Hampden Bridge

This is Hampden Bridge over Kangaroo River in Kangaroo Valley, a couple of hours south of Sydney. You can read a brief history of the bridge at the link but I thought this part of the story was remarkable "The Hampden Bridge replaced an existing timber bridge which spanned the river. The old bridge was still in position on 19 May, the day the new bridge was opened, but it was washed away in a flood five days later."
Just in time, eh?

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I have been to Kangaroo Valley quite a number of times, it is a nice spot for a weekend away, or even for a day trip.

The visit with the best story attached happened when I was maybe fifteen. The church youth group went for a weekend away at nearby Fitzroy Falls. A young man I have never seen before or since came along. I think his name had an "I" in it. Phillip? Simon? Anyway, young Phillimon was charismatic and charming and quickly got my eye. By some stroke of luck I happened to travel in his car on the Saturday afternoon when we took off to explore Kangaroo Valley. He made a point of trying to round the corners on the winding mountain road at double the recommended speed and I added "spirited" to the description.

When we got there I had no idea how to get this bloke's attention so I ignored him as my cousin and I swung on the nearby swing and kicked at stones on the riverbank.

Then he wandered over. I could hardly believe it. Pretty soon he was asking if we knew what kind of bridge it was. And I did ! Here was my chance to dazzle him with my superior engineering knowledge, to fascinate him with my broad range of interests. Things were looking good indeed!
As the afternoon went on I realised that I had neither dazzled nor fascinated him. He had eyes only for my blonder, bustier cousin.
I don't think I missed much.