Day Trip to Moliagul

All aboard the Great Piddlesbury! This will be a longish trip folks, 930km, lucky it's a virtual trip! We'll head straight down the Hume Highway through Albury-Wodonga (twin towns, one on either side of the Murray River, which divides Victoria and NSW) then we'll turn right through Seymour, on to Bendigo and then 63km to Moliagul. Now, I'd never heard of Moliagul, maybe Viv is right, and I'm NOT an Australian .... but there it is, I had never heard of the place. So this is all new to me, I'm off to Google Maps to see if Street View is available in Moliagul - well, I'm back, and yes it is available. I drove down the Moliagul-Dunnolly Road for a little way (see picture above) until I came to the sign that says "Moliagul" "Home of the Welcome Stranger) - you can do the same, by going to Google Maps, type in 'Moliagul Australia" then drag the little yellow man above the zoom bar onto the Moliagul-Dunnolly Road - and you're there! It might take a little while (and make sure you choose 'satellite' view) but it's fun.

Corinne sent me the picture on the right, the gentleman is Dick Deason, a direct descendant of John Deason, the chap who found the Welcome Stranger. The picture on the left is from Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moliagul,_Victoria and shows miners & their wives with the finders of the Welcome Stranger - not sure which is Dick's ancestor.

Just had a look at Hill End too - didn't think Google Maps camera went all the way up there, but it does! It's a virtual world all right! Here's the link but not sure if it will work http://maps.google.com.au/maps?hl=en&tab=wl (I tried to put the exact link in but you have to find it yourself obviously - this link will just take you to Google Maps Australia). You can get a 360 degree view by holding the left button on the mouse down and dragging the mouse in the direction you want to look. (I'm sure lots will know all this, but for those who don't ... :-))

Cornish gal from Texas joins the party

And a big hello to this Texas Rose - Grandma Mimi Meli is on her way in her buckboard, hitched up to jalapeno-boosted mules! Just can't wait to taste that chilis & beans, with lots of onions! What am I saying??? I could live to regret this!

Visit to Hill End, goldmining (ghost) town in NSW

Well here we are in lovely Hill End. I'm afraid it is a rather cold winter's day, so I hope everyone brought plenty of warm clothes. If I remember rightly, Old Jim's All Nations Hotel was just opposite this building on the left - nothing there today but a plaque to say it was there! That goes for a lot of the old buildings - the population today is 100, in Jim's day it was 8,000! His pub was only one of many, and there were shops galore. The Main Street was a muddy quagmire in winter, so mind how you walk! The picture on the right was a few kilometres out of town and was something to do with the way they got the gold out of the ore I think - it was all a Cornish invention, anyway. The huge stone wells pictured are part of the same complex - they are the roasting pits, which they used to soften the quartz before crushing. Someone more knowledgeable than me may post a proper explanation if we're lucky! If you go to http://www.bathurst-nsw.com/HillEnd.html you'll get a very comprehensive background to Hill End, and to focus on the Cornish in Hill End, read this http://members.optusnet.com.au/kevrenor/HillEndTalk.pdf . The Cornish Association of NSW had an excellent weekend there in 2005, and this was the speech given by the keynote speaker of the evening, Brian Hodge. The ride up was a bit bumpy wasn't it, but it was sure better than it was in Old Jim's day!

Missing Sydney Harbour Bridge tower located at Carnegie Hall!

Australian Federal Police today received word from the FBI that the missing tower from the Harbour Bridge has been located at Carnegie Hall, New York. The embarrassed owners of Carnegie Hall admitted to appropriating the tower to add an unusual buttress to one side (see picture). It seems after reading an email on our list, that they were under the impression that the towers were fair game for Americans, and had planned to come and get the remaining three at a later time. The tower will be returned to Sydney before Christmas, providing the US parcel post is not too clogged up with Christmas mail.

A little bit of history ...

Not to inflame the NSW vs Victoria rivalry - but here is the proof that Our Nation started in Victoria! This is the opening of the first parliament, in the Exhibition Building. What has this to do with Cornwall you ask? Only this - Sir John Quick, a Cornish lad from St Ives, rose to great prominence and was very instrumental in achieving federation for Australia - no mean feat, because if you think we're bad now, you should have been there before federation! If you want to know more about Sir John go to http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A110327b.htm .

We have our stand-in Baby Jesus!

Thanks to Keith (who has abdicated, as his country does not allow the acceptance of Royal titles), we now have our very own Crib complete with Baby Jasmine Abel. She appears quite comfortable in the Crib, we hope the straw doesn't tickle her too much!

Fortunately her Grandad is NOT the King Keith recently arrested, although lingering suspicion still exists due to his statements in an earlier email. As we know, Keith is Canadian, and he stated in his email that "The towers were then no longer needed and were left for Americans to take away as souvenirs," we feel that he is totally innocent of the charges laid. We are glad to take up Keith's offer of a sight-seeing trip around Australia and ask for fellow-listers to suggest suitable places (preferably with Cornish connections).

Heinous offence in Sydney - Cornish Lister's guest Ned Kelly blamed!

Listers will recall that King Keith has been incarcerated in Long Bay Gaol, for allegedly pilfering a piece of the famous Sydney Harbour Bridge. In fact, a much more serious crime has been committed - one whole tower has mysteriously disappeared in the night, and has been replaced by - of all things! - a supporting pier from Melbourne's Princes Bridge (a much inferior bridge, it has to be admitted, but Melburnians are outraged by its disappearance). Fortunately our beloved King has the best of alibis - he was under lock and key at the time, and even the arresting office had to admit that King Keith could not have been responsible. The finger of suspicion has now been pointed at Ned Kelly, travelling with Corinne in the Jelbart Tractor, as the most likely culprit. Corinne admits that Ned had 'ideas' about the Crown Casino in Melbourne, and it is considered very likely that while crossing Princes Bridge he attached the pier to the Jelbart Tractor, unbeknown to Corinne.