We have had a few interesting days here
at Shepparton. Recently we have been going out on an early bird watch
walk with a group called river connect . These are organised by
greater Shepparton council with the aim to get the locals and
tourists interested in different activities within the area.
There was a local music show at
Girgarre just 35 minutes from Shepparton. This was put on by the
local music club of Girgarre to introduce people to music and
playing in bands. It was a wonderful evening of free entertainment
with many different bands and singers (not all country music) a good
selection . We got back to camp at 1.15am
Banjo playing Bear
We went to Reedy swamp last Saturday to
see how many different birds we could count. There was a total of 31
species found and one fox.
The swamp had been drained so that the
plant life could grow and re-generate . The ground was covered with
dead carp that had perished with the draining of the swamp . These
are a pest to the water ways and it was a natural way of culling the
carp. The local men's shed have made many bird boxes and these have
been placed all over the swamp to encourage the birds to nest. John
managed to take one photo then the battery went flat. (we made sure
it was charged when we got back to the van, also the spare one.) as
we do not want this to happen again.
The following Tuesday night there was a
bush walk at 8.30pm also to see if we could spot the small flying
bats and yes we succeeded in this and also a flying squirrel glider.
The area that we walked around used to be the local dump. After 25
years of letting it settle they are now making a botanical garden of
it, to try and encourage the local birds and wild life to return and
nest. Some of the gardens are planted out with plants that the
Aboriginals used for food and medicine .
small flying bat
 |
| Flying Squirrel Glider |
In-between all this we are still going
for walks around the lake and town . A great way to keep fit and met
the locals.
23rd January 2013
We decided that as there was still no
work at SPC cannery it was time to go away for a few days and have a
look around. Mansfield here we come. A caravan rally is being held
there over Australia day weekend and after a quick phone call to the
president of the Gippsland Gypsies club we were invited to go along.
We pulled into a car park beside the
Broken river in Benalla to have lunch and John thought he would check
the tyres. Thank goodness he did. We found a front tyre on the
caravan was not healthy looking as it was starting to deteriorate.
Off to find a new one at Good Year Autocare in Benalla. They came to the party with a suggested tyre then rang around to seeing if they could get us a better deal. Great service and a great price, we ended up buying from them.
We camped a night at Casey Weir alongside the Broken river near Benalla. A lovely spot for some time out with the fishing rod for a couple of hours. Caught one but sad to say it jumped off the line near the bank, that's fishing.
 |
| Spoonbill's and water hens |
Marg resting at the entrance to Benalla
We decided to go through to Benalla and
have a look around and check out Ned Kelly story.
As we all know Ned Kelly became a
Australian legend through many of his adventures. Here is just a
little of it. This information came from the Pioneer Museum at
Benalla .For those that enjoy a bit of history. Hope you enjoy it.
In 1866 The widowed Ellen Kelly
brought her family from Beveridge and settle in the Benalla district
at Eleven Mile Creek. Ned was her eldest and he was 12 years old.
1869 Ned then aged 14, was charged in
Benalla with robbery with violence for striking a Chinaman and taking
his money (10/-) He was freed after 10days for want of evidence.
1870 March Bushranger Harry Power held
up a Mr McBain at Kilfeera station 10 miles from Benalla, He
accomplice was Ned Kelly.
1870 August Ned was sentenced to 6
months in Beechworth Goal for knocking down a Mr Jeremiah McCormack
in an argument over a horse (during which McCormack had challenge Ned
to a fight. ) Ned was recorded at this time as 5'10” tall and
weighting 11 stone 4lbs (73kgs), and having dark hair , hazel eyes
and nine scars on his head and hands.
1871 March . Three weeks after release
from Beechworth, Ned was tried at Wangaratta Court for stealing a
horse and sentenced to 3 years in Pentridge goal. This incident has a
profound effect on Ned who claimed he had borrowed the horse and did
not know it was stolen.
1873 September. Ned was released with 6 month remission, Ned worked in the Mansfield district for three years with no trouble, He was regarded as a good worker, and was reputed to have kept company with a daughter of a Barjarg farmer.
1877 September Ned was arrested for drunkenness. The next morning on the way to Court, Ned knocked down Constable Fitzpatrick, Ned escaped into the boot-maker’s shop in Arundel Street, where he fought four constables before being persuaded to go quietly. The magistrate conceded that Ned had been provoked and fined him 1/- for being drunk, 2 pounds for assaulting a policeman , 2 pounds for resisting arrest, and 5/- for repairs of one policeman’s uniform.
1878 April Constable Fitzpatrick called at the Kelly home to arrest Ned's brother Dan on suspected horse stealing – a charge later dropped through lack of evidence. A scuffle developed and Fitzpatrick was injured in the wrist, He late alleged that a gunshot was the cause and that Ned was responsible, As a result of this incident Mrs Kelly was goaled for 3 years as an accomplice, and two of her neighbours were sentenced to 6 years on the same charge Ned and Dan went into hiding at Bullock Creek in the Wombat ranges to mine for gold and raise money for there mother's defence, and were joined by Steve Hart and Joe Byrne.
1878 October 26th At
Stringybark Creek near Mansfield, after refusing Ned's call to
surrender, 3 of a party of 4 policeman searching for the Kelly gang
were shot dead in a gunfight. Those killed were Sergeant Kennedy and
Constables Lonigan and Scanlon. Constable McIntyre escaped, A
memorial to the three policeman stands in the Mansfield main street.
The site of the gunfight is marked by a large gum tree, known as the
Kelly Tree, just off the Benalla – Tolmie Road.
1878 December 9th The Kelly
gang captured Younghusbands Station homestead at Faithfull Creek
near Euroa, holding all hands and all visitors , and used this as a
staging point for the Euroa Bank raid.
1878 December 10th. The
Kelly gang robbed the National bank of Euroa of over 2,000 pound.
1879 February 8th . The
Kelly gang held up the town of Jerilderie, NSW, locking up the police
in there own goal, and holding all residents and visitors as
prisoners in the hotel, while robbing the Bank of NSW of more then
2,000. As the NSW Police had been openly stating that they would have
no trouble capturing the Kelly Gang if they were in NSW, this
incident was greet with much satisfaction by the Victorian Police
Force.
1880 June 26th Joe Byrne, accompanied by Dan Kelly shot dead Aaron Sherritt near Beechworth for informing.
1880 June 27th The Kelly
gang held up the township of Glenrowan. During the siege of the town
over 50 armed police exchanged fire with the gang who were in Jones'
Hotel with over 60 prisoners Railway tracks were torn up by the
Gang to derail the train taking a police party to Beechworth. This
party included black-trackers who were greatly feared by the Kelly’s,
Jones' Hotel was burned to the ground, Dan Kelly and Steve Hart were
found dead and later buried in Great cemetery. Joe Byrne was shot
dead and his body buried in the Benalla cemetery.
A special railway carriage full of
newspaper reported came from Melbourne, More than 500 people from
surrounding towns watched the end of the drama from the Railways
Station, many of them standing on the roof for a better view.
Ned Kelly was captured. Despite his
armour he had 5 serious bullet wounds and 25 minor wounds on this
hands, arms and legs, He was taken to Beechworth for trail on July
31st but was remanded to Melbourne due to the
impossibility of obtaining any impartial jury.
1880 October 28th Ned Kelly
was tried and convicted, and on November 11th 1880 was hang in
Melbourne Goal and buried in the grounds.
-----------
On Friday 17/1/13 Ned Kelly's skeleton
minus his skull (which had been stolen previously) was buried next to
his mothers grave in the small town called Greta which is not far
from Glenrowan.
It was a large funeral with over 200
relatives attending and it was reported that his bones were cast in
concrete so they could not be stolen.
.JPG)
Finally resting in peace with his family
.JPG)
Finally resting in peace with his family
24th January 2013,
We arrived a day earlier to the
Caravan rally in Mansfield which worked out well, as the sectary and
president had arrived the same day . This gave John time to get all
the questions he had written down answered and some more.
The Gippsland club are wonderful
friendly people and made us most welcome. After a day of meeting and
swapping information and a few beers . What a way to make new
friends. We spent Australia day 26th January having a
look around Jamieson town, which has many building dating back to
the 1860s . Also visited the local Jamieson Brewery and brought some
Jamieson Mountain Ale to taste. Very nice.
Early morning cuppa at rally
 |
| Lake Eildon |
Coffee time Australian Day 26 th January 2013, Jamieson Reserve
Back at camp in the afternoon we were
introduced to a game called Klop. This game originally came from
Finland. Woodsman from Carelia , near the Finnish-Russian boarder ,
would carve the blocks from the birch forest and fling them around
erratically, breaking the enduring silence. The sharp sound these
wooden blocks made as they hit each other, klop caused enough ruckus
to keep the hungry bears at bay. It is a lot of fun and not that easy
to play. We are getting a set .
Marg's turn to play Klop
\
In the afternoon we got a phone call
from a friend John Richardson asking us if we would like to pick
plums for a few days. Yes was the answer so back to the camp in
Shepparton we came on Sunday. We visited Bonnie Doone, Euroa, on our
way back to Shepparton.
Monday 28th January,
It was a early rise to 4.45am to start
picking plums at day break before it got too hot. John and I picked 3
bins from 6.00am to 4.00pm . The last ¼ of bin sure did take ages to
fill. It was very hot then. But we did it. $63.00 a bin ( weight each
bin is 450 kilos) full of plums. We sure were tired and our backs
were somewhat tender.
Red Blood plums (Satsuma)
Tuesday 29th January,
John went and picked plums today and
did 2 bins from 6am to 1.00pm. Marg stayed back hopefully to get a
phone call from SPC Cannery . After ringing them at 12.30pm and being
told no. Then at 1.30 got a phone call to say I would start at 2.30
tomorrow and be working in the Lab as a technician. Something very
new for me. I gather it is checking the tins etc to make sure there
are no bruises and marks to the fruit. It will be interesting.
Marg has been working at the Spc cannery now for two weeks and is enjoying it very much. Very different from what she has ever done before. Learning a lot about fruit grading in the canning side of it. I am being trained in the two fruits (pears & Peaches)section so that I can look after that area for the season. Then the fruit cocktails section that includes (peaches, pears, pineapple, grapes and cherries). It sure keeps me busy, from weighing the fruit to grading it and then putting the information into the computer. This has to been done every hour, for each processing line that is working. Hopeful the season will last until the end of March.
Marg has been working at the Spc cannery now for two weeks and is enjoying it very much. Very different from what she has ever done before. Learning a lot about fruit grading in the canning side of it. I am being trained in the two fruits (pears & Peaches)section so that I can look after that area for the season. Then the fruit cocktails section that includes (peaches, pears, pineapple, grapes and cherries). It sure keeps me busy, from weighing the fruit to grading it and then putting the information into the computer. This has to been done every hour, for each processing line that is working. Hopeful the season will last until the end of March.
