The people at Mitchell were a little sad because they were still recovering from floods that swamped the town a few months earlier. The river was still a mess of debris.
We passed through Bakers Swamp without noticing anything. Then reached our last dot on the map for this trip - Larras Lee and saw this. The roadside monument says: In Memory of WILLIAM LEE (1794 - 1870) of "Larras Lake" a pioneer of the sheep and cattle industry and first member for Roxburgh under responsible government (1856 - 1859). This stone was erected by his descendants. --- 1938 --- This is a repost from a few days ago. Thinking I would use this for this week’s Taphophile Tragics post I dug a little further into William Lee’s story, it’s a very colonial Australian one. William was born of convict parents, living his childhood years around the Sydney region. In his early 20s he was issued with some government cattle, recommended as a suitable settler and granted 134 acres at Kelso near Bathurst. He was one of the first in the area and did well. A few years later he was granted a ram and an inc...
Nice photo - even if it sounds stupid to say this of a photo that shows the outcome of a flood. But it has some quiet solemn mood.
ReplyDeleteAnd - I don't know why - to me an Indian landscape touch. Like some overgrown flooded Hindu temple.
Do you know something about the mural? The cockatoo, the map, the man?
The mural depicts Major Sir Thomas Mitchell who was the Surveyor General of the colony of New South Wales from the late 1820s to 1850s. He did four major expeditions of discovery into the interior. The Maranoa River on which the town of Mitchell is today was included in his fourth and final expedition.
DeleteThe map shows his expeditions. The bird is a Major Mitchell Cockatoo, named in his honour.
The cockatoo might be the Mitchell Cockatoo. Would the man be Major Mitchell, the explorer?
ReplyDeleteYep on both counts.
DeleteIt takes a long time to recover from a flood.
ReplyDeleteYes it does. The artesian spa at the local swimming pool is a tourist attraction for the town but being near the river, must have got damaged because the swimming centre was closed for repairs.
DeleteThey have had it bad out there. The shot conveys sadness.
ReplyDeleteThis reminds me of our beaches after big storms. The amounts of trash are unbelievable.
ReplyDelete