We visited Porepunkah today for the first time since we left almost four years ago exactly.
The twins, now 6, don’t remember Porepunkah at all, but for the older children it’s where they grew up and where they attended most of their primary school.
I had mixed feelings today. Seeing how wonderful it is I wondered why we ever left.
The reasons were sound at the time. Financial gains; career move for me; and a chance for the older kids to live in a major regional centre, giving them more educational, sporting and cultural options.
Kalgoorlie was a stark contrast, but it delivered on the financial aspects.
At Mount Gambier we sacrificed the financial gains and hoped for an upswing on the lifestyle scale. Has that been achieved? Time will tell.
Porepunkah hasn’t changed much. The only new business we could see was the Rail Trail Cafe in the old shop opposite the hotel near the service station and the old bridge.
When we moved to Porepunkah in 1996 we were told the shop used to be a butcher. Our neighbor used to work there.
It was vacant for many years and then it became a residence.
Today it was thriving as a cafe, with more than a dozen bikes parked outside the front and all the tables full.
What a great idea! We used to cycle from Porepunkah to Bright and enjoy a wine and coffee at the Riverdeck, but there was nothing for the majority of people who travel the other way, except the Porepunkah Hotel.
Not everyone feels comfortable going to a pub.
The swimming hole at the river was just as we remembered it (pictured above) … a great place to cool down on a perfect summer’s day.
Summer in Porepunkah was nearly always perfect. Most days were in the range of 28 to 34 degrees, with not much variation.
Our arrival to 41 degrees was quite a shock. Next week there is a forecast of several days in the mid 20s, which is unusually cool.
Today was normal for summer, as we remembered it, and everyone enjoyed a swim in the river.
I’m sure we’ll visit two or three more times before we leave.
One visual disappointment was the overgrown state of the Porepunkah Oval, pictured below.
There is obviously no cricket or baseball being played at the moment, and the school children are on holiday, but people might use the oval if they could.
It’s a shabby look that I can’t imagine seeing on a public sports ground outside of Africa.
Carlton great Newton Chandler (pictured), who played his first football on the oval, would be turning in his grave.
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What is the population? Does it have a hospital? I guess it does, given the school and pub.
I lived at Quorn, (Flinders Ranges, SA) as a child, in those days the population was somewhere between 800-1000, but there were four pubs and a hospital.
Twitter: mgorey
says:
The population when we lived there was officially 450. It’s maybe 600 today if you count the immediate district. There doesn’t appear to have been much development.
Bright (6km away) has a population of about 2500 plus numerous more tourists at peak holiday times.
Myrtleford (25km away), where I used to work, has a population of about 4000.
Both those towns have small hospitals and high schools.
Major hospitals and big towns are 70km away (Wangaratta) and 100km (Wodonga).
Albury is now easily accessible on the new bypass (about 5km past Wodonga). It used to be a hard drive to get there via Wodonga.