Benalla, Shepparton and on to Bendigo

 

Friday 26^th March. 2021.

Time to move on again, this time we’re headed for Bendigo and travel via Benalla and Shepparton. Between Glenrowan and Benalla, we pass a massive solar panel farm, the biggest we’ve seen except for the one somewhere on the Nullabor. Benalla is a nice town, bigger and busier than Gosford, but that’s not saying much these days, Gosford has been slowly dying for years.

Classy toilet block

Street art is catching on all over, and Benalla is no exception. We noticed an artwork at the end of an alley, and then realised there was art along the alley. The art that attracted us was on the public toilet block, far nicer to look at than the usual brick building. Feeling peckish but not wanting to eat too much close to lunchtime, we share a sausage roll while wandering around.

Not a real lot to see on the road to ‘Shep’, as the locals call it, except farmland. And lots and lots of orchards!! This is the home of SPC Ardmona after all. The road is pretty good and we drive through a few small towns. Shep is a large, sprawling town, or is it a city these days? We couldn’t find a place along the road to eat the lunch that we had packed (finally getting organised), so we ended up in town at Monash Park, site of the Japanese Gardens and Shepparton Moooving Art, 20 fibreglass cows, painted in many different personas. Strawberries and Cream, the Ladybug, Nemo, Iron Man, a pirate, a fish cow, the list goes on! 

 

Learnt the hard way that it’s paid parking in the CBD.

We advised our Airbnb host that we’d arrive in Bendigo around 4pm. Pretty happy that we pulled up at 4.05pm. Our accommodation is very comfy, and much larger than the cabin at Wangaratta. It’s a one bedroom, full bathroom, kitchen and living room apartment, carved off the back of the main house, with private access from the street. There are many period style houses in town and I think this could be one, but it’s not visible from the street. It’s only the features inside that indicate that it’s an older house.

We get unpacked and set about getting tickets for the Mary Quant exhibition that’s on in Bendigo at the moment. It’s on loan from the V&A in London and Bendigo is the only Australian venue, so we’re feeling pleased that we discovered it was on while we’re here. California Gully is the name of the area we’re staying, brings visions of the gold rush days to mind. Down the road is Eaglehawk, and there’s a small shopping centre there. Aldi and IGA, a couple of bottle shops, and lots of food options. We opt for Chinese and there’s lots of it and it’s good. Not points for guessing what’s on the menu for dinner tomorrow as well!