Driving through country Victoria, I am frequently reminded why I should always have my camera ready and in prime working order! Just outside of Clunes are the most remarkable ruins. Well OK. By older civilization standards, we probably have no right to call them "ruins" as such.
But how old does a building wreck have to be before it's earned the title "ruin" and it being considered to be justifiable?
However, I digress.
Surrounding Clunes in country Victoria (Australia) are what remains of a by-gone era. The ruins are well known leftovers of the Victorian 1859s Gold rush and the mines created then later abandoned.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clunes,_Victoria
I didn't have long to finish a piece of research I'd been working on when I was there; oral history isn't the easiest resource to collect at times! Not quickly at any rate. But I had organized this a long time before so had to act fast while memories were willing to be shared.
Clunes is a remarkable place! The people themselves are one of its most precious attributes. It's not a whole lot larger than it ever has been and tourism is not as great as it could be but they work hard to make the most of what they've got!
One of the local farmers also owns and operates the only motel in town. He rides in on his motor bike to check you in and make sure everything is as it should be. He'd only recently joined Wotif and was having a bit of a hard time getting used to checking his e-mails all the time. A couple and he had been playing "phone tag" trying to catch each other all day but they must have headed off somewhere else. I was asked to keep an eye out for them and direct them to where their key could be found; for which I was offered a free night's accomodation! Very hospitable! 0:)
Just down the road is "The Lee Medlyn Home of Bottles." It's in the old State School No. 136. The locals have done a great job of turning this into a museum detailing local history and well worth visiting as well as being the Information Center for local tourism and all-round "good guys" for helping lost tourists looking for their motel owner! 0:)
Only gas/petrol station in town pumps the Unleaded for you and if they aren't sure where you are supposed to be going, are willing to get out a map and work it out for you. Not really sure how/why somebody living in the town wasn't sure where the road was (the one running alongside the station) but I'm surmizing he had his mind on other things and it wasn't the middle-aged woman driving round looking for directions for a road printed on a twisted road sign so it was facing into the dirt! But he was kind enough to try to help and I did eventually work out which road was which! 0:)
It's a small town and many of the buildings retain many of their original architecture and features. i.e. ancient stamp machine. But make sure you get there in enough time to spend something at the eating establishments: It's one of their solid sources of income.
Why am I speaking about them in particular? Because of their remarkable ideas for bringing further tourism and attention to the area. It was one of the locations for Mel Gibson's "Mad Max" ("Road Warrior") first film as well as "Ned Kelly" among others. I can only imagine the actors hanging around the main street in the hours after filming; depends on whether they like watching sheep or not! Watch out locals: Nothing like bored actors to drive some to tears! *chuckle*
However, the good people of Clunes got their heads together and decided to re-create their town in the style of European Book towns and while I have never appeared there (only too happy to: author/storyteller more than happy to return to Clunes), I'm told the Book Fair is an experience to be desired by everybody involved.
http://www.booktown.clunes.org/
"Like" them on Facebook for up-dates!
Next year's event is promised for May 3 and 4, 2014. Not making any promises but I'm putting it in the diary just in case I'm able to get there this time!
Ellen 0:)
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