I gave my cousin and myself a different sort of Christmas present this year - we travelled to Nyngan and Warren to do some family history research. My cousin in Melbourne decided to visit me for Christmas this year so on the spur of the moment I tossed her into a car and travelled up to Nyngan :-) What an absolutely wonderful time we had!!!! Everyone without exception was so friendly and helpful despite the fact that Christmas was so close. We learnt so much, things that we would never have learnt any other way. We visited the cemetery of course and also some of the older residents in the Hostel. As a result we had many tripping down memory lane and sharing memories that are so precious. For example we heard the story of Nancy's mother and my grandmother arguing over the fence because my uncle had broken her prized geranium. Stories like that are never in any official record but they are so precious. We were able to stop and take photographs of houses that my father and grandparents lived in - many of them still standing and in much the same condition!!! (eg original windows and doors) Often the current owners would invite us in to have a look around. It was amazing to actually walk the same floor boards that my father walked over 70 years ago!!! The museum was closed for the holidays but when one of the volunteers learnt we were in town they volunteered to make a special trip in and open it up for us!! Current property owners were more than willing to unlock gates and allow us to go and visit the land my grandfather once worked and owned in the 1800's. People were more than willing to tell us who we should talk to because they "might remember" something. And when we shared names they would tell us if any descendents may still be living and where (often they wouldnt have a clue of the adddress it was things like - "oh that would be old Boots - he lives down in Warren Street - about 2 doors from the shop on the corner") And when we visited "Boots" sure enough it turned out he was a cousin and more than happy to share family stories and lineage and even offered to try and find some old photographs and memorabilia that hadnt been destroyed in the floods. On one occasion we were even able to link two families in town who didn't realise that they were cousins!!! We learnt that one of my Aunts owned a boarding house which we hadnt known beforehand and that her daughter who we had lost touch with and couldnt find is frequent visitor to Nyngan. All in all it was a truly magical time and I would recommend it to anyone - I only urge you to do it NOW. The only sad thing that happened was when we learnt that some of the people who could have helped died only a year or so ago. Another thing that we learnt was to back up everything - so much of Nyngans tangible history was lost in the floods and it was a reminder that such disasters could destroy memories and precious records at any time. So now for the next few weeks I dare say I will be documenting all that we learnt and following new leads. Also those with Nyngan ties may like to know that there is a Nyngan Reunion scheduled for April 2005. I am certainly going to try and attend and when I get the exact details I will share them with everyone. I hope all have had a safe and happy Christmas Karen Granddaughter of Peter Schuler, Florence Reed (Reid) and Mary Ann Carrick.