It was unplanned, but a trip to buy a few more fruit trees for the orchard yesterday ended up becoming a nostalgic country drive, visiting some of our old haunts where we once lived over the border in northern NSW. As it turned out, our destination, Daley’s highly regarded tree nursery at Kyogle, had closed by the time we reached it, but we were glad to pick up some pecan nuts and avocados at farmers’ stalls near by. And as the light was good, it was an opportunity to photograph a few of the several old dairy buildings we passed along the way.
Old cow bails hold a real fascination for me. Some of the most poignant sights in the Australian countryside are the disused and decaying dairy buildings, of which there are thousands, dotted throughout the fertile pockets along the east coast and on the river flats in the southern states of NSW, Victoria, S.A. and W.A. The majority have remained virtually untouched since they were closed down back in the 1960’s, 70’s and 80’s.
Spotting them on country trips has become my hobby. I find them irresistible, and have a strong urge to acknowledge these once valued and essential structures and record their distinctive beauty before they completely disappear. Some will eventually tumble down, others are being demolished to make way for new developments, but many just become hidden from view by the bush or newer buildings.
These are just two I stopped to photograph on Saturday.
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