Today we travelled from Echuca to Bright, stopping for three hours in Benalla. A special place for Walter. His family settled here after they migrated from the Netherlands in 1953. Walter went to school in Benalla and worked in his first jobs there.
When I met Walter he belonged to a very strong family unit, with brothers, sisters in law, nieces and a nephew, and an aunt and a cousin in Melbourne. The family also had many close Dutch friends who lived in Benalla. A very close network of support. Slowly over the years the older people have died and the younger people have moved away and lost contact. I think there is only one niece that now lives in Benalla.
Walter's one remaining brother, Rudolf and his wife, Conny, live in Point Lonsdale, and their daughter and son and their families live elsewhere in Victoria.
After parking the car, we walked through a new arcade, well new to us, to Bridge Street. A transformation, since I was there in 1998. The trees on Bridge Street have grown tall, new pavement areas jut out onto the road, there are numerous cafes with tables outside, prosperous looking shops and no empty shops. And lots of people shopping, although after a while we realised that most of the people had children in sports uniforms. There was a local basketball competition in the secondary school hall. There was also a Farmer's market in the park beside the river. Still they were all spending money so that was good for the local economy.
Walter standing in front of the extended pavement areas. Once the main street of Benalla was part of the Hume Highway, Melbourne to Sydney, with a steady line of traffic passing through. Now there is a motorway which bypasses Benalla, and I think the town has gone from strength to strength since then. People can now shop in peace without the trucks and cars thundering past.
Millers Store, where time has stood still. Nothing has changed, including the stock I think. There was a strong smell of mothballs in the shop.
Walter commented that the window displays in Millers still lacked any style. It was always a problem apparently.
Tall shady trees. Always an asset on a main street.
Some of the larger stores have found it difficult to keep operating as large stores. Patersons, once a large furniture and carpet store, now reduced to one small shop selling carpets.
Harrisons, a very large country hardware store who supplied the local farmers and tradesmen as well as everyone involved in DIY work at home. They also sold electronic goods and crockery and giftware. A very successful shop, managed by Rudolf for years. Now it is a budget discount shop.
But the original sign is still proudly displayed on the window.
Benalla, named after an indigenous tribe that lived in the area, has a non indigenous history dating back to the goldrush era of the 1850s. It served the people who were enroute to goldfields in Victoria. Slowly a town was established with substantial buildings. In 1883 the railway was built between Melbourne and Sydney, and Benalla became an important railway town. In 1965 Benalla became a city, although only the size of a town really. But somehow it reached the requirements of a city.
A beautiful view of Benalla Lake, formed by daming Broken River.
The first reinforced concrete bridge built in Australia, built in 1910. It provided a crucial link on the Melbourne to Sydney road. Another river with a muddy bottom.
This Ceramic mural took 25 years to complete. It was planned and started in 1983 and opened in 2010. Many people contributed to the mural including artists, school children and volunteers. Apparently the small performance area seats 100 people.
The church where Walter and I were married in 1967.
Walter's home.
We visited Benalla Cemetery to see the Remembrance plaques for Walter's mother and stepfather. A moment for reflection. Donna and Emma share the same birthday as Walter's mother and Paulina is Donna's middle name.
And just to finish off, we made a quick trip into Glenrowan, to see Ned Kelly's statue. And Walter found that someone he worked with in Benalla still ran the museum there. Ned Kelly was an outlaw, who was captured in Glenrowan in a shootout. Various members of his family were buried in Benalla cemetery, but we did not look for their graves. However there was another couple there doing just that. They were from Melbourne.
It was a lovely few hours for us both, with much reminiscing.
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