Hay, NSW

 We have now headed north from Swan Hill to Hay in NSW.  We took the longer route via Balranald and so pleased that we did.  The country changes dramatically from the rich Riverland country to the drier Mallee.  Before heading into the Mallee though we are surprised to come upon huge acreage of Pistachio Trees.  Some are mature and others have only been planted recently.  Who would have thought they would grow here but I guess all you need is water and that is plentiful from both the Murray and Murrumbidgee River systems.

Baranald is a small western NSW town with only one Main Street, but it is quite busy with many grey nomads.  We stop at the Lions Park for brunch but don't bother with a walk.  We turn the vehicle east towards Hay and the vast open saltbush plains spread out before us.  It is not long though before we see huge ring tanks and channels for irrigation.  This is cotton country now and we see less and less sheep.  I have researched Hay before our arrival and it was a very important town in the late 1800's.  Many paddle ships made their way along the Murrumbidgee river and it was a thriving centre.  After the war and during the recession many "swaggies" made this area their home and after the Second World War it was a home to POW's.  The wool industry was thriving during the turn of the century and Hay literally rode on the back of the sheep.  Today it is still a productive area that now relies more on cropping.

On our first day in Hay, and after setting up the van, we headed into the township of Hay where there are some lovely walking trails with some great sculptures and information boards.  We chose the Bidgee Riverside Trail and extended the walk to the Silo Art.  This is one of the best silo art (actually they are water tanks) we have seen and it depicts the five faces of servicemen and women that fought in the World Wars.  

There are numerous museums in Hay but the one that we particularly wanted to visit was "Shear Outback" dedicated to the shearing industry.  Of course this is of interest to us having lived this life for so many years, but this is an exceptional interpretive centre, very much like the Stockmans Hall of Fame in Longreach.  It is of course much smaller but runs along the same lines.  You enter the building and wander in a clockwise direction taking in all the information that your mind can soak up before walking to a shearing demonstration. 

 I am a visual sort of person and am always drawn to the videos.  I particularly loved the video where the shearers' cooks told their stories.  At 10.30 we make our way to the shearing shed where we are given a demonstration of sheep shearing followed by classing of the fleece.  Nothing new for us but the shearer was a really great story teller and as there were only six of us at the demonstration we could ask as many questions as we liked.  We were at Shear Outback for a good few hours and it was worth every moment and even finished off our time there at the Cafe for coffee and a biscuit.  It was probably the worst coffee I have had but the day is windy and cold so at least it was warming.....

After Shear Outback we headed into town for a wander around the town centre and also a trip to the Hay Goal Museum.  Hay is much bigger than I imagined with all the facilities that one would need, but it is particularly geared to the farming industry.  There are some lovely heritage listed buildings in the town many dating back to the early 1800's.

The last place we visit is the Hay Gaol Museum.  As far as Gaol museums are concerned, this one is a little ahead of the others with each "cell" full of memorabilia rather than sad stories about those who were interned in those cells.  I even found a couple of old typewriters very similar to the ones that I learnt to type.  (One is electric and I remember us girls in year 10 thinking we had hit gold when we were allowed to type on one of them!).  I didn't mind this museum but we didn't spend a lot of time there as we were a little "museumed out".  

This evening we are driving out of town towards Booligal along the Cobb Highway that is fondly known as "The Long Paddock".  There is a place half way to Booligal called One Tree where there is an historic hotel that I would love to get some photos of before the sun goes down.  Tomorrow we make our way south, and back into Victoria, to Echuca.  Plenty to see and do there!