THE BOSS IS COMING!

Just five minutes from the township of Avenel, on the Upton Road, the Avenel Maze boasts a bushranger theme - with Ned Kelly as the main attraction! Intrepid tourist will be able to embark on an exciting adventure finding their way through the cyprus hedges. The puzzle has been themed by the famous maze maker, Adrian Fisher, in the United Kingdom. Along the way you will discover objects relating to Ned as well as search for answers to questions on the Kelly Gang. Entertainment and education are rolled up into one exciting package geared for all age groups; children look for objects, teens search for information, and adults enjoy the grown up puzzle – attempting to answer questions on bushrangers, placed on boards throughout the maze. It is a great family day out, situated in the hills behind Avenel where the Kelly Gang and other bushrangers rode. The setting is magnificent with glorious views over the Goulburn Valley and back into the Strathbogie Ranges. For more information telephone 03 5796 2667 or email Avenel Hedge Maze or internet avenelmaze.com.au. Open Thursday to Monday from 10am to 5pm and all school and public holidays.

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Kelly Maze PDF brochure Hideaway with Ned

Ned Kelly's stained cummerbund is one of the prized possessions of the Benalla and District Historical Society which is open 9am to 5pm, 7 days a week. Made of green silk grosgrain, backed with plain weave green woolen fabric, and interfaced with undyed linen, Ned Kelly’s bloodstained cummerbund is one of the prized possessions of Benalla & District Historical Society. It is 230cms long, 14cms wide, and finished at each end with gold coloured metallic fringing. The story goes that in his childhood Ned was rewarded with the cummerbund for saving the boy Richard Shelton from drowning in the flooded waters of Hughes Creek in Avenel. Ned wore the cummerbund under his armour during his last stand at Glenrowan. It was collected at Glenrowan on 28th June 1880 by Dr. John Nicholson of Benalla, who dressed Ned's wounds. It remained with his family until being donated to the Benalla & District Historical Society in 1973 by his daughter Mrs Emmie McNab. For more information telephone 03 5762 1749.

Situated at Urquhart Street Coburg, this once an infamous prison housed some of Australia's most harden criminals. The Pentridge of today is now under full development, featuring townhouses and shops where tattooed blokes once pumped iron (and occasionally each other). In one corner of Pentridge sits a mostly undisturbed section where, depending who you talk to, some of the remains of Ned Kelly lie. A law of 1855 required that all executed prisoners must be buried in prison grounds. Ned's remains were supposedly transferred here from the Melbourne Gaol after they were disturbed by developers at that institution in the late 1920s. How much of Ned is buried is up for discussion as many bones were claimed as “souvenirs” during the relocation. The grave site is located in a lawn/garden area below D Division. The remains of Ronald Ryan, the last person executed in Victoria, are also buried here. Ryan was hanged in the Pentridge gallows in 1967. Just to add to the confusion if you read the prison guide map, it states that Ned was executed on 11th November 1890! More confusing still was a large banner erected on a cyclone fence which once overlooked his grave site, which proudly proclaimed he was born in 1855, yet his plaque states 1854.

Planning to take a Ned pilgrimage through Kelly Country? Then may I suggest that Jerilderie be placed high on your “must visit” list. And unlike some Kelly attractions, the volunteers who run The Willows are sympathisers to the Kelly legend. I called through the Willows during December 2000 and spoke in length to one of the volunteers, Blanche, who in between tea and scones, told us about the cutting of the telegraph wires and how one of the operators escaped. He evaded the Gang and swum the creek to reach a nearby homestead who had a direct line to Diniliquin, but the police were too far away to have any impact on the situation.

The Jerilderie townsfolk view the Kelly Gang as heroes because as they say, “they only robbed a bank, and we all know banks have been robbing from us ever since”. Blanche told me the Willows have been selling the Jerilderie letter since the mid fifties. This refutes the ridiculous claim by the State Library of Victoria's that the letter has never been published. A postcard purchased from the Willows states “The Kelly Gang, as they were widely known, rode into Jerilderie, a small sheep, wheat and cattle town in the south-west Riverina region of NSW, Australia — the year was 1879. Members of the gang were Ned Kelly, his brother Dan Kelly, Joe Byrne and Steve Hart. They locked up the two policemen, took over the hotel (free drinks on the bushrangers) and bailed up the local bank, taking over two thousand pounds. Communications were cut at the post office which still stands today just a short distance from the majestic gums on Billabong Creek”. The Post Office is found at 11 Powell Street, Jerilderie, New South Wales. For more information telephone 03 5886 1666.

Glenrowan was described in The Australian Handbook of 1903 as:

Glenrowan is a rural locality and township on the route between Melbourne and Albury. It is 184 km north-east of Melbourne and 14 km before Wangaratta. Motorists on the old Hume Highway and train travellers pass through the township, but the Hume Freeway bypasses it in 1988. Glenrowan was named after pioneer pastoralists James and George Rowan who occupied pastoral stations between 1846 and 1858 in the area between Winton and Glenrowan. North of the township are the Warby Ranges, which provide run–off for some agricultural pursuits and for the filling of Lake Mokoan east of Glenrowan. The lake, artificially formed in 1970, was formerly a swamp. The railway line through Glenrowan was opened in 1873, two years before town allotments were put up for sale and three years before the primary school was opened.

In 1880 Glenrowan was the site of the siege of the Kelly Gang at Jones Hotel. The gang's leader, Ned Kelly, had calculated that police would be sent to the area by train, because of a recent murder, but the school teacher escaped from Jones Hotel and signaled the train to stop before it came to the part of the railway line which had been torn up so as to wreck the train. In the siege which followed, three of the four gang members were killed and Ned Kelly was captured and brought to trial. Glenrowan thus acquired the reputation of being part of the Kelly Country, and has since opened two museums devoted to that subject along with a tourist centre. Glenrowan is situated between forested ranges – Warby Ranges and Mt. Glenrowan to the north and a forested range to the south. The road and railway line curve northwards between the ranges, and the town's new settlement has followed the northwards curve. The new settlement is Hamilton Park, and contains several water storage's. The original township near the railway station has the school, two churches, a recreation reserve and shops with tourist attractions. Glenrowan's census populations have been 12:1861, 125:1891, 320:1911 and 200:1981. For more information contact the Glenrowan Tourist Centre on 03 5766 2367.

As Kelly Country slowly rebuilds itself thanks to the work of societies like the Glenrowan Improvers you can still catch a glimpse of yesteryear with a walk through Kate’s Cottage Memorial Museum and Homestead. Priding themselves on selling the largest range of quality gifts and souvenirs, and benefiting from a museum renovation by Brendan Pearse from Ned: The Exhibition, the owners are keen to show both tourists and sympathisers a side of Ned Kelly they haven’t seen before. Situated at 35 Gladstone Street, Kate’s Cottage is right in the heart of the Glenrowan tourist strip. Talk a walk through the gift shop and out into the museum. Here you will discover a faithfully reconstructed Kelly homestead complete with a colonial kitchen, filled with the necessities of nineteenth century life. For more information telephone 03 5766 2448 or facsimile 03 5722 1464.

If you must visit Glenrowan then you will probably want to see, and I quote,  "Australia's first computerised animated live theatre. A 2.5 million dollar extravaganza with 40 minutes of rip snorting action. This semi-live theatre production is fully air-conditioned and can seat up to 80 people at any one time. Through the brilliance of animation and computerised robots, you will be transferred back in time to witness the events that lead up to the capture of the Kelly Gang. Starting as hostages in the hotel, and then into gunfights - burning buildings - shoot outs - a decent hanging, finishing in our magnificent painting gallery. The show is educational, historically correct and entertaining." It is also open nightly from 7.30pm so it may look better in the dark, but I will let you make up your own mind after all, the quote above came from their brochure, not me. Open every day except Christmas. Enter at your own risk... For more information telephone 03 5766 2367.