Comfort Inn A Julie Anna Bendigo

... foyer and hallway that I painted last week, and it does actually look pretty good, if I say so myself.

It was pretty hot this morning, and we felt exhausted when we finally stopped work about 2:00, but a quick shower and cold drink revived us enough to go into Bendigo for the Central Deborah Gold Mine Tour.

After gold was discovered in Bendigo in 1851 ...

... left the gold fields and began stores and services for the miners. That was the beginning of a along and rich Chinese heritage in this area.

Beginning in the late 1800's, the good townsfolk of Bendigo began an annual fund raiser for the local hospital. It struggled along for a couple of years, until 1000 of the Chinese citizens signed up to help raise the funds. Thus began the Bendigo Easter Chinese Parade, which features hundreds ...

Bendigo is well known for its interesting and well-preserved architecture, especially the cast iron ornamentation found on so many of its commercial buildings and private residences.
Today we spent the afternoon exploring Bendigo on foot and delighting in its historical buildings and whimsical Christmas decorations.

The Sacred Heart Cathedral was a typical discovery. The cathedral was beautiful and of sufficient size to rival some ...

... all claustrophobic the tunnels were really tall and wide and i had to put on a hard hat hahahaha

and then i went on tram that went all around the town ... and that was my day! But it was loads of fun .. and then we drove back to Melbourne

c xxx

Up with the birds again today, weather is cool and cloudy with sunbreaks.
Painted the walls for a couple of hours, then Paul and I visited Bendigo Pottery. This pottery uses a white clay found a couple of hours drive from Bendgo. We watched a Potter create a quiche pan and poked around the original ...

... gift to Paddy and Leona is to furnish the paint, supplies and labor to paint their entry foyer and central hallway, an area about 200 sq ft with 9 ft walls and beautiful moulding around the high ceilings. so after breakfast we visited the Bunnings center (think Home Depot with an accent) and after getting over the sticker shock, I purchased brushes, rollers, paint and all the necessary tools for completing the job. (Paint, by the way ...

... other claims to fame like the Castlemaine meats etc bacon and other small goods and Castlemaine is home to the Australian Hotrod Club. We also stopped at Maryborough to see the classic Railway Station that was described by Mark Twain as a Railway Station with a town attached. This railway station would take it's place in any grand city around the world. However in Maryborough it pretty much sits in the middle ...

... ging William voor het eerst weer naar de speelzaal en kon ik mee de stad in. Eindelijk, even wat kleine boodschapjes doen zeg. De dag ervoor hadden we de ramen van de speelzaal gewassen (ze loten om welke ouder welk klusje moet opknappen voordat het nieuwe schooljaar begint) en waren we al even het stadje ingeweest. Brett had ons nog even meegenomen naar de oude goal uit de tijd van de goudkoorts in deze regio, waar maar liefst 4 gevangenen tegelijkertijd in opgesloten konden ...

... brits right now: Amy, Gemma, and Gareth. Good people. I've probably learned just as much about the U.K. as I have about Australia. For example, dinner is called tea. Dinner is too "posh" a word for it, so its "tea." Don't talk about your pants too much either because apparently thats short for underpants (underwear) and you'll get a few laughs. Tuesday I spotted my first pair of wild kangaroos which was exciting. Since then I've seen them everyday. Today I crept ...

... Slim dusty stays inside at night so it doesn't get eaten by the foxes. It gets milk about 4 times a day and it follows us around like a little puppy. Talking about puppy, there are also two little dogs, buddy and molly. I stayed here for one week...... it was hard to leave but I had other commitments in Melbourne. In Melbourne, I attended the local servas meeting which offered me the opportunity to meet some of the areas servas hosts and ...