First Fleet Memorial Gardens Wallabadah
We hadn’t intended to stop in Wallabadah, but on seeing the sign for the First Fleet Memorial Gardens, we decided to. This is the great thing about driving with no fixed appointments, because you can stop at any time and see something interesting.
Another interesting thing to discover is the amazing variety of place names in Australia. Many are unique, as they are based on the local aboriginal language. In this case, Wallabadah means stone in the Kamilaroi language.
The First Fleet Memorial Garden is a memorial to the First Fleet immigrants, by stonemason, Ray Collins. Carved on tablets along the garden pathways are 1,520 names of all those who came out to Australia on the eleven ships in 1788. The stories of those who arrived on the ships, are told throughout the garden.
Wandering through the gardens, you find the names grouped by the ship they arrived on, along with a history of the ship. This is great, as you do not just find a plain list of names, but some individual history, which adds interest.
A picnic area with a sunshade fashioned to look like a sailing ship is also in the gardens. This continues the theme of the First Fleet even further.
A car park off the highway offers a safe place to stop, while also providing toilet facilities. This was a fun, interesting, and unexpected place to find on our trip.
Reasons Why The Memorial is Located in Wallabadah 
Information Board on the First Fleet
Picnic Shade Area, Designed to Resemble a Sailing Ship
Passenger Names Listed on Tablets 
Tablets with the names of First Fleet Passengers 
Passenger Names Listed on Tablets
Information Board on the Lady Julia, a Ship For Convict Women 
Second Fleet Ships and Passengers
Fountain Under Construction
That’s so interesting. I wish they wrote down their stories of the journey. 25 free children, 13 convicts’ children and one superintendent daughter. They were brave kids. The free children might be orphans and they, at their tender age, want to try their luck in a distant land. How brave.
I think the free children were either with soldiers or the children of convicts (the children of convicts were free, but had to accompany their parents)