Not Thong Throwing

This is the Antique Emporium in Wallerawang, a small town forty minutes drive west of Blackheath.

There are some lovely, little historic towns in the west, though many of them are struggling to survive.
Many of the shops on the main street are boarded up, though this one is open a couple of days a week.
I think the Chinese restaurant, in extras, is still open.

The reason I found myself in Wallerawang is that I'd read about Australia Day celebrations at a nearby small town, Rydal.
Much was promised: billy cart derbies, pipe bands, and a thong throwing competition.
Now, I have never been interested in sport, either the playing or watching, but I thought I could probably get my head around the thong throwing competition, so I headed off, in 38' heat to capture the event.
Sadly, nobody seemed to have told the residents of Rydal, and I could find no sign of Australia day action, so I took the long way home, via Wallerawang.
Apparently Charles Darwin stayed at Wallerawang and documented the local platypuses in 'The Voyage of the Beagle'.
I wish I could see some platypuses in the wild.  I'd think I'd died and gone to heaven.
There's interesting information here about the impact of this visit on Darwin.

Australia Day, called 'Invasion Day' by aborigines and many others, is more and more a subject for debate.
This year there were many marches in cities across the country
Some want the day moved, some want it to stay and some want it gone altogether.