We took the opportunity to explore the local area while we were staying in Jingellic so headed for Corryong. The road to Corryong winds along the banks of the Murray River offering panoramic views of incredibly green fields with a backdrop of distant, snowcapped mountains. I had never seen snow in Australia before so was delighted.
We stopped off in Tintaldra and had a look at the Historic General Store which has been beautifully restored and has the original little bakery out the back with a view over the Murray to die for.
Corryong itself was a very smart little town with references to Banjo Patterson's famous poem 'The Man From Snowy River' everywhere we turned. Once we had picked our way through the Man From Snowy River statues, tea towels, stubby holders, hats, t-shirts and so on we were ready to look at the splendid little museum in the centre of town. The museum houses an eclectic mix of local historic material and has a marvelous collection of old buildings which have been located in the back garden. The buildings include a school, bank, police station, cottage and the usual barn full of old farm tools. My sister Gill was with us on this trip and she said one of the things she remembered about travelling in Australia in the past was that, everywhere she went, there was always a barn proudly displaying old farming equipment.
The following morning we set off for our next scheduled stop, Marysville. As we drove in we noticed how new and smart the town looked and found out the reason when we got to the visitor centre. Marysville was one of the towns almost completely wiped out in the bushfires of Black Saturday, 7th February 2009 when 34 residents were killed and around 90% of the town's buildings were destroyed. The townspeople appear to have a very positive attitude about the rebuilding and they have certainly created an attractive town.
We decided to stop at a free camp in the middle of the forest at Anderson Mill (as you do when you have just read about appalling bushfires). The camping area was in a clearing surrounded by huge, towering Mountain Ash trees and it was beautiful with King Parrots touting for scraps and only a couple of other caravans there, probably because the track in towing a caravan was not for the faint hearted, but that meant it was very peaceful.
It was only a short drive from Marysville into Melbourne and we had a wonderful time at Zoe's graduation. She missed her first one in the UK because she moved to Australia as soon as she finished at the University of East Anglia so it was fantastic to have a second opportunity, this time at Monash University, to see her pick up her masters.
Having visitors has given us an excuse to get back on the road again and ignore our responsibilities at home, specifically The Grand Design going on downstairs. I am sure the builder was glad to see the back of us too as we set off on a road trip designed to take in Zoe's graduation in Melbourne.
We left in pouring rain and drove along the beautiful Golden Highway towards Bathurst where we hoped to spend a couple of nights. It was all a bit damp but still pretty as we passed first the huge open cut mines, then the vineyards and finally incredibly expensive horse country where some of the biggest names in Australian horse racing have their studs. The showground was where we were headed in Bathurst. I have mentioned before that we often stay at showgrounds because they are a cheap and convenient option with the caravan and always pretty quiet. As we rolled into the showground it was clear something was going on there, in all the times we have stayed in them we have never seen anything much happening at a showground but this was different, there were cars everywhere and people queuing for a wine tasting evening. Now wine is one of my favourite things but the entrance fee was a bit steep at $40 per head so we made do with the grog we had in the van.
When we woke the next morning we found that the wine tasting paraphernalia had been cleared away and replaced with an absolutely enormous book sale, this changeover must all have been performed by elves overnight because we didn't hear any of it. Along with wine, books are my other favourite thing so the Bathurst Showground was really delivering the goods. We purchased a huge box of books and went off to see the splendid sights of Bathurst including Mount Panorama Racing Circuit and Museum and, another Big Thing to add to my list The Big Gold Panner.
We had a schedule to stick to so had to get some miles under our belts to get to our next planned stop, Jingellic on the NSW/Victoria border. There was plenty of time to enjoy the drive though and we decided to stop in Cowra to see the Japanese Garden recommended by our friends Tim and Virginia. Well, what a recommendation, it was sensational!
Cowra was the location of a prisoner of war camp in the Second World War where 1104 Japanese POWs attempted an escape in 1944. The Cowra Breakout had a tragic outcome as over 200 of the escaped Japanese soldiers were killed along with four Australian soldiers.
The gardens were beautiful, very calm and peaceful and immaculate with not a blade of grass out of place. Dogs were allowed on the lead and there was a very pleasant cafe at the foot of the hill, an excellent place to recharge the batteries.
Cowra itself was a very attractive town and we could have stayed for much longer but wanted to reach Jingellic in reasonable time so headed off again with a brief stop at Holbrook so I could take a quick photo of The Big Submarine. I don't know whether it really counts as a Big Thing because it is a real submarine and Big Things are supposed to be larger than life. Anyway, it was big so it gets ticked off my list.
Jingellic was as gorgeous as ever when we arrived. We stay at the free campground behind the pub on the banks of the Murray River. The pub provides 24 hour toilets and sells $4 tokens for excellent hot showers. We settled in with dinner and a few drinks at the pub, well it seemed rude not to.
