Canberra is such a beautiful City with so many things to see but the weather drove us away. We stayed for six days at a great fee camp at Murrumbateman (only a 20 minute drive to Canberra) with power, water and two other friendly couples but the wind became fierce after a couple of days and one day it rained so hard we ended up staying in bed and watching five straight episodes of Game of Thrones. Once the rain subsided we had lunch and took a drive to Yass to have a look around but the weather got bad again so we went back to the van and watched a few more episodes! However, we still enjoyed our time there and after consulting the weather maps, decided to head to Gundagai, On the way we stopped at Junee because there is an Organic Licorice and Chocolate Factory which offered a tour for $5.00 ea and it was well worth it. We ate our entry fee in samples and the tour was very interesting. We also played a game of vertical bowls and won a box of licorice for being entertaining! Junee is a lovely old town and the Licorice Factory was originally a Flour Mill. The owners have done a lovely job in making the grounds and factory so inviting.
I googled the words to "On the Road to Gundagai" and gave a fine rendition all the way and then couldn't get the bloody song out of my head. Grrr
We arrived in Gundagai (at a free camp) and headed off into town for a look around. What a great place. They have so much history there and we discovered a fascinating photo exhibition - on the top floor of a hardware store. Gundagai was originally built on the Murrumbidgee River flood plains but a massive flood came through in 1852 and washed the entire town away and 84 people lost their lives. Many more would have been lost but a local aborigine rescued a huge number of people. The only original building to survive was a Flour Mill. After that, the town was built way up the hill and most of those buildings are still there. One of the pubs walls are adorned with amazing murals done by a swaggy who painted them for his food and board. After the flood, two bridges were built high up to cater for any future floods. They are timber and certainly look their age but the locals are raising funds to have the bridges restored because they are so significant to their heritage. We saw photos of what they had looked like in their day and hope to see them again in their restored glory.
Our friends, Sue and Dave called in to Gundagai on their way home so we had a lovely afternoon with them. After two days exploring on foot we set off to Wagga Wagga. A huge town with so many free exhibitions and museums that we immersed ourselves into a cultural experience as well as visiting the Botanic Gardens Zoo and having a ride on the Miniature Railway! The free camp in Wilkes Park was very good so we stayed for the maximum of three days. We may go back because we are hoping to catch up with Matt, Tracey and the kids on their way back from Adelaide.
From Wagga we traveled to Adelong and booked into the caravan park for one night so we could do the washing. With that job done we went for a walk through the old town. It's always interesting to read the real estate ads in a shop window. The prices for massive acreage or historic buildings always surprises us with how cheap they are - if only they were in Adelaide!
Today we will visit the old gold fields in Adelong and then head towards Tumburumba to see what we can see.
The War Memorial, Canberra
from the other end, with a view to Parliament House
The Dome at The War Memorial
One of the mosaics adorning the War memorial
This is me doing a cartwheel at Parliament house but Peter missed it -
and I was not going to do another one!
The Queen and I
Coming down the Stairs in the foyer of Parliament House
This is supposed to be me looking like I'm handcuffed and being marched into The High Court
Inside The High Court, just beautiful
The highest Court in the land
bike riding in the rain along Lake Burley Griffin
The Lake with the Captain Cook Memorial Jet in the background
The Japanese Gardens
The Dog on the Tuckerbox, Gundagai
an amazing photographic history of Gundagai, from 1890-1905
Old Gundagai Railway Station - now a Museum
Street art in Gundagai
Two beautiful historic bridges. One a railway bridge, the other a promenade
The town is raising funds for their restoration
The original town was on this flat area before being completely swept away in the 1852 flood
The bridges were built years after the big flood and are among the oldest in Aus.
Peter pretending to be a dairy farmer
Peter with Dad and Dave, Mum and Mabel, Gundagai
Our free(dom) camp at Gundagai, under the historic bridges
Sue and David met us in Gundagai for lunch
Big tree in Gundagai (one of many)
Going for a walk to the Original town of Gundagai which was wiped out during a flood in 1852
We got a prize for our upright bowling game at the Junee Licorice and Chocolate Factory
watching the chocolate coating process during a tour of the factory
Deers at the Botanic Gardens Zoo in Wagga Wagga
The miniature Railway at Wagga Wagga
Toot Toot, going through a tunnel
There was an exhibition of Womens Fashion and underwear in Wagga
One of the amusing ads in the exhibition
We also visited a science exhibition (for kids) - learnt alot
got myself a new $3.50 pair of thongs! I wore my other ones out!
Beautiful Railway Station in Wagga Wagga
From the foot bridge
Turtles in the water at Wagga Wagga
A suspension bridge into the town of Adelong
Peter thought it was great fun jumping up and down while I was trying to walk across
Not amused!
from the safety of the ground
This is our view from the back of the van, Adelong
