Another quiet day today. Someone had told us that the Wagga Wagga Art Gallery is worth seeing, so we wanted to go and see that while we are here.
It was closed by the time we got into Wagga Wagga yesterday afternoon, and it is also closed Monday … so we came up with a “Plan B” instead.
We decided to go for a drive to Temora (population 4,693), 56km or 40minutes north of Junee. Not a small township, but not a big one either. Big enough that it has a Woolies supermarket and a McDonalds.
I’m not sure if that is considered “progress”, though.
Remember yesterday that I said that sometimes the blog is about the minutiae of life on the road? Well I’m a bit light on quality content today, so strap yourself in for some seriously “down in the weeds” commentary.
We peeked out through the curtains at about 7.30am and saw … blue sky and sunshine!! It was only 3 degrees that felt like 0.6 degrees, but the sun was shining.
Showers and breakfast. MBW had some of that Coolamon Labneh marinated in Chimichurri and Garlic on toast for breakfast, while I had toasted muesli and yoghurt. It’s not hard to see which of us is more committed to staying regular.
We threw a few things into Elsie, asked Dolly for directions to Temora, and off we went.
They call this area the Canola Trail, and I assume that is what is growing absolutely everywhere around here. As far as the eye can see.
I’m assuming that the green stuff growing in the fields is canola plant, and all indications are that at some point it gets bright yellow flowers, which I imagine would be very spectacular. But not something that we are going to see on this trip.
The other thing that grows around here is sheep. And sheep have lambs, and we do like lamb. In fact, we have some pies for dinner and one of them is lamb.
We got into Temora at around 10.00am and did a quick recon, and then parked Elsie to go for a walk.
George Gershwin once (allegedly) said, “Life is a lot like jazz. It’s best when you improvise”.
Rough translation: “If you haven’t got the right brackets and screws, use tyres to prop up your air-conditioning unit”.
Temora is like every other Central NSW town: pretty, historic, laid back.
It has two (2) Op Shops that we found, and we do like Op Shops. Almost as much as we like cheese. Or lamb.
And guess what? Another Nelson DeMille novel was added to the collection. When we get home, I might just donate them all to our local library because they are severely lacking in Nelson DeMille novels, yet I am finding them all over NSW in Op Shops.
I had a bit of a moment where I though that the PC (political correctness) police need to be notified about a sign that we saw in Temora … but it appears it is referring to a horse.
We boght coffee and drove down to Lake Centenary for some morning tea. A very pretty place indeed.
Back into Temora to have a look at some craft shops (all closed) and a bookshop (also closed) and we decided to head back home to Junee for lunch.
Back in Junee and MBW suggested that we swing by the Licorice and Chocolate factory again, and we made a further contribution to the local Junee economy in exchange for some white chocolate and raspberry licorice. 500g of it.
The box says it is organic, so I assume that means it is good for you?
Back home to Percy for some lunch and a nap. This holidaying is exhausting 🙁
It turns out that there are craft shops in Junee that MBW wanted to visit, so off we went again for a last look around town before we head off to Cowra via Wagga Wagga tomorrow.
Both craft shops were closed (of course), but we had a quick look at the train station and went to the local Vinnies for a poke around.
We went for a quick drive around Junee to see if there was anything exciting that we missed and ended up at the Rocky Hill lookout that was … underwhelming. It looks like the area hasn’t been maintained in the last 10 years and the speed bumps on the road going up to the lookout were redundant, because you had to crawl up the hill to avoid the potholes.
No chance of getting a speeding ticket because the potholes were a far greater risk that the speed bumps.
The view was uninspiring. So uninspiring in fact that I found some moss growing on a rock far more interesting.
That’s about it for today, and that’s about it for Junee. Unless something truly magical (or catastrophically newsworthy) happens in Junee overnight, I will never speak of it again.
Tomorrow we will head down to Wagga Wagga to see the Art Gallery, then back by lunchtime to hook up Percy and head off towards Cowra.
Short and sweet, just like MBW 🙂
Ciao
#RoadTripNSW2023