Albury 30 – 31 Oct 2013

Decided to drive through Walla Walla and Burrumbuttock just to say we had visited them! This is delightful countryside, with rich grazing land and plentiful water. We were surprised when we got to Walla Walla to see an enormous Lutheran church (largest in Australia) sitting in a field. Apparently the Germans came from SA to settle in a more fertile area and are still very prominent around the district. We therefore looked forward to visiting the local shops and maybe buying some tasty German strudel for lunch, but alas there were only a few measly shops, surrounded by industrial plants – definitely a letdown! Onto Burrumbuttock to find one general store, (still no strudel) but an impressive environmental centre attached to a 2 teacher school. The last principal was there for 22 years and made it his mission to create this wonderful native environment that would be a credit to any large school. They also play a vital role in building up the numbers of the coroboree frog – there are only about 50 left in the wild! Onto Albury and welcomed at the SS and A Club where we stayed for 2 nights right in the middle of town. We have always enjoyed Albury – it is big enough to have a range of attractions but still small enough to get around easily. Had a look around the CBD (which is still bustling) and then the botanical gardens, which were decked out in their colourful spring flowers. Visited the train station and brought back memories of having to change trains in the middle of cold winter nights – thank goodness that era has passed. Went to Commercial Club and Peter had a game of snooker – tried to revive his long lost snooker skills but it was painful to watch – at least he enjoyed himself! On Friday we moved down to Wangaratta in preparation for the Jazz festival.