Treading the boards

Here I am, treading the boards in the Beechworth Town Hall. This building started life as the Shire Offices in 1858. The hall out the back, where I am posing was built as the Shire Hall in 1859. The hall was sometimes used as a second courthouse; the bushranger Harry Power was tried here in 1864.


This image (taken by Di) makes me think that I am about to recite 'Songs of a Sentimental Bloke' by C.J. Dennis. The songs as related by Bill, a member of the Little Lonsdale Street push, who is searching for his Doreen.


I was very disappointed with Beechworth. My only other visit had been sometime in 1972, which seered into my subconscious the many magnificent old buildings of the town. However, this time I found them sanitised beyond belief. I am not sure what has changed the most: the town or moi.

The Roadtrippers

After five days in Melbourne, St Kilda actually, we humped our bluey up the back-roads to the holiday house of choice in Myrtleford in NE Victoria. Not very far, really, considering our longest drive was just over 400kms. Di designed the trip and was our chief driver. This photograph was taken on my final night. The others were pressing on after Myrtleford, up and over the High Country, through Omeo, Bairnsdale, and Bena, and thence back to Melbourne.

From L to R: Julie, Diane, Tom, Noreen.

Di arrived in Sydney from Canada in 1971 and she and I met the following year. Noreen had been at university in London, Ontario with Di. She and Tom have been in NZ for 37 years now.

Once I have designed and shaped some stories, I will begin to post them on 'Hither & Thither'. We visited towns like Mansfield, Milawa, Bright, Beechworth, Yakandandah, and Chiltern. We went to wineries, cheeseries, bakeries (lots of bakeries!!), a butter factory, and a trout farm. Each day we hunted down our requirements for the evening meal, gathered them up and carted them home, and set about creating a feast for four. Using Diane's Panasonic Lumix 'point and shoot' (my camera having been pourloined, you might recall), I documented our raids into the countryside in my usual detail.