We were later leaving Parkes this morning as the forecast was a little colder than we have been experiencing.  We were on the road by 9.30am though, travelling via the Henry Parkes Way.  We turned onto Escort Way at the Thomas Mitchell Cairn and then onto Mitchell Highway for the last few kilometres to Orange.

We stopped at Manildra for morning tea at the rest area that Wiki Camps brought up for me.  It just happened to be beside the railway line and a train with four engines at the back came into the huge Manildra Group Flour Mill alongside the free camping area.  Not sure that it would be that pleasant camping here if trains did come in during the night, but it did have a plumbed toilet at the camp site.

Our morning tea discussion today was about the Manildra Group and I had taken a quick snap as we came past the huge number of buildings and silos in the main street.  Under the Manildra Group name, was a number of logos and one of them was 'Sunshine Sugar'.  I had blogged about the company in the Coffs Harbour blog.  It is now the only Australian owned sugar processing company and has three mills.  The one at Broadwater on the Richmond River crushes 270 tonnes a day and is the largest crusher of the three mills.  

My research informs me that the Manildra Group is a 100% Australian, family owned agribusiness based in Sydney, and a 50% owner of 'Sunshine Sugar'.  That explains the Sunshine Sugar logo under the group name.  Other logos on the signage were 'Manildra Stockfeeds' which is owned by the company.  'E1O' which is another Manildra Group company and is Australia’s largest producer of fuel-grade ethanol.  'The Healthy Baker' is also their company and the first (and only) 100% Australian-owned, making a range of flours and specialty baking products, the first range of flours to be fortified by vitamins and nutrients for optimal health.  'Manildra Meat Company' is another business and the multi-species plant is located at Cootamundra with sales offices throughout Asia and United States.  Manildra Meat Company is dedicated to producing and delivering premium beef, lamb and goat meat products – unrivaled in quality and value – for a global market.  Finally there is the company 'MSM Milling' which is a fully integrated oil seed crushing, refining and packaging operation.  MSM value adds to oil seeds sourced direct from farmers, producing the highest quality ready to use products.  Wow!  If I hadn't taken that snap, that included all those logos and remembered about the 'Sunshine Sugar' mill at Broadwater, I wouldn't have done this research and found out about this amazing Australian Company.  I will have to look out for 'The Healthy Baker' flour and 'Sunshine Sugar' when I am shopping.

As we came into Orange, Peter and I had discussed the fact that the 'Orange' region has been the leader in Agricultural Field Days and that the Dowerin Field Day had been structured on what has been achieved at Orange.  The Australian National Field Days (ANFD) is the oldest annual agricultural exhibition in the country. It was established in 1952 and provides an insight into the future of agriculture with the commitment to advancing Australian agriculture.  More than 600 exhibitors travel to the Borenore site (15kms west of Orange, NSW) from all over Australia and internationally to display their products and services during the three-day event.  We must have come past Borenore as it is on Escort Way, and I did actually snap a photo of the National Field Day sign.

We had decided to go into Orange and attempt to park at the Information Centre.  There was enough room for about three vans at the front of the Centre and we were in luck, there was no one parked there!  There it was, imprinted on the glass of the Centre - 'Paddock to Plate'.  

There was a Museum at the Info Centre.  The display was the story of a mountain, its people and the food the region produces..  The Orange district is famous for its exceptional foods and wines.  Mount Canobolas, an extinct volcano, created rich soils and a cool, wet, climate.  The region has responded to changes in land ownership, new technologies, markets and distribution networks.  The exhibition at the Orange Information Centre celebrated how the people of Orange and the surrounding district have worked with the land and have grown, processed, marketed and consumed a wealth of produce over time.  There was information at the Exhibition about Minildra Flour.  There was a number of mills in the district and Manildra is the only flour mill left.  It opened in 1904 when it was relocated from Cargo, when the railway bypassed that village.

Peter tells me there was information at the Museum about Mount Canobalas, the mountain that overlooks Orange, and how the mountain creates the rain for the area.  I didn't take a snap of that info, but I have found this on the net;  mists, snow and cloud formations swirling around the summit dramatise the weather. The height of the mountain produces a strong rainfall effect with water flowing in all directions from the summit.  

I spent too much time talking with a volunteer that was there encouraging people to share their favourite recipe from foods in season.  Each year this is done and they credit every contributor and make the recipes available online and in the Museum.  Great idea and I thought after, I should have shared Nic's Zucchini Slice.  It is a great recipe.  We also talked about CWA and the sizes of branches in the area.  I have another contact of a small branch near Orange to pass onto Heather.  A branch that members in the west may wish to help.  It was interesting to also be told that the Museum applies to the Council each year for funding to change the displays.  The displays were so professional, I couldn't believe that they applied each year for new funding.  They don't necessarily get it every year.  Maybe every second year!

With the Museum done we decided to walk to the CBD, have a bit of lunch and check out some of the buildings on the 'Heritage Town Walk'.  The flowering trees in Robertson Park opposite the Info Centre were spectacular.  We asked the Visitor Centre lady on our return, what the name of the tree was.  She told us it was probably the pear tree, but I have done a search and the pear has a white flower.  I think it is more likely to be 'Cherry Blossom'.  What the lady did tell us is, that the trees do not normally flower for very long, because once it rains the flowers are washed from the trees.  This year they have been spectacular because of the lack of rain.  Orange actually calls itself the 'Colour City'.  

There is a Memorial in Robertson Park for Major General Sir Neville Howse who was the first Australian soldier to receive a VC.  The medal recognised his rescue of a wounded man in 1900 while under rifle fire in the Second Boer War.  He later served as the Director General of Medical Services for the AIF, having studied medicine in the UK before migrating to Australia for health reasons.  He settled in orange in 1899.  He was elected as the Federal Member for Calare in 1922,  representing the Nationalist Party.  The Memorial was a separate panel, for each of these three significant chapters of his life in Australia.  In 1930, at the age 66 he died of cancer.  He had gone back to England for treatment.  His VC medal is on display at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra.  I will have to look for it when we visit.

We had time to visit the Banjo Patterson Memorial in Orange, before we left.  So I got the directions up on my phone and we lead the way out on the Northern Distribution Road.  Sightseeing would be a whole lot more stressful without me using my phone.  Thank you Mr Google.  

The Memorial is on a rise and the pull over area is not very big, but if you continue a little further on, there is a drive into the paddock and this takes you to another Memorial that has been erected on the land referred to as 'Narrambla'.  'Narrambla' was the home of Banjo's mothers Aunt and as the home where Banjo's parents lived was a bit rough, she travelled to 'Narrambla' for her confinement.  So Banjo was born here and actually only spent the first three months of his life in Orange.  It is a beautiful peaceful place on the outskirts of Orange and I sat back and took in the view, listening to the audio on Banjo's life.  This land is now obviously Reserve land.  The actual Memorial was erected in 1947.  There is another memorial that was a Centenary of Federation project and it was located at the Orange Civic Centre for 13 years.  It was relocated to 'Banjo Paterson Park' in 2015.  When Peter joined us after getting the caravan safely parked where it needed to be, he burst into verse of Banjo's poem 'A Bush Christening'!  He told us he had always loved the verse of Andrew Barton Paterson.  At times he is full of surprises!  Barton was the maiden name of his mother Rose Isabella.

In blogging about verse there is more to record!  The lady that helped us at the Visitor Centre had a sense of humour, and just as well because none of us were very helpful in telling her what we wanted to do or see in Orange.  Maybe her name was Cathy Hines as she gave us a sheet with a poem about Orange, that had been composed by this lady.  I have found it won second prize in the Novice Section of the Orange Annual Poetry competition in 2017.  Why I think the lady was Cathy, is because she wanted to give us another copy just before we left!  Maybe I am wrong, but whatever, Cathy's poem about 'Orange' informs us that the town of 'Orange' was named by Major Tom Mitchell, after his friend Prince William of Orange, who later became King of Holland, with whom he had formed a bond whilst serving in the Peninsula war. 

Orange has a population of  approximately 37,000 and was settled in 1822 when a convict settlement was established at 'Blackmans Swamp', the name of the town before Major Mitchell renamed it.  The modern Orange region wine industry was established in 1980 by the Fardell's.  By the mid 1990's the regions vineyards had expanded to be over 1,500 hectares.  There are over 50 vineyards in the Orange region.

We left the town of Orange about 2.30pm and were really glad that we had not let the traffic of Byng Street put us off.  As we walked back to the vans, we gave the fella driving the truck into the unloading dock at Woolworths 10/10 for backing up that ramp.  He attracted our attention as he had to go to the other side of the road to screw it back and up the ramp.  Why would they build the unloading dock there?  Land is valuable in Orange though and there are certainly lots of heritage buildings, but........!