No city in North Korea is complete without its bronze statue of the Great Leader, Kim Il-Sung, placed on the top of a hill for everybody to see. So naturally there is one here in Kaesong, on Mount Janam at the end of the grand boulevard that is Tongil Street. Kim Il-sung did not share the same modesty of his son who banned statues, etc of him being erected while he was alive. This statue of Kim Il-sung was erected in 1968. Continue reading “Kim Il-sung Watching from on High”
Approximately half our tour group spent the morning of our second day in North Korea running some part of the Pyongyang Marathon. The rest of us watched the start and finish of the run and two soccer matches in the Kim Il-sung Stadium. Continue reading “Enjoy your bus trip to Kaesong”
The primary reason for our visiting Kaesong was that it provided a suitable overnight stop for visiting Panmunjom and the Demilitarized Zone which is not (given road conditions, transport options and other restrictions) feasible as a day trip from Pyongyang. Having said that there are quite a few attractions in and around Kaesong worthy of time in themselves, though as you will see below, time was not on our side.
The Tharwa General Store is a beautiful old weatherboard building dating back to the 1922. The store was acquired by C.C Jeffery in 1926 and has remained in the family ever since making it one of the Territory’s longest operating family businesses. This is one of those places where you buy a beer, a hot pie and a pair of knickers in the local post office! Continue reading “Tharwa General Store and School”
I have remarked elsewhere on this blog that for a long time before the arrival of European settlers and the 1861 ‘formal settlement’ of Tharwa, Aboriginal people had been using this area as a crossing point for the Murrumbidgee River as they made their way up and down from the mountains. Continue reading “Onyong’s Grave”
It is rather refreshing after visiting great cathedrals of Europe or indeed those of larger Australian cities to head out into country Australia and come across little wooden churches, in a popular Carpenter Gothic Style, like St Edmund’s in Tharwa. Continue reading “St Edmunds Anglican Church”
The delightfully named Cuppangabalong Station (station is a term used in Australia to refer to a large farm) began life as a squatters settlement, established by James Wright in early 1840s. In 1855 it was bought by a 39 year old Italian count – Count Leopold Fabius Dietegen Fane De Salis – who developed it into a very successful wool business and stud farm. Continue reading “Cuppangabalong Woolshed”
The De Salis (or Cuppacumbalong) Cemetery is one of a small number of late 19th century private or family cemeteries in the Canberra region. By the end of the century private cemeteries were becoming something of a dying (pardon the pun) breed, originally having been necessary due to the lack of public cemeteries, in particular for pastoral families and their workers on stations in Australia’s interior. Continue reading “The De Salis Cemetery – Fit for a Count”
Having a strong interest in old cemeteries I was keen to visit the De Salis Cemetery – one of a small number of early 19th century private cemeteries in the Canberra region. Continue reading “Tharwa Explorer Walking Track”
The Tharwa Bridge (or rather the original parts there-off which remain after a number of renovations and upgrades in the intervening period) was officially opened with great pomp and ceremony on 27 March 1895 and was the first all weather high-level crossing of the Murrumbidgee River in this area. Continue reading “Tharwa Bridge”
The Rambling Wombat 