Young Ned Kelly

I had to blink twice this morning when a young lad, who had a remarkable resemblance to Ned Kelly (complete with helmet and toy pistol) walked into the Visitor Information Centre with his family.
With out question, the Martin family were in Beechworth to do one thing. Any guesses? Yep it was the 10.30am Ned Kelly guided walking tour with our Ned look-a-like tour guide Michael Beattie.
Remarkably the young lad’s middle name just happens to be Ned! Young Ned is the first person ever to wear a Ned Kelly helmet for the entire 1 hour tour!

We Have Our Accreditation!

Great News! Our Visitor Information Centre has just received our Tourism Accreditation for 2007. So what does Accreditation mean? Being an accredited Visitor Information Centre we provide:
• professional customer service
• accuracy in advertising
• compliance with health and safety standards
• An appropriately licensed operator
• Sound environmental practices
Accreditation assists customers by providing the reassurance that the business they are visiting meets National Industry Standards.

A symbol of an accredited visitor information centre is the blue and yellow ‘i’ sign . Be sure to look for the ‘i’ sign at the front of the Town Hall. We are open 9am to 5pm, 7 days (except Christmas Day).

RACV ‘Fly The Flag Tour’ visits Beechworth.

The streets of Beechworth were filled with magnificent classic cars this morning. The RACV ‘Fly the Flag Tour’ left Government House in Melbourne on Saturday 24th March 2007. Over 200 classic cars and 400 participants are touring around Victoria. The 2007 Rivers & Alpine tour has already been to Maryborough, Echuca, Wangaratta. Later today the cars will head to Dinner Plain and then onto Sale. The tour concludes in Melbourne at the Sandown Race Course.
A special thanks to Ross for his information. If you would like more information about the tour please go to www.racv.com.au

Isn't the Rain Marvellous?

Finally! Much needed rain has been falling on Beechworth since yesterday afternoon. Pauline (our volunteer on Tuesday afternoon) has been closely watching the rain gauge, we have had 11mm in the 24 hours to 9am today. It has been raining steadily since. Pauline believes we could have had up to another 6mm.

Ned Kelly has sold!

A fantastic 12ft high Ned Kelly sculpture specially commissioned by Indigo Shire has just been sold! This sculpture was designed and assembled by a well known local Artist.

Yes, it's made out of sugar

Next time you visit the Beechworth Visitor Information Centre, you must check out Ned Kelly and the Courthouse scene made out of icing sugar. Everything is made out of sugar! The attention to detail is absolutely amazing. You could actually eat the people...but I wouldn't recommend it. The Wodonga Branch of the Cake Decorators Association of Victoria Inc made the scene in 2004 for the State Seminar.

A second gold rush to Beechworth!

Come to Beechworth this Easter and you could strike it rich with a genuine Golden Egg to be found!

The egg, worth $2000, will be the prize find at the Beechworth Sweet Company Easter Egg Hunt – one of the events making up the Beechworth Golden Horseshoes Festival.

The Easter Egg Hunt is a regular feature of the Golden Horseshoes Festival, however this is the first time an egg made of real gold has been up for grabs.

“More than 150 years ago lust for gold drove people to Beechworth as the momentum of the gold rush took hold,” Indigo Shire Economic Development and Tourism Manager Seane Pieper said.

“We’re hoping to recreate a bit of history over Easter weekend and make the hunt for gold a drawcard to Beechworth once again.”

Beechworth Gold is making the egg encased in $2000 of Beechworth gold.

“As well as its monetary value, the Egg will be a collectable piece. It will be the first in a series of Golden Eggs, with more to be found at Golden Horseshoes Festivals in future years,” Mr Pieper said.

The Beechworth Sweet Company Easter Egg Hunt for children will be held at 9.30am on Easter Sunday in Wallace Park, Harper Ave Beechworth. At 10am the Beechworth Sweet Company Golden Egg Hunt will start in Wallace Park Harper Ave Beechworth. Entry to The Easter Egg Hunts is free.
Participants can make a gold coin donation on the day, with proceeds going to the Beechworth Child Care Centre and the preservation of Beechworth’s Historic precinct

The Golden Horseshoes Festival runs from Friday 6 April to Sunday 8 April. Highlights will include a visit from Dorothy the Dinosaur, the spectacular Grand Parade featuring a horse shod in golden horseshoes and over 50 floats, a fun run, buskers, bands, markets, vintage car displays, guided historic tours and much more!

For more information contact Beechworth Visitor Information Centre on 1300 366 321 or visit www.beechworthonline.com.au.

Beware of falling Bunya Nuts!

Next time you visit Beechworth, be sure to call into the Beechworth Visitor Information Centre and check out the enormous size of the Bunya Nuts (Araucaria bidwilli) sitting on the counter. Due to the very dry conditions the Bunya Nuts are falling from the Bunya Pine trees in the Town Hall Gardens now (in February). Normally the nuts would fall from the pines every two years around April. Picnic tables in the town gardens have been roped off for your safety. The Nuts are quite heavy and can weigh up to 15kgs. Which goes with out saying, it could end very badly if a Bunya Nut fell on your head.