The road to Bendigo

Travelling around Australia I am always fascinated by how many of the small towns along the way have found a USP to promote their towns and make them memorable. Whether it is an historical event or an icon based on their agriculture or industry these smaller towns often give their towns a unique character. Travelling along the Hume highway from Sydney to Bendigo in Victoria there are many such places and on a recent journey I found a few of these.

Gundegai New South Wales:
This small town has a number of interesting things to see and explore.
Sheridan street is flanked by colonial style buildings some of which house interesting shops like the old cinema which is now an antique shop with a treasure trove of vintage items spread across its vast floor space.
The old railway station on the edge of town has been beautifully restored and a place to linger awhile and imagine days gone by.
The old wooden road and railway bridge which it is claimed is one of the longest surviving wooden bridges in the world at a little under a kilometre in length.
Then there is 'The Dog On a Tucker Box' eight kilometres out of town alongside the highway. A monument has been erected here in honour of a pioneer's faithful friend.

Like most early folklore, the exact origins of the 'Dog on the Tuckerbox' are clouded in mystery but its origins certainly lie in the Australian bush and those early pioneers who travelled south and west from Sydney, stopping in the Gundagai district in the period around 1830. These were hard and hazardous times with supplies and stores having to be transported by bullock wagons along makeshift tracks over rough and difficult terrain. If the bullock driver had to leave his team and seek help, his dog would guard his master's possessions while he was away.

The 'bullockies' would recite ditties and rhymes picked up on their travels and sometimes write a few lines to pass the time while bogged, and/or waiting for the river level to fall at crossings. At such a time, it was by the action of one such dog fouling foodstuffs in the tucker box that the fable arose. There are many different versions all ending in:

. . . for Nobby Jack has broke the yoke,
Poked out the leader's eye
and the dog shat on the tucker box,
Five miles from Gundagai.

One can only speculate whether the tuckerbox was properly closed at the time and what it was made of! Maybe it was wicker or some type of canvas but without doubt, it would not have been waterproof! Such was the humour that sparked the 'Dog on the Tuckerbox' legend.

Old residents of the district recalled these amusing lines of the verse. Mr. Collins, a newsagent and keen businessman, commissioned Tom Kinnane, a reporter on the Gundagai 'Independent' newspaper, to piece together the other missing lines of the original poem.
So the 'original' as Collins called it that was printed at the 'Gundagai Times' in 1880 would have been different to that which was penned fifty years before! This version was written under the nom-de-plume of 'Bowyang Yorke'. It read as follows:

As I was coming down Conroy's Gap,
I heard a maiden cry;
'There goes Bill the Bullocky,
He's bound for Gundagai.
A better poor old beggar
Never earnt an honest crust,
A better poor old beggar
Never drug a whip through dust.
'His team got bogged at the nine mile creek,
Bill lashed and swore and cried;
'If Nobby don't get me out of this,
I'll tattoo his bloody hide.
'But Nobby strained and broke the yoke,
And poked out the leader's eye;
Then the dog sat on the Tucker Box
Nine miles from Gundagai.

Gundegai Railway Station

Longest wooden bridge

Barnawartha Victoria
This small village can easily be by-passed in a flash if you're not looking out for the highway sign but take the turnoff and you're in a small village which has an interesting Gallery and Workshop centre.
The JOYbus is nothing more than a conventional brick building on the roadside but pull into the parking lot behind the old VW Combi van and you enter a fascinating crafty gallery which is brimming with personality and unique items. The wonderful cafe fronts a large workshop space and here we found local ladies creating lovely mosiac pieces with many different art media classes held here regularly. The cafe food is all home-made fare and a variety of locally made preserves are also sold here.

JOYBUS Cafe

 Chiltern Victoria 
Follow the old road southwards from Barnawartha and a little way down you will come across the historical town of Chiltern. A small main street is flanked by dozens of interesting historical buildings with small boutiques, cafes and antique/vintage shops, great for treasure hunters! We found a shop called 'Recycle Me' which has an exciting range of beautifully re-furbished furniture in the theme of white and natural wood. The restoration work is highly professional and original and if we had room in our car we would have been loaded up with several lovely items. The owner John told us that 95% of all materials used in the restoraion work is recycled.

Chiltern

 Bendigo Victoria
In Forbes New South Wales they have the annual 'Elvis' festival but in Bendigo the locals pay tribute to Marilyn Monroe. We arrived the week leading up to the festival and Marilyn was everywhere, a massive statue in the town sqaure and banners festooned on the lamp posts, the festival draws in the crowds with hotels booked annually in advance. Old Marilyn era movies are shown and the town comes alive with fun and nostalgia as fans flock to pay tribute to their favourite hollwood star. There is more to Bendigo than this though, the historical buildings in the city reflect the glorious days of the gold rush. Visits to the old gold mine are a feature here as is the old tram which takes you on a tour of the city.

Marilyn Monroe Statue

Bendigo CBD