It was one of those satisfying moments when you notice something and your brain heads out for a trot on its own.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The scene: corner of High and Don Streets, Bendigo.
The object: one of those rather alarming inflated clowns which have popped up at highly visible roadside locations announcing the circus is coming. But in this case, the clown was a sad pile of folded plastic.
Then the brain romp kicked in with a re-run of The Inflatable Boy skit.
“Take a good hard look at yourself.
“You’ve let the circus down. You’ve let the town down. But mostly, you’ve let yourself down.”
Happily, about an hour later someone had restored him by blowing wind up his … yeah, probably best to stop right there.
+++
Brains are funny things. Those of us of a certain age are intrigued to see and read that the famous nude-nut singer Peter Garrett and the legendary Midnight Oils are back. Garrett is 64 in April.
On more than one occasion it has led to pub sessions in which the Oils anthems are updated.
How can we dance when our hips are hurting? How can we walk when our gout is burning?
If the sugar rising levels can claim me, who’s gonna save me?
+++
Readers will know that DTM likes to brag about Bendigo a bit. Well, a lot. It’s a method of hosing down some of our home-grown naysayers.
Today, we are delighted to say that bragging about Bendigo is a long tradition.
We stumbled over a 113-year-old report in the Blue Mountains Gazette in which a recent visitor to Bendigo passed on some thoughts of our town.
“The climate is equal to the finest in the world and it has the richest and deepest gold mines in the world. Over £70 million has been added to the world’s gold supply. They also claim to be the largest city in the world (in area) at 8000 acres. It has the finest city park in Australia, the finest avenues of trees south of the equator and was the first place in Victoria to have the electric tram service …”
On and on the article gushes with praise for places such as the Mechanics Institute, the Botanical Gardens, the Fernery, Lake Weeroona, the buildings and industries. It particularly loved the Bendigo Pottery which it said made “all kinds of things at prices which would astonish Penrith people.”
It concluded: “Bendigo is one of the best places to visit, being only 100 miles from Melbourne and will repay anyone who likes a little instruction as well as pleasure.”
There’s a snappy tourism slogan: Visit Bendigo for a little instruction as well as pleasure.