Aha, more cotton fields. But those big white bales show we have just missed our chance to see an unpicked field.
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 increase in his land to 300 acres. William developed a r
Are they bales of the fluffy white bits ... sorry for the technical terms ... I have never driven through cotton country ... my daughter is a lawyer specialising in water allocations ... she cannot talk specifics with us, but many of her clients are up that way.
ReplyDeleteYes the fluffy white bits are gathered from the plants and wrapped up into bales similar to those big round hay bales.
DeleteBits of white stuff seem to blow off the bales as they are being transported to the cotton gin, leaving white traces along the side of the road during the harvesting season.
I took a close up of the bales last year here http://sweetwayfaring.blogspot.com.au/2012/08/cotton.html
Ahha ... saw that link ...
DeleteWell it still looks interesting. It looks like your driver is like mine. He can never find a place to stop for a shot.
ReplyDeleteDiane, since you live in Queensland that is not surprising. The roads are narrow and have very steep sides (probably to carry away the much heavier rainfall you have).
DeleteIan usually does photos stops for me in NSW but I don't even ask most of the time in Queensland. I am also reluctant to do so when we are towing a van as that makes finding a safe place to pull up more complicated.
Can you imagine picking cotton by hand?
ReplyDeleteThose thorny, sharp pods?
It's probably still harvested that way in many countries.
A field full of cotton to hand pick ... what a daunting task!!
DeleteI reckon it would make you appreciate your clothes and mend them rather than throwing them out in no time like we do these days.