Gungagai is a small town on the Murrumbidgee river in New South Wales, about a 2 hour drive from Canberra. The town was originally built in the early 1800s on the the flat land near the river. On June 25, 1852, a flood completely destroyed the town and killed around 1/3 of the population. The town was rebuilt on higher ground and today contains examples of many types of old architecture, including some good Art-Deco examples in the main street. There are also some of the old buildings that survived the flood. The heroes of the 1852 flood were 4 local Wiradjuri men who used their bark canoes to rescue more than 50 people. A statue of 2 of them, Jackey Jackey and Yarri is in the main street. The other 2 were Long Jimmy and an unknown man.
There are some other statues of interest. Also in the main street is one celebrating characters in a classic Australian story, "On Our Selection" by Steele Rudd. This is a story about the struggle of early farmers in the area. The most famous statue is the dog on the tuckerbox, 5 miles from Gundagai, commemorating a rest stop on the old bullock-train route through the area. There are several songs about Gundagai (and the dog); I have ruled it a serious offence if Dad tries to sing any of them.
Labels: buildings, Gundagai, New South Wales
