Feed a ‘roo

September 14, 2023

Monday 11th September – Wednesday 13th September 2023, Day 6-8

After experiencing Sydney, Eden and the Yarra Valley wine region, I was privileged to stay with Bruce’s parents in Romsey, just north of the Melbourne metropolitan area and had a lovely time – it was lovely to have a local guide and to experience (even briefly) life in a setting off the tourism beaten path. Of course this came with the instant attraction of meeting Bruce and Jackie’s dogs so I felt instantly at home.

The country town of Romsey has a lively sense of community (you get out of it what you put in) and Allan is involved with the local Mechanics’ Institute. This organisation dates back to the 19th century and provided education services (and libraries) to working men. To find out more about the Victoria Mechanics’ Institutes, here’s a link to their history site (http://mivic.org.au/history-of-mechanics-institutes.html). The Romsey Mechanics’ Institute has a website here (http://www.romseymechanicsinstitute.com).

Of course all this historical stuff makes one hungry and thirsty so Allan and I stopped off for a schooner of Carlton before heading home for some tea and fruitcake (for me and Diane). Sorry Bruce, you really don’t know what you are missing out on.

Next up was a trip out to the painted silos in Colbinabbin – a bit of a growing trend to make an industrial landscape more interesting. These large grain silos (probably wheat) have been brought to life in a dramatic way. The last photo is of a bat colony that lives in the park in Bendigo where we stopped for a nice refined cup of tea.

Wednesday saw lovely sunny skies and temperatures in the 70s that Texans in September can only dream about. We visited the excellent (highly recommended) wildlife park in Ballarat featuring Aussie favourites, so I got to see wombats in the flesh, koalas, dingoes and of course kangaroos! The park is nicely done and the enclosures are huge, well maintained and the animals look healthy (and not in distress). Highlight of this for me was feeding a kangaroo and having it hold on to my hand with both paws as it was nibbling away.