Homeward bound

Well that week shot by like a stray bullet. Miguel and I were up and out of the door by 8.28am. We packed the car last night so we are ready to roll. We have to leave Bunbury early today as looking after Ollie and Audrey later.
Driving back to the Pinjarra bake house the traffic was light so we made good time. Miguel and I were very naughty we ordered a beef and mushroom pie each. Well we are still technically on holiday for the next hour or so. We arrived at Tabbys well before eleven which gave her more time to organise herself for the workshop she is presenting today at KSP.

Loading the kids in the car we took a detour to Midland Gate shopping centre as Miguel wants to talk to the Vodaphone crew once again. I’m over it so I took the kids to Big W to treat themselves as they have bought their pocket money with them. Audrey is a crafty little girl,she managed to get nana to buy her a onesie and a LOL. Ollie purchased two packets of Pokémon cards with his own money.......finally we caught up with Miguel, bought the kids lunch and headed home. I decided to buy the kids another game, so we could play when we got home.

Tabby picked the kids up at five thirty, and as I was quite tired I decided to lie down for an hour.
Tomorrow we are going to Toodyay with Joan and Brian for lunch. They are picking us up at eleven.

Toodyay
The Old Gaol

Old Court House in Fiennes Street now used as Shire of Toodyay offices (2004)

Memorial to James Drummond, botanist, in Pelham Reserve, overlooking the Toodyay townsite
The original village of Toodyay was one of the earliest inland towns in Western Australia. A habitat of the Ballardong Noongar people for thousands of years, the Avon River valley was discovered by Ensign Robert Dale in 1830,[4][5] leading to exploration by settlers including James Drummond, Captain Francis Whitfield and Alexander Anderson. The first village was established in 1836. Drummond established his homestead Hawthornden nearby. The original location is subject to flooding, which led to its abandonment in the 1850s, and a new townsite was established on higher ground 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) upstream. This was proclaimed by Governor Arthur Kennedy on 1 October 1860 as "Newcastle"[6] and the original settlement came to be referred to as "Old Toodyay". In May 1910, due to confusion with the New South Wales city of Newcastle, a name-change to Toodyay was proposed[5] and the original townsite, which had by this time declined substantially, became "West Toodyay".[7]

The meaning of the name is uncertain, although it is Indigenous Noongar in origin — in an early 1834 reference it is transcribed as "Toodye" while maps in 1836 referred to "Duidgee"[8][9] The Shire of Toodyay's official history gives the meaning as "place of plenty".[5] However, local anthropologists Ken Macintyre and Dr Barb Dobson refute this. They postulate "Toodye" or Duidgee most likely mimics a birdcall, possibly the restless flycatcher or one of that family.[10] According to Noongar belief, a bird calls its own name. This name "Duidgee" is preserved in the riverside recreation area "Duidgee Park".

Toodyay is also known as "the place that is misty and foggy".[11]

The Newcastle Gaol, in Clinton Street, completed in 1864, was in use as a state prison until 1909. It is now preserved as a heritage building and tourist attraction, the Old Gaol Museum.

In 1870, a steam-driven flour mill, Connor's Mill, was built on Stirling Terrace by George Hasell. The mill was also used to generate electricity in the early twentieth century. Saved from demolition in the 1970s, and restored to demonstrate the milling process and machinery, the mill now forms the museum section of the Toodyay Visitor Centre.[12]Read more