We arrived into the small town of Glenrowan, it looked like an old western and I half expected to see a bunch of cowboys having a shoot-out with each other in the street.

Close. My dad led me around the historical town to tell me a story about Australia's most notorious bandit! Ned Kelly.
It started before he was born with his father. Naughty Daddy Kelly stole two pigs whilst living in Ireland- a crime punishable by imprisonment in Australia.

So, shackled in cuffs, father Kelly was shipped out to Australia where he served his time. It is important to note that he was an Irish Catholic in a time where Irish Protestants had the power and the money. Despite this, Mr Kelly made a good living for himself, he had a house, had a little boy and decided to call him Ned. Then when Ned was a young lad, an Irish Protestant man came to enquire about where Mr Kelly had purchased an expensive looking rug. After explaining that it was a gift and that he didn't have papers for it because it was a gift, the police decided that he had stolen the rug and again gave him prison time. This time however, the police beat him whilst in jail and he ended up drinking himself to death once returned home.

After seeing how his father had been treated Ned had had enough! He formed a gang and together they rebelled against the police and other authorities.

One night, Ned and two friends in the gang ended up in an altercation with the feds. They ended up killing a policeman and running away as fugitives.
So now we end up here. In the little town of Glenrowan.
Ned and his friends fled by train and jumped off in the village. They headed to an inn opposite the railway line. Because Ned was a people person, he decided to make the hostages happy and they partied together with lots of alcohol and music. Ned knew the police would be chasing via train so he decided to ask some rail workers to help him derail the police's train. They agreed but there was a leak in the camp. A teacher betrayed Ned and ran to warn the police of his plans.

Police then surrounded the rails; spoiling the worker's plans. Once the train arrived they hid in the trees outside the inn.
Ned knew now was the time to end things.
He was going out to face them. But no one expected the outfit he came out rocking.

A metal helmet made from a bucket and hard metal armour around his middle. Bullets bounced off him as he strode into the street, he fired at the police in response as the shoot out continued late into the night.

Eventually, Ned fled further down the street where he was shot and fell down. Arrested there, Ned was later trialed and sent to death by hanging. But the sleepy town of Glenrowan continues to celebrate the most notorious bandit in Australia.