Going To The Gundagai Gaol

Gaol is jail in Australia and if you break the law, you're going there no matter the spelling. You can also go there if a Gaol is closed and now a museum. Like in Gundagai.

The Big House at the Gundagai gaol. Warden, not prisoner.

Spartan accommodations. A single bed and a single bucket toilet.

Exercise yard, bars between you and the wild blue yonder.

Stockage in an exhibition room and a portrait of some famous bushrangers (rural outlaws) who passed through the gaol including James Nesbitt and a man with a flowery name, Captain Moonlight. Trippy.

Prison kitchen, a fireplace, table and pot. Daily gruel!

Going To Gundagai

Gundagai is a sleepy, small, rural country town about an hour from Canberra. The place has taken on the symbol of old Aussie frontier life in songs and lore and has a couple of attractions to reinforce that honor.

Hello Dad and Dave, Mum and Mabel. The Beverly Hillbillies of Australia? More like tough homesteaders. Little House on the Prairie? Sure. The characters are from a series of stories from the 1890's, On Our Selection, by Steele Rudd.

Inside the requisite pioneer museum. Old car, old painted saw, old man portrait, old everything. "Hullo thar pardner." A homemade mannequin on his bullock cart. He looks like he needs a break. Or a paint job.

Art in the wool. One of the more unique items at the pioneer museum, an elaborate wool tapestry, representing the area's agriculture glory, made from its most famous product.

Iconic stuff, old wood train bridge and the Dog On The Tucker Box sculpture, named for an old cowboy-like poem. Spoiler alert, the dog won.

Hello Melba. Dairy cow mural, paying homage to the local milk maidens.

Getting Dazed At Murrumbateman Field Days

Country fairs can be overwhelming. Tractors! Rides! Animals! Fairy Floss! Murrumbateman Field Days is a classic small town, rural fest with all the usual attractions and distractions. Time to explore.

Boys and their toys. A dad introduces his son to a lifetime of driving John Deeres.

Throwback ride area, the colorful ticket booth sign for the "Giant Wheel" and girls enjoying a teapot spin.

Getting busy, showing how to do a successful sheep shear. Razor close.

How close? Just ask these naked llamas. Or alpacas, who can tell the difference and they aren't talking. Or sweating. Other animal attractions, the determined dog, getting at it against a wall obstruction.

The Cutest Race on Earth, little piggies doing their scoot.

Don Bradman, The Babe Ruth Of Australian Cricket

The town of Bowral, New South Wales, hosts the Cricket Hall of Fame, really, a temple to the most famous Australian cricket player of all time, Don Bradman.

The complex has a relaxed, gentleman's vibe. Cute cricket pitch stands.

Besides, Bradman exhibits, there's plenty other stuff on display. Ball development and a little bit of women's history with the game.

The main event, heap o' Bradman objects and information.

Start the fandom when they're young with a kids book. A wall of cheeky ads related to cricket, including Mr pre-Dundee, Paul Hogan.

Back to Bradman. There's a full size, walk-in recreation of his last game with Bradman sitting in the locker room, post match. Get that man a pint.

Getting Tried At The Berrima Courthouse

The rock-n-roll style light show comes to small town justice. Little Berrima has an old courthouse that you can tour and get an idea of Aussie 1800s trials. Berrima figured that simply showing blah, dusty exhibits wouldn't bring in the jaded youth of today. Time for some bling.

Exterior of the courthouse, rock hard classical traditional.

The wigged out judge will see you now. Grim reminder of a physically abusive past, complete with corporal log book.

On with the show. "Ladies and gentlemen, put your hands together for the smashing crime duo, Lucretia and Martin!" The main courtroom has been transformed into a justice rock concert.

Jury of their peers, should also probably be in prison. Guess they really are peers. Highlighted hero lawyer.

The main attraction, looking a lot worse for wear. "Guilty! Encore!"

Training An Eye At The Goulburn Rail Heritage Centre

Australia's development seemed to have ridden the backbone of trains, which has now been passed by with air and something scary called road trains. Think rumbling, three trailer behemoths on two lane roads, heavy with mining materials and not caring if you fly off into the outback.

Back to trains. What to do with all that old, obsolete heavy metal and their cute roundhouses? Lucky for Australia, train buffs abound and they're busy saving, restoring, puttering with old trains and everything rail related.

The small town of Goulburn has a nice roundhouse and it's now a train museum. Hop aboard.

Wheels, locomotives and train cars, something for everyone.

Back in the day, everything moved by rail. A prison car, bars and all. Inside a mail car, a sorting frenzy on rails.

When things go sideways, best to call in the mighty craven. Dr. Yellow to the rescue.

Depot details. Patch of the mighty union. Oldest shop in the world and proud of it. A variety of lanterns, not available at Home Depot.

The roundhouse and massive turntable. Can play any record, even 78s.

Seeing The Queanbeyan Show

Small town country, agriculture fairs are alive and well all over Australia. See some prize bovines, eat a corn dog, throw it up on a ride, go home happy.

Humble hay stage at the annual Queanbeyan Show.

Worthy wool. Sheep shearing is still big biz in Australia and having the best merino is coveted. Your Water Stream Here. Masochist clown amusement.

Dunking for Disney characters.

Rough rides. The sky's the limit and hitting the chilly slopes in the spring heat.

A little quiet time in the bleachers between animal competitions.

Wandering Around Goulburn

Goulburn is about an hour from Canberra and the town has a handful of cool sites to visit. Pumping water and gawking at Big Things, here we go.

Ye Olde Goulburn Waterworks. Iconic red brick building.

Pretty piping. Engineers then knew how to build to both perform well and look good doing it.

What the..? All hail Rambo! No ram-sh*t, this big merino is named after a real ram from the nearby Bullamallita property. 50 feet of concrete studlliness.

Delightful details. You can climb up the inside of Rambo and peer out his big eyes. Rear view, no doubt it's Rambo, not Ramba.

Ho hum, it's still an exit through the gift shop, time to pick up some socks and a beanie.