Category Archives: Days Out

Weekend Wandering

2 Comments

We were away from home for less than 23 hours on the weekend. Although we did have a specific purpose and destination it was almost as much about the journey.

When we go to Melbourne we drive or catch the train from Castlemaine depending on the reason and our destination. Catching the train means that we have to drive about 15km from home and leave the car in the station car park for the day. We have also arranged a lift from friends when our trip involved getting to the airport for overseas travel.

This time we made a conscious decision to make use of the very intermittent bus service from our small town to Castlemaine. We left home after lunch on Saturday and walked about 15 minutes to the bus stop.

After the short bus ride we arrived at Castlemaine Railway Station in plenty of time to connect with the next train to Melbourne.

The train terminates at Southern Cross Station.

Our next step was a short walk across the road to catch a tram. This is one of the older style trams. The ones that run the 96 route are the newer, double-length, flat floor models.

The No 96 tram passes Southern Cross Station on its route from St Kilda to East Brunswick. We were going to the terminus at East Brunswick. It was then a short 200m walk to our overnight accommodation at an Air BnB. The tram terminus was also directly outside the Lomond Hotel which was the reason for our adventure.

We went to the Lomond Hotel on Saturday evening for dinner and to see a band, ‘Streams of Whiskey’.

It was a fabulous evening and we definitely made correct decision to find accommodation nearby as the music began at 9pm and concluded about 11.30pm.

After a comfortable night at our accommodation we were off and ready to leave just before 9am and simply retraced our steps and public transport options before arriving home at midday on Sunday.

Back at Southern Cross and the train is ready to board.

The bus dropped us off around the corner from home.

I know public transport is not an option for everyone or for all situations but if you have the time and are prepared to do a bit of pre-planning it can work in many instances. Thanks to reduced regional fares/concession/weekend fares the total transport cost for our return adventure was $22.80. Moreover, we did not have to drive or find parking.

New Shoes

Leave a comment

Yesterday we headed off to Melbourne bright and early. Our assignment was very specific. We were helping our daughter move some packed boxes out of her unit in order for some renovations to commence.

On way way home we decided to stop at Kyneton for lunch. I know from previous experience that the Salvos op shop there often has some top quality items so we decided to take a quick look. I did not have anything specific in mind as I recently decided that I probably had more than enough clothes unless I happened to stumble upon something that was absolutely amazing.

I always cast my eyes over any shoes on offer but tend to be fairly discerning in this regard. I was in luck yesterday. I found this pair of dark burgundy Mary Jane style shoes. They have leather uppers and lining, fit perfectly and are brand new. The original price tags were still attached. $190 reduced to $130 were now in the op shop for $25. They will be a perfect winter shoe to wear with trousers or dresses.

Rhubarb Is Ready

Leave a comment

I have been away from the blog this past week as other things have taken precedence. We have enjoyed visits from two groups of guests. I has been a delight to show them around our town and the surrounds.

Here are a couple of photos taken from the summit of Mt Tarrengower which overlooks the town.

An almost full moon as we looked east towards the town.

Sunset in the opposite direction.

Our house guests of the past few days departed this morning so I need to get back to some food prep and meal planning. The first step was to cut a generous handful of rhubarb from one of the clumps which are happily growing near the back fence. We usually have some stewed fruit on our cereal each morning so I chopped and stewed the stalks and have containers of stewed rhubarb ready to go in the freezer.

Riding the Rails

Leave a comment

On Saturday we had a day out that was very close to home. The town where we live is one end of the Victorian Goldfields Railway, the longest broad gauge heritage railway in Victoria. Although we have lived here for nearly 2 years this was our first trip on the steam train. It was a glorious day and we thoroughly enjoyed the trip.

It was a special occasion to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the opening of the heritage railway between Castlemaine and Maldon.

Two different first class carriage interiors.

Ready for the return trip.

Rounding the bend and almost home.

It is good to be able to mix responsibilities at home with community volunteering and days out as well as our more extended holiday adventures.

A Successful Experiment

Leave a comment

I have been occupied with some non-blogworthy business so not a lot to share at the moment.

However, the dehydrator has been working overtime as I dried a couple of lots of sliced nashi pears. This has been a raging success and I will definitely be some more over the next few days. The pile of fruit spread on the dining table is gradually reducing.

This is what they look like.

More importantly they taste absolutely delicious.

We went out to lunch with friends today and had our main meal so didn’t need too much for dinner. I did not take a photo but we had a small platter of crackers, dip, camembert cheese and the dried pears which was very tasty indeed.

Two More Tops

1 Comment

A few days ago we went to Castlemaine to meet some friends for lunch. We had a couple of other things to do and still had a bit of time to kill so I popped into one of my favourite op shops.

I came away with 2 tops. The first one is a favourite shade of green so was difficult to resist. I have no idea of any details about it as there are no labels. No brand, size, composition or washing instructions but it fitted beautifully and I love it.

The second is a simple fitted grey tshirt from Country Road. I like the idea of a plain top as it will go with some of the patterned bottoms that I have. It will also be useful as an extra layer in cooler weather. Something that does double-duty is a perfect addition to the wardrobe.

Loaded Up

Leave a comment

I certainly had to be organised this morning as we headed off bright and early to Melbourne. We usually catch the train if we have things to do in Melbourne but today we had several errands which really necessitated a car so we combined them into what turned into a mega-trip. I even plotted our route to the various locations to make sure that we made the trip in the most efficient way possible.

Ready to go.

One of the bags on the left was some things I needed to drop off at our daughter’s place. The other contained bags of fabric scraps which I can drop off at a specific point for textile upcycling. Our packed lunches and water bottle were in the esky which is always handy in case we happen to but any groceries that need to be refrigerated. Finally, the plastic tub contained an assortment of buckets and large jars as I was going to stock up on bulk dry goods at Graina. They offer a discount of 20% on Tuesdays if you bring your own containers. It is definitely worthwhile doing a bit of planning and preparation.

After dropping off the bag to my daughter and doing the grocery shopping we then headed to IKEA. Our goal was to buy the components to build the shelves and hanging space in our walk-in wardrobe. This was only partially successful as the shelves are currently out of stock so it will be another 4-6 weeks before we can get them. However, it is good to have all of the rest of the components ready to go.

We then ditched the car in favour of public transport and caught a tram into the CBD to drop off the fabric. I also had a bag from my daughter as well as the 2 bags of my own scraps. Our last stop was Cheaper Buy Miles at Footscray where shopping can be a bit like a lucky dip. Today I picked up some rice cakes, dark chocolate, bacon and cream.

By the time we arrived home it was 8.5 hours since we had left (1.5 hour drive each way). I was tired but pleased at what we had achieved in a single trip.

The foodstuffs unpacked on the bench in the pantry and ready to put away. We are well-stocked with dry goods for a few months.

Yesterday we were in Bendigo with a similarly mixed list of errands, including medical appointment, chemist, Aldi, greengrocer, Bunnings and Specsavers. I am now looking forward to several days at home with a couple of local meetings and appointments.

A Mixed Bag

1 Comment

They say that variety is the spice of life. Well, today has included a bit of everything.

I have done a bit of ironing, some sewing (paid alterations) and tackled what I mentally refer to as Operation Photos. I dream that one day I shall have all of my photos digitised, sorted, labelled and categorised. I know that it is not going to happen overnight but I now know how I can break it down into bite-sized pieces and feel that I am slowly, inexorably making progress.

These are slides of my siblings and me that were taken by my father over a period of 2 decades. The sorting began when our mother was still alive and my sister and I are continuing the process of making sure that they are properly recorded in a manner so that we can all enjoy the amazing memories which are preserved in the slides.

I am the eldest child and as far as I am aware this is the first photograph that Dad took of me. According to his notation on the edge of the slide, I was 8 days old.

Finally, we went out to dinner this evening at an historic hotel in Castlemaine which dates back to the mid 1800s.

I chose field mushrooms with salsa, guacamole, cauliflower rice and fresh green salad.

This is definitely a meal that I would consider replicating at home.

Forest Bathing

Leave a comment

Welcome to 2025 and a gentle introduction to the new year.

We are currently on holidays in Queensland for a few weeks and spending time with family and friends.

Today we went for a drive to take in some sights and included a short walk at Mapleton Falls National Park. It was a delight to spend some time enveloped by nothing more than silence and the beautiful surroundings.

I hope you are having a pleasant start to 2025.

An Interstate Trip

1 Comment

We live in Victoria and today we took a trip to New South Wales. The Murray River forms the majority of the border between these states and the southern bank is the actual border so once you are on the river you are technically in New South Wales.

Castlemaine is about 20 minutes drive from home and the railway station there is on the main line from Melbourne to Echuca. When we catch the train it is generally to Melbourne but today we headed about 130km north to Echuca.

About 18 months ago regional travel was made significantly cheaper so with our seniors fares we can travel all day for a mere $5.30. However, this week is Seniors Week and there is free travel anywhere in the state for seniors. We noticed that we we not the only ones taking a day trip to Echuca.

It is about 1.5km walk from the station to the old river port historical precinct. It was a gloriously sunny day and we stopped along the way to admire some of the old buildings and beautiful gardens. Many buildings have plaques which provide great information about the history and previous uses of the buildings.

lunch in one of the many cafes we headed down to the wharf for a cruise of a paddlesteamer. The river seems so benign but we know that this is not always the case. In fact, almost exactly 2 years Echuca endured on of the worst floods on record with the river peaking about 7 metres higher than the level it is at today.

One several paddlesteamers which offer short cruises from the Echuca wharf.

The PS Pevensey at the wharf. This was the one we went on.

The PS Pevensey was rebranded as the Philadelphia for a starring role in the 1983 television miniseries, ‘All The Rivers Run’ and this room included various pieces of memorabilia from the series which was one of my favourites.

Finally, another traveller kindly offered to take our photo on the boat.

No day out is complete without an ice-cream so we indulged on our way back to the train.

During our walking around the town, I spotted an op shop at the Anglican church and they had a terrific selection of cotton fabrics in large and small pieces. I was quite restrained but did pick up these for $5.

Before we knew it we were back at the station where the train was waiting for us.