I left Seymour early in the morning for Kilmore. It was not even light, something that was a novelty for me. I tend to drive during the daylight hours avoiding early starts and late finishes in an attempt to avoid the nocturnal wildlife. I did not spot any wildlife but I did witness a sunrise, not an overly majestic one as things were rather overcast but impressive nonetheless.

It was not long after the sunrise that I reached Kilmore and its leaning town sign. “Kilmore” is clearly displayed on a sign but is leaning quite dramatically to the right. Of all the towns visited so far, it’s the only one I’ve found at such an angle and wonder if there is an undisclosed twinning arrangement with Pizza, Italy.

As Victoria’s oldest inland town I was interested to find some evidence of its heritage and there are a number of buildings that are witness to this. The first Europeans in the district were explorers Hamilton Hume and William Hovell in 1824 (the same guys that put the name in the Hovell Tree in Albury) and because of its location near a gap in the Dividing Range the town was able to capitalise on passing traffic to nearby Melbourne.

But the evidence of these earlier times is still there to be seen, not least the old Goal pictured above. Opened in 1859 as a maximum security prison I was surprised to learn that it was then turned into a butter factory in 1891 before a private residence and the now tourist attraction.

I also took in the Post Office (opened 1843) and Court House which along with many buildings in the town, are made of bluestone.