This is one of the kangaroos with her joey that we spotted in the park. On the way up to Inverell we stopped at a small museum. It was a former Chinese store in a mining town. There was a boom in the area when tin was discovered in the late 1800's. The store was established back then and provided just about everything you could ask for, dry goods, clothing, mining tools and groceries. The building expanded as the need grew and was run by the Chinese family that started it until about the 1990's. At that time the proprietor died and it was turned into a museum. They just left everything as it was. There was a display of old hats and I just had to try one on. This particular hat was said to have been made for the Melbourne
Cup, the premier horse racing event in Australia. The race actually took place the day after we arrived so we traipsed off to the local yacht club to watch it on TV.
We had a good trip back from Inverell. We stopped in at Yamba to have a look at the spot Trish has chosen for her wedding. It is a great spot where we can moor for next to nothing, Graeme's parents and my brother can camp, and there is lots of accommodations for the rest of the guests. There will be a passel of young children there and the resort is set up for family entertainment so everyone should be happy. There are great beaches on the ocean perfect for surfing, kite skiing and swimming. It should be great.
A bunch more boats have shown up from Noumea. There was a good weather window and about 20 boats left within a couple of days. We are planning a get together at the yacht club on Friday so everyone can swap stories. Our new sail is being made, the electrician is here to replace our old worn out panel and the fellow that is making a new bracket to hold the boom on to the mast showed up today and Barry (against my wishes) ordered a new electric auto pilot (our old one died in New Zealand) all is good.