Hello everyone!
I hope that you are all well and out there getting your Wednesday walk on for @tattoodjays awesome #WednesdayWalk community!
I had an unexpected day off work today, so took the opportunity to go for an adventure with my bestie Sabrina as she had a photography job to do out at a lovely little place called Steels Creek.
On the way, I took these photos of the varying terrain that lay like a patchwork quilt, spread over the landscape as far as the eye can see, so you can see what Australia looks a bit like away from my usual skyscrapers in Melbourne.
This is the route that we took and although it looks like quite a distance on the map, suprisingly it only took about 30-40minutes to drive out there, which felt quite unreal, going from the centre of the city to the countryside like this in such a short time!
And thank you Google maps for allowing me to show everyone around the world the tiny part of Australia that we drove across today https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Southbank,+Victoria+3006/Brunswick+East+VIC/Steels+Creek+VIC/Warrandyte+VIC/Brunswick+East+VIC/@-37.7111358,145.0289278,47174m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m32!4m31!1m5!1m1!1s0x6ad65d450a8be10f:0x5045675218cfec0!2m2!1d144.957!2d-37.829!1m5!1m1!1s0x6ad64494291c9ac5:0x5045675218cd600!2m2!1d144.9802463!2d-37.7673388!1m5!1m1!1s0x6ad7d16a1672430b:0x5045675218cfa60!2m2!1d145.374!2d-37.594!1m5!1m1!1s0x6ad63739ba0e76ab:0x5045675218cd3e0!2m2!1d145.223!2d-37.738!1m5!1m1!1s0x6ad64494291c9ac5:0x5045675218cd600!2m2!1d144.9802463!2d-37.7673388!3e0
As you can see, I got some fantastic shots to the distant mountains (and the clouds, because #ILovetheClouds community too...and if you don't know what that is, then check out my post for the 131st edition of the love the clouds community contest by @tobetada as I take you guys on a 625km bus and train trip collecting clouds of all kinds on the way...🤣... @chocolatescorpi/collecting-clouds-to-set-them-free-to-roam-around-the-world-on-hive-love-the-clouds-contest-131 and you can even check out this great community here too created.../hive-131609)
Anyhoooo....LOVE the clouds AND the landscape over here!
And then just had to stop to check out this historic shop called Kangaroo ground (sorry no roo's today though I did see a rabbit running for it's life through a paddock.....)
And was pleasantly suprised to see these old black and white photos of Kangaroo Ground proudly adorning the walls of the fence, and just like the age, were aging a bit themselves.
So what was it about Kangaroo Ground that made it so historically significant?
Well I'm not sure, so lets find out.
So according to this website http://www.kgpc.pcvic.org.au/history-2.html
The first Europeans to own land in Kangaroo Ground were James and Isabella Donaldson, arriving in Port Phillip (Melbourne) on 17 December 1841 from Scotland[1],[2]. They purchased 1 square mile (258.6 hectares) southwest of the present Church and their first house was a bark hut. As they were of mature age they employed tenant farmers to cultivate the land. These farmers were all Scottish emigrants, many of whom purchased land surrounding the Donaldson’s in subsequent land sales.
So according to this website based on the Andrew Ross Museum https://www.andrewrossmuseum.org.au/ he was the first school teacher, lay preacher, inaugural postmaster, opened it's first hotel, launched a successful newspaper and established a very highly regarded school.
History of Kangaroo Ground Presbyterian Church
Like other settlers, as soon as they had made a home for themselves and their families, they desired church services as in their homeland. The Rev. James Forbes, the first minister of Scots Church, Melbourne, had written in 1840 to the Colonial Committee of the Church of Scotland asking for suitable ministers to be sent out. http://www.kgpc.pcvic.org.au/history-2.html
And now we continue onto Warrandyte to have lunch and play with our cameras by the riverside.
But first, I can't go past this sign without mentioning Kinglake, the homes, families and so many lives that were lost there during The Black Saturday bushfires in 2009, which killed 173 people, 120 in the Kinglake area alone. Another 414 people were injured. More than 450,000 hectares had burned and 3500 buildings including more than 2000 houses destroyed. The RSPCA estimated that up to one million wild and domesticated animals died in the disaster.
And tomorrow- 13th of January would not only be my beautiful Mum's 81st birthday is she was still here with us (RIP my love..💔..), but also the 83rd anniversary of the Black Friday bushfires in 1939, where the temperature reached 44.7 degrees Celsius in Melbourne, and 47.2 degrees Celsius in Mildura with very low humidity levels. Narbethong, Noojee, Woods Point, Nayook West and Hill End were completely destroyed by the fires on this day.
The fires claimed 36 lives in Victoria on Black Friday; the total number of deaths across January was 71. Approximately 1300 buildings were lost – more than 700 homes, 69 sawmills, many businesses, farms and other buildings. https://knowledge.aidr.org.au/resources/bushfire-black-friday-victoria-1939/
And I'm sure that you can see how dry and hot it is here even know even though we're still not in the middle of summer yet...
Anyway, away from the fires of yesteryear and hopefully none in the near future...we arrive in Warrandyte to see this bright yellow sports car and have a walk through the not so tiny village of 8000 to buy a refreshing salad roll for lunch.
So according to this website https://whsoc.org.au/gold-mining/
In 1839, the first white settler, James Anderson, established his cattle station in an area just west of the present Warrandyte towsnship. He erected a hut and stockyard near where the creek (Anderson’s Creek) joined the Yarra. In 1841, James Dawson established a second station to the east of the township, about 1 mile (1.6km) Gold Cairnfrom the bridge. By the mid 1840’s, Anderson had sold his holding to a Major Newman, a former officer of the Indian army.
After two earlier unsucessful attempts, Louis Michel, in company with William Habberlin, succeeded in discovering gold at the end of June 1851, on the banks of Anderson’s Creek in the then newly created Colony of Victoria.
Michel led some government officials and prospectors to his newly found gold field on August 6th, and his find was named the Victoria Field, in honour of the new colony. Within a few days, almost 200 miners were working along the banks of Anderson’s Creek, but the tremendously rich gold fields of Ballarat, Bendigo, etc. lured many miners away from Anderson’s Creek, and by December, 1851, the area was almost deserted.
When in 1854, Michel was rewarded with £1,000 by the Victorian Government for finding Victoria’s first gold field, interest in the area was revived. By 1855, two stores, an Inn, and an accomodation tent helped supply the needs of the 200-odd miners now working in the area again.
Most of these miners were working alluvial gold in the creeks, and the Yarra river, and though quartz with gold in it was being found, there was no efficient method of crushing the rock to obtain the gold. Again, towards the end of the 1850’s and into the early 1860’s, Anderson’s Creeks became largely deserted as a result of the opening of the Caledonian diggings at Queenstown (St. Andrews). The school and the police station closed, and only a few miners remained.
And according to this website, https://whsoc.org.au Warrandyte was the site of the first registered goldfield in Victoria in 1851. It became established as a thriving small township as miners were joined by orchardists and farmers.
Around the beginning of the 20th century Warrandyte became a haven for artists, architects and sculptors, with an artistic circle forming around well known artist Clara Southern who took up residence in the town. The area attracted day trippers and holiday makers with its tranquil river scenery and bushland surrounds.
Later decades saw the development of a pottery tradition which became known throughout Australia. It’s reputation for striking river scenery was enhanced with the formation of the Warrandyte State Park in 1975.
Our village streetscape and surviving historic buildings are protected under a Townscape Heritage Overlay. Warrandyte has retained much of its rural beauty, quiet ambience, community spirit and sense of independence despite being slowly encircled by commuter suburbs.
And then we headed down to the riverside to sit in the shade and have a picnic lunch.
(without falling on our heads, being bitten by snakes, seeing a dog walking a person, watching a dog have a poo or falling in and getting swept downstream...🤣😂😅..)
And then I played with my camera to get these shots of the river
Thanks for a great day out Sabrina but next time, I'm going out there by myself With my swag and going to camp the night so I can wander around, walk the numerous tracks through the bush and shoot as many shots as I can without having to rush back into Melbourne so fast!
Unless you bring your hound with you...😃..)
And I'll be taking my swimmers to have a dip and maybe even jump in a canoe......
So I hope that you enjoyed our spontaneous adventure roadtrip, walking and picnicing along these interesting and pretty places today and it made you smile as much as it does #makemesmile @elizacheng, who loves a great and fun adventure too!
Thank you so much for reading my post , I really hope that you enjoyed it and look forward to your comments and thoughts.
🐠🐃🐌🕷🐍🐓🦆🐸🐁🐿🦋🐢🐞🦍🐈🦆🐥🐜🦑🐛🐄🦇🐪🦏🐳🐊🦀🦌🐖🐢🐏🐋🐝
And unless otherwise stated- ALL photographs, all media, material and writings, are all my originals taken by me sometime in the past few decades or so somewhere in my travels and as such, ofcourse they are subject to all international IP and copyright laws and I may have already used them for my own commercial purposes here https://www.redbubble.com/people/CHOCOLATESCORPI/shop And here https://fineartamerica.com/art/chocolatescorpi, So please ask first if you want to use any of them as we wouldn't want you getting into trouble. Thank you 😊
🐠🐃🐌🕷🐍🐓🦆🐸🐁🐿🦋🐢🐞🦍🐈🦆🐥🐜🦑🐛🐄🦇🐪🦏🐳🐊🦀🦌🐖🐢🐏🐋🐝
The Ladies of Hive- your own crypto world girl gang full of fun and suprises, so click on the link to find out more about this brilliant community of caring, companionship and creative contests, such as this one..@ladiesofhive/ladies-of-hive-community-contest-65
@hiveaustralia, formerly @teamaustralia check us out now!
(cause we're all such damn cool cats...😁 and hot at the moment too!
Please feel free to checkout my other work on
https://chocolatescorpionc.wixsite.com/chocolatescorpi
https://www.redbubble.com/people/CHOCOLATESCORPI/shop
https://fineartamerica.com/art/chocolatescorpi
https://deepdreamgenerator.com/u/chocolatescorpi
https://www.instagram.com/rawscorpi/
https://www.instagram.com/chocolates.scorpion.creations/
https://www.behance.net/chocolates0386/projects