Life Down Under (Part 2): Castlemaine, and Melbourne's Winter Night Market

- July 26-27, 2022, Tuesday to Wednesday.

- A part of the difficulties of organizing my schedule in Australia is the unplanned things that happen here and there. However, sometimes, these unplanned events give you some of the most interesting experiences. Our trip to Castlemaine was one of those.

- Our Australian colleague Trevor offered to bring me and my colleague Andrew to Castlemaine to meet with another colleague, Dan. On Tuesday, we rode a regional train from Southern Cross Station to Castlemaine Station. The trip took around 1.5 hours. 

- Castlemaine had a totally different vibe from Melbourne. While it is considered a city, it is rather small with roughly 7-9000 residents. The buildings were generally low rise, allowing a lot of view - and a lot of wind!

Castlemaine Station.

- The city is part of the Gold Rush cities, or cities that boomed because of the gold-mining industry in the 1800s. A lot of the buildings from the Gold-Rush era have been preserved and repurposed, which makes the city a step back in time. It actually reminds me of the small cities in the USA, like Poughkeepsie in upstate New York (see here).

Right outside the station! A lot of houses and buildings in Castlemaine retain the old British-style architecture (see the structure at the back.)

Old buildings - the Castlemaine library, the Faulder Watson Hall, the telegraph office, and the post office with the clock tower! The post office dates back from the 1870s.

Castlemaine Town Hall, from 1898.

Ever seen a telegraph office?

- Trevor showed us a little bit of the city before meeting Dan. Afterwards, we met a friend and colleague of Trevor, Neil. Neil Fettling, a renowned Australian artist and academic, was kind enough to open his house to us for the night. But before spending the rest of the evening in his lovely home, we went around the farms nearby to see the fat cows, and more important, wild kangaroos! As far as I know, it's my first time to see a proper kangaroo, and what more, in the wild!

This is called a scarred tree. The scar of the tree comes from the part where aborigines carved out part of the trunk to make a canoe. That's why it should not be a surprise that the scar of the tree, well, looks like a canoe. There are many of these all across the country. 
  

Kangaroo's butt.

What you looking at?

Hop hop hop hop!

Kangaroos and fat cows. BY THE WAY, did you know that kangaroos are edible? And while it's not too common, it also doesn't seem to be treated as exotic meat in Australia.

- The following morning, we had some more time to explore the city before having lunch with Trevor's friend Paul. As Castlemaine's structures are all small, places such as galleries, cafes, and theaters tend to appear cozier than the usual. 

An art gallery.

Giant clock inside the gallery, originally from the 1800s.

Old fire station from 1906 that is now a cafe - where we had lunch!

- After having lunch with Paul, we went back to Melbourne. We had time to enjoy some of the views of the fields and more fat cows.

Sheep!

Fat cows! (Now I'm craving for a burger huhu.)

- My colleague Andrew and I had some rest after coming back to Melbourne and checked out the Winter Night Market in Queen Victoria Market. Vic Market is always closed on Wednesdays. However, during winter like right now, it is open on Wednesday nights from 5pm onwards. 

Winter Market.

So many people we should've gone earlier.

- Unlike the usual day market, most stalls in the night market sell food. The food selection is quite international too! There are also non-food items likes clothes or books, but they're usually located at the far side of the market, and a few in the middle. The biggest struggle, however, is dealing with long lines, and lack of seats. The food is still worth lining up for though!

Oh look, Filipino food!

Tried Colombian food for the first time! The arepa was amazing, and we still don't talk about Bruno! 

A one-man band.

Had Dutch pancakes (aka "poffertjes") a la mode.

Another performer!

Merry....Christmas? - In July????

- The food in the Winter Night Market was perhaps the best way to celebrate an amazing trip to Castlemaine. Castlemaine was a nice place to visit, though it'd be hard for me to stay there since it's too quiet for me. However, it was nice to see that even small cities of Australia like Castlemaine strive to preserve their history while keeping up with the times!