20th September – Sunday
Griffith, like Canberra, was designed by Walter Burley Griffin, and he used the same circular design for both cities. With a population of over 16,000, Griffith definitely rates as civilisation – there is a Woolworths, Coles, Bunning and McDonalds! And there are certainly some BIG houses in the district!
This morning we set out to see the sights of Griffith and started with the weekly Rotary market at the showgrounds. There were plenty of fresh oranges for sale, along with a good variety of vegetables, breads, home made tomato sauces and, of course, bead jewellery.
The Information Centre is directly opposite Mackay’s Furniture, with a bust of Donald Mackay enjoying centre stage in the central island of the main street. A very helpful and well-informed young lady loaded us up with lots of pamphlets and colour-coded maps and we set out for Lake Wyangen (or something like that) and a beautiful, large picnic area on the edge of the man-made lake. We then retraced our steps, stopping for a bearded dragon sunning itself in the middle of the road and quite determined not to move. We walked right up to it and the only response was a puffing out of the body and extending the beard – and it still stayed in the middle of the road!
Our next stop was at a lookout (there is actually a hill in Griffith) with a hermit’s cave in the rocks below. After scrambling down through rocks and broken glass, we still couldn’t find the cave, so gave up – a lack of signage didn’t help. We discovered a pamphlet later which showed we were probably in the wrong area, but it still wasn’t very helpful.
The “highlight” of the tour was probably a visit to the cemetery. There is a large, and wealthy, Italian community in Griffith, and this is certainly reflected in the size and opulence of the mausoleums! There was even a “For Sale” sign outside one – where had the residents gone???
We even decided to have lunch at one of the league clubs in town and made a small donation via a couple of poker machines. It’s hard to know if people actually understand them, or just sit and push buttons until nothing happens!
We have not found the change in climate to our liking - 22 degrees is a little uncomfortable and we know it is only going to get worse. Hopefully, we wont have to wear shoes until we get to Canberra.
Griffith, like Canberra, was designed by Walter Burley Griffin, and he used the same circular design for both cities. With a population of over 16,000, Griffith definitely rates as civilisation – there is a Woolworths, Coles, Bunning and McDonalds! And there are certainly some BIG houses in the district!
This morning we set out to see the sights of Griffith and started with the weekly Rotary market at the showgrounds. There were plenty of fresh oranges for sale, along with a good variety of vegetables, breads, home made tomato sauces and, of course, bead jewellery.
The Information Centre is directly opposite Mackay’s Furniture, with a bust of Donald Mackay enjoying centre stage in the central island of the main street. A very helpful and well-informed young lady loaded us up with lots of pamphlets and colour-coded maps and we set out for Lake Wyangen (or something like that) and a beautiful, large picnic area on the edge of the man-made lake. We then retraced our steps, stopping for a bearded dragon sunning itself in the middle of the road and quite determined not to move. We walked right up to it and the only response was a puffing out of the body and extending the beard – and it still stayed in the middle of the road!
Our next stop was at a lookout (there is actually a hill in Griffith) with a hermit’s cave in the rocks below. After scrambling down through rocks and broken glass, we still couldn’t find the cave, so gave up – a lack of signage didn’t help. We discovered a pamphlet later which showed we were probably in the wrong area, but it still wasn’t very helpful.
The “highlight” of the tour was probably a visit to the cemetery. There is a large, and wealthy, Italian community in Griffith, and this is certainly reflected in the size and opulence of the mausoleums! There was even a “For Sale” sign outside one – where had the residents gone???
We even decided to have lunch at one of the league clubs in town and made a small donation via a couple of poker machines. It’s hard to know if people actually understand them, or just sit and push buttons until nothing happens!
We have not found the change in climate to our liking - 22 degrees is a little uncomfortable and we know it is only going to get worse. Hopefully, we wont have to wear shoes until we get to Canberra.
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