Maldon, Victoria

Ratings: CP ** Surroundings **

A walk into the past ...Maldon's streets are lined with well preserved buildings including heritage miners' accommodation such as Scotch Pie House. This 1866 building houses a shop and provides comfortable accommodation for visitors to the Victorian Goldfields. Maldon has been designated "Australia's First Notable Town" by the National Trust of Victoria due to its nineteenth century appearance maintained since the gold rush days.  In addition to various festivals, it is known for its annual street Twilight Dinner which raises funds for the town.  A steam train still runs between Castlemaine and Maldon.

Ultimate contentment in the evocative Maldon Athenaeum Library reading room. The library was established in 1863. My senses were delighted by the smells of musty books, antique furniture, stained glass windows, Victorian prints and etchings and by the array of books, modern and classic, as we wandered through. Staffed by volunteers, we were fortunate that one of those volunteers appeared and opened the library for us. She treated us to a historical tour around the entire building!

A corner of the library which houses The Maldon Collection which comprises books reflecting the lifestyle of the goldfields in the Victorian and Edwardian eras in addition to books tracing the development and history of Maldon.

An Aboriginal print discovered tied to the church fence by blue ribbons. The Dja Dja Wurrung people were the original inhabitants of this area and there is some evidence that small pox swept through the tribe in 1789 and 1825. There are also massacres of the tribe in the territory between 1838 and 1859 reported in a register compiled by Ian D. Clark. The Dja Dja Wurrung people are now formally recognised under the Traditional Owner Settlement Agreement 2010 (Victoria) as traditional owners for part of Central Victoria.

Parched landscape beside the depleted Cairn Curran Reservoir constructed primarily for irrigation purposes between 1947 and 1956.