I’m surprised at the amount of wool cleaning we’ve come across in our travels. In Mudgee, NSW the museum guide showed me a box that the poor old sheep would be put into. Only his head would be poking out of the wooden box while he was rigorously scrubbed of dirt and burrs.

In Blackall, Qld we toured the Wool Scour a building where fleeces were washed and cleaned by machine. Thankfully without the sheep in them.

In Robe, SA we camped beside Lake Fellmongery, a place where wool was scoured and where wool was removed from sheep skins.

Not far from where we live in Victoria at a place called Safety Beach, there is a small creek that enters the bay known as Sheepwash Creek. There’s no doubting as to what went on there in days gone by and it has nothing to do with the bikinis, ice creams and jet skis of today.