Tuesday, August 30, 2016

Australian Sojourn – May 2016

Part 7: Exeter


I continue this evening my series of posts documenting my recent visit to Australia by sharing a few photos and commentary from my time in the Southern Highlands village of Exeter. (To start at the beginning of this series, click here.)

Exeter is located 50km northwest of Goulburn, the rural city where I lived and taught for six years before relocating the the U.S. in 1994, and where I visited prior to my brief stay in Exeter at the home of my good friend Kerry, who lives on a small acreage just outside the village.

In the photo above I'm with Kerry (center) and her sister Sandra on the afternoon of Wednesday, May 19. We're at the Exeter General Store which, as you can see, has an extensive lending library of books. Along with a cup of coffee, I'm enjoying a vanilla milkshake – a favorite drink of mine from my childhood, and one which I only ever indulge in when visiting Australia. Why? Because you just can't beat an Aussie vanilla milkshake!



Above, left and below: On Thursday, May 20 Kerry and I watched the sunrise from a lookout in Morton National Park.

Exeter, like many of the towns and villages of the Southern Highlands, is perched atop a line of spectacular escarpments which forms the western edge of Morton National Park. The park extends eastwards, almost to the coast and the seaside towns of Jervis Bay and Ulladalla.

One of many interesting places in the area is the Sunnataram Forest Monastery, which I visited with Kerry on a previous visit. For images of the monastery, click here.




Above and below: This beautiful tree, located on Kerry's farm in Exeter, is believed to pre-date Australia's colonial era.




Above and below: On the platform of Exeter railway station – Thursday, May 20, 2016.

Originally called Badgery’s Siding when it opened in 1878, the station at Exeter is unique in that it's the only one in Australia built on the curve of a railway track.



From Exeter I traveled by train to Sydney where I caught the Northern XPT to Wauchope, the closest town with a railway station to Port Macquarie, where my parents live.

Right: As I was leaving Sydney on the train I snapped a photo of the house where my father lived with his Aunt Phyllis in the 1940s. (For a picture of my Dad and Aunty Phyllis from that time, click here.)




See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
Exeter (2008)
Southern Highlands (2007)
Goulburn Revisited (2006)
Australian Sojourn, May 2016: Part 1 – Maroubra
Australian Sojourn, May 2016: Part 2 – Morpeth
Australian Sojourn, May 2016: Part 3 – Melbourne
Australian Sojourn, May 2016: Part 4 – Hanging Rock
Australian Sojourn, May 2016: Part 5 – Albury
Australian Sojourn, May 2016: Part 6 – Goulburn

Images: Michael J. Bayly and Kerry Dyer.


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