Is that a Coolibah tree beside the abandoned house? Every Australian knows about Coolibah trees because the bush ballad Waltzing Matilda is nigh on our unoffical national anthem but most of us live nowhere near the inland where they grow. Once a jolly swagman camped by a billabong, Under the shade of a Coolibah tree, And he sang as he watched and waited till his billy boiled, You'll come a Waltzing Matilda with me. Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda, You'll come a Waltzing Matilda with me, And he sang as he watched and waited till his billy boiled You'll come a Waltzing Matilda with me.
"To muse, to creep, to halt at will, to gaze ... such sweet wayfaring"
William Wordsworth
I was at the headwaters of the Hunter in the Barrington Tops back in November. The river was much narrower up there!
ReplyDeleteAnd this is from a memory back to 1966 .... this bridge is not over the confluence of the Hunter and the Goulbourn which is a couple of miles south. This is the 'new' bridge that was put in after the 1955 floods where the old bridge (just at the bottom of Ogilvie Street beside the Denman Hotel) was impassable for yonks. They re-routed the main road from Muswellbrook to Merriwa as a consequence. This is that bridge. The bridge that I took by bus to go to High School in 1961 and to end High School in 1965.
ReplyDeleteI hope you stopped to taste the wine.
ReplyDeleteAs a kid, we always held our breath when driving over a river or through a tunnel. Just one of a hundred things my kids might never learn to do because (what with DVD players etc.) they'll never be as bored on long trips as I was.
ReplyDeleteThey are happy memories though.
Cool perspective.
ReplyDeleteMary Ann, is that for real that kids don't get bored in the car any more? We had all sorts of games like you describe to keep us amused too.
ReplyDeleteJulie, yes this bridge is over the Hunter only not where the Goulburn joins in.