peaceful drama...

peaceful drama
a big sky and
big fields#haiku

📷 2022 - Riverina district near Young, NSW pic.twitter.com/qXXFPf3E03

— 🇺🇦🌻Gemma Wiseman-on Wiradjuri land (@AuraGem) August 18, 2024

rural living perks...

rural living perks
you can wander or wonder
with few bars#haiku pic.twitter.com/AyvbT9lJXv

— 🇺🇦🌻Gemma Wiseman-on Wiradjuri land (@AuraGem) May 12, 2024

a patch of calm water...

Amazing how that beautifully-lit foreground patch of calm water highlights the scene with peace... https://t.co/bo8dR4PT5c

— 🇺🇦🌻Gemma Wiseman-on Wiradjuri land (@AuraGem) October 18, 2023

return to Temora via Stockinbingal yesterday...

Today is an odd day...My mind and body feel riddled with anxiety and general fears are rising...

Perhaps it is due to spending quite some time this morning chasing up why I still have not received my bond back from my Mornington Peninsula rental...

Perhaps it is due to worrying about a puppy digging a large hole under the side fence this morning and was running amok...sabotaging potted plants in the front yard (waiting to transfer to the new house) and generally scattering dirt everywhere...

(Of course, I cleaned it all up...

I didn't want my daughter to come home tired from work and find all the mess..)

Perhaps it is due to general frustration that the short, cramped stay with my daughter is now a longer stay till at least September... with all the new house building delays...

All I know is that I really don't feel right...

So I've decided to just sit still with a coffee and glow in the wonders of yesterday's drive...

And write some more about it...

I travelled down Old Cootamundra Road from Temora yesterday, but decided to return via Stockinbingal on Burley Griffin Way...

The photo above is one of several grain train rail crossings on the road...

But of course, it was the countryside that enchanted me...

the greens and the blues and those gracious trees...

At times, the blue hills seemed like a meandering stream low in the sky...

Life may be a cluttered smog at times...but while the trees keep growing in such delightful countryside like this, know that there is always peace and beauty...somewhere...

All it takes is a little willpower to believe it is there and go seek it out...

Old Cootamundra Road drive...

 

Today, the weather had many moods...a little rainy and misty at times...

But still I yearned to drive...

I chose nearby Old Cootamundra Road, Temora...

No matter the weather...the countryside did not disappoint...

If I saw a side road, I pulled in and took photos...

Loved looking across farmland to distant blue hills...

or even just misty, low hills...

but the road beckoned onwards...

And now my favourite finds of the day...

The first appeared in this post's first photo and the one above...

All those lovely misty tones drifting across the countryside were so appealing...

And my 2nd favourite find was this rocky cutting which suddenly appeared by the road as it snaked quite sharply downhill...

UPDATE

My daughter has just told me never to drive this road in summer...

If a wind is blowing, the air is filled with red dust...damaging for cars...

beautiful winter's drive to Young...

It was a beautiful winter's drive today to Young, about 79.4km east of Temora...

The view above represents the entrance to Young...

But just before the view, I was enchanted with this shapely tree by the roadside...

Young's wide main street was a hive of Saturday morning activity...

We returned here for a late lunch at Wilder's Bakery - just visible on the left...

The bakery is an amazing, atmospheric experience...

Lots of cafe delights downstairs + gorgeous, casual dining experience upstairs...

(Loved the range of furniture styles upstairs - including lounges)...

I intend adding Young to my list of 'must returns' during the week...when maybe it is less busy...

On the return home this afternoon, we stopped briefly at Ballinaclash, on the outskirts of Young in the Hilltops Region...

It looks so unpretentious (it is)...

But inside are many surprises...

Even wine tasting groups are available - complete with informative explanations of wine styles...

You can pick your own stone fruit (cherries esp) in season here...

(Note To Self: add to the 'must return' list)...

Just beyond Ballinaclash was this lovely view...

Then this series of views...

For me, they have a few appeals...

Love the concoction of names on the street sign in the above photo...

Always fascinated by the touch of hills behind farming countryside...So lovely...

I am always on the lookout for silos...Love them...

This one appeared on the home run...

And finally managed to capture a Temora sign...

Adore the symbolic icons of all that Temora is...

road trip Sunday...the Riverina countryside...

 

The weather was moody today, but still we went on a long road trip from Temora to Griffith (156km), to Leeton (another 43km), to Narrandera (another 33.5km) and back to Temora (another 121.1km)...

A total of 353.6km...

At Griffith, we spent quite some time wandering the extensive Pioneer Park Museum...

But first, I indulged in a gorgeous breakfast of granola, Greek yoghurt, strawberries and berries...

A great beginning for an extensive one-day drive...

Still love the different views of the wintry countryside along the way...

The one above is on the way to Griffith...

The image above is taken from Narranderra to Temora...

It is clear from this photo, and the one below, how the Riverina countryside is also known as the South West Slopes of the Great Dividing Range...

Also, in this last stretch of the drive, there were many changing cloud patterns and colours...

The photo above was taken only minutes after the previous photo...

Minutes later, the above scene...

Minutes later again, was this scene with no dark clouds...

I will never tire of these country views, but I am looking forward to the canola season when fields glow in yellow...