We called into Junee because I remembered it to be a lovely town with a nice railway station and buildings with iron lace verandahs. Can't you see the squatter's daughters on their way home from posh boarding schools alighting from the train and heading over to this hotel for the night.
In Australian history squatters were the people who took over large tracts of land often with no legal rights other than being the first Europeans to get there. Over time the squatters/pastoralists became among the wealthiest people in the colony assuming high social prestige.
This whistle stop tour simply didn't give us time to enjoy and explore these lovely towns ... we resolved to go back soon as we set of to Cootamundra for our last night's camp.
The distances are so great, aren't they. Bruce in Canberra has a post about the Rail Heritage centre in Junee.
ReplyDeleteGot a problem with this hotel. Have a look here http://www.gdaypubs.com.au/NSW/junee.html
I tried to find out the name of the pub, it looked to me like the Optus hotel and I thought that could not be right. They reckon it is the old Loftus Hotel which is now a B&B. But this hotel of yours is stamped 1896 whereas the Loftus Hotel in the website is stamped 1909, from a different angle, I agree.
Whichever way, it is a glorious country hotel which reminds me of scenes in "Gallipoli" when Mel and his mates went off to war.
What a brilliant old building! Perhaps even worth a stay?
ReplyDeleteloved the history lesson. in oklahoma, we called
ReplyDeletethem 'boomers' or 'sooners.'
was that a ghost town? didn't see another
soul.
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ReplyDeleteYes, I can see them.
ReplyDeleteThey look like they have come straight from the picnic at Hanging Rock.
What a stately looking building, a huge investment there I think. The history lessons are always a great perk. I've seen a lot of movies that take place in rural Oz but I don't know how accurate they are. I liked Ned Kelly with Heath Ledger - I had already red the novel by Peter Carey - Rabbit proof Fence, and I liked The Proposition with Guy Pierce. I like Peter Weir's movies no matter what they are but I don't know if they really convey something authentic about Australia. There's also My Brilliant Career now that I think about it. Judy Davis was just brilliant in that.
ReplyDeleteOh, and I have Gallipoli on VHS, I think it's called PAL for you. It's one of my favorites of all time.
ReplyDeleteJulie, yes it is the Loftus hotel.
ReplyDeleteAs you can see from that website Junee has several lovely hotels like this plus the railway heritage. We are definitely going to go back for a weekend to explore more.
Winam, yes I think it would be worth giving a go.
Lea, it was still Christmas Day. Not a ghost town. That Boomers/Sooners naming is interesting.
Letty, exactly the type of girls I had in mind.
Paula, I haven't seen all the movies you have named ... Julie is the movie buff. Many of the ones you name address Australian history, and present a realistic image of how we 'imagine' our history to be which is sure to be idealised. Australians embrace rural images as a typical Aussie but it is a myth, most of us live in modern urban settings.
I had no idea there was such an amount of these beautiful verandahs in Australian buildings before blogging. Love them!
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