Junee

Hi lovelies,

Today we took a drive to the lovely town of Junee.

Our first stop was the Licorice and Chocolate Factory.

This slightly dilapidated building held an amazing array of treasures and wonder.

All areas of the factory were operating and you can see into them all and watch the process.   This mixer is called “Shelley” and she chocolate coats about 10 times as much product

 as these copper drums

There is a tour of the factory, which is done by DVD, but this makes it easy to see what happens with each process.  We were a little skeptical of this at the start, but it was a wonderful addition to the morning and well worth the $5 fee.

The guide goes through all the processes, there is some tasting, and then a game of Licorice Skittles at the end.   

 

You throw a rock hard ball of licorice up into the old wheat hopper and try and knock the skittles over.  There were 4 of us on the tour, and the two boys tied with 2 skittles each, while the girls did not even manage to get the ball into the chute.  😊.  A good laugh.  Robbie and the other man both won a box of licorice.

They were making red licorice today and it was amazing to watch.  The licorice is churned, heated, and then put into a press where it is pushed out like sausages.  

 It stretches, cools and thins as it passes along the conveyer belt. 

Robbie got to make his own Rocky Road.

  This was also a lot of fun, and gorgeously messy.

 There is also a vintage car display at the factory.

We finished at the factory and headed to see Laurie Daley oval

 and also the Ray Warren Statue.

 It was then off to the Railway Station for a look around. Like the Cootamundra Station the Junee Station is huge.

The station is extremely well maintained

and a number of the “old fashioned” rooms are still operational.  Like the waiting room, which was equipped with a heater.

and the refreshment room, which still operates.  We had lunch there before heading on our way again.

There were even trains there.

No trip with us would be complete without our trips to nowhere, or things that are not open. Today they included the Monte Christo Homestead (which is supposed to be haunted),

the Roundhouse Rail Museum, and the Bethungra Rail Spiral.  The first two were closed and the third you cannot see from where they say to view it.

On the drive there and back we saw some vibrantly coloured canola fields.  

 Back home again and spent a lovely time sitting in the sun reading and watching some birds scrounge around for seed until it was time to come indoors.

All for now lovelies.

Stay safe and keep enjoying life.

Love us.