We have had a lovely day out today. We got ourselves out the door in time for a train at 9.11 am - after yesterday’s pathetic effort. Our destination was the town of Castlemaine, which is an hour and 45 minute train ride from Melbourne. We had read about the Victoria Goldfields Steam Train that departed from there to the town of Maldon, another 45 minutes away.
The countryside, once you get away from the city, is extremely dry, and we saw areas that had been burnt. I must confess that we both dozed a bit on the journey. We had had a broken night with calls from Allan’s customers and enquiries regarding bach hire, so needed to catch up on a bit of sleep.
The weather today was crystal clear and 23 degrees – our first day with no showers or promises of showers.
So we climb aboard our first class carriage on the steam train – so elegant and refined and lots of fun. We had coffees and cake, but there was also wine, beer and other stuff on offer. It was like a trip back in time and well worth the long journey.
Both towns were very quaint, with buildings dating back to the mid 1800s. The businesses all seemed very retro and I must admit I found it hard to tell what were 2nd hand and what were new goods. Lovely to amble around in the sunshine.
A whole different world to the hustle and bustle of the city and a thoroughly enjoyable outing.
Allan’s off to his conference tomorrow – I have some shopping planned, and maybe a return to St Kilda since we are expecting 30 degrees. Bring it on!
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