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Published: September 9th 2010
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Monday morning dawned a brighter day - much to our relief. We decided to have a casual day around Warwick so Daphne set off for a walk by the river, one of her favourite spots. We strolled into town via Leslie Park determined to seek out the sculptors who are spending 3 weeks as part of a “Sculpting Symposium” creating new masterpieces which, when completed, will be displayed in and around Warwick. They were working in a roped off area at the far end of the park and, at the moment, the blocks of stone they are sculpting are unrecognizable as anything tangible. We promised to return later in the week to see how they are getting on.
We were just walking by a dilapidated old building when an elderly lady came out from beside it and commented on the changeable weather. We thought it was only the British who constantly discuss the weather so it was nice to hear an Aussie doing it too. We stopped to chat and when this lady realized that we were English her eyes lit up and she proceeded to tell us about a trip to the British Isles she and her late husband
had made some 20 years ago. Both their parents had come from the UK, hers from Ireland and her husband’s from Wales. Her name is Lorna Church but her maiden name was Docherty. It was obvious that the trip had meant a huge amount to them both and she remembered it as if it had happened yesterday. It was amazing how she rattled off the places they visited including Tamworth and Brownhills (both places near Sarah and Darryl’s home) and many more. She went on to tell us about the building she had just been looking at - it is a very old listed building that she thinks should be saved and renovated but, because of its prime location, is in danger of being pulled down for new development. We chatted to her for a very long time, interspersed with various other people stopping to pass the time of day. We have noticed that the folks of Warwick are generally very pleasant, friendly people who seem eager to chat. We eventually went on our way and by now it was lunchtime so we popped into the shopping mall and enjoyed ‘shepherd’s pies’.
We spent much of the afternoon cleaning
the bikes and they certainly look much better now. However, we seem to have left some useful kit back in the caravan and that probably includes the bicycle pump and some allen keys to adjust the brakes, seats etc so it may be a little while before we actually try them out!
Tuesday turned out to be another glorious day so we prepared a picnic and set off in the car quite early. We paused at Jackie Howe Park and admired the memorial to him - he was a famous sheep shearer who once sheared 321 sheep in 7 hours 40 minutes. Then we stopped to photograph Tiddalik, the beautiful 'dreamtime' frog sculpture by Vern Foss, and a fairly new sculptured companion, the Condamine Platypus which was completed in 2007. The park contains lots of fascinating information about the area and, as the Condamine River winds its way through the park, it’s a wonderful place to stroll. But we had a particular place we wanted to visit so off we drove in the direction of Killarney. Some sculptures completed in previous ‘symposiums’ had been placed in nearby villages so as we passed through we looked out for them and
found a few. Eventually we arrived at our intended destination, Carr’s Lookout - from there the view across the valley to the hills beyond is spectacular especially on a lovely clear day like today. There was quite a lot of information displayed there and as always people to chat to. A group of motorbike enthusiasts came by, mostly on vintage bikes and some stopped to admire the view and of course say hello.
Lunch beckoned so we decided to go back to the Queen Mary Falls picnic area which we really like. We sat enjoying our sandwiches and watching the various birds that hovered nearby including a pair of ‘Superb Blue Wrens’, a flock of Red-Browed Finches and an Eastern Yellow Robin. Daphne and I strolled to the lookout where we had all gone a few days previously and then we went across the road to the café for a coffee and an apricot and macadamia nut slice which we enjoyed in the company of the local population of parrots. The café owners feed them so they are tame and very entertaining. We spent half an hour watching their antics and then meandered back towards Warwick. We diverted through
Morgan Park, a huge area which hosts a variety of sports including Drag Car Racing, Polocrosse, Horse Trials, Dirt Bike Racing and others. We saw a large group of kangaroos - our first active ones since we arrived - although mostly they watched us watching them. Back into Warwick we sought out the Railway Station and the site of the famous Pig and Calf Market which we intend to visit tomorrow. We also came across the historic O’Mahony’s Hotel.
What a very pleasant and interesting day it had been!
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