EUROA

24^th November, 2014

It was a bit drizzly at Stony Point as we packed up this morning and headed north.  We skillfully skirted around the main Melbourne CBD and breathed a sigh of relief when we finally joined up with the Hume Freeway and left the Melbourne traffic behind.  Over the past ten days we had experienced all kinds of traffic situations, ranging from a traffic jam (that lasted over five hours for some motorists) to crazy tailgating maniacs.  Now we only had to contend with cars and semi-trailers all hell bent on travelling at warp speed.  Our destination was only 140 klms up the freeway and we were only too pleased to see the turnoff to Euroa come into sight.

Turnoff to Euroa from the Hume Freeway

Euroa is a small country town that had its beginnings as a wool growing community back in 1838.  During the gold rush Euroa was a regular coach stop on the way to the goldfields and Cobb and Co travelers on the way to Sydney were revived by the permanent water supply of the Seven Creeks.  The area around Euroa is now more well known as a home for horse studs and several famous race horses have been bred here – the latest being Black Caviar.

We check into the one and only caravan park and the manager finds us a lovely spot on the banks of the Seven Creeks.

Our campsite in Euroa

It doesn’t take long for some of the resident wild ducks to pay us a visit and over the next couple of days there is an endless parade of ‘quackers’ either paddling or waddling by. 

The ducks make themselves at home beside our caravan

We have an ulterior motive for stopping at Euroa and that is to meet up with Wok’s sister Gwen and her husband Roger.  They have arranged to buy a new Crusader D-Lite caravan from the factory outlet in Melbourne and tomorrow will stop here in a cabin overnight, drive into Melbourne with Wok the next morning to pick up their van and then return to Euroa in the afternoon to camp overnight and then head off towards home on Thursday.  It’s going to be a busy few days for them but after having the same caravan for the past 25 years it will also be an exciting time.  They arrive just after lunch on Tuesday and after the obligatory ‘cuppa’ and a quick chat we decide to take a walk along the creek and into town for a look see.  The caravan park managers have recommended the hotel on the other side of the creek for dinner and it looks pretty good as we pass by.

Seven  Creeks Hotel at Euroa

We continue on the path beside the creek and come across three recent statues of  Victoria Cross recipients who came from the Euroa district.  Unfortunately none of these men returned home to Australia – they were all killed during the First World War.

Statues of the three VC recipients at Euroa

One block over and we find ourselves in the main street with a rather ornately built Post Office facing us on the opposite corner.

Post Office in Euroa

Further down Main Street is Blairgowrie – built in 1890 for a Mr. H London (a chemist) who used it as a residence and dispensary.  The owners’ name, initials and date of erection are worked into the decorative pattern around the top of the arches.  It took us ages to find the intricately carved name and numbers – well Roger spotted them actually.  It was quite a brain teaser for a while.

Gwen outside Blairgowrie House

The next building down the street was obviously old but there was no plaque to tell us if it had any historical significance.  It did have plenty of character though .. !

Wok and Roger admire the awning and wonder how long it's been this way!

The last building at the end of the street was the third National Bank to be built in Euroa.  It was built in 1885 and is one of the best examples of banks designed in the Queen Anne style in Victoria .

The National Bank built in 1885 is now privately owned.

The bank is located on the opposite corner to where the Colonial Bank stood.  In 1878 this bank was robbed by bushranger Ned Kelly and his gang.  For our overseas friends Ned Kelly was an Australian outlaw similar to Jesse James in the wild west of the USA.  We are in Kelly Country now and will probably run across ‘Ned’ quite a lot.

By the time we got back to the caravan it was time to get ready and walk over to the hotel for our dinner.  We had a great meal and were way too full to even think about dessert.

Roger and Gwen (with friend) in lobby of the Seven Creeks Hotel

In the morning Roger, Gwen and Wok headed off to Melbourne to pick up the new van and arrived back at the park at 3pm.

Roger and Gwen's new Crusader D-Lite and Mitsubishi Pajero

The van looked great and Roger and Gwen were D-Lited … sorry about that pun but it had to be done.  The next few hours were spent opening and closing cupboards and transferring stuff from Roger’s vehicle into the caravan.

Gear unloaded from the Pajero ready to go into the caravan

The inside of the van soon had luggage and boxes strewn from one end to the other but by the time dinner time rolled around everything was packed away.

Gwen having a break - trying to decide what to put where ... !

A tasty celebratory meal was consumed at the local Chinese restaurant followed by Gwen taking a tumble backwards out of Mitzi as she tried to get in.  Fortunately no bones were broken and she only received a few bumps and bruises.  Just goes to show that one can never trust what goes into a lemon squash these days!  In the morning we waved Roger and Gwen ‘Bon Voyage’ as they headed off with their Crusader D-Lite in tow.  We also packed up and headed out.  We’re heading in the general direction of north … no idea where to yet … but why worry about that!