jannimary

This morning we woke up to a red morning, so weren't at all surprised when it started to rain gently.

Nice gentle rain that looked lovely on the river.

Today's plan was not really a plan.  Rather than just travelling through, like we have on every previous occasion, we would have a look around Nyngan and do a bit of relaxing.

Being wet was a perfect excuse to visit a couple of indoor venues.

We crossed the railway overpass to visit our first destination, this little old goods shed at the railway, which houses a shearing museum.

This is very different to the Shearing Hall of Fame at Hay.  The shed at Hay is very smick and professional.  The signage lets you know that this is simpler, being run by volunteers, mainly retired shearers.

All the different shearing plants looked great along the wall.  There were lots of little interesting items, quite personal and relevant to the locality.  In many ways it seemed more real than its Hay counterpart.

Lots of bale stencils

I loved the cookhouse, particularly the green Fowlerware bowl, which I could very easily have taken home to put with the matching ones that I have.

There was a commemorative quilt, complete with shearing fabric on the outer border.

Our guide was really helpful and interesting.

We then went back across the railway line to visit the local museum.  We only recently learnt that Mick's Great Grandfather was born in Nyngan in I'm guessing the 1880s, so it was interesting to learn a little about the town at that time.

A significant occurrence in Nyngan's recent history was the major flooding in 1990, when the entire town of 2,500 people had to be evacuated.  There was quite a section on it and an interesting short film showing.  You wonder how people recover from something like that, but they do.

It was an interesting little museum.  I was drawn to the household items.  Aren't we lucky with our modern appliances.

Of course the green glass drew my attention.  I loved the green teapot (no, not glass) and the vase behind it.

This is the top of a wedding cake that is over 100 years old.  Often the top layer was kept for the first wedding anniversary or christening cake, but for some reason this one was never used.

I'm sure a little girl would have been delighted to receive this cute apron to wear.

I loved seeing the make do items, such as this sewing box made from hessian.

There was a room full of dolls from a variety of eras, which were rather lovely.

Back outside, there is a helicopter, which was a gift to the people of Nyngan to commemorate the evacuation of the population of Nyngan by helicopter in 1990.

There was quite a lot in the main street to see, including this historic wool wagon.  Wagons like this were used to cart goods as well as wool in the early days.

  

The Cobb and Co coach is an exact replica built by a Nyngan local.  Apparently he built quite a few.

A slightly controversial feature of the main street is "The Big Bogan".  He certainly is big.  I think most of the locals just think he is good for a laugh.

Of course, Mick, being a metalworker, had to check out the construction.  He was impressed,  It was really well made.

Like lots of small country towns there are some great shops and also quite a few empty shops.  I was surprised to see a patchwork shop, so of course had to pop in and have a look.  I really don't need anything at the moment, so I just bought  low volume light grey fabric.  I have also been looking for a new toiletry bag.  There is a range of really cute ones and I had decided on the style I wanted, but when I looked at the chemists at home I couldn't find a cute one.  I thought I would have a look here, but didn't expect to find anything.  Well, I was wrong.  I even had a choice of cute ones, but this little sheep version fitted the bill.

The rain stopped after lunch so we went for a walk.  We found yet another sculpture.  This time to celebrate the drovers of the past.

Once again, beautifully constructed.  It looks like new, not nearly 30 years old.

We saw a white necked heron on our walk.

There are so many shags.

The pelicans were cruising up and down during the day.

And some cute little parrots.

The weather cleared and we had some lovely reflections on the river.  

Our campsite is just beautiful.  It feels like we are bush camping, but we have power and water and are within an easy walk to town.  You really can't get much better.  We thought we would have our touristy bit over and done with very quickly this morning, but there was much more to see than we expected.  Yes, we did also do some relaxing sitting outside by the river in the afternoon.  

Another lovely day, and yes, we are in holiday mode.