The Davisons' rain-making is at work again today! We woke to the sound of heavy rain and decided that it was not going to be worthwhile visiting the Parkes telescope so just packed up and got on the road. This area does need the rain, most of the creeks we pass are dry or extremely low, but it would be nice if it would rain overnight instead of waiting for the mornings!
From Forbes, we took the Lachlan Valley Way towards Cowra. It’s a very quiet country road, but started off in good condition.
The land is flat but with more habitation than further north and there are lots of small farms, with plenty of sheep and cows grazing the fields. Most of the road has flood signs with markers up to 1m depth – it must be quite a sight when the whole area gets flooded. It had virtually stopped raining by then with only the occasional spit.
We stopped off in the village of Wooloongong to take a look at a Pioneer Walkway, built beside the War Memorial.
It’s a brick built circle with brass plaques all around the top of the hip-high walls containing details of local families. The centre of the circle is paved and some of the pavers also have names and dates etched into them. As we were wondering what the story was, an elderly local was walking his dog and came to talk to us. The village was originally an Aboriginal dwelling place (place by the water), but most are long gone. It was decided that there should be a memorial, not just to the fallen from the wars but to the inhabitants who’ve been part of the history. Many of the families still here can trace their ancestry back to the 1800’s. All the skills and labour to build it, and the adjoining children’s play area, have been provided by locals. All the plaques and etched pavers have been paid for by those whose details are included. The man was able to point out his family, those who have died or have moved away and so on. The work is still ongoing, with the council making paths to link all the various parts but, as it’s classed as low priority, it may take some time – where have we heard that before? We got on to the subject of rainfall as, apart from the heavy rain we’d just experienced, the land was very dry. The local dam is at 12% capacity only. Last year, it got down to 3.9% so they have a severe water shortage. We’d seen in the newspapers talk of somehow getting water from some of the areas with little or no problems into these drought areas, but the logistics are unimaginable so their situation is ongoing. Makes our water problems seem pathetic by comparison.
Having had our bit of history for the day, we drove on with the road deteriorating and narrowing. There were lots of small grey, white and pink birds (I hesitate to call them parrots or cockatiels as I have no idea what they were) flying about, as well as some small crested grey and black birds and a few yellow crested cockatoos. There are magpies everywhere you go and crows and sparrows.
We joined the Western Highway briefly before entering Cowra then stopped by the Tourist Information where there was a Driver Reviver unit.
A State Emergency Service vehicle was there with the two man team chatting to the Reviver volunteers, so Tom was questioning them on their role and how they worked. They are volunteers, on call 24/7, highly trained to deal with flooding, accidents, fires and just about any emergency you can think of. Their area is vast. One of them likened it to an area with London at the centre and going out to Oxford – but not as built-up. Cowra had a POW camp during WWII and one of the biggest mass break outs of the war occurred there with a large number of escapees dying in the attempt. There are still descendants of some of the Japanese POW’s living in the area. There is a small museum in the tourist office about this.
After Cowra, we rejoined the Lachlan Way towards Boorowa where we stopped for coffee at the old Magistrate’s Court, which has been turned into a small tourist attraction with an Art and Craft shop and a very nice little café in some of the smaller rooms.
They do the best scones we’ve had for ages there with home-made jam and real cream – not squirty stuff. Suitably refreshed, we set off on the last leg for today to Canberra. Just before Yass, we joined a civilised road, the Hume Highway, but that meant lots more traffic or at least more than we’d had for the past 200kms. Where the Hume goes off towards Sydney, we turned south on the Barton Highway and at Murrumbateman were stopped at a police roadblock where Tom was given a random breathtest – it was all clear I’m pleased to say. This was at 2.45pm, so they obviously expect to find drivers over the limit at this time on a bank holiday. The police are out in force this weekend, cracking down on drink driving and speeding.
Then it was on into Canberra. We stopped at the Tourist Info for maps and a loo break before negotiating the city – we’re staying in one of the south suburbs, Narrabundah, in Jerrabomberra Avenue. But as it was still only 3.30pm so we did a quick detour up to Mt Ainslie to have a look over the city.
There are three mountains round Canberra, Black Mountain, Red Hill and Mt Ainslie with Mt Ainslie being the viewpoint looking down the axis of the city’s layout. The Burley Griffins, who were chosen to design Canberra, certainly had a tremendous vision and the view is spectacular.
The War Memorial is directly below the Mt with Anzac Parade leading down to Lake Burley Griffin, across to the Parkes district, where the High Court and Questacon (National Science & Technology Ctr) are. Beyond them is the old Parliament House and the Portrait Gallery leading up to Parliament House on Capital Hill. The two bridges, Commonwealth Avenue and Kings Avenue, over the lake lead your eyes to Capital Hill making a perfect triangle. The main roads are built out like a spider’s web from the centre, with parkland everywhere so the overall effect is not of a huge built up city.
Our Motel, the Crestwood Gardens, is the largest we have stayed in with 56 units. It’s very quiet and I did the laundry as soon as we were unpacked. We found a shop for food for dinner and had a quiet night in. Tomorrow is designated as a partly lazy day and it will all depend on the weather too so we’ll see what happens. Goodnight for now.
From Forbes, we took the Lachlan Valley Way towards Cowra. It’s a very quiet country road, but started off in good condition.
The land is flat but with more habitation than further north and there are lots of small farms, with plenty of sheep and cows grazing the fields. Most of the road has flood signs with markers up to 1m depth – it must be quite a sight when the whole area gets flooded. It had virtually stopped raining by then with only the occasional spit.We stopped off in the village of Wooloongong to take a look at a Pioneer Walkway, built beside the War Memorial.
It’s a brick built circle with brass plaques all around the top of the hip-high walls containing details of local families. The centre of the circle is paved and some of the pavers also have names and dates etched into them. As we were wondering what the story was, an elderly local was walking his dog and came to talk to us. The village was originally an Aboriginal dwelling place (place by the water), but most are long gone. It was decided that there should be a memorial, not just to the fallen from the wars but to the inhabitants who’ve been part of the history. Many of the families still here can trace their ancestry back to the 1800’s. All the skills and labour to build it, and the adjoining children’s play area, have been provided by locals. All the plaques and etched pavers have been paid for by those whose details are included. The man was able to point out his family, those who have died or have moved away and so on. The work is still ongoing, with the council making paths to link all the various parts but, as it’s classed as low priority, it may take some time – where have we heard that before? We got on to the subject of rainfall as, apart from the heavy rain we’d just experienced, the land was very dry. The local dam is at 12% capacity only. Last year, it got down to 3.9% so they have a severe water shortage. We’d seen in the newspapers talk of somehow getting water from some of the areas with little or no problems into these drought areas, but the logistics are unimaginable so their situation is ongoing. Makes our water problems seem pathetic by comparison.Having had our bit of history for the day, we drove on with the road deteriorating and narrowing. There were lots of small grey, white and pink birds (I hesitate to call them parrots or cockatiels as I have no idea what they were) flying about, as well as some small crested grey and black birds and a few yellow crested cockatoos. There are magpies everywhere you go and crows and sparrows.
We joined the Western Highway briefly before entering Cowra then stopped by the Tourist Information where there was a Driver Reviver unit.
A State Emergency Service vehicle was there with the two man team chatting to the Reviver volunteers, so Tom was questioning them on their role and how they worked. They are volunteers, on call 24/7, highly trained to deal with flooding, accidents, fires and just about any emergency you can think of. Their area is vast. One of them likened it to an area with London at the centre and going out to Oxford – but not as built-up. Cowra had a POW camp during WWII and one of the biggest mass break outs of the war occurred there with a large number of escapees dying in the attempt. There are still descendants of some of the Japanese POW’s living in the area. There is a small museum in the tourist office about this.After Cowra, we rejoined the Lachlan Way towards Boorowa where we stopped for coffee at the old Magistrate’s Court, which has been turned into a small tourist attraction with an Art and Craft shop and a very nice little café in some of the smaller rooms.
They do the best scones we’ve had for ages there with home-made jam and real cream – not squirty stuff. Suitably refreshed, we set off on the last leg for today to Canberra. Just before Yass, we joined a civilised road, the Hume Highway, but that meant lots more traffic or at least more than we’d had for the past 200kms. Where the Hume goes off towards Sydney, we turned south on the Barton Highway and at Murrumbateman were stopped at a police roadblock where Tom was given a random breathtest – it was all clear I’m pleased to say. This was at 2.45pm, so they obviously expect to find drivers over the limit at this time on a bank holiday. The police are out in force this weekend, cracking down on drink driving and speeding.Then it was on into Canberra. We stopped at the Tourist Info for maps and a loo break before negotiating the city – we’re staying in one of the south suburbs, Narrabundah, in Jerrabomberra Avenue. But as it was still only 3.30pm so we did a quick detour up to Mt Ainslie to have a look over the city.
There are three mountains round Canberra, Black Mountain, Red Hill and Mt Ainslie with Mt Ainslie being the viewpoint looking down the axis of the city’s layout. The Burley Griffins, who were chosen to design Canberra, certainly had a tremendous vision and the view is spectacular.
The War Memorial is directly below the Mt with Anzac Parade leading down to Lake Burley Griffin, across to the Parkes district, where the High Court and Questacon (National Science & Technology Ctr) are. Beyond them is the old Parliament House and the Portrait Gallery leading up to Parliament House on Capital Hill. The two bridges, Commonwealth Avenue and Kings Avenue, over the lake lead your eyes to Capital Hill making a perfect triangle. The main roads are built out like a spider’s web from the centre, with parkland everywhere so the overall effect is not of a huge built up city.Our Motel, the Crestwood Gardens, is the largest we have stayed in with 56 units. It’s very quiet and I did the laundry as soon as we were unpacked. We found a shop for food for dinner and had a quiet night in. Tomorrow is designated as a partly lazy day and it will all depend on the weather too so we’ll see what happens. Goodnight for now.
Place names from the last 2 days – Coolbaggie Creek, Goomumbla, The Welcome Road (didn’t look very welcoming), Kangarooby Creek, Cucumgilliga and Wee Jasper. I still haven’t seen any wild kangaroos, except for a small dead body by the roadside near Moree.
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