LEODESTRAVELOZZ

30-12-2012  Stopping at a truck stop for a free shower and finally wash my hair before heading into Gundagai to check out the town.  Driving along when we came upon this wonderful old wood bridge, Des stop so I can get a photo.   What a marvellous bridge, only there were two wooden bridge's that formed a V and meet at the end, thank god for wide angle lens.  We headed to town and walked around this grand old town and had no intentions of staying when we came across a park and stopped an elderly man and asked if he knew of a place to park for free, Ya down at the park no one will mind, not in this town.  Cool so Des and I walked down to check it out and found a great spot amongst the trees and close to the amenities and BBQ, so we decided to stay for a couple of days. The 1820s saw the first Europeans in the area, in 1824 settlers arrived with their sheep then Sturt’s party passed through in 1829 and the original township...

20121203 It’s sad to leave such a great camp location especially since I was beginning to get use to the very cold water only, we are running out of supplies.   We head back to Wagga Wagga to restock our supplies and check out some sites.  There's the bridge I read about, pull over Des, and surprise, surprise he did so I took my photos and headed to town. After shopping we went in search of the Quinty Cake and Bake House built in the early 1900 but couldn't find it, not even the information center could help so we left for Gundagai stopping on the way to check out the RAAF Heritage Centre. Wagga Wagga is the state’s largest inland city nestled on the banks of the Murrumbidgee River.   The Wiradjuri were the largest Aboriginal tribe in New South Wales and it is from their language the city is named.   The word “Wagga”, means crow and repeating it means the plural, hence “the place of many crows”.    In 1829 Charles Sturt was the first ...

2 0121223 Mansfield another town full of history when the first European settlers came during the squatting boom o f the late 1830’s.  With no pasture improvements in place, large runs were needed, and squatters were always in search of good grazing land.   In 1839 an employee was dispatched in search for stray horses.   He found the horses but more importantly recognized a green lush valley fed by some good streams.   John “Howqua” Hunter and Hunter Campbell came to investigate; the legend has it they camped overnight and were so frightened by the sound of a corroboree nearby that they called the spot Devil’s River. We stopped at the information centre to top up our water and collect my pamphlets before walking the town.  Another clean tidy town, we did our usual walk surprised that most of the shops were opened being a Sunday, as most of these country towns are closed.  Ned & Dan Kelly, & their partners in crime used ...