The S#!+ You Learn on the Road to Gundagai

After spending two nights in Cronulla and seeing my beloved Sharks beat last year's champions the North Queensland Cowboys it was time to head to my next motel room in Albury on the New South Wales side of the New South Wales/Victorian border.

Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks vs The NQ Cowboys

Year of the Shark?

A wind-farm alongside the Hume Highway
 on the way to Gundagai

But that road I was traveling was also the road to Gundagai, home of the famous Australian statue of a dog sitting on a tucker box, which we as school kids were taught was placed there to honour a dog who sat on the tucker-box, rather than leave his dead owner who died on the track ... or something like that anyway.

But apparently that was a pile of s#!+ according to this You Tube below.
But I like that version better than the "real" version. 
As I was coming down Conroy’s Gap,
I heard a maiden cry;
‘There goes Bill the Bullocky,
He’s bound for Gundagai.
A better poor old beggar
Never earnt an honest crust,
A better poor old beggar
Never drug a whip through dust.’
His team got bogged at the nine mile creek,
Bill lashed and swore and cried;
‘If Nobby don’t get me out of this,
I’ll tattoo his bloody hide.’
But Nobby strained and broke the yoke,
And poked out the leader’s eye;
Then the dog sat* on the Tucker Box
Nine miles from Gundagai.
–Bowyang Yorke

*Originally “shat”, past tense of “shit”

The dog sitting (?) on the tucker-box

And since I had to stop for petrol and a McDonalds, or Hungry Jacks to get a bite to eat and use their free Wi-Fi, I decided to stop and take some photos of this famous Australian statue and take a look around town, before heading off to Albury.

Click on image to make bigger so you can read the plaque

Click on image to make bigger so you can read the plaque

I think the Gundagai townsfolk should build another statue in the town centre telling the real story of the dog who shat in the tuckerbox.
Now there is a whole new line of souvenirs in that thought;-)

Nice little town, and I nearly missed the dog statue, as it is located way before the town if you are coming from Sydney, but the lookout in the town of Gundagai is well worth taking a look from.

Unfortunately, I didn't get to see much of Albury as it was pretty late in the day when I got there. 

My meal at the Paddle-steamer Motel ... mmm

I loved staying at the Paddle-steamer Motel though and will definitely stay there again if I stop in Albury again, as the room and the restaurant were fantastic.

First thing I see crossing the Victorian border
for the first time ... nothing

It's a pity I didn't have time to spend a day in Albury, but I had to rush down to Melbourne and catch the Spirit of Tasmania car ferry the next day and I didn't want to miss it, so I was off on the road early.

 Tasmania here I come.
I Sat by the Ocean