Wednesday 25 April 2007

ANZAC Day





ANZAC Day is an important day of remembrance. In Beechworth the ANZAC the parade and ceremony drew large crowds. There was the 6.00 am - Dawn Service at Cenotaph - (assemble 5.45 am) and 6.30 am - Gunfire Breakfast

Above: Photo of the 11.00 am - March followed by ceremony at Cenotaph.

About an hour later, the streets of Beechworth were filled with the loud sound of motor bikes rumbling through town.

Saturday 21 April 2007

Is it a busy weekend in Beechworth?

Yes, it has been a very busy weekend. It is the last weekend of NSW school holidays. We have had a lot of families visit the information centre today. In fact we had 450 visitors through the door. Jeff handled most of the customer enquiries and I did mainly accommodation bookings. I helped to find and book accommodation for 15 people. There was a constant stream of people coming into the visitors centre for accommodation. Thankfully our website makes finding and booking accommodation so easy. Just a couple of clicks I can bring up a complete list of all the available accommodation.

Buses! Buses! And more Buses!


You may notice the influx of coaches visiting Beechworth this week. Almost every time I looked out the window, there was coach driving past or parked near the Information Centre. Needless to say our tour guide Pat, has been very very busy (which is great!) No sooner does Pat finish one tour and then he jumps onto the next coach. So if you would like to book a tour guide for a 1 hour guided tour of the town, just contact the Visitor Information Centre. www.beechworthonline.com.au

Friday 20 April 2007

New Official Beechworth Visitor Guide


The new look Official Beechworth Visitor Guide is finally finished! It is now in the hands of the printers and we expect delivery in the next couple of weeks. For your copies drop into the Beechworth Visitor Information Centre or phone 1300 366 321. Thank you to all who have supported and contributed the guide.

Meet Reg The Rabbit


Reg has gone to live at the Children’s Ward at the Albury Base Hospital.

Reg was first prize in competition organised by the Beechworth Neighbourhood Centre Knit & Natter group to raise funds for the transport of goods to Malawi.

Ladies and gents in Beechworth have been busy knitting jumpers for the “newspaper babies”. These babies have been born affected with HIV and who’s mothers often die. Newspaper is used to wrapt these little ones to either send them to an orphanage or into care.

Reg The Rabbit raised $250 towards the $1,700 cost to send the garments to Malawi. Since about November the town has sent 500 garments. The project has been embraced across the nation and nearly 80,000 garments have been assembled.

Knitters are always looking for materials and invited interested people to clean out their cupboards. Donation of wool, wool mixture and acrylic can be left at the Visitor Information Centre. Bright colours are most welcomed!

Reg The Rabbit most kindly called into the Visitor Information Centre today on his way to Albury.

Wednesday 18 April 2007

Phone A Friend

You'd be surprised at the requests that we get every day at the Visitor Information Centre. Take this morning for example, Anne received an SOS phone call from a group of ladies stranded on a dirt track out near Mt. Stanley (Stanley is 10kms out of Beechworth). They were heading for Yackandandah and took a wrong turn. They ended up, stuck half way up a very steep dirt track and couldn't drive forwards or backwards. Anne quickly responded and called the local Beechworth Police. Beechworth and Yackandandah Police and Beechworth RACV responded quickly to help the stranded visitors. Later this afternoon, the lady came into the Information Centre to express how grateful she was for Anne's assistance. So for future reference if you are looking to do a scenic drive around Beechworth, call into the Beechworth Visitor Information Centre first.

Clearly, Anne win's today's strange question/strange request.

Tuesday 17 April 2007

Front Page News


It was with great surprise that I opened the Bookeasy website www.bookeasy.com.au to find an article about our website www.beechworthonline.com.au is now ranked 3rd in Google search. Thanks for your support guys!

Monday 16 April 2007

Today's Tricky Question

Working in the Visitor Information Centre we get a lot of questions. "Can you tell me, how do I get to Bright?", "What things can I see and do in Beechworth?" and "Where are the toilets?" But today's tricky question was won by Barbara, who had a customer enquiring about the phone number for Japan Airlines and wanted help changing a flight.

Beechworth Harley Rides...no longer

If you have been to Beechworth, you would be familiar with Rob's Harley parked near the round-about opposite the Beechworth Post Office (in Camp Street). Some of you may have even seen the Beechworth Harley Rides on the repeat of Postcards on TV Saturday night (14/04/07). Unfortunately I have just spoken to Rob, and yes, he has just sold his Harley. As a matter of fact a gentleman from Perth and is driving the Harley across the country to Perth, as week speak. So unfortunately there will be no Harley Rides in Beechworth.

Stainless Steel Cyclist Sold!



The fantastic stainless steel cycling sculptor 'determination' by internationally renowned Yackandandah sculptor Ben Gilbert has recently been sold. This sculpture was made last year in November when the Great Victorian Bike Ride stayed in Beechworth.

Autumn Leaves



As promised a photo of the Autumn Leaves at Wooragee (just 10kms north of Beechworth). I have been out of the office for a few days. A few trees have started to turn in Beechworth. I have got a lot of tour groups booked for the first week of May, coming to see the Autumn Leaves.

Thursday 12 April 2007

Autumn Leaves

I was driving through Wooragee this morning and suddenly realized that the Autumn is here and the leaves are starting to change colour. We have thousands of visitors who holiday in the North East to see the magnificent autumn leaves.
*** Note to self: recharge my camera batteries and stop at Wooragee to take a photo tomorrow.

Kerry

Wednesday 11 April 2007

Penny is on Holidays

Our team of volunteers, Anne, Barbara & myself are very busy in the info centre these days. Its NSW and Victorian school holidays. And we are also a woman down at the moment. Penny is away on two weeks holiday. Her daughter Jessica is getting married this Saturday, 14th April. We wish Jessica and Ben all the best and happiness for their special day and for the future.

Successful Golden Horseshoes Festival

By all accounts it was a very successful Golden Horseshoes Festival held over Easter. There were over 50 floats in the Grand Parade at 1pm on Saturday. Estimated 20,000 people attended the festival. Dorothy the Dinosaur was a crowd favourite. We were very busy in the Info Centre, we had about 750 people through the centre on Saturday and 760 people through Sunday. The Easter Egg Hunt and Golden Egg hunt drew a large crowd of 5,000 people. Matthew told me that the Beechworth Sweet company had 13,000 Easter eggs in the Easter Egg Hunt on Sunday. Wow! Well done to every one involved. It was a terrific festival!

Friday 6 April 2007

Big Ned stays in Beechworth

I was walking down to the milk bar to buy lunch the other day and I noticed the big Ned Kelly (12ft high Ned Kelly sculpture) in the court yard at Freeman on Ford B&B. A conversation with Heidi Freeman confirmed that Big Ned is owned by the Freeman Family and was a gift given to Freeman On Ford. Ned enjoys his lovely home at Freeman on Ford and especially likes his photo being taken.

Tinkers Hill



We have been so busy with enquiries for Easter I haven’t had a chance write about our night out (Tuesday 3rd April) at Tinkers Hill Winery, Woolshed Valley.
Local operators and visitor info staff and volunteers thoroughly enjoyed the evening, tasting Tinkers Hill wines. It was a terrific social evening. James, Rhonda and Kristy were very welcoming and talked passionately about their wines. Darren Sutton talked about the history of the magnificent woolshed valley.
For months I have heard fortnightly reports from Rhonda about the progress of the stone work and signage issues (Rhonda volunteers in the Info Centre on Wednesday mornings). It was really good to visit Tinkers Hill cellar door. Thanks guys!

Monday 2 April 2007

Celebrity ambassador for Golden Horseshoes Festival


One of Australia’s most celebrated actresses, Paula Duncan, has been named as the ambassador of the Golden Horseshoes Festival in Beechworth over the Easter weekend.

Paula, who is known and loved for roles in The Young Doctors, Cop Shop and Prisoner will be in Beechworth for the festival from Good Friday to Easter Monday and will be the announcer at Easter Saturday’s Grand Parade along with Beechworth’s own Lazy Harry.

Paula and Lazy Harry will comment on more than 50 floats parading through Beechworth past the 150-year-old Star Hotel.

“We are thrilled to have Paula as the ambassador of the festival,” Indigo Shire Economic Development and Tourism Manager Seane Pieper said.

“Paula loves Beechworth. She has been visiting and shopping here for a number of years and sees it as one of the most rich, eclectic and dynamic places in Victoria.”

The Grand Parade will feature a fantastic array of floats including the spectacular Chinese Lion and Dragon team float, Dorothy the Dinosaur and the very entertaining mobile theatre “Feet Bus”.

Some other floats to watch out for include:

• The re-enactment of Daniel Cameron’s ride through the streets of Beechworth in 1855 on a horse shod in golden horseshoes. Beechworth Gold made real gold horseshoes in 2001 for the 150th anniversary of gold being found in Beechworth. For the first time since that event, the horse in this year’s parade will be wearing those genuine 9 carat gold shoes – worth a whopping $20,000! Festival-goers can also watch farrier Robert Bremner shoe the horse just before the parade at 10.30am Saturday.

• A celebration of the 1935 great wheelbarrow marathon with descendants of the original men involved. In 1935 Beechworth mechanic Tom Parkinson said he could push a man to the top of Mt Buffalo in a wheelbarrow. The Beechworth publican Tony Evans said it couldn’t be done. So the pair set off to test the theory. Their journey made them celebrities, with the successful push to the top of the mountain along loose gravel roads and through snow attracting national media attention. In this year’s parade, descendants of both men will parade down the street in a wheelbarrow especially made by a descendant of the original wheelbarrow maker!

• The History of Robert O’Hara Burke float celebrating 151 years since his arrival in Beechworth as Officer in Charge of Police. Burke was stationed at Beechworth until 1859, just before his 1860 expedition with Wills to cross Australia South to North.

The festival will be packed with family fun events all weekend. There will be children’s games and activities, a fun run, buskers, markets, a fantastic food court, a vintage and classic car display, guided town walking tours and much more!

The Beechworth Sweet Company Easter Egg Hunt on Sunday will also be an “eggstra” special event with treasures for young and old. The children’s Easter Egg hunt will run at 9.30am on Easter Sunday and will be followed by an all-ages hunt at 10am with a real golden egg up for grabs! Beechworth Gold has made the special egg worth $2000.

For more information about the festival and program of events contact Beechworth Visitor Information Centre on 1300 366 321 or visit www.beechworthonline.com.au.