Don't know where we're going, Got no way of knowing, Driving on the road to nowhere…
Cactus Country near Cobram in Northern Victoria looked a little bit cheesy on arrival with cartoon cacti on the walls and sombreros to wear but walk through the entrance and you’re in the largest cacti and succulent garden in the Southern Hemisphere.
The trails are thoughtfully laid out with plants from different regions.
An eerie place with all the river gums submerged in this man made lake.
Smoke from the burn-off across the lake, produced an intense orange sunset.
We only really stopped here because of the name but we had a great time tasting hand crafted beers and a selection of their wines, and having a yarn with this gentleman whose family planted the vineyard a hundred years ago. Their Cabernet Sauvignon was a perfect accompaniment to the slow cooked lamb shanks we had for dinner.
We couldn’t drive to North East Victoria without finding out more about the legendary bushranger Ned Kelly and we visited several historical sites in the Glenrowan area. It seems that Ned went on the run with his brother Dan and friends Joe Byrne and Steve Hart after a violent incident involving a policeman at the Kelly family home. Ned’s dear old ma was sentenced to 3 years hard labour for her part.
A shoot out at Stringy Bark Creek left 3 policemen dead and we visited the graves of Sergeant Michael Kennedy and Constables Thomas Lonigan and Michael Scanlan in Mansfield Cemetery.
The gang were declared outlaws and then carried out several daring bank robberies. Ned hatched a plan to derail a special police train sent from Melbourne, when it reached Glenrowan. The police received advance warning of the attack and surrounded Ned, his gang and several hostages who were inside the Glenrowan Inn. Then came the famous shoot-out on the 28th June 1880 when Ned and the others wore their home made armour.
Joe Byrne was shot dead whilst drinking whisky at the bar. It was thought that Dan and Steve committed suicide. Ned Kelly was captured, sentenced to death and hanged on 11th November 1880 at Melbourne Gaol. He was buried there in an unmarked grave. In 2011, Ned’s skeleton was identified using DNA but his skull was missing. The bones were returned to his descendants and he was buried with his family at Greta Cemetery in 2013.
After almost 140 years, it’s difficult to discover the truth behind the Ned Kelly legend. The Kelly family claimed that the police had it in for them and Ned had been trying to make an honest living. Many people were appalled when Ned’s mother was sentenced to hard labour. Thousands of people signed a petition to stop Ned’s execution.
We found ourselves at the location of another favourite Aussie movie. ‘The Castle’ tells the story of the Kerrigan family and their fight to save their home. It’s at the end of a runway and the government wants the land to expand the airport.
The Kerrigans have a holiday home at Bonnie Doon where they ‘feel the serenity’ despite all the power lines. The movie put the town of Bonnie Doon on the map. If you haven’t seen it, it’s highly recommended and you’ll soon be using such iconic quotes as “tell him he’s dreamin’”, “this is going straight to the pool room” or maybe singing “We’re goin’ to Bonnie Doon, we’re goin’ to Bonnie Doon”.
We headed NE out of Melbourne, along the Goulburn River to some popular trout fishing spots. Jonathan is definitely getting the hang of this trout fishing lark.
Some lovely bush walks but it did get quite nippy at night.
