Again there were some great things to see as we drove along. The possum crossing nets to start with. (How do they train the possum to use them?) Then there was the big mango. You just can’t go past that so we didn’t. We stopped for coffee and some mango ice cream.

We pulled into Rollingstone just after lunch. There is not much to the town. After we had set up camp we went for a walk around it. The town has several houses but only one shop. That shop is everything. It was the post office, come general store, come hardware, come service station, come take away food place. We had a quick look inside. Standing room only.

I shouldn’t say the town had only one store. There was the local pub; it sits on the highway just before the entrance to the town. We walked up to the pub for a quick drink to end the day. It seemed to be the place to be and to leave your old vehicle behind not matter what it was. There was even an old fire truck.

Our campground was a lovely park with a short walk to the river. It had been named Bushy Parker Park after Vincent ‘Bushy’ Parker. Bushy took part in the Battle of Britain. After he was shot down he was taken to Colditz Castle where he tried to escape three times without success. After the war he received a certificate recording the award of Mention in Dispatches and is credited with shooting down 5 enemy bombers. Bushy was mentioned in the book ‘Diggers of Colditz’ as “A man of considerable courage.” “Bushy Parker deserves a book of his own, for his escapades were many, his enterprise unequalled and his lighter side as a magician and cardshark, still talked about with awe and respect”.

What was surprising with the park is the amount of water taps set around the outside of the camping area. We were fully loaded with water so we didn’t need to worry about getting access to one but it is a bonus to know they were there if we needed it. We were only going to stay one night but since the camp was so nice we decided to make it two. The next day we took a walk along the river and found another area to the camp. They have a marker to celebrate the fire, which was built to commemorate the “Australia birthday beacons ring”. On the night of 18^th and 19^th of June 1988 fires were lit at a set time. The one at Rollingstone was scheduled for 4.25am on the 19^th. I can’t remember the fire ring; I guess I was young at the time.

We continued on to the old Rollingstone Bridge. It was built as part of a scheme to alleviate the high number of unemployed people after the depression of the 1930s. The bridge now runs second to a fancy new bridge and road built in 1984. The old bridge still had life in her but now she just looks after the local people or the visitors who want to take a walk like us.

We walked on to a roadside stop where an old farmer was selling fruit and veggies with a roadside store. We purchase some and listened to the old man talk about his family and farming in the area as if we were old friends and knew whom he was talking about.

It was a lovely walk but it seemed we missed all the excitement while we were away. As we arrived back to the camp we saw police and ambulance officers standing around talking to people. We don’t know what happened. It isn’t something you can ask about is it? I don’t think it was too bad as the ambulance was still there and I am sure we would have heard about it if it was.