Wild horse chase

After not finding him and almost giving up hope, Mr Welsh trotted past our office window.

I was quick to grab my camera and chase him down, only to realise my lack of visiting the Gilgandra Fitness Centre meant my pace was no faster than the horses… I chased Mr Welsh down Miller Street, past the caravan parks, all the way out to the highway.

At what point should I stop? I asked myself, as I ran through ways to make myself more aerodynamic in my mind.

Then, I suppose thanks to my luck, a tour bus travelling from the Jacaranda City happened to see the frantic looking goose chase, and stopped in front of Mr Welsh. I managed to catch up with the now parked bus and Mr Welsh, all be it out of breath.

“We stopped because we thought the horse and carriage had left you behind!” proclaimed Debbie Bowling, owner of the AbFab Tour group who were on their way to lunch at The Royal Hotel.

After a quick and insightful interview with Mr Welsh later, the AbFab crew offered me a lift back into town.

I was quickly handed a microphone and asked questions about the fantastic Gilgandra, the illustrious Byrson Luff who the tour was about to have lunch with, and the story of the Coo-ee March.

The AbFab crew had been to Gilgandra before, and after experiencing fantastic hospitality the first time, they were back again, and were already planning their next visit.

The tour of around 24 people had travelled from Grafton, to Tamworth, Gulgong, Dubbo, Cobar, Broken Hill, White Cliffs, and were heading back home through Coonabarabran and Moree.

A great laugh was had, and the memory is now forever preserved in passengers’ phones of my wild horse chase down the Castlereagh Highway.