20160507 NSW Gundagai to Jugiong

May 07, 2016

20160507 The rain is heading our way so we headed to Gundagai for the third time to wait out the wet plus I really like this town. We had lunch at the old pub with the murals on the walls depicting the flood history then we did a pub crawl to pass the time.

08-05-2016 Mother’s Day and first up Sharyn calls, Happy Mummies Day with the kids screaming in the back ground, go and see Daddy he’s got something for you, con, con, well that didn't work with Hamish seeking her attention, Daddies has something for you, NO! said Hamish as Mummy retreats to a quite room. We had a lazy day in bed with the rain hitting the roof, I love days like this, reading, writing and watching old movies, “The Man Who Shoot Liberty Valance” and “North to Alaska” both cowboy movies with John Wayne, Desie’s favorites.

09-05-2015 Another day of lazing around and checking out the town and once the rain eased I headed to the old railway bridge for some sunset photos.

Arr, how cute, careful Des you could be mistaken for the Cu Clux Clan of Gundagai.

The old Railway Bridge (Prince Alfred) at sunset.

10-05-2016 After washing and restocking our supplies we head for a shower before leaving for Jugiong. Not a good night with us both back and forth to the loo with a case of diarrhoea, Desie’s cooking finally got to us.

11-05-2016 We woke to a very chilly morning still feeling a bit weary but we managed a walk to the town comprising of a little church, a pub, under restoration, a services station and a wonderful coffee shop offering homemade jam, chutneys and sauces.

There was a time before the bypass, when Jugiong was known as one of the great speed traps on the Hume Highway, the temptation was just too exciting. Drivers from the south would come over the hill and there before them was a long straight stretch of road just waiting for that speed enthusiast to plant his peddle. Police would wait behind the row of poplars which edged the road, it was a classic speed trap.

Well this is it, Jugiong, the once bustling town before the bypass.

The town’s sign recalls how, before the bypass, it was a truck stop.

The first Sir George Hotel was washed away in the floods in 1852 and the Irish settler, John Sheahan, the owner, brought stonemasons from Ireland and built the current Tavern a few years later and I am pleased to say it is under renovation and due to be opened in spring 2016. In 2004 the Sheahan family still ran the pub making it at the time the oldest family run hotel in Australia.

The Monument of Sergeant Parry

In 1864 the Ben Hall’s Gang held up a mail coach between Gundagai and Jugiong and shot and killed the 32 year old Sergeant. Hall and his gang held up everyone on the road and by the time the mail coach reached their hiding spot they had held up nearly sixty people. The mail coach, being escorted by Inspector O’Neil and Sergeant Parry, O’Neil survived only because he ran out of bullets and surrendered.