The "blue gums" along the road to Gundagai

I am on my way to collect some scouts from camp. I decided to make a stop-over in this little friendly town, which was made famous as the subject of one of a small collection of folk songs that are truly Australian.

'There's a track winding back
To an old-fashioned shack
Along the road to Gundagai.

Where the blue gums are growing
And the Murrumbidgee's flowing
Beneath the sunny sky,

Where my daddy and mother are waiting for me
And the pals of my childhood once more I will see.
Then no more will I roam when I'm heading right for home
Along the road to Gundagai.'

Ironically, Jack O'Hagan, the lyricist wrote the song in 1922, but first visited the town in 1956. I am reminded of that song 'The Northern Lights of Old Aberdeen' - written by Mel and Mary Webb who came from the South of England and never visited Aberdeen. It shines a different light on these very sentimental songs, doesn't it?

Reflecting on my blip later, I wonder why the council had chosen deciduous trees to light up blue. These are not gum trees!