We have family connections with Louth in Lincolnshire, so I was keen to see the “other” Louth in New South Wales. One is a medieval market town known for independent shops and eateries; the other has, well, a cricket ground, a cemetery and Shindy’s Inn. It’s also famous for the annual Louth race meeting when thousands of people descend on this small dusty town to watch racehorses battle it out for thousands of pounds of prize money. Royal Ascot it is not, but I’m assured it’s a must do experience. Next time.
Final approach to Louth
Rumour had it that we were all bunking up together in a dormitory, but Shindy’s delivered two static cabins (like mobile homes) with air conditioning and running water. As the veteran married couple, Captain Cockpit and I got the double room (with fan!) while Head of Entertainment and Jim Maxwell literally sweated it out in the bunks, and Nick Hoult - who is capturing some of our escapades for the Daily Telegraph - nearly froze to death on a pull-out bed under the air conditioning unit.
The locals loved the cricket chat - with a cold beer, of course.
I slept like a baby but I think the rest had about 4 hours in total between them. Trip Advisor didn’t disappoint; there is indeed a cemetery with a Taj Mahal like monument (something of an exaggeration - Ed) built by the first settler in Louth as a tribute to his wife. And indeed there is also a cricket club with a very smart picket fence; unfortunately the scorer told me it’s too high for her to see over, so she has to sit on a raised box.
Louth CC. Matches now have to be cancelled when the temperature exceeds 43 degrees. It is not a rare event.
But back to Shindy’s and the evening event for Angel Flight. Gail who runs the pub has been the recipient of numerous flights in and out of Louth to enable her to have life saving cancer treatment. She’s the embodiment of what this trip is really all about.
Gail runs Shindy’s and has used Angel Flight several times.
The locals raised thousands of pounds during the evening - it’s heart warming to see the community love in these funny old places. The following morning we were up with the cockatoos and off to Broken Hill. We had hoped to see the Mad Max experience (the films were made out in the moonscape land around there) but it was closed! We made do with a tour around the old county jail. Sometimes you have to make the best of what you’re given, if you can read between the lines!
Broken Ridge does get the vote for the best breakfast of the tour so far, so it wasn’t a completely wasted trip. Now we are on to Parachilna. I last visited around 16 years ago, and have been longing to come back ever since. It is simply a gem of a hotel near the Flinders ranges, and I love it. Jonathan is determined to land the aircraft there.
