Left our gorgeous, show room bungalow to grab a coffee back in the heart of Bendigo. A coffee shop we spotted next to yesterday's Chinese restaurant - very arty indeed! As we arrived, a local man at the bar looked to sell us his chopping board (random??) We're to assume he's wasn't all there, but he had turned his hand to 'woodcrafts' as a means of making some kind of a living. So the shop allowed him to sell his chopping boards for $18 each. It was quite nice actually!

Next was Bendigo Visitor Centre in a grand old building of the former Post Office. A visitor centre matched only by Sydney's Pitt Street mall effort. Here we were offered a 'rotating' exhibition of Bendigo, as there is no actual museum. And what we happened upon today was the history of theatre and cinema in Bendigo, and the struggle to secure the Masonic Hall has their Arts Centre.

Popped back in the car to head back to Melbourne. Our rental of the lovely Hyundai i30 we've christened Pandora has come to an end. But first, we headed straight to our air bnb to dump out bags. Unfortunately however, we discover as we near Moonee Ponds they've decided to dig up the local tram link (which we had fully intended to use at this bnb), and we were now caught in terrible, terrible traffic. Eventually arriving at the house, we turn around quickly before refuelling and heading back to Hertz. Turns out we were 4 mins late... And liable for a fine, but the kind man let us off. He said he was wary of the potential damage we could have wreaked on Hertz in social media! Hooray for social media!

In the end, here were the vital statistics of Pandora (Adelaide to Melbourne) :-

1677 km
28.5 hours driving

We stop for a Mexican lunch in a shopping mall and plan to head to the Information Centre in town. These are really superb in Australia!

But taking our fancy before we got there, we pass some loud music outside the Victoria state library, so naturally, we head inside. The state library has a huge main dome, which is a little overawing - a little like the Royal Albert Hall. Opened in 1913, at the time it was the largest reinforced concrete dome in the world, spanning 35m, as high as it is wide. Apparently, the dome has required many repairs (due to its initial ambition), and had only been 'stabilised' in its current form since 2003.

The state library itself was founded in 1854, and under the observation level in the dome, we walk around a short potted museum on the founding of Melbourne and Victoria called, 'the changing face of Victoria. ' There is also a short area for the famous Victorian bushranger, Ned Kelly, who was eventually caught and hung in 1880 in Melbourne gaol. A death mask was made after the hanging, which apparently appeared at Kreitmayer's waxworks on Bourke Street, days after the execution!

Finally there was also a short exhibition on Victoria's response to WW1.

A little cold (!!), we decide it's time to head back to our bnb. So we hop on a tram, and try to navigate our way home using the Public Transport App, and NOT Google. Helping us in this endeavour, is the FREE tram zone in the centre of town. We approve massively of this, and look forward to rinsing this service!

We walk to woolies for groceries, before Alice cooks spaghetti carbonara in a deserted house (the owners are away for the weekend). Planning then ensues for the coming weeks and we book flights to Tasmania for next week!!

Content with this, and Alex crashing, we turn in for the night. Tomorrow Melbourne!

AF