To continue….

Good morning all, I had a great sleep and am ready to finish talking about the highlights of the previous couple of weeks with you all.
At present I am chilling at the Hay Showgrounds which has allowed me not only to put my washing out on my miniature Hills Hoist 😛 but also to work on all things computer related like my blog 🙂
I will endeavour not to leave out anything I think you maybe interested in but those blonde moments often catch me unawares so no promises lol
Anyway the two towns that stood out in my journey from Sandy Hollow to Wellington, having spent the late afternoon and night in the 24 hour rest stop at Cassilis Park (I hardly moved while I was there to be honest. I was coming down from all the excitement of the morning and the exhaustion that inevitably follows such a big high had left me completely drained) over the next week leading up to Easter were Gulgong and Yeoval; neither of which I had planned to explore. Hell I hadn’t even planned to stop in Gulgong but that coffee time blues that comes around 10:30am when you are on the road, hit with a vengeance and so I detoured, thinking I would only spend half an hour and then move on. I do like to check out the local cafes even if only to be able to report to my fellow café enthusiasts where the best coffees are …well that’s my excuse and so I’m sticking to it 😉 Off I wandered down the main street which really looked to be pretty much all there was to the town, at least from my initial vantage point.
I always try to park on the outskirts of town first. My bus is a tad bigger than most parks allow in towns so a reconnaissance in case I want to spend longer is always in order and means I can stretch my body out while I am at it, not a bad thing that all things considered
As I wandered along the road, I noted that there was at least one museum in town. This one was of a lot of the older style tools used on the farm and other artefacts of bygone years. Hmmm, might visit that later I thought but continued on my exploratory walk as I searched for a café I felt good about. I was most amused to see one called the Butcher’s café, thinking to myself it wouldn’t pull in any vegetarians and wasn’t it a good thing that folks appeared to consist of more than a few cattle farmers in these parts from the appearance of the land I had travelled through.
I wasn’t in the mood for heavy food so continued on my way after taking a pic of the sign to share with my Facebook friends, adding to the collection I had started back in the Tea Gardens lol… what was also becoming clear was that there was much more to Gulgong that I had at first thought. Being a curious type, I continued to wander. After all this is why I was travelling.. well that and the lure of nature in all her guises.
There were quite a few shops and almost off of them seemed to have some artefacts of the past in their window fronts, even the barber! I noted an interesting looking ‘cheapie shop’ and the whereabouts of the local supermarket while puzzling over why there was a huge sign over a hotel that declared Gulgong the home of the ten dollar bill!
I thought I had come to the end of the shops by then until I spied a sign outside a little building a bit further up so off I went to get a closer look. Imagine my surprise when I saw it was a museum dedicated to the life and times of Henry Lawson! For those who do not know the name, he was an amazing bush poet and story teller. He was a soldier in the first world war (a fact I didn’t know thanks to very little of our own history being taught to us in school);later on a war correspondent who not only chronicled the war but wrote evocative poetry about the lives and, so often deaths, of many a soldier of the time. So often as I read his words, I found myself bathed in tears. Not only for their demise and the families they left behind but tears that came as a response to the powerful spirits that dwelt within their physical shells, wishing I had met them and in the end through his words, feeling as if I had.
I know that films can often bring powerful understanding and empathy but when a wordsmith works their craft, their ability to touch the deepest places of one’s soul is a unique gift that is rarely rivalled by other means.
I read of his formative years in Gulgong, the women who shared in his remarkable story, his dynamic love of the Australian spirit that existed in those times, his fearless outspokenness in the name ofjustice for all, including women’s rights I might add in a time when it was most unpopular to do so and his mateships, including the deep bond between he and Banjo Paterson, yet another amazing poet of the times. I spent so much time in there that I missed morning tea entirely and was now starving! Off I went in search of some food, suddenly fancying some of that butcher’s meat lol. I ordered bacon, eggs and tomato … and a coffee!
The food was nicely cooked and the coffee… well lets just say it was wet and I was thirsty lol…
I had noticed a laundrette down the road and by now was thinking I might as well stay the night in the showground there. It was bloody hot, forget this cold business I had been warned about … at 29 degrees Celsius through the day and 10 degrees Celsius through the night, I wasn’t feeling any cold! In fact I was even more pleased I had not chosen to travel across in the heat summer when the temperatures soared so much higher than these sultry autumn days. Not only that but I do prefer a morning start when I am fresh, so off I went to the laundrette to do my washing and then to the showgrounds to dry it! It was only $16 a night there, they had individual showers with their own lockable cubicles and those heavenly shower heads! The toilets were actually a delight. In a block of their own, as you entered you were greeted with lovely pictures of art. There were flowers growing at the entrance and flowers inside. The block was really clean, cared for and omg would you believe there was actually magazines left on a lovely little corner what not for those who might need to ‘take a little time’ lol… I loved it and would recommend anyone go there. I was lucky enough to snaffle a flat spot to park up, got out my little clothes line and popped in a breezy, sunny spot. Once the washing was out, the next thing on my list had to be checking out just how good those showers worked. It had been a hot and sweaty business, this exploring lol and all I really wanted to do was clean off the sweat and dust that comes with these places before chilling with my book in the shade.
I had pretty quiet neighbours and so my sleep was almost as good as when I free camp in nature.. well almost because there is nothing quite like being surrounded by the gentle, healing vibes that can only be found in the bush, beside the river or near the oceans we are so lucky to be surrounded by in Oz.
The next morning after fluffing around as I do when on the road lol,(to be fair my imagination had been so captured by my time in the museum that I wasn’t really in my body! Oh and before I forget I should mention the reason for the town’s claim to fame on the ten dollar bill is because Henry Lawson was immortalised on it as one of our most noted Australians!
Eventually of course I came back to earth. set my route and headed back out. I had wasted too much time already what with having one last shower under that wonderful shower head, revelling in the space that my lovely little home on wheels cannot provide despite all her good points, so I decided I would stop along the way for a late breakfast and of course another cuppa lol
About 45kms or so down the highway, I came to a little town called Yeoval. I was more than ready to eat by now and the yoghurt I had bought the day before, along with fresh fruit and berries would be just the thing! On the edge of town, I was fascinated to note the park had a picnic table with a sculpture of a giant hate as its shade lol… I just had to stop here, as you would. It turned out to be on loan from Orange and was a recreation, though obviously a hell of a lot larger, of Banjo Paterson’s hat! OMG!! I could not believe it… I had just been reading of the mateship of Henry Lawson and Banjo Paterson in that museum! Not only that but as I looked around I spied a building across the road that proudly announced in bold letters that there was a Banjo Paterson Exhibition inside. The fact that it was a café as well wasn’t lost on me and I made up my mind that after I had breakfast, I would go over and have a squiz at what was on display. Might or might not have a coffee though I thought. Time to be conserving the dollars lol…
When I went in the first thing I saw was that if you were a traveller your coffee was free… a hidden driver reviver! Perfect! The price for admission to the exhibition in the adjacent room was a mere $3 and as I had a free coffee in my hand, I paid to go in and look.
Again there was so much to see and learn! Though born in Orange, after the first six weeks of his life, he and his family moved to a homestead on the nearby creek and that’s where Banjo spent the early years of his life before moving to Sydney and living with his Grandmother, who by all accounts had the biggest influence on this great man’s early adult life.
I didn’t know he had fought in the war; a veteran of the Light Horse Brigade who fought for the right of all Australians to live free. Another iconic Australian to whom we owe so much, not the least of which is his poetry that depicts the uniquely Australian way of life and thinking in those times; both the good and the not so good and for this if nothing else I am grateful for his talent and passion for our country.
In both of these exhibitions the works of these poets are proudly displayed. If you get a chance, please do yourselves a favour and visit. The poetry alone is worth it! I felt completely ensconced in the times as their descriptive and bluntly honest way of chronicling them wrapped me in the history of yesteryear.
From here I drove to Wellington, once again a little tired and definitely sore from the constant working of the heavy clutch but well satisfied by now with the decision to come this way. My life has been so enriched by all I have learned and experienced. Its time to get back out and experience so I will leave the rest of the trip to Hay till another time. Be safe and happy. Ciao for now
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