22nd September – Tuesday
The rain did eventuate yesterday afternoon, although not a great amount. We did get some rather spectacular lightning and thunder, though. The night was very windy and we discovered this morning that there had been a dust storm during the night – all the caravans and vehicles were a lovely shade of reddish brown! Water restrictions meant that only the car windows could be washed off, as well.
As we headed east from Griffith, the clear morning very quickly closed in, with the dust hanging in the air like a thick fog. As the temperature has increased during the day (26 degrees), so has the dust. It is quite incredible – no wind at all, just the increasingly thick dust.
This morning we passed through Barellan, the childhood home of Evonne Goolagong – another small country town surrounded by grain fields. In fact, the whole area from Griffith to Cootamundra has been grain or canola, with a few lupins and most small towns have very large grain storage facilities. The road was pretty good, apart from a section of the minor road into Cootamundra, and this wasn’t as bad as some of the developmental roads in Queensland.
The caravan park at Cootamundra is quite small, with good sized grass sites. Unfortunately, some of them have quite a bit of dirt where the grass has been worn away. With only a couple of sites available, we have ended up on one of the grass and dirt sites.
Next door to the caravan park is Jubilee Park, which contains bronze busts of most of the Australian Cricket Team captains, with busts being added as funds become available. Some of the sculpting is a bit ordinary, but the majority is good and the men easily recognisable. Ricky Ponting was lucky enough to get one of the better sculptors! Following a walk in the park, we visited the birthplace of Donald Bradman – he was born in Cootamundra, lived at Yeo Yeo (a few miles away) for a couple of years and then moved to Bowral. His birthplace was actually a type of lying-in hospital operated by a midwife and we were able to stand in the actual room of his birth – very moving!!! The cottage has been restored and now operates as a small museum to Don Bradman. It was really very interesting.
Cootamundra seems to be a nice town of about 5,000 people, with all the usual amenities.
The rain did eventuate yesterday afternoon, although not a great amount. We did get some rather spectacular lightning and thunder, though. The night was very windy and we discovered this morning that there had been a dust storm during the night – all the caravans and vehicles were a lovely shade of reddish brown! Water restrictions meant that only the car windows could be washed off, as well.
As we headed east from Griffith, the clear morning very quickly closed in, with the dust hanging in the air like a thick fog. As the temperature has increased during the day (26 degrees), so has the dust. It is quite incredible – no wind at all, just the increasingly thick dust.
This morning we passed through Barellan, the childhood home of Evonne Goolagong – another small country town surrounded by grain fields. In fact, the whole area from Griffith to Cootamundra has been grain or canola, with a few lupins and most small towns have very large grain storage facilities. The road was pretty good, apart from a section of the minor road into Cootamundra, and this wasn’t as bad as some of the developmental roads in Queensland.
The caravan park at Cootamundra is quite small, with good sized grass sites. Unfortunately, some of them have quite a bit of dirt where the grass has been worn away. With only a couple of sites available, we have ended up on one of the grass and dirt sites.
Next door to the caravan park is Jubilee Park, which contains bronze busts of most of the Australian Cricket Team captains, with busts being added as funds become available. Some of the sculpting is a bit ordinary, but the majority is good and the men easily recognisable. Ricky Ponting was lucky enough to get one of the better sculptors! Following a walk in the park, we visited the birthplace of Donald Bradman – he was born in Cootamundra, lived at Yeo Yeo (a few miles away) for a couple of years and then moved to Bowral. His birthplace was actually a type of lying-in hospital operated by a midwife and we were able to stand in the actual room of his birth – very moving!!! The cottage has been restored and now operates as a small museum to Don Bradman. It was really very interesting.
Cootamundra seems to be a nice town of about 5,000 people, with all the usual amenities.
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