An amble through Victoria’s Goldfields region.

Day 9 Thursday 16/10/2025 Maldon, warm breezy 10 – 30

It’s a delightful warm morning. After an al fresco breakfast, I take the Bridesmaid, Silicon and Woody the Elder on a heritage tour. Toothless reckons there’s nothing to see but ruins, ha, that sounds like our caravan park.

First stop out on the Bendigo Road is a dredge and dragline that scoured the creek for gold from the 1950’s until the 70’s. The crane and dredge are both awesome structures of rusted metal that must have created an unholy din when they were operating.

Pulling back onto the road we follow a wide load, a prefab building. Ever curious we follow it into a place called Porcupine Village which hopefully next year will open as an historical village. If they get through the red tape that is.

Next stop is the Maldon Railway Station. It now operates as a tourist railway between Maldon and Castlemaine. We’re instantly transported back to childhood as we wander about this charming old station. These days country towns are lucky to have a station and certainly not one with a roaring fire in a cosy timbered waiting room.

On the other side of town is the site of the North British mine, barely a dip in the quartz littered ground now. Ok Toothless, there aren’t even ruins left here.

Silicon reckons we should visit ANZAC Hill, though he can’t remember where it is. A problem we can all understand. After a couple of false attempts, we find a rugged track leading up the hill. At the top we find a plaque telling us that of the World War One remembrance avenue of trees only one remains. But the ground is covered in wildflowers, bright yellow Cape Weed daisies, delicate peach-coloured flowers that my phone calls Cape Tulips, and the tall purple flowers that I’ve always known as ‘chocolate flowers’ because of their delicious fragrance.

Back at camp the day is warming, it’s summer at last. We girls visit the Fountain St Church art gallery for a bit of culture. The lino cuts are captivating, the statues of women with oversized thighs give us a giggle, and the watercolours though beautiful, are not to our taste. We are practical chicks.

The Bridesmaid is having a birthday next week and we try our best to shepherd Crafty M away to buy a cake. Try as we may it is a difficult task to divert the Bridesmaid’s attention, until she spots that well-built cop again.

Happy hour is on the grass under the shade of the trees, it’s hot but we can sense the rain coming. We return to the Maldon Pub for pizza night before finishing off the evening under Silicon’s awning with birthday cake, bubbles and memories that stretch back as far as the 1960’s.

Lightning flashes, thunder rolls and rain sprinkles.

Accom: $40.00