West Wyalong

I'm now out at West Wyalong, I've been here for a few days, visiting a gold mine here. I've not really had a chance to look around town at all though, so I've not had a chance to really explore the town at all... arrived midday on Monday, straight to work, and been at work from 7am to 5pm each day, or longer. Tomorrow is the last day here, so I'm planning to get up early and have a drive around town, get some photos, explore a little.

I'd like to talk a bit about the significance of the town to me. It's kind of an odd coincidence that I should be sent here, the town where my grandfather lived, with his family. He died when my father was 10, and the family moved to Canberra, and my father went to Chevalier shortly after, I believe. I need to find out more about what happened. Why were they here? How long were they here for? Are there any other links to this town? I know he worked as a doctor out here, a doctor in a small country town, and died from a heart attack... beyond that, I don't know. I remember a story my uncle told me about the dirt storms here... it's so dry and dusty, I can believe it.

The town is larger than I thought it would be. Across the hotel from me there's an old plane and an Air Force museum. I won't get a chance to visit it, but perhaps some other day... I may well be back here, judging by work. And if not for work, I'd like to bring San here to see it. The people here seem friendly and trusting... I needed a cable for the charger on my video camera, one that would fit in an Australian plug. I went to the Harvey Norman store in town, and they didn't have any of the cables I was available, but they did have items that used the cable in stock. They ordered in the cable from a nearby town, and they handed one of the cables from another device to use until it gets in. I offered to pay up front for it, and was waved away, and if the cable didn't arrive by the time I had to leave, to just return the one they'd lent to me. Trust in a complete stranger like that strikes me as unusual, I'm not used to it. Too much city living perhaps?

Same happened for me in Sweden... John was laughing at me, because every time we got out of the car to look around, I'd lock the doors. "We really need to worry about all the car thieves around here...", gesturing to the vast expanse of tundra, without a sign of civilisation in sight. It's quite true, our habits are our worst enemy and our most powerful weapon at the same time, they really do make or break us. So I need to decide what habits I want to develop, and establish them... decide what habits I want to get rid of, and break them... and then, after that brief effort, my subconscious will take over the rest. Some time set aside for such a self-examination is probably warranted at this point.

I have the car keys. Tomorrow morning, I'll get up at 5am, and my plan is to travel around the town a bit, taking some photos and getting an idea of the layout. I did get one photo today, of a building which offered Kitchen Design, Joinery, and Funeral Parlour services. Good to know there's a one-stop-shop in town at least.