Ang Kalatas Volume III September 2013 Issue | Page 28

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THE MESSAGE. BRINGING INTO FOCUS FILIPINO PRESENCE IN AUSTRALIA. www.kalatas.com.au | Ang Kalatas Australia | Vol. 3 No. 12 | September 2013

HEALTH, TRAVEL & LIFESTYLE

OUT ‘N BACK

Museum of Interesting Things
sign-makers back then. The most notable part of our trip was the stop at Nymboida. We wanted a drink, the Coaching Station was an inn … and we were thirsty. As we pulled into the driveway, there, on the roof of the inn, was a sign that said, “The Museum of Interesting Things”. Ours was a trip of discovery so we asked the barkeep about it and he opened the museum especially for us. It was a museum that suited blokes. First, it was Russell Crowe’s; second, it showed memorabilia and paraphernalia from his movies; third, there were cars, and motorbikes and swords in it! Australia’s largest Cobb and Co Stagecoach, a copy of the Leviathan, was also housed here. One of the wooden wheels was taller than me at 2 metres. It was so big it could take 100 passengers and had to be pulled by 22 horses. For the Rabbitohs fans, Russell commissioned a custom motorbike with Rabbitohs regalia on it. We even saw costumes from some of Russell’s blockbusters which included Gladiator, Robin Hood, and master and Commander. And of course there were items and fossilised bones depicting Nymboida’s history. This Museum of Interesting Things showed memorabilia related to when graziers, bullock teams, and pioneers stopped here on their way to Grafton about 44 kilometres away. Nymboida may be about 685 kilometres from Sydney, but my Dad was only ever ?ve steps from me. And that was what mattered. It was in?nitely pleasurable for me, listening to my 82-yearold Dad’s stories of things connected to the items that we were looking at. It gave me an insight into his personal history, and also showed me the sage that he was. Perhaps you, too, should go out n’ back and do a road trip with your Dad. Travel back in time with him, and into his world. For when he takes that trip to where we can’t yet go, your opportunity to be one with him will be gone forever.

MITCHELL BADELLES
OUR current life is ?lled with inventions, mechanical and electronic. While both mechanics and electronics can be combined to come up with another machine that stores things, there is none better than a Dad’s museum in his head ?lled with interesting things. There’s nothing like sharing fun experiences with a Dad – I found it most interesting anyway. We had not planned any stops, pulling over at whatever attracted our attention. We stopped for a toilet break in Kempsey, and there happened to be a museum nearby, where we saw a WW1 Philippine artefact, a Philippine bolo used by the US Army to clear vegetation. The Kris itself was not the interesting thing. The great curiosity was on how a Filipino weapon ended up in Kempsey, and the museum people couldn’t tell us. We also found a Blacksmith’s Door that had numbers and alphabets burned onto it. Smithies also doubled as wooden

Steam Globe Sculpture, artist unknown, Nymboida Coaching Station

Philippine Kris US Army Souvenir, donor unknown, Kempsey museum