A special weekend treat.

The rest of the week passes in a flurry of day-to-day jobs tasks and all manner of good times had by all.

The weather isn't too bright temperatures down and cloudy. TW ventures, (why?) ON HIS OWN to the local shops to buy breakfast pastries for the family, a brave act considering. The next couple of days are aimed towards the coming weekend when is planned for TW to be taken to fulfil one of these bucket list wishes. TW spends Friday evening and night packing and preparing this exciting visit. SI L1 and D2 are all set to go by 8:00 Saturday morning. The plan is to travel to a town named Bathurst which will be 1st comfort stop and also breakfast.

Tea shop is found which is full various styles of crockery, kitchen appliances all manner of ornaments, tea towels, cutlery as well as serving huge slices of cake with pots of excellent tea and coffee.  TW begins his search for square dinner plates among this strange collection of dull coloured saucers, dishes teacups and serving platters.   There appears to be only one square serving plate in the shop, according to the charming proprietor, which TW snaps up together with half a dozen cake forks, highly decorated, now all wrapped and ready to go home. Outside the shop we meet up with SIL1 brother, amazing coincidence seeing that we are over 100kms from home.

The journey continues with us making steady progress through what I would call the outback but apparently isn’t, until we have to pass through another town – that makes two so far, talk about urban overspill – it will take millennia for the borders of each burg to meet.

Civilisation in the form of an advertisement billboard declaring that the nearest Mac ers is only 50ks away.

 The journey is going well, our target has now morphed into two parts but the trusty stat nav (yeah, even in Australia) insists that we follow it’s direction seeing as we asked the way, which supposes that we don’t know the way whereas it does. “So do as your told!” it cries.  Seeing as we are hungry and the satnav has plotted a route which brings us to the target but part 2, we affirm our allegiance and proceed on the designated route. There is a panic alert when the car points out the new formation that it is suffering from the same disease as it’s Volvo cousin –(read Blenheim blog) low nearside rear tyre pressure.  This warning sparks off a whole lesson from SIL1 about how the heat from the atmosphere (it’s 38’C outside) plus to generated heat from constantly turning wheels can created a drop in pressure? which will sort itself out as we continue to drive at 115 kph.  Now apparently the tyre is designed to deflate and speed along as if there is no problem. After further discussion regarding the drop SIL1, pulls over into a service station and puts air into the miscreant returning it to its manufacturer’s recommended condition.  We proceed with one eye on the road and the second on the gauge. We are now very close to our primary objective, where we are booked for the night in a hostelry not far from town centre. Driving very pedestrian, it’s that kind of town, you know – the one where the last man out closes the door turns off the light and locks up till next day

The King, God of Light, Coventry.

As we enter the town along the main road the first thing strikes us is the width of the roads, they are enormous, so much so that if push comes to shove you could get 4 cars across the street and still have room for a bike parked between. The township appears to have gone out and left the last man to close the gate – it’s like a ghost town.

Admitted it’s just after lunch time, around two o’clock and the sun is burning its way down street driving every pedestrian off the sidewalks and into the bars – a bit like gun-fight at the OK corral.  The town has a curious mix of styles, with some houses being post art deco, some pre-war, the remainder right through to the present. We contact the accommodation gaff, explained we are early and is there anywhere open for meals.  It appears that this town closes after 2.00pm Saturday, so that the locals can catch up on their sleep, (well that’s what we thought, what other reason could there be).  D2 states that we’re hungry (the bl…..g obvious) so we park the steed and venture through town. EVERYTHNG IS SHUT, and I mean everything, well almost, we happen upon a hotel cum bar cum restaurant, which seems to have life on the inside. SIL1 calls out “is the cooker on? Are you serving food? Is there life on mars?” “don’t be so rude” returns the reply from the chef who is wearing the latest in black tee-shirts and jeans.  “Sit down and we’ll get a menu”. WE were hoping for one each but hey ho. But bless their little cotton socks, they gave us one each, hooray!! We have a very refreshing ice-cold beer, and peruse the menus, select our options and wait with slight trepidation for the repast to arrive. When it does, it comes hot and tasty, and much enjoyed.  Conversation with the locals confirm that the town shuts at 2.00pm with limited options for evening entertainment.

We book into the motel, deposit our cases and head back to the town centre, where we are struck by the appearance of figures in shop windows dressed in garb worn by the king on numerous occasions over the years, and making  proclamation regarding his recent visit. The king is held in such adulation that there is a museum on the northern route out of town dedicated to him. The museum has copied the famous gates to his residence and put them on show in the car park, thereby allowing the public an opportunity have a photo taken as if exiting the majestic building. Rumour had it that there is a statue in town showing the king posed in his most recognised attire and emblems of office. We found the statue next morning.

Unbeknown to us the town has a midlands connection, which has far more influence over the overall area than the king. The connection was recognised by TW as a little-known fact at his home, but the town holds great significance to the very existence of Oz. It came to light that before being influenced by the MC, the town was named Currajong until the swap, when the MC reduced the original aborigine’s name to a free tea and coffee stand on the main town by-pass.

The god of light had an enormous influence on the decision to travel the 350kms – driving for five hours, to visit a site famous for its crockery of huge proportions, and for its invaluable part in the quest for conquering the galaxy. Where an inanimate object is the hero and all the remainders merely players.  Seeing as TW wanted to have a bucket list and felt that this potentially last visit (GW there will be further opportunities) the GoL association would be an excellent start to the list seeing, as through the medium of cinematography the receptacle holds an affection in his soul for its warmth and humour.

On the next day the dream came true with a wonder which gave TW a genuine anticipation of the closeness of his person to the miracle of science. A couple of hours whereby TW was mesmerised by everything surrounding him in what was truly a great day in the span of his existence.

SO! How does all this tie together? 

I’ll break it down into sections starting with the King. Well apart from Chas 3 the last and probably most recognised king on this planet (oblique hint for later) was the one who’s pictures are seen with him standing by his gates. At least he had the grace (clue) to land (another) on his feet. Who else could it be but ELVIS.  Why in Australia? I hear you ask.

Therein lies a tale of two people who had a fascination for the king-Elvis. The couple whose names I cannot remember we're great fans of the king and held a tribute concert in the town about 25-30 years ago. The concert was a success and encourage the couple to repeat the process . The Elvis concert is an annual event held in January. There are a number of shops holding souvenirs of Elvis such as clothing and also memorabilia. the concerts became so successful the Township opened a museum with artifacts presented by a performer who worked with Elvis and recently with an Australian band called the wiggles. Also on the way into town on the main road there is a statue of Elvis , cast in bronze showing him holding a microphone and singing.

The God of light. Further up the main road is another statue with this statue being approximately 8 foot tall and bright orange in colour. It depicts an astronaut, a very recognisable figure stepping forward on an imaginary surface of another planet. The God of light is also known as Apollo, and the Apollo referred to is of the Astronaut who landed in the capsule specially made for the moon landing from the rocket Apollo 11. The clue in this one refers to the particular spaceship and strategy made in history. It is of course the first man to walk on the moon. The event described above briefly was shown to the world from this location. The name of the location is hinted at in the third clue-Coventry.

The town is named after sir Henry Parkes, a renowned gentlemen from Coventry who is recognised has been the architect of the Australian constitution. Henry Parkes was born in Mount Lane cottages in Coventry, a copy of which is in the same area as a museum for the king. This gentleman’s surname is the final clue to where we visited last weekend. The crockery mentioned should be right as the dish which to those who know was a movie about how the radio telescope sited at Parkes, NSW, Australia was the prime participant in the delivery of the pictures of the man walking on the moon .

Parkes Observatory is just as it appears on the movie. A magnificent structure constantly in use for deep space exploration. There is a visitor centre tracing to the history and current programmes of the Dish.  TW spent a delightful morning wandering around the area soaking up the atmosphere. Souvenirs were purchased and exhibits examined.  We left the Dish and headed back towards the town, having a re-occurrence of the flat tyre problem which took over two hours to sort. Almost at panic stations as we were requested to be back by 18.30 to attend a posh restaurant to celebrate as a family SIL1’s golden birthday.  We didn’t make the restaurant but a good time was had during the evening  by all and a  great day was especially had by TW.

There’s more to tell about our trip but – you’ve guessed it – end of day – out of “get up and go” so the only thing to do is go to bed and start tomorrow