Storyline: Home to home westward
Whata whata? I don’t think that small city of almost 55,000 almost exactly half way between Sydney and Melbourne is on many foreign tourists “must visit” list. But perhaps it should be if one wants to get a taste of a vibrant New South Wales city that’s not yet been overrun by tourists like us.
Why then, and how, did we end up here? Well, if you have seen our posts in the “50 Years Later” storyline, you’ll perhaps have read about our visit with my (Alex’s) cousins in Cumbria…for the first time in 50 years. I have six cousins, five of whom live near each other close to where they grew up. The sixth and eldest lives a little further away (D: eh, just a little – down under). In Wagga Wagga. And we couldn’t visit Australia without imposing ourselves on cousin Mike and his family (D: Australia has been on our list to visit for a long time, exactly for this reason). Needless to say, we were delighted to be able to catch up with Mike, Carole and their son Simon. We missed meeting their daughter Joanne, but hope to do so in the future
What is a wagga, and why are there two of them? The city’s name comes from the Wiradjuri – the original Aboriginal inhabitants – who named the place where they forded the Murrumbidgee River as what is generally translated into English as “The place of many crows”. A wagga is a crow in their language, and the Wiradjuri created plurals by repeating the word. I guess that if we used the same approach, many of the establishments in town would be called “Beer, beer”.
The city was first settled by Europeans in the 1830s and in addition to agriculture is a transportation and military hub.
Our train journey from Sydney took about six hours. Mike and Carole welcomed us warmly and whisked us to their home in the suburbs. Simon, who lives nearby, joined us for a delicious home-cooked casserole and chat around the table. It was a wonderful, warm, cozy evening as we reminisced and reconnected.
During our visit we were given a great tour around the area, visiting the towns of Junee and Coolamon. The towns in this area, which we were told are representative of most in central-west NSW, displayed the sense of unlimited space that the early surveyors must have felt: main streets wide enough that, as the story goes, “if you get kicked out of one pub for being drunk, you’ll be sober by the time you reach the pub on the other side”. There are many possible reasons for streets so wide, including military, health, carriage parking, and turning radii. Whatever the motivations, the feeling op openness and room to breathe is a joy.
In Junee, we visited the Licorice and Chocolate Factory in a restored flour mill where we watched and salivated over the production of the Company’s products. We looked onto the café there, but decided that it was a bit early. We also missed the antique cars in an old barn there, but one can’t do everything and there were more places to visit.
I did manage to snap a picture of a beautiful Model T Ford while Mike pulled the car out of the parking spot and started to drive away (I’ll remember that for when you visit us in Canada, Mike).
Next up, a volunteer-run railway museum that housed a large and lovely and elaborate model railway,
and that also contained several locomotives and rolling stock in an old, partially disused roundhouse. We could have spent longer there, but we were doggedly pursued by a lonely volunteer who constantly distracted us, finally driving us off like a one-man swarm of mosquitos.
The pretty town of Coolamon and its cheese factory were next. We had a coffee and snack there, but found the price of the excellent cheese just too high.
Wandering up the main street we came across a real gem – the Up-To-Date store. This well-preserved general store is now a museum.
The beautiful wooden shelving is intact, as is the gravity-operated precursor of the pneumatic tube transfer systems still used today in some major stores for cashiers to send their take to the back office. The system here, that the knowledgeable volunteer demonstrated, uses a sphere that the user pulls apart to reveal a hollow storage space. The cash goes in and the sphere is hoisted to a set of overhead rails down which it rolls to the office. There’s another set of rails that slopes back to the cash register to return the sphere. An elaborate system, given that it’s only about 10 metres between the cash desk and the back office, but a fascinating product.
Further back in the store is a collection of hand-knit dresses. “Um, what’s so interesting about that?”, one may ask, especially those of us for whom dresses have never been a part of our wardrobe. Well, this collection was all knit by a local woman, Mavis Turner, over many years for her own use. The dresses are lovingly preserved as a window into local history.
We also checked out the agricultural exhibits, being duly impressed by the size of the wagons, the wheels of which were taller than Diana (which admittedly is not that tall).
We also popped into another place that was absolutely delightful. Heavenly Baked was a combination café and store, and Mike observed that the café space was much larger now than it had been. It seems that the store component didn’t generate enough turnover so part of that space was reallocated. The food looked great and prices were reasonable. We had already refueled, but we had coffee anyway in order to support the enterprise.
Back in Wagga Wagga, we chatted (did we ever stop chatting?) then headed out to the RSL (Returned and Services League) for a delicious Chinese meal (D: Mmmm, loved these big prawns!).
The following day, we relaxed in the morning, catching up on some of our writing and photo selections while Mike worked – he retires in a couple of months and was making sure that his clients were taken care of. We then toured the town, wandering around and seeing the sights.
We learned, among other things, that some of the beautiful bird species here are real pains in the [choose your body part].
The National Glass Gallery was a revelation and much more interesting than we may have expected. The variety of forms was beautifully curated, with detailed explanations of the techniques used by the artists. (D: I have not seen such a beautiful display anywhere before!) Unfortunately, photography inside was not permitted.
There is a lovely park through which we wandered, and Mike pointed out the spot where the family would gather for their festive season barbecues and enjoy the entertainment (that’s still a bit of a mental disconnect for us – it’s a bit cold at year end in our neck of the woods. Although outdoor New Year’s Eve concerts are popular. Only fools like me barbecue at that time of year.
We toured the city’s museum, which is in the old city hall with its beautifully preserved council chambers,
and retired to a lovely local microbrewery pub for some much-needed refreshments. (D: The pub was “Thirsty crow” and the beer that I only sipped was really good. I especially liked the dark ale! I was so impressed by their creative menu, that I ended up with one in my suitcase!)
Dinner was at a delightful Indian restaurant. Must say that the quality of restaurant food that we had in Wagga Wagga was excellent.
All too soon the next day we were deposited back at the beautiful train station for our onward journey to Melbourne. Many thanks to Mike, Carole and Simon for their hospitality. We expect to see you in Canada soon.
Diana:
I was delighted to meet with Mike and Carole and spend few days with them. They are a lovely couple to be with. I listened to the memories coming back, to names and places unknown to me, to stories emerging from the dept of 50+ years, the jokes and the laughter.
I was observing the passion of the cousins’ reconnection. It was so touching. I also enjoyed the drive to Junee and Coolamon. This gave me the feeling of this vast country, a surprisingly calm and relaxed feeling. The empty roads, the gum trees (eucalyptus) everywhere and nothing else. As though the world has stopped, right here, to give you a break from everything. I could have driven for days on such roads. It reminded me our drive through the Northern parts of Quebec and Ontario last year, on our road trip with Milan, the storyline still to be finished in this blog. Just that if one stepped out of the car in the Canadian land they’d be eaten alive by the mosquitos.
Join the conversation around our e-Table