ON THE HOME RUN

Curiosity got the better of me and I had to "google'' Wollomombi Falls to see what they look like with water. I copied the pic from the net and stuck it next to one that I took on our trip there.

After driving along Waterfall Way from Armidale, we stopped at Bellingen overnight. We had been there once before but had gone down the coast road. TOH remembered that there was a very nice Swiss Bakery in the town. It must have made a big impression on him as he had no problems finding it again. As soon as we arrived in the town (I was driving) he said turn here, go left now, drive about 100 metres and there it was. Yet he can't remember where he left his phone.

 We stayed in a cosy B&B we had our own little deck where we consumed some delicious nussgipfel from the Swiss Bakery. (almond rolls)

 There was a lush back garden with a swimming pool which attracted..........

 a water dragon.  Unfortunately the next morning we didn't go for one of the many bush walks here as TOH is like a horse. When he smells home there is no stopping him from galloping on the home run. We need to come here again and stay a few days.

We headed north along the coast road zooming past sugar plantations and beautiful beaches. It was nice to be going home and to be back in the warmer northern climate. We have been home a month now and I'm planning our next trip. This will be next May and we will be going to the northern most tip of Australia, Cape York.

TRENDY TAMWORTH

On our way home from Canberra last month we stopped overnight at Tamworth in NSW. It is a large country town located in a beautiful fertile valley north west of Sydney. It is a rich agricultural area for grazing and grain. It is a thriving city, very modern and clean.
Tamworth is famous for two reasons. It was the first place in Australia where all residents were supplied with electricity but more well known is its massive Country Music Festival held every January. It is considered one of the top ten music events held in the world. More than 600 musicians playing in 2,500 performances in a wide range of venues for 10 days.

We found a trendy cafe for lunch and a coffee.

Besides modern shops there were still gracious old buildings showing off their architecture.

  

There are theatres, cinemas, clubs and bars galore. A big choice of restaurants, cafes and farmer's markets.

The footpaths are nicely paved with many big trees providing plenty of greenery and shade. The streets become alive with non stop buskers during the festival. It is here where Kasey Chambers, Troy Cassar-Daley,  Beccy Cole and Keith Urban  began their careers. One of the nicest towns we visited on the way home.

KAKKADOO IN DUNEDOO

 You know that you are in the country when you keep seeing grain silos and cows. We were driving from Dubbo to Tamworth in NSW.

photo by TOH

We stopped for morning tea. We bought coffee and cake from the Kakkadoo cafe in Dunedoo. (I love saying that)

We sat in a park with our coffee and cake. There were lots of lovely steel sculptures. This is a black swan which is called Dunedoo in the local aboriginal language.

 A Galah and......

Magpie kept us company.

WESTERN PLAINS ZOO, DUBBO

On our way from Canberra to Brisbane we pulled into Dubbo for a few nights. Dubbo is a small city of 40,000  and is situated in the middle of the western plains of NSW. It is at the intersection of main roads and rail to the major cities in Eastern Australia. It's economy hinges on grazing, agriculture and tourism.

Dubbo is also the home of the Western Plains Zoo, which is huge. It was created mainly for research and breeding of large grazing animals. It covers an area of 300hectares of woodlands and irrigated grasslands.  When you buy a ticket it lasts for two days because there is so much to do and see.

There are 6k of sealed roads and 15 k of walking tracks. Visitors can hire bikes, electric carts or walk or drive your car. We drove our car and stopped at the frequent parking bays and then walked on the tracks.

There were many little lakes in the area surrounded by irises.

The enclosures mimic the open range homeland of the animals with unseen barriers, mostly moats.

We were given a timetable as to when the animals would be fed. The tiger's meat is wrapped in a hessian bag and placed up a pole. It has to tear a hole in the bag to get at the meat, imitating the hide of it's prey. It took her no time at all.

The white gloved gibbons lived on islands in a lake. They could swing from one island to the other.

As we were leaving the Zoo we were greeted by hundreds of cyclists who had ZOO2ZOO written on their shirts. They had cycled from Sydney's Taronga Park Zoo to this Taronga Western Plains Zoo. It takes them 3 days. They raise money for a variety of causes. This one was for research into Bipolar Disorder. That is one heck of a long ride. Some were punching the air with the success of arriving. 

GRENFELL

Continuing our drive through country NSW we stumbled upon an historic little town between Young and Dubbo. Grenfell is a quaint,  old gold mining town. 

 There is a hotel on every corner a feature of gold mining towns.

 The hotels have been maintained as they were over 100 years ago.

I love the iron lacework, which has been kept nicely painted.

 The lovely old buildings have been maintained and still used today.

 In the main street we found a little shelter and a bust of Henry Lawson, a famous Australian author of short stories and ballads. He was a contemporary of Banjo Paterson and also wrote about Australian characters and way of life. One of my favourite stories is "The Drover's Wife".

The plaque announced that Henry Lawson was born in Grenfell in 1867. His father was a Norwegian miner called Larsen he changed his name to Lawson when Henry was born.

The family moved to the Mudgee area as Henry was growing up. That explains why I remember visiting "The Henry Lawson Museum" in Gulgong near Mudgee. Many of his stories were about this area.

His parents separated and he went to live in Sydney with his mother. He travelled around the country extensively and lived in England and New Zealand.  He aired his concern for republicism, unionism, poverty, a fair go for the working class and the vote for women. However his life was complex and difficult. He was persecuted by his peers and he turned to alcohol.

TWO BANJOS

As we drove through country towns of NSW on our way home from Canberra, we often stopped in at Information Centres to find out about the town and its history and attractions. In the information centre at Yass we saw a sculptured bust of Banjo Paterson. Since our grandson is named Banjo, we naturally took a closer look at his namesake.

!864-1941

I knew that he was a famous Australian Poet and he wrote the ballad "Waltzing Matilda" which has since been put to music and has become Australia's unofficial anthem. My other favourite poems, which I read to my class as a teacher, were "Mulga Bill's Bicycle," "A Bush Christmas" and "The Man from Snowy River", which was made into a movie.

I also knew his real name was Andrew Barton Paterson but I didn't know why he was called Banjo or what his connection was to Yass. After reading information I discovered that he grew up at Illalong Station near Binalong in the Yass Valley. His father was a grazier. When "Barty" (as his parents called him) was ten he was sent to Sydney Grammar School and he lived with his grandmother.

After school he became a solicitor but he had also started to write verse and had it published using the pen name of "Banjo" after the name of horse owned by his family.

He loved the "bush" (Australian for "country'' or "boondocks") and the characters he had met there. So he bought a 40,000 acre property in the Wee Jasper area of the Yass Valley as a country home.

In 1895 Paterson published his book of verse, "The Man from Snowy River. It sold out quickly and he became the second most popular living writer in English after Kipling.  Paterson's books still sell today.

Our little American Banjo

OH, TO BE (in) YOUNG

I should have included these photos in the last post about our reunion where you saw a bunch of oldies celebrating 50 years since we were at teachers' college. Well this is how we looked 50 years ago.

Class 1B Cadet Education Officers at Australian School of Pacific Administration. 1962.
I am 3rd from right in front row.

Class 1A. Colin is 5th from left in back row.

 Colin lives in Brisbane. After the reunion he stayed with his 90 year old mother in the country town of Young. It is not far from Canberra. TOH and I stayed in Young on our way home from Canberra and visited Colin and his mother.

 They showed us around the town. Firstly we did a tour of the lovely retirement village where Josephine lives.

 We visited the beautiful "Chinese Tribute Gardens".  The gardens were developed by the Rotary club and handed over to the Young council. Mayor Hewson dedicated them "in recognition of the contribution of the Chinese community to the settlement of Young in the 1860's. The chinese were gold miners in the early days.

 Now days Young is famous for its cherries and the Cherry Festival held in November.

 In the gardens there is an exact replica of "The Galloping Horse Treading on a Flying Swallow." It was unearthed in China in 1969 and is about 2000 years old. The artistic qualities are astounding. The proportions are perfectly matching a real horse and the centre of gravity is in the swallow and gives the statue stability.

 Many country towns have had their rail links closed and the railway stations are now used as Information Centres and museums. It is hard to understand why this service to country people has discontinued. Colin has a difficult time getting to Young on public transport to visit his mother.

 We took a stroll along the town's main street. 90 year old Josephine led the way. She is amazingly fit and healthy.

We ended up in a quaint shop selling crafts, conserves and fudge called "Poppa's Fudge & Jam Factory."I couldn't resist the fudge, yummmmmm chocolate mint.

SNOW IN SPRING

After a day spent with old friends in Canberra, visiting the Botanic Gardens and Floriade, we went back to the hotel and scrubbed up for the main dinner function of the reunion. It was held at the very nice Hellenic Club where we had a banquet in the Ginseng Restaurant.

We all met in the foyer of the Hellenic Club. It is 50 years since we all attended ASOPA* to study to become teachers in Papua/New Guinea and the Northern Territory. We easily picked up our  friendshp like it was only yesterday.

 Soon we adjourned upstairs to the restaurant where we had a delicious meal and loads more reminiscing.

The next morning we awoke to dull, rainy weather and freezing temperatures and this is supposed to be Spring. We had our last activity of the reunion which was a farewell breakfast at "The Oaks Brasserie" at Yarralumla Nursery and then we all said our goodbyes before dispersing to different corners of Australia.

We had planned to drive further south and visit The Snowy Mountains where I was going to climb to the top of our tallest mountain, Mt Kosiuzsko (not a difficult climb) and TOH* wanted to check out the amazing engineering project of the "Snowy Mountain Scheme"where the river was made to change direction and flow inland to irrigate the plains instead of flowing out to sea. There were many tunnels, dams and hydro power stations built too.

However, when we awoke to freezing temperatures and snow on the hills around Canberra, we changed our mind and headed north west towards the sun. We decided to take country roads back to Brisbane and stop and explore country towns on the way. I hope you enjoy the trip with us.

Naturally, first stop was the coffee shop. It was still very cold and the warmth inside was welcomed. It was a lovely little cafe and library in the town of Yass. Yass is a clean and well preserved little town with some very attractive old buildings still in use today. The population around Yass is made up of quite well off cattle and sheep farmers.

*ASOPA= Australian School of Pacific Administration.

*TOH= The other half