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Ned Kelly Country and other stuff

Instead of driving straight home, Jenna and I decided to do a scenic trip home taking in Ned Kelly Country and other stuff. The great thing about camping cabin style is that it is easy to pack up, no tents to fold and pegs to count....just throw everything in the bag, and the bag into the car and you're on your way :)

First stop across the Murray River into New South Wales and the town of Corowa, which is notable for it's Art Deco

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buildings and that it was an important conference town in the 1890s for discussions regarding Australian Federation. We took a stroll down the street and took lots of photos and I have to say it's a really pretty town.

Across the River and back into Victoria is Wahgunyah a very small town with less than 900 people living in it which was established in 1856 and

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until the railways it was a thriving port town, as the paddlesteamers travelled from Echuca to Wahgunyah with their goods. We took a stroll down the main street (which didn't take long at all)-it took us longer to read the history of the town on the notice boards near the river then to walk it :) .

From Wahguhyah we drove to Rutherglen, which is the town in the center of a great winegrowing area with lots of vineyards around, which makes it a popular destination for wine tasting tours and the home of Parker Pies which is an award winning pie shop with really good pies(where we stopped for lunch).

It's a great little town, with some really quaint stores

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and a great bookshop that I would like to go back to and spend a LOT of money in, as there are some great old books in there (not that I need any more :) )

I had to be torn away from the bookstore and we made our way to Chiltern which is another small town, which used to be on the main road between Melbourne and Sydney but is now bypassed by the Hume Highway. It has antique shops and

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shops and some really quirky ones too....that look like they haven't changed from the 1940s, unfortunately the price tags weren't the same as the 40s though. :(

Next stop Beechworth, which is famous for honey (really great honey....came away from the honey shop with three different flavours and could probably have bought at least three more) gold and the Beechworth prison which was briefly home to Ned Kelly and his gang.

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It is a town full of history and well preserved buildings including the Asylum (which was closed in 1995 but is still open for nightly ghost tours- not sure I would want to set foot in it at night) and the facade of the Ovens District Hospital which was demolished in 1940. I think I need to come back here and explore it more fully.

Final stop on our scenic tour was Glenrowan, made famous by Ned Kelly's last stand and capture in 1880. It also has a great cafe that introduced me to pie floaters many years ago and today offered me a great Devonshire tea and a huge gift store so if you are after anything Ned Kelly (souvenir wise) you'll probably find it here.

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Glenrowan behind us it was time to head home, and like every journey I make, I wonder what the next will be, where I will go and what will I see, and what new memories I will take away with me.

I loved our road trip home, taking me to towns that still had the feeling of a bygone era attached to them, and I think I would like to see more of them. Instead of taking a whistle-stop tour, next time I will take time to smell the roses :)

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