Travel advice needed.

If you can meander about a bit after Bendigo, both Echuca and Beechworth are interesting.

Ballarat... Visit Sovereign Hill, Gold museum, Eureka Memorial and Ballarat fine art Gallery (Has Eureka flag). Also have a look at Lake Wendoree. For a good view of the area visit the lookouts on top of Mt Buninyong and Mt Warrenheip. The Buninyong hotel is one of the oldest continuously licensed pubs in Australia.

I would then suggest travelling from Ballarat to Bendigo via Maldon which is a nice historic town with mining relics etc.

Also there is a steam train that travels between Maldon and Castlemaine you might like to look at. Just past Maldon is an old gold dredge which is worth a look.

Daylesford is another popular tourist town to visit with a bit to see and do there.

In Maryborough (the Vic one !) there is a company that does gold detecting tours and you can hire gold detectors from if you want to try that out.

In Bendigo, visit the Central Deborah gold mine. Then catch the tram to the tram museum and Chinese Joss house . Finally the Bendigo Pottery is worth a visit.

On the way back north, if you can time it right visit the Army Armour museum at Puckapunyal. Also worth visiting Echuca to look at some of the Murray river heritage ...

When in Melbourne don;t forget to visit the Point Cook RAAF museum and also the B24 Liberator that is being restored at Werribee. There is also a good aviation museum at Moorabbin .

From a historical point of view there really is a lot to see in the area boarded by Ballarat/Bendigo/Marybrough. Just driving through a lot of the small towns like Kingston is interesting due to the old buildings etc.

If you like collecting old stuff, there are plenty of 2nd hand shops in most towns and also the Mill Markets in Daylesford and just outside Ballarat on the Melbourne road.

Hi Peter and Robyn

Armidale is worth stopping at. They run a free coach tour from the Visitor Centre which gives you an overview of the history and places to see. This is a good start to follow up with your own visits of places that appeal. We spent several days in Armidale and exploring the nearby features of the Oxley Wild Rivers National Park, while based at the Dumaresq Dam free campground a little out of town - oops, just checked - no dogs.

Motherhen

Hi Peter and Robyn,

Lake Boga in Victoria has a museum to the Catalina flying boats

Check out Christies Museum in Tocumwal NSW, if it is still going. An inquiry at the tourist info centre will help there. This is at the bottom of the Newell Highway which is a good way for you to go.

There are many things to see and do along the Newell especially Dubbo.
Gilgandra has a god museum right at the tourist info centre I believe.

From Gilgandra work your way over to Tamworth and then you are on the New England Highway. Plenty to see and do all along the way.

I can recommend Mother Hens advice re Armidale and the free bus tour culminating in a cuppa back at the now disused railway station. (Gold coin donation for the cuppa)

Check out Dalveen just north of Stanthorpe in QLD. They would have the cleanest overnight rest stop in Australia. They have a clothing factory of sorts there also which is worth a look for cheap clobber if that takes your fancy.

Hope this helps,
Cheers, Bruce.

Peter and Robyn,

With regard to other places to see between Canberra and Melbourne.

What we do is to call in to the local Tourist information centre and check out the things the local area has to offer. There are so many hidden gems that it is easy to miss them. This all takes time of course so you need to have plenty of time up your sleeve. Bit of a problem if you have to be somewhere by a certain time.

Bruce.