My Monthly Chronicles: September 2026

September was a fun month with a formal, fathers day and a focaccia platter.  It ended with a beginning as we headed on a road trip to Canberra.  And more in between.  It was a lot!  More about that next month.  Above is a photo from our road trip stop in Wangaratta with a wonderful spring park that we looked over as we had lunch at Paulie's (see more about it below).

I have been rather slow with this post this month because life has been so busy but also because my edit view on blogger has gone a little haywire, making it harder to format than usual. 

To read more about my eating this month, read my In My Kitchen: September 2026 post.

Eat Pierogi Make Love
161 Lygon St, Brunswick East 

It made me very proud to see Sylvia dress up and have fun at her school formal.  There wasn't much vegan food on offer at the event so we went home via Eat Pierogi Make Love who offer excellent vegan options.  Their pierogi is so good with fun toppings and sauces.  We were so happy with our order: 

• Placki Frytki: potato and sauerkraut fries, based on a traditional Polish pancake recipe. Served with caramelised onion sour cream. ($12), 
• Ziemniak Pierogi filled with jalapeno, potato and mozzarella, boiled and served with vegan sour cream and salsa ($26).
• Kapusta Pierogi filled with mushroom and sauerkraut, pan fried, served with celeriac skwarki and celeriac, apple and onion purèe ($28)

It was a cold night so I was very happy to wash it down with a warming mulled wine.
 

Cornish Arms
163A Sydney Road, Brunswick

I had really looked forward to seeing my friend Alison for dinner at the Cornish Arms pub on Sydney Road.  Unfortunately Sylvia and I were tired after a busy week and were not at our best.  I was too tired to even order well when I agreed to her having Mac and Cheese Bites with  Fries as well as Vegan Katsu Chickn Sando which came with more fries.  That meant that leftovers were certain.  I also enjoyed my Nourish Bowl of sushi rice, tofu, miso roasted sweet potato, edamame, avocado and pickled ginger.

Father Day
Geelong

I drove down to Geelong for a Fathers Day afternoon tea with my family.  My mum made great scones with jam and cream and a sponge, and my sister Fran (who took the above photo) made deliciously gooey chocolate caramel slice with peanut butter in the caramel.

Trippy Taco
234 Gertrude St, Fitzroy

It was good to get back to Trippy Taco for some Mexican street food.  We shared the Mixed taco meal with two black bean tacos and two char grilled tofu (asada) taco.  I wasn't so keen on the tofu seasoning and much preferred the black beans but Sylvia swung the other way.  Both of us agreed that of all the savoury dishes the very best was the Heart attack trippy fries with salsa, vegan cheese, guacamole, and vegan sour cream.  I think nacho fries might be a more accurate name but nowhere near so poetic and scary!  The place was busy with a large group which gave it a nice buzz.

When I wrote about visiting Trippy Taco in 2013, I vowed to return to try the dessert tamale.  It has taken me 13 years but fortunately the place is still going strong and it was worth the wait.  The sweet tamale, steamed in a corn husk and served with vegan nutella and vegan ice cream was amazing.  Luckily we shared it as I was quite full by then.  It was so so good!

Melbourne Tram Blockage of 1990

Ever since I moved to Melbourne as an eighteen year old, I have loved the trams of Melbourne.  The cheerful and quirky conductors were as much a part of trams as the dinging when they start up and the screech of metal on metal when they turned a corner.  I was really interested to hear Greg Gardiner talk about "Melbourne and Coburg Trams" at the monthly Coburg Historical Society meeting this month.  I am not the only fan of trams; this was one of the most popular talks I have seen since I joined the society a couple of years ago.  I might have bought Greg Gardiner's tram history if the queue had not been so long.

One important moment about tram history that Greg touched on was the Melbourne tram blockade in 1990.  The state government tried to introduce scratchie tickets so they could get rid of conductors on 1 January 1990.  The tram workers responded by taking over trams and not charging passengers.  In response on 2 January, the government cut the power of the tram network.  Before they did, the workers drove 250 trams to part in the main street of the city as a protest.  It took 33 days before the tram power was reinstated.  I remember it well and was very angry that trams were no longer to have conductors.  I did not live far from the city and was amazed at the sight of so many trams nose to trail along Bourke Street that you can see in the above photo.  

You can read more about the blockade in The Age Newspaper in the articles From the Archives, 1990: Melbourne's tram blockade and Back to the days when the trams stood still.

Roadworks on Moreland Road

These days I ride my bike more than I take trams.  This above photo is of roadworks on Moreland Road near the train line.  The bike track has been detoured for weeks.  I am really tired of it and not knowing when it will end.  

Olivia Spring
637 Mt Alexander Rd, Moonee Ponds

We were in Ascot Vale for an appointment.  Moonee Ponds is only a hop, skip and a jump away.  Olivia Spring has such a huge menu, we wanted to try of their dishes for lunch.  When I ordered a noodle salad with lots of vegies and chunks of fried lemongrass tofu.  And Sylvia ordered spring rolls to share but she as less keen on them.  Fortunately there was also lots of good food to eat.  She was delighted with vegan barbecued pork bahn mi and I enjoyed my tofu and veg as well as the spring rolls.  

Vegan Market
Coburg Town Hall, Bell Street

The vegan market at Coburg Town Hall lured us back with its delicious food and convenient location.  We met Faye there and bought lots of great food.  Again we took a tub with us.  By the time we left it was filled with Biscoff cheesecake from The Kindness Echoes, Raspberry cruffin from Alex a Baker,  Chocolate caramel tart from Gingersnap Patisserie, Dubai chocolate brownie from Sweet Little Tings,  In my photo you can also see the Kindness Echoes Cheesecake and Vanilla slice, and Alex a Baker's cruffin and Cinnamon bun.  

We took home so many delicious treats.  The vegan cheesecake was impressive.  Not all vegan cheesecakes are equal!  Our caramel tart melted by the time we got home but was very good and the brownie is a favourite of mine.

After our purchases, we went out the front to buy lunch from the food trucks.  As we waited I enjoyed the busker who was scatting with lots of warm and entertaining observations about the people about him.  Then we took our lunch inside where we caught up.  (I was going to say chewed the fat but that might sound like it was what we were eating rather than a turn of phrase).

Sylvia and I had great vegan toasties from Bean Brewed.  I loved how they were named.  My Vegemite and cheese toastie was called the Bogan ($10).  And Sylvia had the the Reuben Hood ($16) with pastrami, sauerkraut, mustard and cheese.  Faye enjoyed a massive Berlin Doner Kebab from Oh my Doner.  We picked at a little of sweet food and then took the rest home.

Green Man's Arms
418 Lygon Street, Carlton

I was pleased to try the vegan roast at Green Man's Arms last month.  I had promised Sylvia she would also get the chance to try it so we were back in September.  She had the roast.  I was very happy that she got the chance to try an excellent Yorkshire pudding after only having had one very stodgy one.  She thought the lentil and nut roast was amazing.  

I wanted to try more of the menu and ordered the Chorizo focaccia plate.  It was an attractive arrangement of slices of amazing soft focaccia, discs of their in-house chorizo, cashew feta in a lettuce leaf, lots of yummy pickled veg and a generous dollop of hummus with wonderful crispy chickpeas.  There was too much of the feta which I found a bit bland and not enough of the focaccia which I could have eaten forever.
 

 

For dessert we had the vegan Basque Cheesecake with lemon curd ($18).  I am not usually a fan of lemon curd but the cheesecake needed the tart fruity sauce.  It was good but not as great as the Kindness Echoes one at the Vegan Market.  But we really loved our mocktails.  Sylvia had a velvety fruity Baby Peach and mine was a refreshing mint and lime flavoured Ginger Julep with lots of fizz.

Ballards
915 High Street, Thornbury

When Ballards announced their pop-up sandwich Sunday lunch, Sylvia was excited and I had a voucher for their food as a leaving gift from my old workplace.  (Best leaving gift ever!)  We got there 30 minutes after they opened and queued for about another half an hour.  Then we were given a table in the sun and asked to change.  That was a lesson about changing tables because it confused the staff and our order was forgotten.  We were starving by the time we got our food but it was worth the wait.

The first dish that was served was The Seer: a Pear & almond frangipane tart ($10).  It was odd to get dessert first and made us think that something was weird with our order.  It was the last thing we ate and absolutely divine.  Frangipanie is such a treat and the pear was just perfectly soft and melt in the mouth.  Next we had The Burning World: Shoestring fries, pepper cream gravy & feta ($14).

Sylvia had the Filth: Marinated lion's mane, roast peppers, chimichurri, chili cheese sauce, rocket & pickles and I had the Holy Money: fried lemongrass sausage, mushroom påté, sauerkraut, cucumber. coriander & pickled red chili dressing.  Twenty dollars each seems a lot for a sandwich but these were generous fillings in huge slabs of focaccia with amazing textures and flavours.  I really loved the house made sausage and slaw.  It was not as spicy as I feared.  Sylvia loved hers too with the lions mane and accompaniments.  They were so filling we took half each home in a box.  Now that's what a I call a great sandwich.

Kevabs
89 Sydney Road, Brunswick 

 

When we were out all most of the day without eating and Sylvia suddenly found she was ravenous because she hadn't eaten since getting up, we had to make an emergency stop at Kevabs.  I could not resist the brownie.  Sylvia had a falafel kebab with a small pesto pasta on the side and a vanilla cupcake to follow.  She felt so much better after some good food.

Paulie's Corner Cafe
Shop 1, Corner Reid & Ovens St, Wangaratta,

On the last day of September we drove to Canberra.  We broke up our seven hour drive with lunch in Wangaratta at Paulie's.  It took a lot of research to find good vegan food in the country and this was excellent.  I think this was the only place along the way we could find with a vegan menu and lots of vegies.

Sylvia had the Poke bowl.  She was pleased she could substitute sushi rice for the soba noodles (because buckwheat allergy) which were served with  avo, pickled veg, cucumber, edamame, mushrooms, furikake, seaweed, Japanese sesame dressing and lime ($25).  It was not her perfect meal but had some elements she loved. 

My Nourish bowl of roasted pumpkin, beetroot hummus, avo, leaves, dukkah, falafel, tortilla, cucumber, edamame, cherry tomatoes, corn, red cabbage and green goddess dressing ($25) was really good.  Exactly what I needed after some wrong turns and to fortify me before I tried to check into the wrong hotel!  With a bit of luck I will find time to write more about some of the highlights of the trip!

Top: Yolanda's Bake Sale @ Queensberry Co-op: Spinach and feta scroll; Dong Dae Moon: Kimbap; Sister of Soul: Oreo cheesecake

Middle: True North: Cabbage Garden Salad; Flowers: South Melbourne Market; Times New Roman: Spaghetti with Napoli sauce

Bottom: Mr Nice Guys: Cinnamon scroll, Sister of Soul: Sunday Roast: Elektra: Matcha Milkshake

Died: Gloria Steinem, Richard O'Sullivan, Tim Read (Greens MP), Angry Anderson

In the News:

‘Timidity is a virus’: Paul Keating fights the fading of the light as he seeks to enshrine his legacy, The Guardian, 2 September 2026.

Lindsay Clancy’s case is a Rorschach test, by Moira Donegan,  in The Guardian, 7 September 2026.

Mamdani and Trump underscore a shift in 9/11 discourse 25 years later, Politico, 10 September 2026. 

Mary Kostakidis stared down the Zionist lobby, and courage won, Michael West Media, 11 September 2026. 

Data centres have existed for decades. So why are they so controversial now? The Conversation, 14 September 2026 

Victorian Greens MP Tim Read dies aged 64, ABC News, 19 September 2026. 

Donald Trump gave a speech that went largely unheard. It's part of a war with his press pool, ABC News, 22 September 2026. 

'We hear you, you were right': Ed Miliband addresses critics of Labour policy on Palestine, Middle East Eye, 28 September 2026

Trump's war, migration cuts and AI pull interest rates in all directions, by Alan Kohler, ABC News, 28 September 2026. 

This Labor government is the Ed Sheeran of Australian politics – There is more opportunity to push back against toxic centrism, Amy Remeikis in DeepCut, 29 September 2026.

Amid rising support for right‑wing minor parties, can David Shoebridge reinvigorate the Greens? The Conversation, 30 September, 2026.

The OpenAI Medicare breach exposes the dangerous gap in AI regulation. New Politics, 30 September 2026.

Listening, Reading, Watching 

Listening to the radio: Rearvision: Why Australian history has always had a revisionist edge ABC, 12 September 2026.

Reading: Collapsing Glaciers, Climate Change and Human Security, Lyrebird Dreaming, 28 August 2026.  An interesting reflect on the floods in Nepal and climate change.

Watching lots of great tv:

Goolagong: (ABC iview) a biopic of iconic Aussie tennis star, Evonne Goolagong Cawley.  The oddest thing that struck me while watching this was that when I was a child and she was a hero, I never know she was Indigenous.

My Brilliant Career: (Netflix) a great modern update of a1901 Australian classic novel and 1970s film.  I loved Philippa Northeast as the headstrong farmgirl who dreams of being a novelist but is being groomed for a conventional marriage.  

Tampa: the Turning Point (ABC iview): a powerful documentary about a key moment in Australia's 21st Century politics when Australia refused entry to asylum seekers rescued at sea by a Norwegian freighter.  I was not living in Australia at the time so this helped put together some of what I have heard and read.  Most shocking was seeing how the Howard government's attitude changed when the 9/11 terrorist attacks happened in the USA during the stand-off.  This led to not only Australia's draconian refugee policies but also has influenced refugee policies elsewhere in the Western world.

The Pitt (HBO Max): we finally watched this brilliant hospital drama that is amazing at how it handles nuances in social attitudes.  Noah Wylie is amazing.  I can see why it has gone viral and won awards.

Rolf Harris: Primetime Predator (ABC iview): this documentary about how the iconic Australia entertainer was found to be an unprincipled pedophile.  I loved him so much as a kid that it was devastating to watch and see creep behind the jovial grin.  Even more disturbing was hearing how people were often warned about him and to know that when I met him while working at the BBC he was so charming and gave me a hug.  Makes my skin crawl to think of it.

Read lyrebird by Jane Caro

On film we watched the Rocky Horror Picture Show, which was fun to see this classic musical comedy horror film from 1975.

Finally I enjoyed reading about U2's imprompu concert at the school my nephew attends in Dublin.  U2 celebrate 50th anniversary at the school where they formed, BBC News, 25 September 2026.  Such an amazing experience for him!

In My Kitchen: September 2026

 

September was filled with school holidays, t-shirt weather and signing up to a crazy amount of new systems in my new job.  I've been making simple salads for work lunches and sides.  Possibly the most innovative dish I made was air fried onions rings in my melted cheese on toast.  It was pretty good.  More usually I made some of my favroutie meals like the above 20 minute Coconut chickpea curry.  Fortunately Sylvia made lots of great new dishes to add a little pizazz to our meals.

I have scheduled this post because by the time it is published, I will be in Canberra for an interstate break.  I will write more about that next month.  Here's hoping for a little more time and energy next months but I am not holding my breath!

I really loved this Vegetarian Sushi Bake (With Chickpeas).  It was a layer of sushi rice topped by a layer of spicy tuna-style chickpeas with some nori blended in for flavour of the sea.  Then it was all baked and served with avocado, cucumbers and furikake.  This might be the most comforting way to eat sushi!

How I love leftovers!  This is the sort of pizza topping, that I never would eat if not for leftovers.  We had leftover sausage barley soup, air fried out-of-date falafels, olives, turnip pickles and cheese.  It was excellent.  The pink pickles were a pretty addition that worked well with the flavours.

Sylvia has been making her cabbage pasta regularly.  Lots of cabbage (and sometimes onion) are fried until caramelised and soft.  She adds some seasonings like miso, nooch and sesame oil.  On this occasion she fried Field Roast Italian Garlic and Fennel sausages that took it up to another level.  Crispy sausage on soft pasta is just perfect.  I really loved some lettuce and cabbage with it and added some red capsicum in big slabs that I could not be bothered chopping.  

An Italian deli inspired pasta salad inspired this barley salad.  We had really crispy tofu bacon, crispy sausage  and vegan salami with lots of rocket, cucumber, tomatoes, marinated olives, and pickled onions with vegan olive brine feta.  I had to pick out the salami - it is not the sort of mock meat I ever want bu I could have had a bit more rocket.  All that good stuff tossed together with dressing was amazing.
  

One of my dad's friends kindly gave Sylvia this vegan Toasted Marshmellow poopcorn.  Sylvia was very excited to discover a great vegan popcorn fomr the Popcorn Shed with lots of fun flavours but unfortunately it is from the UK and not easy to find unless we order online.

Sylvia made oa superb vegan Mac and Cheese bake which was a white sauce with vegan cheese (yay for Damona) and good flavours, with a great topping of panko breadcrumbls, crushed cornflakes and sesame seeds.  

We were excited by all the wonderful bakes by Alex a Bakes at the Vegan Market at the Coburg Town Hall.  I took home a vegan cheese and vegemite pastry twist.  It was really good.  I wished I had bought more!

This Creamy zucchini orzotto from The Plant Bowls was gorgeous with creamy cashew sauce.  Sylvia added peas and spinach as well as topping it with our home made feta and dill.  She declared it her favourite new dish that she plans to make again and again!

We got into the packet of frozen naan breads from the freezer.  They were too easy to heat in the air fryer - just 3-4 minutes.  This easy meal with salad, tofu scramble and pickled onions was really good on a night when we could not be bothered doing much for dinner.

We had fond memories of Sylvia's previous crispy rice salad.  She decided to do it again.  Her salad had crispy rice with panko and seasoning inspired by Emily Eats and then the fried tofu and vegies inspired by Tess Begg.  I helped make the dressing with miso, maple syrup, sesame oil, rice wine vinegar and soy sauce.  Lots of good vegies with crispy rice is amazing.

The AFL Grand Final is always a big event in Melbourne.  We even had a public holiday to celebrate.  This year I worked the holiday in a blissfully quiet office and swapped the holiday for another day of leave.  However I was excited about watching the game on the Saturday.  The pre-match is usually the highlight and this year delivered with the glamour of Kylie Minogue's performance and the nostalgia of Mike Brady singing Up there Cazaly, despite the rain.  It was amusing to see the commentators pre-match on a desk on the grassy oval with umbrellas.  Very Monty Python!  

Sylvia had made sausage roll filling the day before and I wrapped it in pastry and baked them in the late morning.  They were hot out of the oven for watching the grand final.  Sylvia had put twice as much silken tofu as the recipe so they were soft with a bit of a gravy vibe but delicious.  We also had hash browns, falafel, hummus, crisps, crackers and vegies.  The actual match between the Freo Dockers and the Brisbane Lions had me on the edge of my seat right to the end when Freo were leading by a few goals 4 minutes before the end and the Lions suddenly got 4 goals in 4 minutes and won the match.

We love our platters for the grand final.  This year Sylvia did all the shopping for the platters with E who came along for some pre-match entertainment before heading off to book club. Before he went we had the dessert platter.  Sylvia had apple slices, strawberry and popcorn.  But not chocolate!  So I broke up some of my Whittakers dark chocolate to add to the platter.   We enjoyed grazing and by dinner time weren't hungry and just had a few sausage rolls and some vegies.  A very enjoyable afternoon!

Finally here is my new sewing machine.  A friend from the historical society is really into her sewing history and looks out for old sewing machines.  She found me this one from the 50s or 60s and brought it over a few weeks ago.  I am excited to have it but also not feeling confident at the idea of using a sewing machine.  It has been a long time since I last used one.  I confess I have not used it but have instructions and some people who can give advice so I really look forward to some free time when I can grasp the nettle, so to speak.

I am sending this post to Sherry of Sherry's Pickings for the In My Kitchen event. If you would like to join in, send your post to Sherry by 13th of the month.  Or just head over to her blog to visit more kitchens and enjoy her delightful spring greenery hand drawn header.  Thanks to Sherry for continuing to host this event that brings together some wonderful bloggers who share glimpses into their kitchens.   

Creswick: museum, farmers market, pizza and the American Hotel

Creswick was chosen for overnight accommodation as a convenient location between our visits to Beaufort and Clunes in August.  Surprisingly, it was so much more than a place to sleep.  We spent more time than we expected with visits to the farmers market, splendid heritage buildings, the local history museum and the shops.  The town has a rich goldrush history and a vibrant active community.  In fact, we were could have spent much more time there if we had not had plans to visit Clunes before we drove home.  

The American Hotel Creswick

 90 Albert Street, Creswick

 

By the time we arrived to check in for our accommodation at the American Hotel, it was late afternoon.  The hotel dates back to the gold rush in Creswick in the 1850s and has seen the population deccrease from 250,000 in its heyday to 3170 in the most recent census.  Patrons included the artistic Lindsay family and it is part of the Lindsday trail.  It was the Cobb & Co depot for stage coaches, the setting for political meetings and hosted the local community bank.  
 

The bar had a great ambience with pea soup green walls and an assortment of historic photos as you would expect.  I wanted time to look around and have a drink if we were staying longer than a night.

Our bedrooms were basic with a shared bathroom.  We weren't there too long so we didn't need much.  I was happy with a comfy bed and the tea and coffee making facilities in a cupboard.  

I peeked into the function room. because it looked rather grand  It is called the Lindsay Room in honor of the local artists.  It has an ornate mirrored fireplace and pictures around the wall

Less fancy but cosy is the dining room.  I went through around dinner time and was surprised how busy it was.

A walk about town! 

 

Before we went out for dinner I had a walk.  I always like to see the place where I am staying and I had decided to go get some herbal tea bags so we could have a cuppa tea.

I headed for the IGA supermarket.  We were impressed at how much vegan food could be found there.  This is is a sign of a country town full of tree-changers!

 

I also passed the Odessa at Leavers restaurant where we planned to eat.  It was built in 1856 and is the oldest building in town.  I didn't book and when we entered the place was heaving with not a spare seat in the house.  Ella Hooper of the band Killing Heidi was performing so it was booked out.  And the kitchen closed at 6.30pm.  It made me sad to be unable to eat in the cosy space with sparkly fairy lights strung around the rich red curtains, lamps and stone walls.  We really need to return to Creswick just to eat here.  And of course next time I will book!

Raffas

84 Albert Street, Creswick 

Fortunately Sylvia had read that Raffas pizza joint had vegan cheese.  It did not have the ambience of Odessa but the pizza was great.  I was pleased with the August special: a Spinach and Ricotta pizza that was drizzled with hot honey!  The hot honey took a fairy ordinary pizza to new heights.  Sylvia enjoyed her vegan Margherita pizza.  

Creswick Market

19-21 Victoria Street, Creswick

By good luck, we were at Creswick on the 3rd Saturday of the month when the Creswick Market was being held at the neighbourhood house.  It was lovely with lots of stalls, great artwork on the water tank and buskers.  I only wished I had some coins to put in the buskers's basket when they sang Whole of the Moon by the Waterboys.
 

Firstly we check out the food to go, having not have breakfast.  We settled on Pierogi Darling.  Who could resist a cute name and gorgeous set up with swirly orange tablecloth.  It was interesting chatting to the friendly owner who said she had been selling different meals and found that pierogi was the most popular.  

So we have pierogi for breakfast.  It was excellent.  Mine were fried potato and farmers cheese pierogi with sour cream, sauerkraut, a pickle spear, herbs and a drizzle of paprika oil.  Sylvia had the vegan buttery potato and chives pierogi with the sides.  It was a great way to start our day!

Another stall I really loved was Gypsy Weaver.  They made soft toys with recycled yarn, fillings and buttons.  Every toy was different with a name and backstory on a little card.  It was great fun to read the cards and look at all the different designs.  They also set up a loom at their stall so we could watch the weaving.

We enjoyed checking out the plant stall.  In the background is some gorgeous butterfly wall art on a shed.  I really liked how it was in the grounds of the neighbourhood house with the community artwork.

A good farmers market always has an amazing baker.  We bought a loaf of pumpkin and onion sourdough to take home.  A good loaf of bread is the best souvenir!  To keep us going we also had a bread stick (batard?) with lovely fried onions baked on as a topping.

There was lots more to see.  We had a taster of a warm alcoholic spiced apple cider from Daylesford Cider.  It was the perfect drink for a winter's day.  I told the stallholder that I would buy it if it was non alcoholic.  He miraculously produced a non alcoholic version and I bought a six pack of the cans.  I was amused by the neurodivergent fridge magnets and stickers and made a purchase.  One  that resonated with me was one saying "I am multi-tasking.  I can listen, ignore and forget all the same time".  They didn't have a fridge magnet so I bought one saying "My computer must be broken.  I keep hitting the escape key but I am still at work."  I also loved that one stall had lots of heat packs in different shapes to ease pain in knees, forarms and necks.  

Creswick Museum

70 Albert Street, Creswick

I hadn't planned to go to Creswick Museum but once I saw it, I was keen to visit.  It is in the former municipal chambers.  It was built in 1876 when the Borough of Creswick was wealthy with gold rush money.  This imposing Victorian two story building is built to impress with a loggia entrance, rows of arched windows and a balustrade around the roof and a grand spiral staircase in the middle of the interior.

The reception counter has a giant Alfred, the eponymous pudding from Norman Lindsay's classic children's book, The Magic Pudding.  He is a cantankerous character and perhaps put there to glare at anyone who is unhappy that the museum will only take an entrance fee in cash.  Not because the staff are behind the times but because their previous EFTPOS machine had problems that has sent them looking for a new system to take electronic payments.  I had a chat to the women at the counter who were very friendly and helpful.  With our local museum considering new designs while it is renovated, it is interesting to hear about others' experiences.

Modern museum theory is that clutter makes it too hard to take in anything so they are discerning with choosing less objects for more attention.  I confess that I didn't have much time and was so tired after leaving home the morning after finishing up at my old job that I still didn't do a great job of taking it all in.  But I did leave with a few highlights, which is all that the museum curators expect.  The photo above is of the Colonial Art Room

 

I really loved the Creswick School's Roll of Honour in tribute to students who served in World War I.  I have seen many honor rolls but ones with photos are unusual.  To see all the faces of those young men who went to war is quite touching.  (Our history society has so many donated to them because no one wants them any more.  However they are too large to be easy to store or display many so they are a constant challenge.) 

 

The most memorable item was the Clifton Billy.  Creswick holds the unenviable record for having the worst gold mining disaster in Australia.  A sudden flooded mine trapped 27 men on Monday 11 December 1882.  When the rescuers reached them on the Thursday, only 5 men were still alive and survived to tell the tale. Some of the dead had written messages to their families on their "crib pails" (in which they took their meals down the mine.)   This is the only known artifact from the disaster.  It is inscribed "Goodbye dear mother, sisters and brothers: Philippa my dear girl. John Tom Clifton".  The words are written behind it because it is difficult to read it almost 150 years later.

I almost gave a cursory glance at this room but was glad I had a paper guide for each room and found it was the Lindsay room.  On display is some of Lionel and Darrly Lindsay's artworks as well as some family photos and an ornate vintage organ.

Then it was time to go upstairs via the grand spiral staircase.  On the landing were letters from the goldfields.  If I had had the time, I would have loved to stop and read them but time was tight by now.   The letter that included a  lovely landscape sketch was the one I appreciated most.

 

I took this photo because I loved the huge painting hung above the door and the lovely wooden display cases but I didn't stay long enough to take much in. There seemed to be lots of rooms to wonder through if I had the time.

My eye was caught by this portrait of John Curtin who was a great Australia's prime minister during World War II.  I had been aware that he had lived in Brunswick but had not known that he was born in Creswick.

I liked the way the notices were arranged in this display case.  The one that attracted my eye was was the notice on water restrictions in 1930.  Watering the garden was restricted to 3 hours from 7pm on three nights a week.

The final room I came to was the former Council Chambers.  When the building had been converted from the municipal offices into a museum, this room was preserved.  Most of the furniture dates back to the end of the 19th Century and was used for decades in this room.  On the walls are photos of early councillors and a couple of large portraits.

 

Sylvia was not interested in the museum so she went down the main street (Albert Street) to browse in a vintage shop (55 Albert St) and then on to Il Bello cafe for a latte.  I met her there after I had dragged myself away from the museum.  It was time to leave Creswick and get the car to head to Clunes.

You can read more about our trip on my post about our visit to the Cyril Callister Vegemite Museum, Beaufort and I plan to soon write about our Clunes visit.