Sweet Wayfaring

You know you are in the country when the post box is big and the front gate is discouragingly difficult to open ... locals visit through the driveway or back gate. The unusually grand design of this front gate belies the state of the house and yard. There is always at least one residence ruining a town's tidy image.

You know you are in the country when cement objects and garden gnomes decorate the lawn. Actually this is more particularly assocated with older people so not restricted to the country. However, country towns seem to have a disproportionate number of non-trendy older folk. Cement swans are actually surpassed by swans made out of old tyres but I didn't see one on this walk.

You know you are in the country when tyres feature in the garden and the chook shed (chicken coop) has been repurposed at least two or three times.

You know you are in a the country when the dunny is still in situ, even though it fell into disuse 30 or more years ago. Musing: Lyrics from the well known Australian country music song by Slim Newton ( listen ) "There was a redback on the toilet seat, When I was there last night. I didn't see him in the dark, But boy I felt his bite. I jumped up high into the air, And when I hit the ground. That crafty redback spider, Wasn't nowhere to be found."

You know you are in a country when there are hollyhocks in the garden. Yesterday's post made me think of the hallmarks of a country town. I thought it would be amusing to spend the next week recording some of them as discovered on a morning walk around Molong. Musing: From the lyrics of the folksong An English Country Garden "How many kinds of sweet flowers grow In an English country garden? We’ll tell you now of some that we know, Those we miss you’ll surely pardon. Daffodils, Heart’s Ease and Flox, Meadowsweet and Lady Smocks, Gentain, Lupine and tall Hollihocks. Roses, Foxgloves,Snowdrops, blue forget-me-nots, In an English country garden."

Today is Anzac day, the day we honour those who died fighting wars for our country. Monuments to the fallen are a centrepiece in nearly every country town. Erected after World War 1 these are especially poignant because of the the huge number of young men listed. The memorial in Cudal is unusual with it's plaque for the South African War as it is most often referred to as the Boer War and pre-dates World War 1 when the Anzac tradition emerged.

Like many inland towns the arrival of the railway spurred on the progress of Molong. The railway didn't arrive until 1886 but the decision made 1881 was sufficient to immediately boost its development. Today the track seems to be used for freight but not passengers and the old station houses the local library so the building is well maintained.

Welcome to Molong, a small town 30 kms from the city of Orange with a population of around 2,000 people. We are wayfaring through Cabonne Country, a food basket area where grain and sheep are high on the list but there is much more. We loved this trip, through rich agricultural land and historic towns. I hope you enjoy it too.

We are back home after three days exploring more of the central west. This photo was taken today during a leisurely lunch in the city of Bathurst and the sign below was at the Mount Canobolas Tea Rooms (near the city of Orange) this morning. There are lots more country shots to come in a week or so but in the meanwhile please enjoy the Wentworth Falls walk currently in progress on the Blue Mountains Journal . Musing: From the Holy Bible , Matthew 28:6 (King James Version) "He is not here: for he is risen."

I was camping down in the city for a week and even had a weekend in Queensland and would you believe I didn't take a single photo ... too busy and too wet. It was perfect weather for the ducks that frequent the camping ground. We are hoping to get away at Easter time so I won't be posting here for a couple of weeks. In the meanwhile I have started posting again on my Blue Mountains Journal. I have decided to post in either one or the other of these blogs -- not both at the same time.