It was culture day today and Sue had the choice of activities, so we were off to town for a visit to the library. As we had to wait until the library opened at 10:00 am, we walked through the centre of town, by the 'bidgee. A well organised park, which has a good combination of parkland, gardens and items for children, extends from one bridge to another. At the play equipment, we stopped and talked with a fellow traveller, whilst our children played on the equipment.
The Wagga Wagga Council Library is a large well organised collection, which suffers from the usual
trouble of quantity being more prominent than quality. Whilst I read the daily paper, the children grabbed a book and lay about in the reading area on bean bags. They happily spent an hour in this manner and made their parents radiant that they had made readers out of all three of them!
Adjoining the library is the Art Gallery. The current exhibitions were rather uninspiring, but the Glass
Exhibition was interesting and some of the pieces were quite exquisite.
After lunch, we returned to the Botanic Gardens for a lengthy visit. The complex has a variety of things for the visitor and we started with the model railway which has been developed by volunteers who build, maintain and demonstrate the facility twice a week. Their track is extensive and the fully outfitted station, signal box, tunnels and overhead bridges all add to the authenticity of the railway.
A Camellia Garden, featuring buildings in the Chinese style, adjoins the railway and some beautiful plants were on show. Beside this garden, a small but engaging animal and bird shelter or mini zoo has been set into the hillside. The bird life is extensive, with a walk through aviary, caged birds and many roaming free. The aviary contained Rainbow Lorikeets, Cockateils, Zebra Finches and many other variety of birds. Passing through the aviary, I had a shock when I moved the video camera away from my eye only to be confronted by a flight of Rainbow Lorikeets heading straight for me. I ducked so quickly it looked, to the rest of the troops, as though I was going to snap in half!
The whole facility was excellent and to be provided free of charge to the public was unusual, to say the least. The Wagga Wagga Council deserves congratulations for the work It has done in setting it up and maintaining it.
Our last night officially "on the road" was celebrated with pizza.
Showing posts with label Wagga Wagga. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Wagga Wagga. Show all posts
Thursday, 21 September 1995
Wednesday, 20 September 1995
Hay to Wagga Wagga
Wagga Wagga - Narrandera (Sturt Highway) 264 kms
My sleep had been interrupted on several occasions throughout the night by the children and their restless tossing and turning on vinyl mattresses. The squeaks and creaks which filled the cabin made continuous sleep difficult, so it was another night of shallow sleeping to which, I had become almost accustomed to. Sharing close quarters had helped create a bond between us, but had done nothing for deep sleep patterns among the adults!
A visit to the local bakery was requested by the crew and my generous mood acquiesced to their petitions. Generous helpings of cheese and bacon rolls later - Fruit Danish in Sue's case - began to settle under the belt as we pulled away from Hay for another day of eastward travel.
The Sturt Highway follows the Murrumbidgee River closely from Hay and we had it as a reference point slightly to our left (north) all through the morning. After 170kms, we stopped at Narrandera for morning tea. Again it was a selection from a local bakery and I began to worry two months of bush walking and the resultant new relationship with unused holes on my belt, was in danger of being reversed.
An hour or so later; we were at Wagga Wagga Botanic Gardens and boiling the billy for lunch. Intended as a stop only, it became our destination for two days, when we couldn't decide which way to continue in our gradual path to Cooma. However, our indecision proved to be wise, because the day and half at NSW's largest inland city was to be a further relaxant.
Our first afternoon passed quickly, reading magazines and newspapers and then catching up with "Baby John" Burgess and Adrienne in the "Circular Device of Wealth".
In the evening we watched TV before heading to sleeping bags at the appropriate time for our ages.
My sleep had been interrupted on several occasions throughout the night by the children and their restless tossing and turning on vinyl mattresses. The squeaks and creaks which filled the cabin made continuous sleep difficult, so it was another night of shallow sleeping to which, I had become almost accustomed to. Sharing close quarters had helped create a bond between us, but had done nothing for deep sleep patterns among the adults!
A visit to the local bakery was requested by the crew and my generous mood acquiesced to their petitions. Generous helpings of cheese and bacon rolls later - Fruit Danish in Sue's case - began to settle under the belt as we pulled away from Hay for another day of eastward travel.
The Sturt Highway follows the Murrumbidgee River closely from Hay and we had it as a reference point slightly to our left (north) all through the morning. After 170kms, we stopped at Narrandera for morning tea. Again it was a selection from a local bakery and I began to worry two months of bush walking and the resultant new relationship with unused holes on my belt, was in danger of being reversed.
An hour or so later; we were at Wagga Wagga Botanic Gardens and boiling the billy for lunch. Intended as a stop only, it became our destination for two days, when we couldn't decide which way to continue in our gradual path to Cooma. However, our indecision proved to be wise, because the day and half at NSW's largest inland city was to be a further relaxant.
Our first afternoon passed quickly, reading magazines and newspapers and then catching up with "Baby John" Burgess and Adrienne in the "Circular Device of Wealth".
In the evening we watched TV before heading to sleeping bags at the appropriate time for our ages.
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