My first proper stop in my drive up to Sydney for the Book Expo was Chiltern. I figured it’d be a good place to stop for a break, some lunch and a bit of a walk to get the blood pumping again. It was beautiful. In looking for a park I found an op shop and several antique shops. Naturally I stopped in at the op shop but the books didn’t catch my attention, instead I picked up a couple of CDs to help me while away the hours. I had planned carefully and put many hours of podcasts on my iPad but it turned out that wasn’t loud enough so I ended up talking to myself on my phone or just musing in silence until Chiltern.

Chiltern is a goldrush town, so established in the goldrush of 1858-59 but surveyed five years previously. During the drought it looked like it would overtake Beechworth in gold production as it used a different production method and therefore attracted a different type of miner.

With its Victorian era facades it’s been used to shoot several movies so you might want to keep an eye out for some of these buildings. It was also the home of Henry Handel Richardson for some time and is featured in one of her books, The Fortunes of Richard Mahony, you can buy a cheap copy here.

Found this little beauty in a shop window. I was upset to miss it the following week, I had meant to put this on Facebook in case someone could get there but I forgot.

Loved this display in the pharmacy window. As it turns out there’s a pharmacy that’s also a museum and it could indeed be this window. It was operated by the father of our former Prime Minister John McEwen.

Some of these old buildings are amazing. I found this music stave painted onto a floor in an antique shop.

No idea how old this advertising is but I fell in love with it.

Planted in 1867 the grapevine mentioned in this photo is apparently the largest in the southern hemisphere. And here my brain turns to the idea of a grapevine so large it’s taking over the country. Time to turn the brain off and do something else.