Wednesday 10th August Ayr

  Rob and I headed off to the golf course just after 8am and he was soon underway with golf. The 18 hole course was deserted except for a groundsman mowing the greens. Lush lawns and greens, large trees, a few bunkers and then to make things interesting, groves of mango trees featured on the course.  The mango trees were planted in the late 70’s early 80s to raise extra revenue for the golf club. They are all individually watered with drip-fed irrigation. There is plenty of water here not only due to rainfalls and rivers but also the very high water table that is easily tapped into! We both enjoyed the golf/walk with Rob playing the first 9 holes very well. Once again I left Rob at the course after he had completed the first 9 holes and I returned to the caravan to throw another load of washing on before heading into town to do an “Artworks Walk”. I learnt quite a bit about the Scottish heritage of Ayr as well as enjoying the many sculptures and murals in the town.  Once Rob had completed his round of golf, I picked him up and after a quick bite to eat we went to visit The Ayr Nature Display Museum.  We had heard that this was probably a little “politically incorrect” as far as a museum goes but really for $5 entry it was well worth it.  Built in the late 1940’s early 50’s the museum houses a huge collection of shells, butterflies, bugs, beetles, fish, shell-fish, fossils, different cut stones etc. The roof was decorated by slabs of stone cut to resemble butterflies. It really was quite remarkable. Most of the collections and displays were the work of a farmer and his wife. He had also purchased different collections from other people from all over Australia. From what we’d heard from the lady at the tourist centre, they had tried to close the display down as collecting shells, timbers, butterflies etc. is now seen to be environmentally, not the thing to do but luckily this establishment has been able to continue.  As it was, the man’s egg collection had to be given to the CSIRO. There was a local man at the reception. He was in his early 80’s and was very interesting and informative. He not only told us about the display but also about the area and beyond in terms of places to visit. Rob’s ears pricked up when he explained that around Ayr and the Burdekin, the cane growers still burn the cane due to the undergrowth. With so much water the undergrowth is extremely thick and is impossible to be mechanically harvested unless the cane is burnt. The cane has to be harvested within a few days of being burnt. There is also a special machine that is used up here to cut a path through the cane where the undergrowth is so thick. It looks like a tractor with a windmill attached to the front of it. We spent the late afternoon “cane-fire” chasing around the outskirts of Ayr. We found some but couldn’t get close enough for photos. We will probably try again tomorrow.