Along the Hume Highway between Benalla and Wangaratta on the way to Sydney from Melbourne lies the town of Glenrowan.
Glenrowan — south of the Murray River, which runs through and separates the border towns of Albury, New South Wales, and Wodonga, Victoria — is the site of famous Australian bushranger Ned Kelly's last stand.
The Kelly gang and the shootout at Glenrowan is the subject of much story, film, painting and folklore, the latest being the movie Ned Kelly with Australian actor Heath Ledger in the title role. The film, directed by Australian Gregor Jordan, opened in Australia in March 2003.
Kelly on film
In fact the Australian bushranger Ned Kelly has had a number of film reincarnations and the Jordan opus -- with Australian actors Rachel Griffiths, Peter Phelps, Geoffrey Rush and Naomi Watts in addition to Ledger -- is just the latest. It is based on the book Our Sunshine by Robert Drew.
Of past Ned Kelly films, the 60-minute 1906 Charles Tait movie, The Story of the Kelly Gang, was followed by The Kelly Gang (1920), When the Kellys Were Out and When the Kellys Rode (1922), The Glenrowan Affair (1951) and Ned Kelly with Mick Jagger (1970).
As well, another film on Ned Kelly was being bruited about.
The town of Glenrowan
You'll know you're in Glenrowan, some 220 kilometres north of Melbourne on the Hume Highway, when -- on its main street off the highway -- suddenly you're confronted by a menacing seven-metre statue of Ned Kelly with rifle at the ready.
Hardly any of the old buildings connected with the Ned Kelly story exist today. There are six small stone obelisks which mark locations of importance.
To learn more about Ned Kelly in Glenrowan, try the Ned Kelly Memorial Museum and the Glenrowan Tourist Centre. Both are on the main street.
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