Building Archives - Page 71 of 82 - Destination's Journey

1 October 20187 September 2020

Merriwa Sheep Beautiful Golden Canola

Merriwa

Merriwa is know throughout the Hunter Region for its annual Festival of the Fleeces. Once a year the town celebrates its association with the wool industry by parading sheep wearing red socks down the Main Street. This is a unique event and sheep in socks are worth seeing.

Festival of the Fleeces

The festival has grown so that the Main Street is lined with stalls selling local produce and crafts. There are displays of sheep shearing and sheep dogs. One of the side streets held a car show.

Things to See in Merriwa

Merriwa Historical Society Museum and Visitor Centre located on the main street houses some interesting artifacts from Merriwa’s sheep shearing past as well as selling local arts and crafts. Outside is a small slab hut and a three dimensional mural.

Merriwa Visitors' Centre — Merriwa Visitors’ Centre

3D Sculpture Visitors' Centre Merriwa NSW — Merriwa Visitors’ Centre

Being an old town Merriwa has several great old buildings to look at. The main street has some nice buildings, most of which have been re-purposed in recent years. The local churches are nice examples of heritage building and make good photos.

The war memorial is on the main street through town and includes a 40mm Bofors anti aircraft gun nearby.

Merriwa War Memorial — Merriwa Catholic Church

When travelling through we always stop at the Merriwa Bakery for pies and coffee. This little shop is always busy, so you know the food must be good. There is seating inside, out front or in the back courtyard.

Opposite the swimming pool is a bottle museum. It was not open when we were there, but would be interesting to look through.

Also outside the pool is a Brittania Steam Engine, used to power shearing equipment at Charles Blaxland’s Cullingral station.

Brittania Steam Engine Merriwa NSW — Brittania Steam Engine

Merriwa Silo

Merriwa has painted their grain silo with beautiful mural reflecting the area’s character. It shows sheep in red socks as well as the canola crop in flower. As you drive through town you can’t miss it.

Other Attractions in the Area

Canola Crops in Flower

In September, the canola crops planted west of Merriwa provide a beautiful golden landscape as you drive towards Dubbo. The vast fields of yellow flowers look surreal as you drive by.

Battery Rock

Not far outside town is a Battery Rock rest area. There is an excellent example of columnar basalt here that is very easy to access and walk over.
Geological Sites of NSW describe the formation as “an amazing example of polygonal basalt columns also known as columnar jointing. The columns are nearly horizontal (not like those at Bald Hill Falls which are vertical). Around 35 million years old the basalt lava erupted at a temperature estimated to be about 1,200 degrees. The jointing is caused by shrinkage as the lava slowly cools; normally columns like these are vertical as the lava cools from top to bottom when the flow of lava is horizontal. In this case the flow must have been nearly vertical and the flow has cooled from the outside face causing the jointing to form inwards from the outer face in a near horizontal plane.”

Columnar Basalt at Battery Rock — Battery Rock Columnar Basalt

The Drip

Our visit to The Drip in the Goulburn River National Park was a pleasant walk along the well maintained tracks. The bush and river views as you walk in are great with many opportunities for photographs.

The end of the track is at The Drip, where water drips (hence the name) off the cliff making an environment for ferns and mosses.

Walk to The Drip Goulburn River National Park — The Drip Goulburn River National Park

Gungal

Driving from Newcastle, you will pass through the locality of Gungal and its cute little Catholic Church, dedicated to St. Anthony of Padua. The church is obvious from the highway and parking outside is easy.

St Anthony of Padua Catholic Church Dungal — St Anthony of Padua Catholic Church Gungal

To see what else there is to do in New South Wales, please see some of our other stories.

30 September 201830 September 2018

Warragamba Dam

Warragamba Dam supplies Sydney with most of its drinking water and is worth visiting if only to find out where all of your water comes from.

How to Get to Warragamba Dam

Water Tower

A water tower located just before the main entrance is of a unique design and is worth a quick stop to have a look at. It would look even better if a local artist decorated it with a mural.

Water Tower

Workers Memorial

In the car park, you will pass a memorial to all of the workers killed during its construction. It is a tragedy that so many died in a workplace, something that would not be acceptable today.

Memorial Wall

Also in the car park is an uptake valve that was originally used to transfer water into the pipelines. Its size gives to some understanding of the large scale engineering that was done here.

Original Intake Valve

Warragamba Dam

A great piece of civil engineering, the dam wall can be viewed from the Visitors’ Centre, where a viewing platform has been erected. From here you also get a great view over the surrounding bush land and can see the dam’s water level. The centre has a full history of its construction and design, detailing the geology and civil engineering that went into it. You can only walk over the wall on the weekends.

Warragamba Dam
Water Level

An additional viewing platform opposite the dam wall is located in the town. This provides a different view of the dam wall and is worth the small trip for the view.

Located in the town of Warragamba is as additional viewing platform, which is opposite the dam wall. This provides a different view of the dam wall and is worth the small trip for the view.

An interesting place to visit if you like to see civil engineering projects, or want to learn about Sydney’s water supply

26 September 201826 September 2018

Newington Armory

Newington Armory was originally a storage facility for the Australian Army and Navy’s explosives and weaponry. Now disused, many of the buildings have been re-purposed and the whole site is part of a museum and national park.

If you are travelling with children, there is a huge playground, just before you reach the entrance to the Armory. This looks like a great place to let them work off some excess energy either before or after your visit.

Wharf Area

The wharf area is now quiet, but this was where explosives were shipped from. Some old cranes and buildings are still present, giving a great backdrop to the area. The old wharf office is now a small cafe, which is where we started our day, sitting on the wharf having a coffee in the morning sunlight was very peaceful.

Crane at the Old Wharf

Armory Buildings

The armory site itself is extensive and it is free to walk around examining the old buildings and going into those that are open. Many of the buildings are locked up, but you can walk around the outside and examine them and take the photos.

It’s interesting to see the precautions that were set up to protect each building in case of an explosion. Surrounded by concrete walls or large earthworks to contain any mishaps, many buildings are partially hidden.

Buildings near the entrance are in use so you can go inside. Make sure you go around the back and between them to see the explosion protection.

Concrete Blast Protection
Blast Protection
Buildings Behind Earth Bunds

Armory Train

The train tracks that were set up to move items around of the armory are still in place and on Sunday a train runs so people can travel and have a look around the site while enjoying a ride.

There is a bird sanctuary discovery area in the centre of the park, where you can learn about the bird life in the area. If the birds interest you, there is a great bird watching area not far away in the wetlands.

Nearby are the train loading stations which are still in place and make a good photo opportunity. You can also walk over the old explosives’ magazines with their earth coverings but can’t go inside.

Explosives Magazine

A throw disc golf course has been set up which visitors can use. Rules are provided and although we didn’t play it looked like fun. Something families would enjoy.

Golf Course

From the Newington Armory, we walked to the Homebush shipwrecks before catching the ferry from Sydney Olympic Park Wharf to Circular Quay.

To see what else there is to do in New South Wales, please see some of our other stories.

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Category: Building

Merriwa Sheep Beautiful Golden Canola

Merriwa

Festival of the Fleeces

Things to See in Merriwa

Merriwa Silo