Up betimes after a cool but comfortable night in the Tadpole to check out Moama and to enjoy a cappuccino and a muffin at "Hammond's Café and Providores".
The 'gentrification' of the English language continues apace. When the Prop was a young man Hammond's would probably have been described as a 'Milk Bar" not a providore!
Departing Moama we made our way to Mathoura which describes itself as "River Forest Funland"
Despite the fact that Mathoura is the site of the locally heard-of "Harry McCormick Arboretum"
And despite the fact that Wilson Tuckey MP (see:https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilson_Tuckey)
opened the "Mathoura Rural Transaction Centre" in June 2003,
And despite the fact that Mathoura forms part of 'The Long Paddock Touring Route' (international readers should consult the picture below for an explanation of the term 'The Long Paddock')
the Prop is nevertheless disinclined to agree that Mathoura is entitled to use the descriptive adjective "Funland"
Leaving Mathoura we made our way to Deniliquin the name of which sounds like it might be Irish but, according to Wikipedia:
"Although there are several origin stories for the name Deniliquin, the most common suggests Ben Boyd (or his agent, Morris) named it after 'Denilakoon', a local Indigenous Elder, famed for his wrestling prowess."
The streetscapes and many of the individual buildings in "Denny" are in remarkably good condition.
Streetscape, Deniliquin
A valuable gift from Capt. Landale of the 3rd Kingsown Hussars
A former hotel or bank, now a disused Chinese restaurant
Burchfield's Garage - established in 1858 - possibly in anticipation of the invention of the motor vehicle?
The Exchange Hotel, Denny
The former Conargo Shire Chambers
The Globe Hotel, Denny
Somewhere between 40 and 50 years ago the Prop first met Mrs P's cousin Wendy at the Blighty Hotel. At that time Wendy was employed as a "barmaid" (not now the preferred nomenclature, Dude) at the Blighty Pub. For some reason, the Prop now has almost no memory of the events of that day!
Accordingly, in the hope that a second visit to the Blighty Hotel would refresh at least one of our memories, we decided to drive to Blighty and consume a refreshing lager.
Having slaked our respective thirsts (the Prop was mindful of having been breathalysed the previous day) we headed to Berrigan for lunch.
In order to obtain lunch from the Berrigan Bakery we parked the Tadpole on the other side of the road - adjacent to the Federal Hotel at Berrigan. So many "Federal Hotels" in the Riverina. However, purely by chance the Prop (already something of a keen constitutional scholar) was surprised to find the following information in the local park:
The Prop had pre-booked accommodation at the "ClubMulwala Resort" in Mulwala. Upon arrival at said resort the Prop was surprised to find that it was but part of an enormous RSL Club largely financed by poker machines and other forms of gambling.
(For international readers, there is almost always a Returned Services League Club (RSL) in nearly every town in Australia to remember those who gave their lives in war and to encourage drinking and gambling.)
5 comments:
PRD would be the official reason for memory loss at Blighty pub! (ps. Deni is always Deni)
Nowt in the ‘real Blighty’ would be likely to get a full blown plaque and/or public description of an event or person of note unless they hailed from 1800 or earlier. But then again Oz history only started with a few off the boat in 1788
🏴 teehee 🤭
This comment from an international correspondent raises some significant questions, the first of which is how the town of Blighty got it's name. It might perhaps be that colonial immigrants/convicts were pining for a green and pleasant land left far behind. Alternatively, there may be some connection to the Great Irish Potato Famine. Either way, 'Blighty' is an unusual name for a town.
Is PRD short for Pissed Beyond Redemption?
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