Walhalla Town

"Below these rugged slopes

Where flows the mountain stream

They sought the golden seam

In this valley of the ghosts."

For a while there, when the gold ran out, it probably was the valley of the ghosts. From a bustling town, filled with thousands of gold miners and their families, the town now has only 21 permanent residents. 
Lucky them, I say. More beautiful surrounds to enjoy per person.

We arrived in Walhalla mid morning, it took about 2.5 hours from Melbourne. It was crisp and cool in the little town, hidden away in a valley and surrounded by mountains. After our train journey, we had plenty of time to explore the town.

 

The town was easy to navigate, as we walked along the picture perfect Main Street. A shallow creek was alongside us, historic buildings all around.

We followed a walking track up to the Long Tunnel Gold Mine.  We didn't do the mine tour due to limited time in town, but did get a glimpse inside the entrance and we were able to read some information boards in the Mine Museum. We'll visit the mine next time.

We continued our walk along the Tramline Walkway, high above the town, to the start of the Australian Alps Walking Track. From here, you can walk all the way to  Canberra.  

If you wanted to.
Mt Kosciusko is 445km that way ->
We chose to walk down the steps and back to the Main St.

The sound of bagpipes greeted us, and we were  surprised gobsmacked to find a man. in a kilt. playing the bagpipes. on the clifftop. at the poppet head of the old mine shaft. 

We stayed, we listened in awe, we chatted to this lovely little man, Richard Henry, who runs up the hill every weekend to play his pipes to the gorgeous town below. Just doing his bit for the tourists, but doing it in spectacular fashion and he is a fantastic addition to the town's unique personality. He's probably there during the holidays, as the train is running daily for two weeks.

Lots to see in Walhalla, and totally do-able in a daytrip. The historic train is definitely worth doing - I'll tell you about that in the next post.

What:  Walhalla  Town

Where: Walhalla

When:  Daily

Why: history

How Much: FREE  to walk around, but support the local businesses as much as you can and keep this town alive for another 100 years.
Related post: Walhalla Goldfields Railway