Not at all, enjoyed it, thanks. Manly is still called a village, which I guess it is until the ferry comes in and hordes of tourists appear! Val xx > My experience of village life is probably completely different to the > majority on this list. This is Village life Oz style. > > When married I lived in Sydney. My husband Jeff was a Systems Programmer > and I was working for an Insurance Company. Finally, when I fell pregnant > with our first child Jeff wanted to get out of the pressure and move back > to the family property (6,000 acres) and raise the kids in the bush. His > dad had died a few years earlier and his brother with the aid of a > co-worker and mum were living there. My only concern were snakes as I > hate them. Jeff's comment "Don't worry, in all my years there I have only > seen 2 in the yard. Unfortunately he had forgotten that his family had > moved into the old house which hadn't been lived in for many years and had > open drains - it was used to store this and that. The reason for this > move was that mum's house had burnt to the ground - lost everything - the > bank for an overdraft of a few thousand dollars would not release the > insurance money to build a new house. This was in the 70's. > > Gulargmbone is 350m north west of Sydney - on the road to Lightning Ridge > and in between Gilgandra and Coonamble. Population of 500 including the > outlying properties. It comprised of 2 Stock and Station Agents, Milk > Bar, Corner Shop, Garage x 3, small super market and Caps News agency > where you could buy everything from newspapers to work clothes - all at > fantastic prices according to Cap a Central School, 3 churches a pub, > tennis, bowls and golf club and a hospital. > > Life was interesting in my first few years every where I went I seemed to > attract a snake (Jeff could not believe it) we had a doctor on Monday morn > and if you could get into see him you wold have to travel 50k's to get the > script filled or ring the Chemist in Coonamble and have it delivered the > next day. Dentist 50k's away. For major shopping and specialist > testament you would drive to Dubbo 1 1/2 hours away. > > It was a small friendly community where you made your own fun. We used to > have blackouts every time a cloud came over. When the kids were older we > used to play a game called "This is how they lived in the Olden Days". > The heat was a shocker, the house was brick - built in the early 1900's - > the first in the area and after prolonged 40C was like an oven. All the > bricks and tiles were made on the place. Unfortunately it was built on > sandy soil - therefore shifted a lot which was obvious with the cracks in > the walls and how the pillars moved to an awful angle. > > For interest I played sport and later involved with the school - Mum was > heavily involved in Church groups, Red Cross and others in CWA (Country > Women's Association) and Hospital Auxiliaries. > > There was a large Aboriginal community. It was quite interesting to talk > to the older ones of their life growing up in what was called the "Old > Mission". It was an area that was fenced off on the other side of the > river. I remember one lady telling me how she was not allowed to venture > outside the fence because they were scared of the Chinese. > > Anyway enough of my prattling. Probably more info than you wanted. > > > > > ROS > > > Get the name you always wanted with the new y7mail email address. > www.yahoo7.com.au/y7mail > > . > . > "IS THE SUBJECT LINE STILL RELEVANT? > If not, PLEASE change it." > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without > the quotes in the subject and the body of the message