There is much to see in Woggo Woggo and two days can’t do it justice. We have had a spin around town to catch some of the sights. A trip, five km, out to the RAAF training centre at Forrest Hills is a must.

There is a great mural here on the water tank celebrating the role of pilot training centres for recruits during WWII, there were a number of these spread throughout rural Australia at the time. It was part of a scheme that Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the UK operated to ensure there was a common training platform for pilots among the allied air forces. Many were sent to the UK to fly with the RAF.

Also a number of fighter planes through the years are on display, including the F111.

Back in town Victory Memorial Gardens houses an impressive 19th century fountain as a centrepiece near the war memorial. A cockatoo was enjoying a drink and wing wash on its top spout.

The Civic Centre and Art Gallery area has some nice murals and pleasant parkland around a lake. Along the main street there are numerous shops and eateries, it seems to be a prosperous town.

On a hot day Wagga Beach is very popular, an enormous sand bank on the edge of the Murrumbidgee overlooks a shallow section of clear water flowing over river sands. In 2020 the beach was ranked 9 out of the top 20 beaches in Australia. The first time an inland beach has been included, recognising the role this sort of environment plays for our people remote from the coastline.

No one was having a dip, although some school boy teenager types were up to their thighs out in the middle doing something training wise it seemed, may have been rowers checking the river flow.

We finished off our stopover here by having a night out at a couple of recommended spots. First up was the Thirsty Crow for some pre dinner drinks. They are a craft brewery with the motto ‘murdering thirst’, Allthego tried a tasting flight, the stout was rather good. Homealone settled for a Cider from a Batlow brewer.

Following this we headed across the road to Giuseppe’s Restaurant & Bar. This is a Wagga Wagga icon we were told, authentic Italian. We had a couple of great pastas before heading back to the van.

In the morning we will head 100 or so km down the Sturt Hwy to Narrandera for a couple of nights stay.