An amble through Victoria’s Goldfields region

Day 2 Thursday 9/10/2025 Riddells Creek to Redesdale, sunny, strong winds, 20.

We’re certainly not going far this morning, so we make a nice slow start. While Mrs. Doubtfire puts on a load of washing, I wander around the many buildings of the camp.

Back on the road, we’re driving around this small village with its cottage gardens and bluestone bridge when the traffic comes to an abrupt halt to let a family of geese cross the road. In Gisborne we pick up the Calder Highway this time to Kyneton to buy bread. Parked beside the grand town hall I notice a ceramic memorial to the pain and losses caused by the 2009 bushfires. Spotting another bluestone building, I sprint (yeah, yeah) up the street to take a photo and to find that it’s the local courthouse built in 1857 and is still in use. Back in 1857 bushranger Ned Kelly appeared here to be charged with ‘highway robbery’. The court is in session now, but I doubt that today’s list will make the history books.

Off again, this time to Redesdale (pronounced Reeds Dale we’re told). The pub offers camping in a side paddock, but it is a little soggy at present. There is camping available in the reserve opposite the pub, in front of the hall and there are toilets. We park our vans, have lunch in the sun, and wonder why this town of only two roads is so busy. Large trucks are constantly passing by and it seems that most cars zoom, seriously, zoom into this park to use the toilet. So many in fact that we start timing them to guess if the visit is for ones or twos.

Mrs. Doubtfire can’t remember seeing the town’s famous stone and metal bridge, so we take a stroll. It’s a perfect spring afternoon, the green grass is high, trees are in bloom and it’s warm. There isn’t much to see but it is pleasant. There’s the bluestone pub of course and it’s old stables, a derelict corner building, a cheery café with tables out front, a church and a primary school. Sadly, there is no path down to the bridge, and the road is dangerously narrow. We return to camp, admire the murals on the water tank, and go back to toilet counting.

At 5:00pm we wander across to the hotel to be greeted by Beth the publican, a one-legged customer, and the mascot dog. As patrons come and go, we are warmly welcomed, learn how to pronounce the town’s name, that the road is a haulage shortcut route between Melbourne and Echuca thus avoiding the city of Bendigo, and that the public toilet is busy because this is the halfway point. Phew!

There’s a fire burning in the dining room, the meal is better than excellent, beef cheek pie, slices of medium rare lamb rump, vegetable risotto, and a true parmigiana with home-made chips and a tasty salad that doesn’t have brown bits on the stems.

This, dear readers is a top Aussie pub.

Accom: $0, Fuel: $48.42, Towing Kms: 69Kms