Mar 9. More Street Art and Animal Rescue

Today was the Australian equivalent of labour day Monday. As in any long weekend, many businesses were closed. The group met up at the Weary Dunlop Statue in Benalla Botanical Gardens. Rotarian Bill Sykes gave a talk about Weary Dunlop and Hec Waller, two local war heros. It was moving as both men had given so much.

From there we had a chance to walk around and check out some of the wall art around Benalla. They have some of the cleanest alleys we've ever seen.

Very neat. They have festivals during the year and it attracts large crowds. There are art shops as well displaying other types of art and the whole initiative has had a very positive effect on the town.

We noticed a lot of restored cars around. It appears the Harry Potter keeps his car here. We didn't see it fly.

We toured the Botanical Gardens and looked at the various trees and flowers. One that struck us was this pine that has a cone that weight about 2 kgs. Notice the sign.

The Masons have a brand new extended care facility in Benalla. NS Masons sold their's more than 15 years ago. 

The Rotary Club of Benalla has its own shed where it stores if portable BBQ and other equipment. It even has a cooler.

After a great lunch at the art gallery, we visited Shirley Steegstra’s Animal Shelter. Shirley has been rehabilitating baby kangaroos, wallabes, wombats and birds for 18 years. The babies come in orphaned by car accidents and Shirley nurses them until they can be placed or returned to the wild. Everyone had a turn to hold them.

There is even special diets for each animal. 

We did some grocery shopping and returned to the house to get ready for the group supper. What a great time! 

When everyone was gone we went out to see the stars. The moon was full but we were still able to see the southern cross. Thanks to the Sky Map app.