Things to do *In* Ingham...

...are apparently light on the ground.

Having just come back from a 6 week holiday, I'm planning to go to Ingham for a weekend to "take a break".  Actually, it's for my mother, who doesn't go for short breaks on her own, but wouldn't mind getting out of town for a bit during her holidays.

I like the Ingham region, and have often visited for one reason or another, but I've never actually stayed in the town itself.  I usually end up staying in one of the satellite communities, like Lucinda, Forest Beach or Taylors Beach.  This time we thought it would be interesting to stay in Ingham itself, and see the town "properly" for a change.

Only problem is, no one is willing to admit there's anything in the town worth seeing.  You look for any list of attractions for Ingham, and they'll all list the beaches and national parks that are located nearby.

What can you do in Ingham?  You can drive half-an-hour south to a waterfall.  You can travel twenty minutes west to a national park campsite.  You can travel fifteen minutes east to a beach.  The town itself is, apparently, only worth visiting during one of the two festivals they run each year - and even then most sites don't mention the second festival...

Oddly, the Tyto wetlands doesn't even get a mention on most websites, even though it is, by rights, a "must see" for any bird watchers who might be travelling through the area - and it happens to be in town.  The mausoleums at the cemeteries get mentioned more often than the Tyto park complex.

But... surely there are things in the town itself?  People live there, and I expect they do stuff.  Parks, gardens, bowls clubs, golf clubs... these things are all located *in* the town proper.  There's a cinema, there's a gallery (of sorts) - I think they still have cafes and shops...

Surely someone can come up with a list of things to do and see in the town itself?  Sure, it might not be the kind of thing that will rock your world, but why not plug the butcher who makes traditional Sicilian sausages (my uncle insists we buy him some every time we drive through the town)?  Why not promote the craft guild thingy?  Or the winery that makes booze out of tropical fruits* (although I must admit I don't know if they still have a shop in Ingham)?

Heck, you could easily put together a "picnic" list of things to buy from local shops, and then recommend places to go barbecue them.  That would be a fun thing to do, and it wouldn't take too much imagination.

Why not find a cafe that sells the best lemon meringue pie or a bakery which makes the best neenish tarts and say "while visiting Ingham, make sure you stop in at the such-and-such bakery to try the award winning neenish tarts"?

It's a town of just under 5000 people, and the nearest "big town" for nearby communities like Halifax and Abergowrie.  Surely people in the region come into Ingham occasionally to do stuff, rather than everybody going out of town to get their kicks.

So, my challenge to the good folk of Ingham is this:  tell us what we can do in your town.  It can't be that hard.



*They had a "snake bite" wine made from lime juice and chilli.  I bought some for my grandmother and she hated it.  Mind you, she tried to drink it like regular wine, even though I warned her it might be a bad idea.