A Road Trip

Hubs and I have not long returned from an 8 day road trip around the western area of NSW.    During that time we saw plenty of colourful trees

Visited a  few wineries and found a lovely shady area to sit and enjoy some afternoon tea

Saw lovely old well preserved buildings

All of the country towns that we visited have very wide streets and the locals take a pride in their areas.  In the photos below is the township of Gulgong which features on the Australian ten dollar  note hence the name "Ten Dollar Town".     The statue is of the "jolly swagman" that the song "Waltz in Matilda" is about and is found in a park in Wagga Wagga.     

We were lucky enough to be up close  to the animals at Taronga Western Plains Zoo.   A zoo that I would recommend anyone visiting the area put on their "must see list". 

The Japanese Gardens in Cowra were very peaceful and serene to walk around.

Every country town has a central park complete with bandstand and fountain

As well as fern and bergonia houses to walk through and enjoy.

Once we left Dubbo and travelled further out west the plight of the farmers due to the drought became very evident everywhere we looked.    We were told that many of the farmers are having to sell off the livestock as they cannot afford to truck in water and feed for them.    It was very sad to see just how dry the countryside is out there.  I remember learning about the "mighty Murrumbidgee River" when in primary school and if you look at the first photo there is barely a trickle of water in some parts of the river.    The blue sign on the tree is a marker for the flood level in 1974 - that is not going to happen again for sometime to come.

Hubs and I really enjoyed our "western road trip" and covered a distance of 1,650 kms during our time away.     We did however collect a souvenir at the end of our holiday which we could have done without - a cracked windscreen.   

 It could have been a lot worse so we consider ourselves very lucky.   A phone call to the insurance company has now fixed that problem and the car has been through the car wash and looks back to new again.

My one disappointment about the country areas was not being able to visit many fabric/quilt shops.    Many of the towns do not have one, the businesses have closed down permanently, there is one shop in the area and that was closed due being Saturday afternoon or Sunday when I was there and one was even closed with a sign on the door - "gone to the doctor".   

Thanks for joining me on our trip out west - I hope that you enjoyed reading about it and seeing some of the photos that were taken.

Back soon and in the meantime

Happy sewing all