This is a story of Mount Hutton's John Ure meeting Cuddle Wuddles on his travels across NSW.
Over to you, John:
YOU may recall that we first met more than 20 years ago when I was locked in mortal combat with Lake Macquarie Council trying to get approval to build my house - a battle that lasted three years but which, fortunately, we emerged victorious from. [Ah yes John, we remember that well. Ghastly business, that.]
While continuing our travels around NSW, we spent some time in the small village of Eugowra. There are many large murals spread around the village, including one that includes details of the development of medical services in Eugowra.
A mural at the site states: "Plans for a maternity hospital in Eugowra were submitted to council by L. Mallick on August 5, 1929 and were approved. The building was completed in November 1929. It was furnished and equipped by the CWA members and officially opened on February 1, 1930".
Now it may have been a fairly small building, but could you imagine these days having a public or private building of any size submitted, approved, constructed, fitted out and opened in under six months? Nowadays there would probably be more than 20 layers of bureaucracy to navigate before approval to build was granted - if it was granted.
Incidentally, while still in Eugowra and walking past a large, mown, unfenced paddock, we met Cuddle Wuddles - a then 58-day-old Shetland pony - and his owner Mick Hanley. Mick, who owns the adjacent takeaway the "Gentle Cow", has been raising Cuddle Wuddles after the pony was separated from his mother.
Cuddle Wuddles sleeps on a mattress beside Mick's bed.
Cuddle Wuddles is affectionate and well-trained. He will not take one step beyond the boundaries of the paddock, although he does have one bad habit. He insisted on nibbling the hairs on my legs and, at my time of life, I can ill-afford to lose them.
We had a long chat with Mick, who also owns a property out of town and comes from a horse family. His father raised and traded horses, including Clydesdales, and at one time had a herd of 900 horses on a property up near the Bucketts Way around Putty.
At the time it was believed to be the largest privately-owned herd in NSW.
Mick even has a Newcastle connection. His cousin taught Indonesian at Newcastle High School in the 1970s. Interesting man and a very interesting village.
We had another great trip exploring more of NSW. We managed to go out through Mudgee to the Central West, spending time in Parkes, Cowra, Harden (for an update on war horse Bill the Bastard), West Wyalong and Lake Cargelligo. Then we went through Ivanhoe to Menindee, where the lakes are full. It was a bit different from the last time we were there.
From there, we went to Broken Hill, then down the hill to Wentworth. We followed the Murray down to Albury, then over the Snowy to Tumut, up to a farm outside Mandurama for a couple of days, and back home. So over the past 12 months or so we have driven more than 12,000 kilometres without leaving the state.
Talking about size, we stayed on a farm outside West Wyalong where the owners, Tom and Liz, were just about to harvest 10,000 hectares of wheat - that's 100 square kilometres! And at 20,000 hectares, theirs is not the biggest property we have encountered in our travels in NSW.
There's so much to see in NSW.
