Our journey is almost over and once more we are into the wetter fringe of this huge continent. Well, not quite. We are in Warwick which is normally much drier than we are seeing it at the moment but is does have a higher rainfall than Bourke and beyond. As we drove closer to Warwick the wheat crops were thicker and more even and the cattle were fat and healthy and far more numerous to the acre. Inland the measurements are acres to beast and it could be several acres to one cow so any kangaroos, emus, goats or camels are competing for what feed there is out there. Things are very different this year. It is so good to have seen it so productive. Back to here.
I had to stop driving to hop out and take a shot of the magenta that painted many of the paddocks. This is not Paterson's curse, the taller blue flowers we had seen further inland, but a lower and daintier plant altogether.
I will have to look up the name but it resembles a linaria except for the leaves.
Warwick dates back to the early nineteenth century so has a few beautiful old buildings. Many of the shops use the original facade above their street level shop fronts. The buildings behind the facades were usually very ordinary, corrugated iron was used a lot, so the actual shop will be completely new even though the facade is original and not moved from its first position.
I am sharing something a little different from old buildings. Yes, you can see the old buildings (I have a fascination for the gorgeous hotels that can be found in every town) but take a look at the way the streets are decorated! In front of the Criterion and running the full length of the main shopping street is the most perfect display of roses and not one showing any sign of vandalism. I think that someone must tend the roses often, dead-heading and mulching them. They are a pleasure to behold. When Colin and I first arrived in Warwick I set the GPS (in “places of interest”) to lead us to a rose garden, well it did and the roses there were in a very sorry state and badly neglected, they were a small section of a bigger park and since there was no name plaque and a local we spoke to later knew nothing of a rose garden, this reference in the GPS must be out of date! The roses we saw in the main street made up for our disappointment!
Spotting a shop that specialised in coffee I persuaded my tight-fisted hubby (“You make good coffee”) to treat me to a coffee! But before I could even enter the premises I was brought to a stop and the camera switched on again. Once again the street plantings were eye catching.
The roundabout in the middle of the intersection was all planted with annuals and around the corner of the pavement that adjoined the coffee shop was planted lavender and roses and a blossoming tree.
We did enjoy our coffee and I purchased 200g of French roasted coffee beans to take home with us – so I can make Colin a good coffee!
Before I end our travel stories here is an outback picture to set you guessing.
There are two Australian creatures shown here in foot-prints. Can you see them both? Unfortunately the wheels of our Nissan and the trailer ran over some of the prints. It looks as if both creatures were travelling at speed – maybe a vehicle was coming up behind them and they moved along the road before veering off into the bush.
AJ
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