The destination today was Swan Hill, a town on the Murray River, a little over 350km North West of Melbourne. The reason for going here was to see the third of the Adelaide fire engines. This appliance is under the care of the Swan Hill Pioneer Village, which is a department of the Swan Hill Council.
I wanted to get back to Castlemaine today, as well, which is 230km back towards Melbourne, so we quit the city early. We were on the road by 5:45am. The unfortunate part of that was the sun gets up so late at these latitudes that it did not begin to light the sky until 7:30am. We were forced into freeway driving at up to 110km per hour with headlights on low beam.
We arrived at the Pioneer Village and were made most welcome. Unfortunately the Senior Curator, Dr Rob Pilgrim wasn't able to be there and put us in the capable hands of the Technical Curator, Newton Williams. He also arranged for the driver of the Dennis, affectionately called Licky to be there for us.
They both granted our every request about the Dennis. We also shared much information. Newton is the Village's expert in steel tyred tractors as well as the expert in the steam boiler and equipment.
The photos shows Licky at the wheel taking me for a run and L-R Newton, Frank and Licky.
After a lunch supplied by the Village, we bade farewell and were on the road to Castlemaine. This proved to be a very pretty town off the freeway. We found accommodation at the historic Campbell Street Motor Lodge, which was built by Mr Andrew Campbell in 1882 who was a merchant and builder. This building is listed by the National Trust.
Tomorrow we meet with Barry Macdonald with whom I became acquainted through our common interest in Rider Stirling Cycle engines, particularly the 6 inch size.
Before I finish, I must tell you about our dining experience tonight at “The Good Table”. This restaurant, located on the corner Barker Street (main street) and Templeton Street has been trading for just six months. We had a degustation of their six best dishes. It was amazing. If you are down this way, don't miss this, but make sure you make a reservation.
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