Thursday 21st
June
The Tourist Information office here in Mildura is one of the
best we have seen so far, and the staff were extremely helpful in giving us
brochures to match our interests.
Besides getting brochures there is a theaterette which shows a couple of
short films on the history of Mildura so after watching them we looked over the
displays featured within the information centre.
As many of you know Bob is an avid collector of razors, so
there was a brochure which listed all the collectable/antique shops in a radius
of about 15km of Mildura, so besides looking for that ever elusive razor to
jump off the shelf into Bob’s hands, the trip served another purpose of giving
us a better idea of the layout of the place.
What was evident is the complete flatness of the countryside, and the
abundance of both grapevines and orange orchards. Many market gardeners also have those little
roadside stalls with the accompanying “honesty box” and they sold a few
vegetables and all the citrus fruits.
The Chaffeys vision and desire to have water permanently
accessible for irrigation and river transport was fulfilled through a series of
locks and weirs constructed along the Murray, of which Lock 11 is at Mildura. We stood for about 15-20 minutes watching the
paddle steamer Rothbury come towards the lock and it appeared to be about 10
metres above the waterline. After being
locked in the lock, the water is pumped out so that the paddle steamer is now
sitting in water level with the river it is about to enter, the gates open and
the paddle steamer emerges. I needed to
stand there and take photos to get the concept – now I understand.
Friday 22nd
June
One of the brochures was a self guided walking tour of the “art-deco”
buildings in Mildura. We found out that
today was the coldest day in Mildura for 17 years – the top was about 10
degrees, however undaunted we rugged up and followed the map to tick off all
the nominated buildings. Apparently
Art-Deco was first introduced to the world from the 1925 Exposition
International des Arts Decoratifs et Industries Moderne held in Paris, however the
term wasn’t popularized until the 1960’s.
The buildings are characterized by linear decorative designs emphasizing
long, thin forms, curved surfaces and geometric patterns. This architectural
style emerged in Australia between the First and Second World Wars.
We particularly liked the former Commercial Bank of Australia, the T & G building as well as
Etherington’s Jewellers – the door being a very attractive feature.
Following our walk we followed by car the “Chaffey Trail”. Of course the name reflects someone who had
an influence on Mildura, and they were the Chaffey brothers from USA. Way back in 1858 George and William Benamin
Chaffey were developing an irrigation settlement in Ontario, California.
Victorian Cabinet Minister, Alfred Deakin (later to serve 3 terms as Prime
Minister) was appointed by the Victorian Parliament to visit America on a fact
finding mission, met the Chaffeys and enticed them to come to Australia to
develop a series of steam-driven pumps to lift the water from the Murray River
to various heights to irrigate up to 33,000 acres. Nobody with these
credentials would live in a place without leaving a homestead and house for
future generations to view, so these were on our list to see.
The Chaffeys vision and desire to have water permanently
accessible for irrigation and river transport was fulfilled through a series of
locks and weirs constructed along the Murray, of which Lock 11 is at Mildura. We stood for about 15-20 minutes watching the
paddle steamer Rothbury come towards the lock and it appeared to be about 10
metres above the waterline. After being
locked in the lock, the water is pumped out so that the paddle steamer is now
sitting in water level with the river it is about to enter, the gates open and
the paddle steamer emerges. I needed to
stand there and take photos to get the concept – now I understand.