Goulburn - Day 2

Enjoyed a huge wind and rain storm overnight. It cooled us down greatly. Took a drive up to the war memorial up the top of the hill. It was an amazing structure. Looked like an arab wind tower like we saw in Dubai. It looked like a dry stone wall. It was about 3 storeys tall and has a great viewing platform at the top. A local citizen purchased the land and donated it to the memorial group. They started planning the memorial before the end of the first world war.

From all accounts, Goulburn has always been a prosperous town. The quality of the buildings surviving from its founding days are fabulous and quite grand. Goulburn Plains were named by the Governor in 1820 but by 1823 there were still only 2 houses in the town. It appears that Queen Victoria clamed Goulburn a parish in the 1850s which created Goulburn as the first inland city in Australia. Given the protestant/catholic thing that’s been quite strong since Australia’s inception, there appears to be a strong influence by both churches in Goulburn with each church trying to outdo the other. The Durack books indicate the War of The Roses was alive and well in Goulburn. The current book I’m reading, A New History of Australia (edited by Frank Crowley), the English government, still wishing to keep its protestant strong hold on its new colony made sure its religious hierarchies for at least the first 50 years of Australia’s existence excluded the Catholic faith from all decision making in the colony. A few of the original Durack clan are buried in Goulburn.

To take in a few more movies due to the great valued offered in this town, we took the opportunity of seeing Valkyrie which just came out. It was okay. Interesting to learn the story as I wasn’t familiar with it, but forgettable is how Steve describes it.