Another Country Diary by Fred Harden - Bungendore NSW, Australia

Another Country Diary After about a week of these diary entries, they go to the archive.
Tuesday 25 January '05
Can I miss a month of this Diary and no one will notice? No? Damn. Let's pretend that I haven't been busy with Regional Food, that I'm not trying to get the magazine finished for a June launch and that I haven't been spending at least half the week in Sydney or travelling. And that I've had these entries standing by. So are you all pretending and ready? Let's begin. The page might take a while to load, there's a lot of catching up.
Thursday 27 January '05
Returning a little earlier from Sydney, I had a sudden urge to not just look at the sign in Tarago pointing to the Cemetery, but turn and visit it. I figure nine years driving past is long enough. The late afternoon light was cooling from sunset yellow and there was a strong breeze. I needed a walk. The dogs on the nearest property raced along the corrugated iron fence barking at this intruder but the gate was open on the tiny cemetery on the hill and they ignored me when I stepped inside. The first thing that I noticed was a flag flapping from a branch above one of the old graves. I couldn't link the tombstone details to anything related and patriotic, but someone had also gone to a lot of trouble to put bunches of garish artificial flowers on all the tombstones, quite surreal. There was a blackberry bush feeding from one of the graves, I didn't feel that it was right to pick them, but the richness of the ripe fruit seemed a much more pleasing decoration than the plastic flowers. Life, death, rebirth, all that stuff.
Friday 18 January '05
Two days in a row driving to Sydney? Yeah meetings, but all going well and I was feeling on a high as I drove back in the sunset light. I stopped and photographed. I stopped again and photographed. I called Jan to say don't worry, I'll be a bit later getting home. She understands.
Saturday 30 January '05
The 2005 Bungendore Show. (Writing this after the event feels a bit silly. So I'll just give you some pictures and you can catch the atmosphere for another satisfying event. A few less people this year it seemed, but the 'photo opportunities' were there again.
I've always wanted a photograph that captured the expanse of the showground and its relationship to the town, so this year I took some time to find a vantage point on Joe Rocks Road. It doesn't look much down small, so I've just included a section. If you'd like to see a larger picture, click here.
Inside or out, you have to have a hat at the Bungendore show


I like this sequence of the boy (with a hat) who knew about closing one eye to sight the air rifle, but not about looking along the barrel. The battered metal ducks were safe, but the roof of the tent took a few hits. I also like the look of concern (or admiration?) of his friend.


As usual the volunteers worked hard preparing the sandwiches, and hot snacks, and hard work it was too, with perspiration to be wiped from eyes.


Local identities, local colour, appealing to a young Japanese tourist couple who took pictures with everyone. I've included a larger image I like of the three generations below.
Click for a larger image


Each year I've photographed Miss Bungendore Showgirl.

There's a serious discussion happening between the judges here, and the great traditional backdrop (painted by Avril Kimberlee) to the plates of produce. Also in tradition was a wonderfully kitsch assembly of local produce with a ewe rampant, reminding us that 'We don't have to live on the sheep's back"


If all these pictures took way too long to load, maybe you need a broadband Internet connection. Local wireless ISP Yless4U launched their service at the Show and put the wind up Telstra who rushed their offer into the market. After being virtually ignored, Telstra has been very attentive to people who, like me, had entered 'expressions of interest' as potential customers. And emailing, and calling...
Fred Harden
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