Amateur Adventures at Home #15: Saving our Heritage with Tourism

Hey Steemians

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Welcome to another Adventure at Home. I really am enjoying sharing some of the local highlights and hop that if you are ever in the area, whether you are travelling from near or far, you get a chance to look up some of these places.

Also given that circumstances have curtailed our overseas travel for the time being (in fairness we have been lucky to do an awesome amount of travel to some insane and beautiful places), we've been exploring much closer to home and enjoying what we have in our very backyard. Sometimes you don't need to go far at all.

Today's adventure has things for young and old so it's great for family fun visits during the day - weekend picnicking and wildlife spotting, something for the more active, something for the foodies, nights out with mates, or weekend brunch with the girls.

And in all of that it's also preserving a special part of our local heritage and sharing it with the community to make it accessible to everyone.

I'm talking about the Old Wyong Milk Factory.

The Wyong Milk Factory was established back in 1888 and over the last decade has been restored, and put back into use for the enjoyment of the whole community.

A co-op of 56 local farmers, established the Buttery Factory (as it was then known) and originally it was no more than a boiler room, engine room, butter-working room, cool room, testing room, storeroom and office existing for the sole purpose of processing butter, not milk.

It was a hub of industrial activity employing many local people, gradually evolving over time into a fully functioning milk bottling factory, drawing a wide variety of other farm produce to its markets from the surrounding valleys.

Despite being burned to the ground in less than two hours by a fire in 1921 so huge that the exploding butter could be seen and heard 10 km away, the ruins of the original Butter Factory gave birth to a newer, more extensive and well equipped Milk Factory built by the 200+ dairy farmers who had by this time become shareholders in the Co-op.

The historical precinct is situated on the gorgeous Central Coast (Okay yes I might be a bit biased!) it makes a great stop on a Sydney day trip or weekend away. It nestles on the banks of the Wyong river, giving it a pretty outlook as well as providing opportunities for kayaking and platypus spotting.

Allsorts Fitness has a 24 hour gym there - which gives you a great outlook onto the river. And they also organise rowboats and kayaks to hire

You can also book a Platypus Paddle which will see you head up-stream in search of this shy and fascinating mammal, along with an array of birds and reptiles that share this natural river system.

Saturdays and Sundays see an inflatable obstacle course set up by the river for the kids, weather permitting.

There is plenty of food and @cryptoandzen and I are known to occasionally drop in for a yummy brunch!

Come lunch or dinner though and we are more likely to be found at The Rusty Udder (Also known as The Wyong Milk Factory Tavern) which does in fact have a great kids play area as well as a beer garden and an upstairs deck.

Weekends see a great array of local music talent as well.

Wednesday are open mic nights. A great way to showcase not just local talent but up and coming talent as well.

Thursday night you get a drag show/trivia night if your up for a bit of fun and a chance to win some prizes.

The Wyong Milk Factory is also great if you are a bit of a gourmet foodie. As well as the cafe and the tavern which serve up some delicious meals, it's the home of Luca Chocolates and Little Creek Cheese Factory.

The precinct is rounded out with BBQ areas by the river, a kids playground, a hair dresser, day spa and a vet. Its a great place where you can spend a couple of hours, a lazy afternoon or a fun evening being entertained.

The playground is complete with a boat perfect for little pirates, swings, cubby houses and picnic benches with soft fall and grass areas. Some lovely old trees cover the play area providing shade. You can even book it for birthday parties and have the cafe cater.

Its also a great use of a site that had otherwise fallen into disrepair. Finding new ways to use and enjoy our heritage resources is a fantastic idea and it's great that a developer has gone to the trouble to do this rather than seeing the place destroyed for modern development.

Definitely worth stopping in whether you are local or visiting.

Until the next adventure steem on in love and light.

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Source:

1. Photos are authors own
2. From the Wyong Milk Factory website and Facebook page
3. iCentralcoast.com

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!steemitworldmap -33.2767591 lat 151.4065858 long Wyong Milk Factory - D3SCR