Mail Boxes and Other Local Quirks

I have a very patient dog — she is used to regularly stopping on our daily walks as I indulge in my new fondness for photographing mail boxes. From vintage milk urns and machines with teeth to native animals and bland rectangular boxes, the people of Yass express their quirks (or occasionally, lack of) through their favoured means of receiving mail.

Their front yards are equally revealing. Some are littered with push bikes and prams — one even has a plastic pony that rocks on a spring when children climb aboard. In others, wagon wheels, windmills and rusted farm machinery are sculptural elements. I often wonder if this is a case of resourceful recycling or a conscious tribute to our farming community.

One thing is for sure, locals are not keen on fences. Those that do exist tend to be barely-visible grids of wire, reflecting perhaps a relaxed, trusting and open attitude.