A beautiful free camp alongside the Yass River. Quiet and very relaxing.
The Yass River. Our view out the door.
Banjo Patterson Park, Yass. It’s worthwhile enlarging this photo to read his life story, or researching it from another source. An interesting life indeed.
One of Banjo Patterson’s famous poems. At a park named in his honour, Yass.
The old Yass Court House. Its purpose has never changed from it’s original intent.
Country Charm indeed! Look at that intricate iron lace work.
Yass has many old buildings it has preserved. This one doesn’t appear to have changed its purpose since it was built. Todays pharmacy items would be unrecognisable in the eyes of the first pharmacist at this shop.
Pepper Trees line the street in Ariah Park. See the fruit on this one?
It’s been a long time since I last saw one of these. It’s a milk separator and butter churn. When we were children my mother used to use one of these to make our butter. I spotted it in one of the historical displays in the shop windows at Ariah Park.
I ‘think’ this is a grain storage building. Just outside West Wyalong.
The crooked main street in West Wyalong. This town was not planned and just grew up around the bullock track which dodged around trees, hence the kink in the road.
The shearing shed at Yallan Park Farm. We camped beside it.
One of the two Maremma dogs used to guard the angora goats at Yarran Farm.
Lambs. So cute. At Yarran Farm.
Araucana chicks. You can see as they lose their down their feathers are coming in as a pale lavender. These chicks will one day lay eggs that are either blue or green shelled.
One of several campsites. The old car there was what Keith learnt to drive on, many years ago. Yarran Farm
This is another campsite on Yarran Farm which we could have chosen.
Keith assured me this is a very healthy crop. He feels his farming practices of caring for the soil and using an absolute minimum of chemicals is why his crops are so healthy.
Fields of purple! This is Patersons Curse flowering. Generally considered a weed, though Keith assures me beekeepers love it for their bees. Weethalle, not on Keith’s farm!
An amazing array of orange sculptures greeted us in Griffith. You can see they stretch from the Information Centre, just out of the photo to the right, all the way down the street, and then some!
Now there’s an angel.
The vet’s entry.
Guess which business had this as their entry? No prizes!
NSW Rural Fire Service entry.
This one was pretty good. Griffith Orange Festival
Sunset on the canal at Griffith.
Our campsite by the Canal in Griffith. It’s a lovely grassed area that extends for a couple of hundred metres along the canal with a park in front of us.
Just one of these would be nice!
The vineyards here in Griffith are massive, and expanding. This is McWilliams.
A little history of the first vines grown (MIA = Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area). Those vines have seen many changes to the art and science of viticulture and wine making.
The ‘hundred year old grape vines’. Amazing that these plants can live so long.
Wine and food tasting as befits the birthday boy.
A little recovery sit-down before heading off to the next vineyard.
Ah he’s found his favourite wine, which just happens to be his namesake.
An information board about the Hermit of Griffith. He sounded like a very interesting person in his day.
The town of Carcoar had many well-preserved older buildings, but as it’s the weekend nothing was open.
The main camping area at Carcoar Dam. We were lucky to get our nice high spot away from everyone else, and level.
Sunset from our campsite at Carcoar Dam.
An excellent campsite between the First Fleet Memorial Gardens and the Quirindi River.
The First and Second Fleet Memorial is the only garden memorial to the First and Second Fleets in Australia.
Beautifully presented gardens with lots of information on the First Fleets.