Ardlethan drive...

 

A week ago - pre rain - I drove to Ardlethan, a small town in the Coolamon Shire and then on to Barellan in the Narrandera Shire...

This post just focuses on Ardlethan, in the rich Mirroul Creek country of the Riverina region...

The township was established in 1903 and the rail link to Temora was opened in 1908...

The wheat silos by the rail link were built in early 1920...

Significant tin deposits were discovered here just outside the small township in 1912...

The tin mines were not officially closed till the 1980's...

Always like to take views of scenery along the way...

There are always silos and train tracks...

The London Hotel is right near the town entrance by the railway...

This hotel opened in 1910...

In the first park, I found this intriguing sculpture?...

Not exactly sure what it is...

But nearby, I found this plaque...

Connection?

Lions Park and Stewart Park overlap...a green space by the railway...

At one end of this park, closest to the silos, is this building, significantly structured in tin...

And this is the view behind the museum...

More on the story of the kelpie HERE...

It appears that the above claim has a contender...with the Victorian town of Casterton...

(See the link above for more details)...

Another featured sculpture in the park is this one...

Francis Alexander Bradley won the 1937 Diamond Jubilee Stall Gift...

The Stawell Gift is Australia's oldest and richest short-distance running race. It is held on the Easter weekend at Stawell in the Grampians, Victoria...

The Palace Hotel, built in the 1920's, after the London Hotel, is looking a little sad...

But I was intrigued by the main front door features, even if there was no hotel name in sight there...

Finally, as I drove out of the little town, there was the delightful patch of water, part of Mirroul Creek I presume...

And, of course, the geese that featured in an earlier post HERE...

Ariah Park (2) - Davey Park...

A humble sign in the little 1920's town Ariah Park...But don't be fooled...

A wander round the park reveals a treasure trove of historical wonders...

A huge mural is eye-catching...

These wool bale stencils represent those used by farmers in the Ariah Park region...

It was completed in time for Australia Day 2017...

And then, scattered round the park, is a huge range of intriguing old farm machinery...

More details on the H.V.McKay story HERE

It is as if these old beasts of burden have now upscaled to precious artworks...

(Yes...I took many photos)...

All these items were close to the railway line...

But there was more...closely linked to the rail itself...

 

This little 'truck' was significant in reducing the labour and time involved in handling wheat...

As per the above sign, wheat silo construction began in 1918, soon after the 1916 construction of this little truck...

And the first silos were built in the Riverina of which Ariah Park is a part...

NOTE: Ariah Park is acknowledged as the birthplace of Australian bulk grain...

However, the silo story needs clarifying...

Maybe the first silos were built/being built in the Riverina, but Peak Hill silo, in central west NSW between Parkes and Narromine, claims to be the first operating silo in August 1918...

Work had started on the Ariah Park silo in 1916 but then halted and not completed till 1920...

And across from Davey Park, near the railway line, the silos stand...

Ariah Park (1) - Coolamon Street...

In my last post on signs, based on Monday's drive, I deliberately left out one sign till this post - which simply focuses on the quaint 1920's village of Ariah Park in the Temora Shire region of the Riverina...

This sign must be unique...

The 'wowser and bowser' reference is possibly best explained (most amusing) by Motorbike Nation HERE...

The wide main street's median strip is lined with peppercorn trees planted in 1916...

Now a closer view of what Ariah Park is all about...

The above photo represents one view of Coolamon Street, the main street...peppercorn trees + angled, small driveways where cars can park on the median strip - left and bottom right...

NOTE: The street is empty because most shops appear to be closed on Mondays...

But still I enjoyed wandering so freely...

More views of the main street + a closer view of one of the peppercorn tree trunks...

The above 2 photos demonstrate how cars use the median strip's single-vehicle driveways under the peppercorn trees...

At one end of the median strip (nearest the railway and facing the railway) is this bronze statue...

Ariah Park is the birthplace of bulk wheat handling. 

Prior to that, wheat was packaged in bags and carried on the shoulders of men...

At the other end of the median strip is this statue...originally a memorial to men and women in WWI, but more plaques have been added with the names of those involved in WWII and the Vietnam War...

Interestingly, the soldier figure faces toward the town's centre...

hungry Tuesday...

it's written
a second country drive
on hungry Tuesday
there's no such thing as
too much soul food#tanka pic.twitter.com/zCrOkk94rY

— 🇺🇦🌻Gemma Wiseman-on Wiradjuri land (@AuraGem) June 28, 2022

Maybe I should re-think that last comment...
This particular soul food may be limited for the remainder of the week at least...
The cost of petrol is ridiculous...
I paid $2.109 per litre to 'just top up my tank'.
31.5 litres cost $66.43 this morning.
OUCH! 😡

— 🇺🇦🌻Gemma Wiseman-on Wiradjuri land (@AuraGem) June 28, 2022

soul food...

soul food
a gentle country drive
on my restless Monday#haiku

— 🇺🇦🌻Gemma Wiseman-on Wiradjuri land (@AuraGem) June 27, 2022

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...