O'Bannon Woods Hay Press and Living Pioneer Farmstead...

We visited O'Bannon Woods State Park back in April, and we were a little sad that the hay press barn and the Nature Centre were closed that day. And so when they had a scheduled Hay Press demonstration as well as the living pioneer farmstead open one Saturday last month, (5th August) we decided we needed to go and check it out!

It was certainly worth the two-hour drive to get there. We made a day out of it and enjoyed a picnic lunch in front of the Hickory Hollow Nature Centre, before exploring the Nature Centre as well as doing a hike in the woods nearby. The living pioneer farmstead exhibit and the hay press demonstration were held in the early evening, and it was fascinating to see this antique piece of history in operation! There were also displays of tomahawk throwing, spinning and weaving, panning for gold, and many others in the pioneer farmstead. It was a great day's outing!

 The entrance to O'Bannon Woods State Park.

 Hickory Hollow Nature Centre.

 Many interesting exhibits inside the Nature Centre.

 Riaan loved watching the snakes eating their lunch!

 Beautiful woods.

 Hiking along to a wildlife viewing blind.

 The five-lined skink is very pretty as a juvenile.

 The barn housing the hay press open for the day.

 The hay press is just to the right of centre.

 Waiting for the demonstration to begin.

 Loading up the hay inside the hay press. There is an ox downstairs. He helps lift a weight that is then released to squash the hay into a bay bale.

 The living pioneer farmstead was also very interesting.

 Tomahawk throwing display.

 Musical instruments being played from the 1800s.

 Spinning and weaving.

 Panning for gold.

 Sawing a log into pieces.

Hot air balloon seen on our drive home. :)