Already the landscape was so different to the places I had visited earlier in the day. It was a lot flatter and drier.
The drive from Gundagai, via Wagga Wagga, was very uneventful. Thankfully I had reception and access to my beloved Pandora! As you can see in the image below, it was a bit of a boring driving since the roads were straight for many many kms.
The Pastoral Shadows of Brookong features iron sculptures which depict the rural life in the 1800s when the town was known for it's thriving sheep station. It contained sculptures of drovers, sheep, working horses and even some dogs. Overall it was a very cool experience walking on the circuit. Lockhart has a population of around 800 and when I visited, it was completely deserted which was a very surreal feeling.
I really liked how they incorporated the sculptures with real objects such as tree trunks and even the wagon.
After Lockhart, I headed to my next campground at Ariah Park. I had never heard of Ariah Park before my research and I am not too surprised. Ariah Park (pronounced area park) has a populaton of under 300 people and ... actually isn't known for much aside from being a town known for it's "wowsers, bowsers and peppercorn trees" as proudly stated on their town sign. I picked this as my second camp ground purely because it was cheap ($6 vs $20+) and there was access to showers and it was kind of in the general direction of where I wanted to be the next day. The drive to Ariah Park was quite dull and I was so glad I arrived after the 135km. Once again, I drove on the back roads and the roads were so unbelievably straight.
Upon arrival, I discovered that there was a bowling club which was kind of surprising considering it was a town of 300 people. It was very much a typical Australian town with a main street, a pub and lots of shops with verandahs. I was actually very excited to see that there was a bowling club and there was hot food being served. Sadly that joy was short lived as I will soon detail.
I sometimes feel a little awkward travelling in country Australia for three reasons. Firstly, I am by myself. Secondly, I am driving a hatchback and everyone else is driving a campervan, 4WD or a ute. Thirdly, I am usually the only Asian in a very Caucasian place. I walked into the bowling club and everyone was also over the age of 40. Ha. There was the typical Australian/ Chinese fusion bistro and I ordered the special which was butter chicken. I really should have thought about it properly; probably should have crossed my mind that the chances of me getting anything that had a semblance of butter chicken in a town of 300 people that was 100km west of Wagga Wagga (largest city in the region) was going to be a stretch. I really thought they would have bought frozen sauce. What I actually received for $14 was ... some Australian fusion chicken dish and then I got suckered into paying $4 for a bowl of rice as a side. $18 all up. Urghhhh. Oh well. Part of me was trying to convince myself I was supporting the local businesses ... but the other part was quite pissed off.
Butter chicken not pictured. Ha
Ariah Park was eerily quiet but there were 5 other caravans at the campground. I also had access to a shower which was wonderful! Even if I had to shower with multiple (small spiders) and dead bugs around me!
The perks of being in a town really in the middle of no where was that there was effectively 0 light pollution and I saw the most stars I have ever seen in my life. It was absolutely incredible! It tried to capture it with my camera, however it isn't the best. Funny story. I had a torch and was using it to set up my camera and tripod on a deserted dirt road (that was 200m away from the campground). A car from the main road (maybe 400m away) turned off and then headed towards me and asked if I needed any help. I told the woman I was taking photos and she drove off. I guess she thought I needed help since she probably saw my flashlight in a, what is normally, pitch black area.
The best part about also sleeping in the car was that I could see all the stars out the car window when I laid down.
I had a much better sleep that night due to my stop at Wagga Wagga. At Wagga Wagga, before I headed to Lockhart, I had visited K-Mart to purchase a seat cushion to bridge the gap in the car which had caused my a lot of grief the previous night. The best $9 I have ever spent! I also believe I might be a genius.
This is my fourth trip as part of #take12trips. To see previous trips please click here
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