Above
are some pictures taken during an enjoyable stay at historic Chiltern and of
nearby Beechworth, which are within a comfortable 3 hour drive north of
Melbourne.
Chiltern is a
small sleepy little historical town between Wangaratta and Albury/Wodonga. The
town boasts the childhood home of author Henry Handel Richardson, situated
opposite the ornamental Lake Anderson, pictured above. This picturesque body of
water provides a home to a diversity of birdlife including three pelicans and
is an ideal spot for a picnic or to just to wander around.
The first settlers were graziers but no sooner was the town community
established with the erection of civic buildings in 1852, it became swamped by
the gold prospectors as rich seams were discovered in 1858.
The
population quickly swelled to 20,000 at its height, but mostly by way of
occupation of makeshift flimsy dwellings, so there is little evidence to day of
this once bustling center. Now the population has 1600 ratepayers but is
increasing as young families in search of affordable housing settle in the area
which is only a half hours drive to larger centers.
The town has been the location for Walt Disney’s ‘Ride the Wild Pony”,
Crawford Productions’ ‘My Brother Tom’ and Revco Production’s ‘The True Story
of Spit McPhee’. It is an obvious choice for the filming of period dramas as
there is an abundance of historical buildings in the town and any number of
walks through the Chiltern-Mt Pilot National Park as well as mine sites and a
pioneer cemetery.
We made our base, ‘The Chiltern Colonial Motor Inn’, conveniently
located near the historical station and a short walk to the town and lake. It
was the only accommodation with a pool so I could keep up with a daily exercise
routine, to appease a crook back, as I managed to brave the nippy water on
three occasions much to the surprise of the staff and some of the guests.
However, on the third morning when I began to lose the feeling in my legs after
a short time in the pool I made a hasty exit!
We joined our friends who were mostly engaged in walking along tracks
during the day for a communal dinner prepared in one of their cabins. It was a
splendid three course meal of vegetable soup, steak and kidney pie with
cauliflower and white sauce followed by jellied fruit and ice cream. Grace was
read out in Latvian, to add a cultural event of interest to the convivial
atmosphere.
A highlight of our visit was an afternoon tea with a long time resident
of Chiltern, whose ancestors were the original gold mining
settlers and farmers. The old timber house, from where he gave his
interesting talk, was crammed with antiques and memorabilia reflective of a
grander yesteryear. It was the first timber hewn house in the town. He
explained the mammoth scale of gold mining options then from ancestral records
which noted an amount of over a million pounds expended in one year to update
maintenance equipment for just one mine.
But as the ore gave out by the early 20th
century it soon resembled a ghost town as only those could not afford to leave
stayed, to eke out a living from the land and from the few businesses that
remained.
Before dining out that evening we also all attended Mass at Saint
Joseph’s Catholic Church. We were welcomed as the walking group who could even
sing. Our numbers, plus the very small congregation led by the priest were in
fine voice as we sang the hymns a-cappella, possible on our part as five of us
were part of our church choir. The Telegraph Hotel, the hub of the community on
that Anzac Day night, when we arrived, was full to over flowing with children
playing pool while their parents propped up the bar, as other locals and
holiday makers drifted into the dining room later
