Looking for Bill........

We woke to another warm and sunny morning and were soon packed and on our way again.  Our first stop was Young to have a quick look around the town.  As I mentioned before we had stopped here on the way up but the lady in information was unable to help up so we moved on.

Young is known as The Cherry Capitol of Australia and is home to the Big Cherries next to the railway crossing.  I think it looks like a slingshot but perhaps I shouldn't tell them that!  We took a walk around the town and found some lovely buildings and some interesting stories to go along with them.  Then it was back to the car in search of our mystery object.

What were we looking for?  You might remember Bill's Christmas Present last year was a book called Bill the Bastard!  The story is based on a real horse, a Waler, from WW1.  He would buck when asked to gallop and he would only allow one man to ride him, Major Michael Shanahan. Yet, during WW1, when the major found four Australians without their mounts, outflanked by the Turks, 'Bill the Bastard' carried all five men – three on his back and one on each stirrup – 1000 yards through soft sand at a lumbering gallop, without first bucking.

We had discovered there was a statue of him near Young and so were quite surprised when our lady had no idea of what we were looking for.  We did our own research and discovered him to be in a nearby town called Murrumburrah.  We found the tiny town and soon after found the 1st Australian Horse and the Australian Light Horse War Memorial garden.  

Here we found the bronze sculpture of the 16 hand chestnut, depicted galloping back with all five men in place.  The story tells us that in recognition of his services, in carrying these men to safety, he was retired with honor the following day and spent the rest of the war as an officer's packhorse.  We were so glad that we had persevered and found this lovely memorial.  Of course I had to have a photo of both 'Bills'!

We continued on our way from here only stopping to eat lunch by the side of the road and soon after had made our way to EPIC where we would stay for the next five days.  This is a camp ground at Exhibition Park in Canberra and was a basic camp ground with excellent facilities.

We got set up and then made our way a little further up the road to the Quality Inn in Dickson where we were joining the RAAF frogs for a weekend of fun and frivolity.  

We spent a fun couple of hours in the bar as one by one our numbers grew until all too soon it was time to move over to the Indian Restaurant where we were having dinner.  A good night was had by all as we ate, drank and chatted across three big tables.  A great turnout for a fun weekend.  But for now it's time for bed

until tomorrow........