Homeward bound

Tomakin is a long way south of the Gold Coast so two overnight stops are needed to get us back home safely - without the principal driver (me) getting too tired. Our first day took us via Canberra without actually going into the city to Cowra. After two hours of driving we stopped for morning tea at a small town called Boorowa. There were lots of very old buildings in the town and I couldn't resist taking a few photos before we left. This town apparently has a "running of the sheep" in October! The poster I saw pasted on various walls showed a flock of sheep running down the main street with a crowd of people following - you would hardly have them the other way around as with the running of the bulls!We arrived in Cowra in plenty of time for Graham and Nola to see the Japanese Gardens and for Graham to take video of the place. They had seen my photos of the gardens on my web album and were eager to see the gardens for themselves.Less than half an hour after we had arrived at the Gardens Graham asked if we could return in the morning. Asking "Why" he confessed that he had left his spare battery in the motel room (we had booked in as soon as we had arrived in Cowra). Colin manfully accepted my request to drive back to the motel to get the battery. Nola went with him and did not return, she took the opportunity to grab a quick shut-eye!

As I had taken a camera full of still photos on my last visit to the Japanese Gardens earlier in the year I dragged out my little Panasonic video camera and tripod and took enough shots to be able to make a short movie. It will be interesting to compare my video with Grahams!

After all that driving and then concentrating on taking reasonable shots for my video I was feeling far too tired to even unpack the laptop which is why I am covering two days in one! I would not recommend dining at the Cowra Services Club, it took a full thirty minutes to actually get from the end of the queue to to the front to order and then the food was unappealing- my Chicken schnitzel was as hard as boot leather and anyone ordering from the bain-marie would have half cold dried up food!

It was a very long trip today and I learned a serious lesson! Study a map before you accept the guidance of a GPS! We were taken along gravel roads and up country lanes that were so rough that I think I have damaged the suspension on the car. When we go over even a small bump there is an ominous bang as the car feels as if it is bottoming out!

Along one of the country roads I noticed a flock of sheep that looked rather different from the all white merinos we used to breed. The car was turned around so that Graham could take a shot through the window without getting out of the car but I hopped out with my camera so of course he climbed out too! It didn't matter, we took our shots of the lazy sheep with black faces and soon moved on. The property looked very neat and attractive but we did not trespass and nor did we disturb the sheep.

This evening we are at Armidale. It would be good to stay here and take some photos - the place is full of interesting buildings. Maybe I will return another day.

AJ