Wagga Wagga - the largest inland city in New South Wales

 We arrived in Wagga Wagga from Temora - needing to get something to get the Weber working, so arrived late in the afternoon and went straight to Wagga Webber!.  That didn’t leave a lot of time to research where to stay that night and we ended up at the Wagga Wagga Showground.   Our experiences of other showground camps are that they are usually quiet and a little sleepy, well this one wasn’t.  A six foot high fence behind the caravan hid a major rail freight line and we experience what felt like the sonic boom  of an oncoming training several times!  When things seemed to quieter, the railway freight depot on the other side of the tracks started with the excavator.  Needless to say we didn’t stay a second night.

The great Murrumbidgee River winding through Wagga Wagga

We met up with my friend Karen for a spot of breakfast before she headed off to work for the day - all of us enjoying our smashed avo on sourdough with poached eggs or eggs Benedict.  Thoroughly recommend Trail Street Coffee for a good breakfast.

We moved the van during the day to a caravan park on the north side of Wagga and then went exploring. We found the ‘Made in Wagga’ exhibition at the Museum of the Riverina very interesting - they it showed the ingenuity of early settlers out of necessity to create and make life easier in their own ways.   A great history of the local department store ‘Huthwaites’ - great footage from the fifties and sixties both reminded us of our childhood experiences in the supermarkets of the day.  

Botanic Gardens and Zoo

A terrific car tour with Karen topped off the day - to have a local show you and put context on things.  While the population is similar to Bathurst, the scale of facilities and infrastructure is far far bigger - we were both seriously impressed!  We visited Lake Albert, The Beach (#9 in top Australian Beaches) and saw some great newer suburbs.  Needless to say after the sleep (or lack of) , it was back to the van for an early night.

The Beach

There is a great walk/cycle way all around Wagga Wagga - the Wiradjuri Walk

Day #2 in the area included a trip out to Lockhart and The Rock. 

‘Get around Back’. Iron Sculpture in Main Street Lockhart

Lockhart the ‘Verandah’ town.

Wheat country - plains and straight roads on the way to Lockhart

Lockhart Council - the painted water tower was beautiful - ducks, magpies and more.

The afternoon was topped off with a visit to the Art Gallery and the National Glass Art Gallery - absolutely stunning art in glass - a definite must see!