B & B just outside town. The house was full of nick knacks of all descriptions, one had to be careful of not knocking things over. Phones and Ipads banned from the meal room, but very comfortable establishment. Asgard is actually the home of the Norse gods, so there was a link to Orkneys’ Norse heritage. In fact there is a lot on Orkney dealing with its Norse heritage as well as Picts, Neolithic and earlier stone age peoples. As well as heaps of ruined croft houses and sheep. There are sites everywhere to visit and one could spend days wandering around looking at them. Allthego and Homealone have had a big dose of these places on the journey so far. So we held back and looked at the main ones. The 5000 year old stone age village at Skara Brae beside the side was ‘discovered’ when there was a big storm that washed away some sandhills. The rooms were still intact with stone age ‘furniture’ in place. Amazing place to walk around. Then there were the standing stones at the Ring of Brodgar, a big circular site set up on a hill overlooking a loch and the countryside, and later a visit to the Tomb of the Eagles down at the southern end of the Island. The Tomb is a an ancient burial site discovered on a sheep farm. Getting in is a bit tight. One has to pull oneself along on a sled through a low and narrow tunnel into the tomb. Allthego enjoyed the experience, Homealone stayed outside and took pictures of the process, as well as a couple of videos (for private screening only). A number of skulls and other bones were found buried here. Eagles bones were also found among them. The human bones bore lots of ‘scratch’ marks and was evidence that the humans had been cleaned of their flesh by eagles before burial. As was the practice at the time it seems.
One of the ‘rooms’ at Skara Brae.
Ring of Brodgar (part of!)
Eagles Tomb entry method
The landscape is also impressive. Rolling green hills and rocky sea shores. We did not see the white sand beaches at their summery best and Allthego couldn’t get his swim in! A bit too nippy. Sea birds everywhere. The highlight was a walk to the lighthouse on the Brought of Birsay, a small island linked to the main island by a causeway that is covered at high tide. We walked across and up the hill to the lighthouse, bit of wind to hinder views over the cliff edge at the top. Plenty of fulmers around but no puffins, which is why we went. They were almost guaranteed to be there. So we walked back down, bit of a trudge. At the bottom we had a chat with a couple of locals Allthego had met at the top. They had seen puffins, a bit further on from where we had stopped. So back up we went and there were two of the little fellows perched on a ledge. Homealone a bit on edge looking over the edge, but they were seen. First time! Cross that one off the bucket list!
Puffin sighting
Going down south also involved crossing over ‘Churchills Barriers’. These are a series of causeways linking islands creating a barrier that was designed to prevent access to Scarpa Flow by German U-boats during WWII. Scarpa Flow was the harbour that Britain’s Navy used as a base. It was also the base during WWI when the surrendered German naval fleet scuttled itself in the harbour. Nearby is an elaborate chapel built by Italian prisoners of war during WWII, the prisoners participated in building the Barriers.
Churchill’s Barriers
Italian Chapel
Interior of the Italian Chapel
Orkney is also famous for its whisky. Highland Park is the most northern whisky distillery in the UK. We dropped in and had a look around the visitors centre, didn’t do a tour. Have done the distillery tour thing before and the process has not changed much, we are told, over the last few hundred years. Gin here is all the rage at the moment, particularly the botantical varieties. Straight gin ‘flavoured’ with various plant and fruit essences, also seaweed extract. Mixed with tonic or lemonade. We went into the Orkney Gin distillery centre in Kirwell and enjoyed a fruity gin mix before dinner on the night we left for the Shetlands.
The distillery
Highland Park barrel rolling (photo of photo).
Back in Stromness it was dinner at a local pub where Allthego tried a Ham Hough whilst listening to a local musician in the lounge, somewhat incomprehensible at times. The Hough being a change from Fish n chips and steak and ale pies. In Australia we would call it a Ham Hock. Simply enormous plate of very tender slow cooked ham on the knuckle bone. Just managed to get through it all, left the bone and fat strips behind.
The Ham Hough
St Magnus Cathedral
The ‘blackening’.
We moved out of Asgard at the appointed hour of 10.30am on our last day.The ferry to the Shetlands does not leave until 11 pm however, as it as an overnight journey north. So we spent the day wandering the Kirkwell township before boarding. St Magnus Cathedral a 12th century church complex was quite an interesting place. It had been a catholic church until the reformation when it was stripped of the gold and all the finery. Now a fairly austere interior, with early 20th century stain glass windows. St Magnus’s bones were found in a box in one of the pillars in the early 20th century. The bones are still in the pillar, but we found the box on display in a local museum. Interesting, display the box but not the relics, very protestant to say the least! Out in the streets a young lady was being carted around on the back of truck on the equivalent of a hen’s party crawl. Known locally as a ‘blackening’ the ceremony involved her being coated in mud and treacle and put on display in the back of the truck. The fellow revellers were also ‘blackened’. Much honking of the horn and singing. Male driver and assistant.
We finally boarded the ferry around 10pm and settled into our cabin for the journey north to the Shetlands. This has been a lengthy epistle, apologies to my readers, but it has been an effort to catch up on a few days of non blogging!
Armadale and John O’Groats
We are now in Thurso, after staying at Armadale for a couple of nights exploring the area in the inland to the south. Much of this country is a vast peat bog, apparently the largest area of bog in the world. It is up to 10 metres deep in some places, layers and layers of water logged partly decomposed plant material. The remnants of an old staging house gaze out across the bog. It is very damp and spongy here. There is an old road beside the house that was built in the 1800s and to give it a firm base layers of heather and bracken were put on top of the peat. You are warned not to wander out onto the bog as in parts grasses ‘float’ on the surface and it is a bit like ‘quick sand’. For followers of climate change matters the bog is in effect a vast carbon trap, the scientists suggest that if all the carbon was to ‘escape’ it would be a big problem. In the past we have ‘drained’ parts of the bog to farm it and grow pine plantations on it. This releases the carbon, so efforts are now being made to reverse the draining and stop further pine plantations. What might also happen is that with global warming the sea will invade and a few million years later we will have a big new coal basin to mine when the land re-emerges from the sea!
Moine House overlooking the Bog
Our room at the Armadale House
Armadale House
Our lodgings at Armadale were in an old ‘mansion’ built in 1854, it is being slowly renovated as a B & B. The house originally had 13 fire places but was not connected to a water supply. Peat for the fires and water had to be brought in for the residents by servants. The owner believes the house was built as an outpost for the English land lords in order to keep watch over the Scottish ‘peasants’. After the Jacobite wars Highland society was devastated by new laws imposed by the English to stifle the clan system and install English landlords. Little villages all through the Highlands where the people survived in a subsistence type environment were ‘cleared’ and replaced by broad scale sheep grazing. There was an insatiable demand for wool from the industrial revolution in England. ‘Cleared’ is a euphemism for forced removal, often with short notice and the burning of the village.
Hairy highland cattle
Some red deer on the moor
Cut peat out drying, still used for fire places and cooking stoves.
The people were moved to the coastal areas and set up on small uneconomic croft farms. As the coastal population grew there then followed a second period of clearances with more or less forced emigration to the USA, Canada and Australia. And that is how the Australian colonies got their Scots. We went on a short drive along the Strathnaver trail around the areas were the clearances took place. Remnants of the old houses can still be seen in various parts, but much overgrown by pastures and ‘scrub’. Enough history I can hear Homalone saying!
The old church at Bettyhill, now a museum. Eviction notices during the clearances were read from the pulpit.
Old church along the Strathnaver trail, dates from the time of the clearances.
Farr stone, from the 9th century (?), a pictish stone behind the old church.
After leaving Armadale we headed to Thurso for the night before leaving the next day on the ferry for the Orkneys. We spent some time out at John O’Groats, the most northerly point on the UK mainland. A big tourist trap here, souvenir shops every where. Homealone couldn’t resist a tea towel of a map of the UK showing the route from Land’s End in the south to John O’Groats in the north. No Archie mug! Years back, on a previous trip we had dropped in on Land’s End. So the tea towel is a bit nostalgic, but can be used in the kitchen and not hung on the wall back home. Also came here to see if we could find a puffin on the cliff tops. Some spectacular sea stacks and fulmers everywhere, no puffins. We will have to look elsewhere.
At John O’Groats
Sea stacks off John O’Groats headland.
Fulmer on cliff edge
The ferry to the Orkneys left early the next morning and we had breakfast arranged on board so it was an early night in the old 1905 hotel in Thurso. Another sleeping experience in an aging Scottish icon!
Allthegobro 