travel from town to town/melbourne
Feb 24th, 2011, 04:13 AM
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travel from town to town/melbourne
Hi I was looking at the Melbourne map and wondering is it possible if I travel with train without a car from town to town to visit. ie Echuca to Rochester to Bendigo to castlemaine etc..
Is there back packer places to stay at these places. Or there's not much to see in this small town. Can I still go around without a car.
Just looking for the best and most affordable way to spend my 3weeks in Melbourne. It's quite costly to go on tour all the time. Hear from you guys
Is there back packer places to stay at these places. Or there's not much to see in this small town. Can I still go around without a car.
Just looking for the best and most affordable way to spend my 3weeks in Melbourne. It's quite costly to go on tour all the time. Hear from you guys
Feb 24th, 2011, 07:25 PM
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The Victorian Rail system radiates out from Melbourne. There is very little public transport between towns not on those lines. Vline is the train and bus operator for regional Victoria.
http://www.vline.com.au/home/
From Memory there is not much to see in Rochester. There is heaps to see and do in Echuca and Bendigo. Both are worth a few days. Castlemaine is a gold fields town like Bendigo but much much smaller.
http://www.vline.com.au/home/
From Memory there is not much to see in Rochester. There is heaps to see and do in Echuca and Bendigo. Both are worth a few days. Castlemaine is a gold fields town like Bendigo but much much smaller.
Feb 24th, 2011, 10:26 PM
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You should have Ballarat on your list. Easy to get to by train and lots to see. http://www.ballarat.com/ also Great Ocean Road
http://www.greatoceanrd.org.au/
http://www.greatoceanrd.org.au/
Feb 25th, 2011, 05:05 AM
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Yes I got to know about the other smaller town names from the map taken from Vline.
My concern is, when I get to Ballarat, are the attractions/accomodation within walking distance. Can I still go around w/o a car.
I would like to do farmstay. Is it possible to do it there w/o driving.
Can someone tell me more about Sovereign Hill & blood in the southen cross show about.
thanks
My concern is, when I get to Ballarat, are the attractions/accomodation within walking distance. Can I still go around w/o a car.
I would like to do farmstay. Is it possible to do it there w/o driving.
Can someone tell me more about Sovereign Hill & blood in the southen cross show about.
thanks
Feb 25th, 2011, 05:05 AM
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Yes I got to know about the other smaller town names from the map taken from Vline.
My concern is, when I get to Ballarat, are the attractions/accomodation within walking distance. Can I still go around w/o a car.
I would like to do farmstay. Is it possible to do it there w/o driving.
Can someone tell me more about Sovereign Hill & blood in the southen cross show about.
thanks
My concern is, when I get to Ballarat, are the attractions/accomodation within walking distance. Can I still go around w/o a car.
I would like to do farmstay. Is it possible to do it there w/o driving.
Can someone tell me more about Sovereign Hill & blood in the southen cross show about.
thanks
Feb 25th, 2011, 05:58 PM
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There may be buses that willtake you to Sovereign Hill. There certainly willbe taxis.
Sovereign hill is a replica of Ballarat in the Gold Rush days 1850 -1860. It is made to look like it was. It is not a collection of "old buildings" but made to look like you just stepped back in time 150 years. Everything is a fresh as it would have been then.
In 1854 the alluvial gold was starting to run out and gold was harder to find, but still miners had to pay 30 shillings for a licence for three months. This was a huge sum of money in the day. More than a labourer's wage. The miners protested to the Governor to no avail. Eventually they burned their licences and refused to buy them. they built a stockade and began para military drilling under the command of Peter Lalor. On Sunday December 3rd the Police and army attacked the stockade killing about 30 miners and to the loss of 5 soldiers. The "battle" lasted only 20 minutes. Thirteen miners were tried for treason and all were aquitted.
Peter Lalor lost his arm in the battle. He was elected into parliament and was eventually promoted to Speaker of the House.
Two interesting points. Everything the miners wanted before the battle they got after it as they now had public support. The public being disgusted at what the governmentforces had done.
Peter Lalor was not one of the origin leaders. After going to a few meetings hedecided that enoughwas enough and gave a speech. They followed him and th erest is history.
Blood on the Southern Cross tells the story of what lead up to this uprising and what the consequences were. It is called "Blood on the Southern Cross" because the miners made their own flag (now on display in the Ballarat fine art Gallery). It had no Union Jack on it.This is one of the things that offended the governor of the day.
Blood on the Southern Cross is an excellent production. Soveriegn hill is brilliant all round. They have put in lots of historial research to ensure its accuracy.
Sovereign hill is a replica of Ballarat in the Gold Rush days 1850 -1860. It is made to look like it was. It is not a collection of "old buildings" but made to look like you just stepped back in time 150 years. Everything is a fresh as it would have been then.
In 1854 the alluvial gold was starting to run out and gold was harder to find, but still miners had to pay 30 shillings for a licence for three months. This was a huge sum of money in the day. More than a labourer's wage. The miners protested to the Governor to no avail. Eventually they burned their licences and refused to buy them. they built a stockade and began para military drilling under the command of Peter Lalor. On Sunday December 3rd the Police and army attacked the stockade killing about 30 miners and to the loss of 5 soldiers. The "battle" lasted only 20 minutes. Thirteen miners were tried for treason and all were aquitted.
Peter Lalor lost his arm in the battle. He was elected into parliament and was eventually promoted to Speaker of the House.
Two interesting points. Everything the miners wanted before the battle they got after it as they now had public support. The public being disgusted at what the governmentforces had done.
Peter Lalor was not one of the origin leaders. After going to a few meetings hedecided that enoughwas enough and gave a speech. They followed him and th erest is history.
Blood on the Southern Cross tells the story of what lead up to this uprising and what the consequences were. It is called "Blood on the Southern Cross" because the miners made their own flag (now on display in the Ballarat fine art Gallery). It had no Union Jack on it.This is one of the things that offended the governor of the day.
Blood on the Southern Cross is an excellent production. Soveriegn hill is brilliant all round. They have put in lots of historial research to ensure its accuracy.
Feb 27th, 2011, 05:21 PM
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I took a trip to Melbourne without a car a couple of times and it was OK but it is much better with a car.
We caught the train to Ballerat and stayed overnight in a pub in town. Spent 2 days exploring the city and Sovereign Hill which we loved.
We also took the train to Emerald and visited Puffing Billy. We also took a train to Frankston and then a bus to a beach near there.
You can also get to Healesville Sanctuary by taking the train to Lilydale and then a bus service. http://wikitravel.org/en/Healesville
I would recommend looking at the 2 day Great Ocean road backpackers tours... these are very cheap and the views are amazing.
We caught the train to Ballerat and stayed overnight in a pub in town. Spent 2 days exploring the city and Sovereign Hill which we loved.
We also took the train to Emerald and visited Puffing Billy. We also took a train to Frankston and then a bus to a beach near there.
You can also get to Healesville Sanctuary by taking the train to Lilydale and then a bus service. http://wikitravel.org/en/Healesville
I would recommend looking at the 2 day Great Ocean road backpackers tours... these are very cheap and the views are amazing.
Mar 12th, 2011, 03:09 AM
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If you are energetic it is possible to see the townships of Ballarat, Bendigo, Echuca and the like. To see the surrounding countryside you really need a car.
If you book a farmstay, I would think that your hosts would be happy to pick you up from town.
There is a limited network of buses from the Vline network, such as to visit Beechworth and Bright or Daylesford. If you are interested there is a network of cycling and walking trails on abandoned train lines (search the web for rail trails victoria). A good example is the Mountains to the Murray Trail. It is possible to hire bikes. This allows you to see some of the countryside.
There is also a limited train service from Castlemaine to Maldon, which is worth visiting. Even Port Fairy is accessible by bus from Warnambool but, as always, services are limited.
Sadly, Australia's transport network is not as good as some other countries but it is also not utilised as much as it could be. Our family sometimes take holidays in Victoria by train and bus (we find it relaxing) but people consider that we're a bit odd! Like America, here the car rules!
If you book a farmstay, I would think that your hosts would be happy to pick you up from town.
There is a limited network of buses from the Vline network, such as to visit Beechworth and Bright or Daylesford. If you are interested there is a network of cycling and walking trails on abandoned train lines (search the web for rail trails victoria). A good example is the Mountains to the Murray Trail. It is possible to hire bikes. This allows you to see some of the countryside.
There is also a limited train service from Castlemaine to Maldon, which is worth visiting. Even Port Fairy is accessible by bus from Warnambool but, as always, services are limited.
Sadly, Australia's transport network is not as good as some other countries but it is also not utilised as much as it could be. Our family sometimes take holidays in Victoria by train and bus (we find it relaxing) but people consider that we're a bit odd! Like America, here the car rules!
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