Day 11 – Hay

We had a really pleasant evening last night at Kev & Maz’s campsite. We were blown away with delicious lamb curry with lots of accompaniments and some yummy ice cream for dessert. They have set the bar high! As well as the lovely food we also partook of some more 80’s Trivia, this time with Wayne included and Vicky (sorry folks, I just discovered I should have been spelling Vicky with a y) reading out the questions. I won’t bore you with the details … suffice it to say, I won again, this time making a flying run from behind. Thank you, Mount St Helens, ET, Charles and Di’s wedding year (1981, same as ours).

After a good night’s sleep, we were off a bit after 9am to head to Hay, about 1 hour 40 minutes from Griffith. It’s always interesting seeing new and varied landscapes – well this landscape was new to me but not so much varied – flat, flat, plains. Arriving in Hay for our obligatory coffee stop a bit before 11am, we then headed over to Shear Outback – Australian Shearers’ Hall of Fame where we started a couple of hours exploration. Unfortunately, the scheduled shearing exhibition was cancelled as the shearer was sick (hmm, not sure how hardy these shearers really are!) but there was plenty of other things to look at.

We wandered through an exhibition area and then headed out to the woolshed to see firsthand how it all worked. Buddy did very well as an honorary sheep. The actual sheep that we saw in the shed stood so still at first we thought they were fake! There was lots of interesting info about the shearers and we watched some DVDs, smelt tar, (I passed on the urine), and had a go at clicking shears, among other things.

After we had our fill of all things shearing, we set off for Sandy Point, a lovely picnic spot by the banks of the Murrumbidgee right on the edge of Hay township. Once again, the picnic was a raging success – great food and location. There is a sandy beach there where you can swim but we didn’t have swimmers or time, so it was back in the cars.

This time us three girls headed off to The Dunera Museum via the old Hay Courthouse while the fellas went to have another coffee – they love their coffee, those guys … or is it that they just don’t really like museums? Hmm? Anyway, the museum is a self-guided tour at the old Hay Railway Station, in an old railway carriage, and tells the story of the Hay Internment and POW Camps during WWII. More stuff on Italians and Japanese prisoners but also on some poor unfortunate Jewish people who fled to Britain from the Nazis and then were interned here because they were German & Austrian. Something I hadn’t come across before.

After meeting up again with the guys we rearranged seats again and Kev, Maz, Gaz and I travelled back together, playing silly alphabet games to pass the time. I can’t imagine why they questioned that I saw a quarry (for Q) as we travelled across the plain or indeed said I could see yonder (for Y). OK, I’m competitive, what can I say? We arrived back with an hour or so to spare to get all glammed up for our outing to an Italian restaurant – Zecca – tonight. Mama Mia!