23rd February 2014-We've Gone To Gundagai

23r February 2014
We have spent 4 nights in Gundagai because it is fabulous! The caravan park caught our attention because of it's lush green grass, (a rarity at this time of year) and it has sooooo much room, little Sam can walk around as much as she likes

GUNDAGAI CARAVAN PARK-LOTS OF GREEN GRASS!!!

THAT HILL IN THE BACKGROUND IS PART OF THE GREAT DIVIDING RANGE-IT GIVES YOU A COMPARISON OF HOW DRY THE REST OF THE AREA IS COMPARED TO THIS CARAVAN PARK

The town and surrounding area has so much to see that we have had to pace ourselves to see it all and we have had a great time doing so. We headed to the tourist info first and they were so friendly and helpful. We rented two sets of headphones to tour the old jail, the headphones gave us a running commentary about the running of the jail and of some of the inmates that stayed there, including the bushranger Captain Moonlight. When you travel you quickly realise that there is a jail in every town and they all start looking the same, the headphones made it a more in depth experience and brought it all to life.

GUNDAGAI JAIL-THIS IS THE DOUBLE STORY WARDENS RESIDENCE AND PART OF THE INMATES KITCHEN (INMATES HAD TO COOK FOR THEMSELVES)

Then we had some time left to visit a photograph display from the late 1800's to early 1900's. There was a town doctor who was a budding photographer, he took many photo's of the town and it's inhabitants resulting in a priceless collection that is a permanent reminder of how times were. There is another set of his photos kept at the Melbourne Museum.

The next day we had decided to visit the Gundagai Museum, this (like a lot of the heritage items in this town) is looked after by volunteers. This collection of local items proved to be a gem! They had sooooo many items relating to the history of the town and of Australia in general. Les and I both found things that we remembered from our childhoods.

PHAR LAP'S SADDLE CLOTH WAS AT THE MUSEUM

We then kept to schedule and headed to the local historic bridges. They were both built in the 1800's and are very long compared to today's standards let alone from so long ago. Neither are used anymore and there is a local volunteer group trying to keep them intact as a tourist opportunity but they are beginning to fall down and I suspect that the amount of money needed just to keep them standing would be incredibly high.

PRINCE ALFRED BRIDGE IN THE BACKGROUND, AND THE TIMBER RAILWAY BRIDGE IN THE FOREGROUND.

The most interesting thing about these bridges is that when you stand on the ground and look up you can see the whole tree trunks that were used to strengthen them, they weren't sawn into planks or anything, just  whacked in there wholus bolus! These bridges have also survived numerous floods in their lives as the span the Murrumbidgee River.

This morning we browsed around the Gundagai Railway station. It has been disused since the 1970's and had fallen into decay when a local group of volunteers raised an amazing amount of money(almost $500,000) and carefully restored this station.

THE RESTORED PLATFORM OF THE OLD GUNDAGAI RAILWAY STATION

Then we headed 5 miles up the road to the local icon 'The dog on the tuckerbox'!!!! I had been looking forward to this and was very excited to finally be here

WHERE THE DOG SITS ON THE TUCKERBOX!!

This fountain is now a wishing well and all funds go towards the Gundagai Hospital so that's a worthy cause for a wish.....especially if  my wish comes true :)

We are all hooked up and ready to leave tomorrow morning, we are heading to Cowra which is only 170km north but has a couple of things we want to have a look at :)