We had planed to move on the next day but when we woke up we changed our mind. You couldn’t see more than an inch in front of you. Great excuse to go back to bed and read. So we did.

I love a misty morning when I don’t have to drive in it or go to work. By mid morning the fog had almost lifted and I took the chance to go out for a walk.

The mist that was lingering adding to the charm of my walk.

To start with I walked around the small town and followed a small river that led into a lake. A statue had been set up and a fire pit close by. In a small country town you don’t need much more than that to have fun and it did look like the fire pit was used often.

There wasn’t much of the town to see as I walked back though it. When gold was discovered in the area the town was named Nine Mile, and then changed its name to Snake Valley in 1858. The town was gazetted in 1861 with another name change to Stanley. For a while it was very popular but once the gold petered out so did the population.

The pub is still standing and is open but with limited hours.  I saw people  working on the Old Stanley Athenaeum and Public Room. The Athenaeum was a building that was used for everything. A meeting room, a library and a school even a church and function room. While there isn’t much to the town it is very quaint. I slowed down as I walked past the old pub and the 150 year old Athenaeum ands pondered on what was and thought to myself that it would be nice to think the town would survive.

By the time I arrived back at the van I could hear the kookaburras with their laughter to the morning sun as it peeked out of the mist.

When I arrived back at the van I looked up “Athenaeum” I was a bit confused about the use of the word. So if you were like me.

Athenaeum, Atheneum, ath-e-nê’um n

A temple of Athena at Antens, in which scholars and poets read their works: (not cap.) a public institution for lectures, reading.

Ok, it makes sense now.