In the 1850's when the gold rush spread across Australia, Victoria became one of the targets for exploration. Walhalla, nestled in a valley in eastern Victoria was nothing but bushland. A former convict, Edward Stringer, found gold in the creek which is now named Stringer's Creek. He was paid 100 pounds for his find but died not long after. It didn't take long for news of his find to travel and soon the small area was invaded by fossickers and mining families. A commercial mining company, The Long Tunnell Mining company moved in and before long around 4,000 people lived there in harsh conditions. It then became a thriving town and hotels and stores were built. It was later named Walhalla.
There was only one road in and out of Walhalla. The town was built along just over 1700mtrs of the road. Even a fire station was built, it is still standing constructed with Stringer's Creek running underneath it. It is the only one constructed this way in the world, necessarily built over the creek due to lack of land space to build.
As the gold ran out the population dwindled, the mine closed down. In early 1904 a small guage railway line was built from the major town of Moe to Walhalla to try to encourage people to the area. It was abandoned in 1955. A section of the rail is still there and is running today as a tourist train meandering beneath the rocky cliffs, through lush green forest lined with tree ferns and crossing the Thompson River.
Today the town is all but a ghost town with about 20 residents.
The town is remarkably well preserved with hotel and some shops still operating. There are some interesting walks and the Long Tunnell mine is open for tours of the upper section. The rest of the mine is closed, it has workings of 8.5km to a depth of 950 metres a huge mine in it's day.
Thanks to Wahalla's European background the street is lined with beautiful deciduous trees and conifers, an absolute delight in Autumn, a photographers delight. The town cemetery gives an interesting history of the harsh conditions of the day.
Walhalla is one of the must visit places. Not really suitable for large caravans but if you have one, stay at the Caravan Park in Erica which is only 15 minutes drive, then enjoy driving into Walhalla under the canopy of tree ferns and eucalyptus trees.
Great spot for a family picnic and enjoy the train ride.
Enjoy a collection of photos on the You Tube link below, remember to like, share and subscribe for more.
-- Edited by Jim Featherby on Wednesday 5th of May 2021 09:32:06 AM
Bought and read a book some years ago about the history of Walhalla.
One particular piece of history that I would like to pass on is about the fire station/brigade that
they fund raised for. Most necessary for the town with it's bushfire history in the past.
Fundraising was undertaken and with some government assistance they built a swish'o new fire
station complete with one of those steam powered water pumps pulled along by some hapless horse
or two.
When it came the time to demonstrate this piece of high technology somewhere out of town, all the locals and officials gathered
in eager anticipation of what was to come.
Unfortunately, they had trouble lighting the boiler to produce the steam and the required pressure but
they perservered and all went well until the returned home to the station only to find that it had burned down
whilst they were away.
True story according to the book, That's how I remember it anyway.
