On The Road Again

A country music festival or the Horse Capital of Australia?

That's one big choice for a little cowboy, so it's just as well that Austin's inability to talk meant the decision making was left to Mum and Dad. Figuring his Gene Autry songs would be more impressive if he first learnt to ride a horse, we packed the car for the four-hour drive to Scone in the upper reaches of the Hunter Valley.

Port Stephens can wait for another day. Ideally one in January.

Scone (rhymes with phone; no jam or cream here) is home to the Australian Stock Horse Association and many of the country's top horse studs. Each May it hosts the Festival of the Horse and the town's big day at the races - the Scone Cup.

Being June we had to make do with the Tourist Information Centre's fake pony and its electronic wagging tail. And, to be fair, it did the trick. Austin was entranced and we had to prise the horse's plastic carrot from his grasp as we ended both of our visits. Bless.

Fortunately Scone has more to offer than horses. The town centre is rather charming: a long main street (Kelly, which one would like to think is taken from the female lead in High Noon) and several lovely old buildings. Just out of town is Lake Glenbawn, and a little north lies Mt Wingen - otherwise known as Burning Mountain. Though it looks like a poor man's Rotorua, this is actually one of the world's few naturally burning coal seams.

This could well be significant, and a better parent would most likely have conveyed the fact to their child with greater conviction.

In my defence, Austin slept through almost all of our 1.5 hour walk up and down Burning Mountain. A fine sense of prioritisation, I thought, as he was wide awake throughout the proceeding hour-long scenic drive on which we encountered sheep, cows, horses (horses!), kangaroos and a fantastic 20km stretch of dirt road.

Of course, this does mean his next adventure will be a trip to the car wash.