Wordless Wednesday: Australian Bush Country
How To Enjoy Small Town Australia
While I dearly love Australia’s gorgeous beaches and stunning bush country, I also like simply wandering through small Queensland towns like Clifton, Allora, and my personal favorite, Warwick.
Warwick looks like the movie set for Western classics, especially if you raise your eyes above street level to the marvelous balconies, railings, and cupolas of the dozens of fabulous old hotels, theaters, and government buildings. The elegant Town Hall (see above) was built of local sandstone in 1888. One of the oldest local authority buildings in Queensland it features a stately clock tower.
My first visit to Warwick was on a blazing hot summer day. After strolling along the main drag in the withering sun it was time for a cold drink. My friend and I nipped into the Criterion Hotel, found perches on rickety wooden stools, and ordered Lemon Lime and Bitters. I happily guzzled my frosty drink and amused myself watching the locals chatting away at the bar and playing pool in a nearby room. I confess I was slightly disappointed at the dearth of wooden legged cowboys, bush rangers, and sheriffs with shiny tin badges, but a girl can’t have everything.
Warwick is located 162 km southwest of Brisbane and is the major commercial center in the Darling Downs. Established in the mid-1800’s, things really got moving in Warwick with the arrival of the railroad from Ipswich in 1871.
I love that Warwick shot to fame with the hurling of a well-aimed egg at a visiting dignitary.
It was 1917 when The Little Digger, Prime Minister ‘Billy’ Hughes visited Warwick to press his case for conscription. The townsfolk, along with the majority of Australians, were against the idea, and one fellow showed his disapproval by launching an egg at the Prime Minister. Hughes was furious and insisted the egg thrower be arrested by the local policeman. The copper refused saying that as no Queensland law had been broken, he could not arrest the offender. Legend has it that this incident and the stubbornness of the policeman led directly to the establishment of the Commonwealth Police Force.
Nowadays Warwick is known more for its weekly Pig and Calf Sale (click here to read my article on this marvelous event), Rose Festival, and the annual Warwick Rodeo than egg-throwing miscreants.
I’m so glad that towns like this still exist, providing beautiful buildings and broad, tree-lined streets for folks to enjoy on a sunny Saturday afternoon.
How To Enjoy Small Town Australia
- Wear comfortable shoes and a wide-brimmed hat.
- Wear sunscreen!
- Stop often in local cafes, pubs and restaurants to sample local drinks and regional dishes.
- Take time to visit local museums and get to know the colorful history behind otherwise stodgy buildings and meaningless monuments.
- Don’t be afraid to ask locals to tell you more about their town. You’ll get stories to entertain you for hours.
- Time your visit to take in local attractions. A few minutes online will give you all the information you need for local markets, fairs and festivals.
For more information on Warwick, visit: http://www.warwickevents.com/
What is one thing you’d tell a visitor to see in your town?
A Room with a View
Good morning, luvs. 🙂 I woke this weekend to a winter wonderland! I’ve only seen snow a couple of times this season, so it made me smile. Then I hunkered down under the covers and spent a glorious morning reading and drinking tea.
I live in a teensy apartment in a rather scary part of town but I do so love the views from my windows. They make the occasional crazy neighbor and subsequent police investigations bearable. 🙂
How was your weekend? Mine was a mixture of bliss and ugh.
Bliss was celebrating my friend’s wedding Friday night with many dear friends. We cried along with the groom as he tried to get through his vows, laughed hard at the wedding speeches, and danced with joyous abandon. Bliss was also having a cozy Oscars-Homemade Soup, Cheese and Crackers-Really Good Wine evening with more dear friends.
Ugh because I was sick, so very sick on Saturday and Sunday. But even that was made tolerable by my lovely friends Nicole and Marie bringing me homemade cranberry bread and a stack of historical novels to cheer me up.
As I lay in bed, I thought about gratefulness, and how hard it is to think of good things when I’m in pain and feeling so sad and wretched. So I wrote a list of good things, lovely things that put the little trials of my life in perspective. It helped so much.
I started reading “Awareness” by Anthony de Mello again. It never fails to jolt me out of self-pity and help me to wake up and be grateful and brave.
I love these thoughts on gratefulness by Melodie Beattie:
“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more.
It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, confusion into clarity.
It turns problems into gifts, failures into success, the unexpected into perfect timing, and mistakes into important events.
Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow.”
So I woke this morning with a renewed hope. My pain is still here but my heart is lighter, and I feel blessed beyond measure.
What little things are you grateful for today?
Courage and Unexpected Glowing Things
Hello dear ones. xo
When I was in the woods the other day I looked up into what I thought would be bare tree trunks and stark branches. Instead the sun was glowing through dozens of ferns growing up the mossy tree, rendering them a brilliant lime green against the bright blue sky. Aren’t they gorgeous? 🙂
I’ve been reading a lot of quotes by Teddy Roosevelt this week. I thought I’d share a few that are especially dear to me, and make me take a deep breath and press on with courage and a smile:
It is not the critic who counts;
not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles,
or where the doer of deeds could have done them better.
The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena,
whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood,
who strives valiantly;
who errs and comes short again and again;
because there is not effort without error and shortcomings;
but who does actually strive to do the deed;
who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion,
who spends himself in a worthy cause,
who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement
and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly.
So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.
***
There are two things that I want you to make up your minds to:
first, that you are going to have a good time as long as you live –
I have no use for the sour-faced man –
and next, that you are going to do something worthwhile,
that you are going to work hard and do the things you set out to do.
***
I have never in my life envied a human being who led an easy life;
I have envied a great many people who led difficult lives and led them well.
***
Wishing you a beautiful weekend of rest and happiness with people you love and who love you back.
What has given you courage this week?
xo
A Sunny Winter Hike and Garlic French Fries
As I write to you tonight the wind is howling. I can hear it shrieking around corners and sending leaves and branches skittering across my terrace. It sounds very cold and stormy and I’m so glad to be safe and warm indoors. It makes me think of a snippet of poetry I read earlier this evening:
Brew me a cup for a winter’s night.
For the wind howls loud and the furies fight
– M.T. Antrim –
On nights like this it’s lovely to remember other winter days when the sun shone brilliantly, the sky was clear, and I got to walk through the sun-drenched countryside.
My neighbor was pottering in his garden next to the barn, preparing the soil for spring days hopefully not too far away. It makes me smile when I walk past and his cat is sitting in the driveway, gazing magisterially over the fields as if he owns the place.
I left the main road and ambled into the woods, delighted when I looked up and saw this splendid red barn through the trees. It made me think of barn dances and tables laden with pies and cakes, friends and neighbors gossiping happily as children run about underfoot. I took a deep breath of cold air, smiling at hints of woodsmoke and cedar.
As I walked back home I began craving comfort food, something warm and cozy and naughty. What better than Belgian-style French Fries tossed with minced garlic and parsley? I set the oil on to heat while I cut the potatoes, soaked them in salt water, and patted them dry. After a 6 minute dunking in sizzling hot oil, I drained them, salted them well, and cooled them before putting them in the oil for two more minutes to crisp and brown. While they were still hot I added a couple spoonfuls of finely minced garlic, a sprinkling of parsley, a bit more salt and pepper, then sat down with a dollop of mayonnaise for dipping.
They were everything I hoped for. Alas, I was so ravenous that I forgot to take a picture, and “had” to make them again the next day to rectify my mistake. Poor me. I highly recommend making this mistake. 😉
What’s your favorite thing to eat after a winter walk?
Belgian French Fries with Garlic
Ingredients:
3-4 potatoes
vegetable oil
salt
pepper
dried parsley
minced garlic to taste
mayonnaise
Directions:
- Heat oil in deep saucepan over medium-high heat about 5-7 minutes.
- Slice potatoes into finger-lengths, let soak in salt water a few minutes.
- Remove from salt water and pat dry.
- Place dry potatoes in oil and let cook for 5-6 minutes.
- Remove with slotted spoon and let drain and cool on paper towels. Sprinkle with salt right away.
- When cool, return potatoes to hot oil and cook for 1-2 minutes more until they are golden brown.
- Remove with slotted spoon and let drain on paper towels. Salt and pepper to taste.
- In bowl toss with minced garlic and parsley.
- Serve hot with mayonnaise.
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