Benalla is a rural city in North-East Victoria, Australia. It is the Regional Street Art Capital of Australia and it’s slogan is “see art in everything.” My husband and I visited by accident last week and we were very impressed. Everyone we spoke to clearly loved the town and were very happy to help gude us.
The city is covered with around 80 street art murals. They are everywhere and make the place look alive and welcoming. The murals have been painted by recognised national and international artists during multiple Benalla Street Art Festivals.
The city is RV friendly and has a great free camp within walking distance to the city. We parked there early and then went to and fro with the shopping we bought in town. On the Saturday morning we awoke to find the local markets were on, in the carpark next to our camp.
This ceramic tiled mural is on the lake and an amazing structure with many different aspect to it. Unfortunately it is currently under repair so we were unable to fully explore its nooks and crannies.
To start this years A-Z Challenge I thought I would take you to the top of the world. Or at least that’s what it felt like to me when I visited the Artic Circle last year. I was so excited. I live in Newcastle, Australia which has a latitude of 32.9283 degrees South. The Artic Circle is 66.33 degrees North. To me that is hugely different.
We went in late September and to my surprise there was no snow or ice on the ground. I’m sure however it wasn’t far away. We flew from Fairbanks, Alaska and landed in Coldfoot above the Artic Circle for lunch.
It is a small community 34 people at the 2020 census. With lunch I enjoyed having a beer in the Farthest North Truck Stop in America.
We then boarded a bus to the Artic Circle sign. It felt so special and almost unbelievable.
If we were having coffee I would tell you we are currently on baby watch waiting for the arrival of our second grandchild. It is weird having no control over my life. All plans I currently make, need to come with a caveat – “if I’m not needed for grammie duty.” So exciting!
If we were having coffee I would tell you that Ruby (our slide on camper) has finally come home from the repairman. Sadly she is no longer all red due to her having some modifications. Her changes have made her longer and unfortunately this meant new sides which have needed to be white. She still has her red front and back however. We are so happy to have her back and be traveling again.
If we were having coffee I would tell you that I am on five months long service leave. At present I am one month in and wonder how I had time to go to work. My current plan is to go back in August but not necessarily for long. Time will tell.
If we were having coffee I would tell you that I am doing the A-Z Challenge again. This year my theme will involve all of my recent travels not as I usually do my Australian travels. I am pleased to have my blogging mojo back.
If we were having coffee I would tell you that on New Years Day this year instead of resolutions I began creating a list of 25 things to do in 2025. Until I began writing this post I had 17 items on my list however now I have finished it. On my 3 month review I was excited to see that I had made a good start. People say the Year of the Snake is a Year of Change, so I hope to not recognise myself by this time next year as I achieve all my plans. Just to keep it on track I plan on tracking my progress.
If we were having coffee I would tell you that my hip continues to improve. I no longer have restless night’s sleep and rarely do I have any more pain. It will be interesting if this changes in August when I return to work. If it suddenly gets worse then, I will know that the universe is telling me to RETIRE. Oh dear, how sad.
This years A-Z Challenge seems like the best reason to get back to blogging. For anyone who isn’t aware during April a large group of bloggers get together and challenge each other to write a blog post for every letter of the alphabet. Each blogger choses a theme that connects their blog posts.
I have been busy traveling this year so I am going to expand my theme from Australian travel to include all places and things that I have experienced during my recent travels.
While my list is not yet complete complete it could involve travel by road, air or sea. The main areas will be a mixture of Australia, Canada and Alaska although I have also had some journeys in the South Pacific so they may make an appearance.
I hope that you enjoy my travels and I look forward to also taking a virtual journey to the blogs of other bloggers participating in this years challenge.
If we were having coffee I would tell you I can’t believe how quickly this year is going. Since we last had coffee back in May I have been busy planning our Canadian/Alaskan holiday which we have just returned from. It was amazing. We worked out our own itinerary using the internet and were not disappointed.
On a previous Canadian trip 10 years ago, my husband and I visited the east coast. This trip we visited the west coast. So between both we have visited all 10 Canadian provinces and a small corner of the Yukon. We have also explored a large part of Alaska which was breathtaking. Not bad for a pair of Aussies eh.
If we were having coffee I would tell you that unfortunately the initial diagnosis for my hip was incorrect and I have needed regular physio to build up the muscles supporting it. I also have had a great benefit from orthotics to support my feet. Fortunately the effort I put in before we went away paid off and I had little trouble walking the 360 kilometers we covered in 6 weeks. On returning home however it is letting me know that it isn’t very happy at times.
If we were having coffee I would tell you that Ruby, our slide on camper has finally gone back to her maker to get repaired from the major water damage she has suffered. We are looking forward to getting her back and being able to take sneaky weekend getaways again.
If we were having coffee I would tell you I have enjoyed doing a number of puzzles this year. There was one however that I found quite challenging. It was in the shape of Mickey Mouse and made up of individual pictures of Mickey. No two pieces were the same. It took me a few months to sort him him out but in the end I was pleased with the end result.
Kimba is a small country town that is the half way point from Sydney to Perth. For our overseas visitors that is exactly the middle of Australia. It is also only a few hours from Adelaide, another Australian capital city. The towns folk in Kimba are very entrepreneurial. To help bring people to the town they have created Australia’s best free RV camp. As voted by those using it. They have also built a medical centre complete with housing to encourage a doctor to the town. They even advertised on Sunrise. A popular national morning TV show in Australia.
When we were travelling through we didn’t get to spend much time in the town but the camp was amazing. We look forward to staying a few days next time we are travelling to the west coast of Australia. The Big Galah and other sculptures at the Kimba roadhouse were fun.
Today I have gone slightly off script as I have looked for a straight J word for over month and came up with nothing. Therefore I have used the blogging trick of having a J in his name.
Edward John Eyres and his aboriginal companion Wylie was the first European to explore the interior of South Australia. They explored the area around the Flinders Rangers s well as The Great Australian Bight and Nullarbor Plain.
This sculpture to celebrate them is very striking and overlooks the lands that they once explored. They can be found at Whites Knob Lookout outside of Kimba.
The Eyre Peninsula and Lake Eyre in South Australia are also named in his honour.
This area is very arid, lacks water and has extremes in temperatures so it would have been hard work to explore.
If we were having coffee I would tell you that this month is Inspiring Max’s 10th blogiversary. I can’t believe its been so long. I created my first blog post on Mother’s Day 2014. It was a celebration of mothers and what we are teaching our children. Interestingly, the current style of my blog posts isn’t that different to my first.
I can clearly remember the months before I started and the scary preparation needed to get her off the ground. Sending that first post into the blogosphere was such an achievement for me. Initially, I had no followers but slowly and surely I found my people. Over the years I have had approximately 40,000 views, nearly 22,000 visitors from just under 700 posts. Thank you for being part of my journey. I am grateful to you all.
If we were having coffee I would tell you in April we had a family getaway to celebrate a few significant birthdays. To make it a bit special we decided to make it an 80s party on the Saturday night. We all dressed 80’s style, ate 80’s foods and played 80’s music. It was so much fun. We were pleased that most family members could come for at least part of the weekend. We hired out a house in the country and despite the rain we had a great time.
I had a great time in the lead up creating 80’s themed props to add some sparkle to our party. I was pleased with how everything turned out.
If we were having coffee I would tell you that last Tuesday I as fortunate to go to Government House in Sydney for my step mother’s OAM investiture. This is a very special award given as part of the Australia Day Honours to Australians who have demonstrated outstanding service or exceptional achievement. It was a very special, well earned day. Her award was presented by Her Excellency the Honurable Margaret Beazley AC KC, Governor of New South Wales.
If we were having coffee I would tell you that unfortunately I didn’t finish my A-Z challenge in April. I am not sure how I lost my focus but as I had already written most of my posts I will work hard to finish them realistically by the end of June. It was fun and everyone seemed to enjoy hearing about our unique travels in Australia.
If we were having coffee I would tell you I am in my final weeks of planning our trip to British Columbia, Alaska and the Pacific Northwest. We will be exploring these areas from late August and our trip will include an Alaskan cruise. If you know any hidden gems in these areas, please let me know so I can include them in our plan. Being only 13 weeks away it is getting exciting.
One of our favourite things to do when we travel is op shopping. Small country towns in Australia always have opportunity (other known as charity) shops. Street libraries where you pick up and drop off free book are also always fun. Whenever we travel we take a stash of books that we no longer need to exchange and share the love.
This is some of the haul we picked up when we had a quick five day get away recently. Books are our main prize, followed by puzzles, music/DVD’s and other random oddments. I think that my favourite purchase on this trip was a 1980’s version of Trivial Pursuit. In a few weeks time my family is going away to celebrate family birthdays and we are having a 1980’s themed celebration. I didn’t know that it existed but I am now looking forward to giving it a go.
One of the first tours we took on our trip to South Australia was of the HMAS Whyalla. The Whyalla was the first ship built at Wyalla’s shipyards in 1941. It was one of 66 ships built in Whyalla and one of 4 Bathurst corvettes built for the second World War. Whyalla, South Australia has a steel works which made ship building easy. After the war the HMAS Whyalla was sold to Victorian Public Works and became the Rip and spent 38 years working as a lights maintenance ship. In 1984, she was sold to Whyalla City Council to become the centre piece of the Visitors Information Centre and Maritme Museum.
Photo credit: Google Images
Nobody would have thought that 46 years after her birth on the Whyalla slipway, the HMAS Whyalla would go back up the same slipway as she began her journey to her new home. Moving the Whyalla however didn’t go according to plan and became an engineering feat initself. It took major planning, problem solving and machinery to finally complete the task. The teams were given many sleepless nights and in the end according to the following documentary it took 220 tonnes of trailers, 328 wheels assisted by 2 prime movers to take her the 2 kilometres from the slipway to her final resting place 2 metres above the ground.
https://youtu.be/L4CAlQU_PV0
The HMAS Whyalla has now been restored back to her former glory as a WW2 corvette. Our tour guide was amazing and she was filled with interesting facts about the ship. I was fascinated to see what life on board would have been like for the young sailors. It was definitely a unique experience and worth staying the weekend in Whyalla to see. The Maritime Museum is on site as well and was also very interesting covering all of the areas varied maritime history.
I loved that they have used the ships chain and anchors in the garden area.
