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.

Somewhat Sociable

Leave a comment

I know that my posts for the past 5 weeks have mostly about getting things organised in our new home but recently we have managed our share of being out and about, too. So much so, that 5 days have managed to slip by since my last post.

A couple of weeks ago we joined the Theatre Royal in Castlemaine. Apparently this makes us ‘loyal royal’ supporters and as such we are eligible for discounted movie tickets. We took advantage of this on Tuesday evening when we went to see Allelujah starring Jennifer Saunders and Judi Dench. There are a good mix of new releases and arthouse films and we are looking forward to seeing more.

When we were given our membership tickets we also received a teatowel each. Whilst it might seem strange, I actually appreciated the fact that it was a practical freebie that was not just plastic junk.

It was a bit of a movie week as we also joined the local film society with the rather clever moniker of ‘Maldon Golden Movies’. There is a screening once a month which is a selection of recent and classic films. On Thursday we saw ‘Black Narcissus’, a 1947 film starring Deborah Kerr.

Movies were not the only outings. On Sunday afternoon we went to a small bar which hosts live music from some of the very talented locals. We met some other residents and ended up going to dinner with a group of them afterwards.

We are heading out this evening to the same venue for some more musical adventures.

Next week sees the beginning of a 2 week festival ‘Maldon in Winter‘ which has a wide variety of events with something for everyone. We are busily deciding which events we would like to attend.

For a relatively small town, Maldon has plenty to offer for locals and visitors alike.