July 2022 | GOST news
July l 2022
Galleries | Sunsets | Moonscapes | New artworks
This GOST news is a bit different as I thought I’d share my travel experiences to regional NSW and Victoria. It ended up being a little trip as we had to come home after 5 days of an 11 day trip as Adam got COVID and fell ill quite quickly. PS if you wish to see new artworks now, scroll down to end of this section.
Looking for a road trip but not sure where to start? This is one I planned as part of a round loop starting with Wagga Wagga, Hay, Lake Mungo, Sea Lake, Echuca, Beechworth and then home to Canberra. Enjoy!
Day 1 & 2 | Wagga Wagga & Hay | 1 night each
From Canberra, we drive about 2hrs 47 mins to Wagga Wagga. We head to Meccanico which I’ve read about from Country Style magazine as a local recommendation. It’s an Italian style deli with crooning music, laidback staff and fresh meats/cheeses/breads. We choose a dish each and an Italian rose Prosecco for moi and Peroni for Adam. It’s light and fresh and we settle into the bench seat knowing the holiday has well and truly begun.
We stroll down the Main Street to find many places closed at midday on a Saturday. Only a few specialty shops are open till 2pm. So heads up, if you want shopping all day visit WW during the week not a weekend.
We head WW Art Gallery. We luck in as a fantastic large quilt art exhibition by renowned Textiles artist Jennifer Bowker is currently on. She captured architecture through tiles, journalists in war zones and daily life of kind and welcoming people that resonated during her time in the Middle East and Islamic countries. It was a stunning exhibition and we feel lucky to have seen through her eyes how the use and application of materials can be just as visually compelling as paintings. We head downstairs where two other exhibitions are on including prints / posters and photography. We also visit the National art glass collection again because it’s an excellent showcase of Australian artists who’s professional practice is in glass.
Onwards to Hay, NSW
If you love driving, this road trip provides a range of different landscapes to enjoy. From low scrub and twisted trees to a sea of flat land stretching to the horizon, you feel like you are heading to the outback but still in rural NSW. We have lunch at the Convent Cafe & Accommodation where we are staying and then do a self guided nature walk along the river. It’s about a 1 and bit hour round trip (I was slower than normal as still recovering from a nasty bout of COVID that impacted my breathing).
We head back to check in and find while the corridors are freezing, our room warms up quickly and we do our own thing. At 5pm we head to the viewing platform to view the best sunrise across the plains. We are first to arrive and then slowly from 2 to 20 we all experience an awesome sunset that changes through the colour spectrum. Who needs TV, game stations, iPads and iPods when you can have nature for free.
Dinner at the local pub is fine. It’s an hour wait as it’s school holidays and next time we won’t travel during this period. It’s full on and I’m feeling anxious about too many people in a confined space. Our world has changed when you start to fear every cough, sneeze and hardly anyone wearing masks. We continue to wear ours where possible as we are the tourists moving from town to town and I’m conscious of not wanting to leave a trail of possible COVID contact behind.
Day 3 and 4 | Hay to Lake Mungo Lodge via Balnarald | 2 nights
We are on the road by 9am and Adam has to buy a Jack and wheel brace because the car we hired does not have either! It appears car hire companies provide you less and less these days and I for one was peeved. As a female, if I was travelling alone to discover a flat tyre and no Jack I’d be spewing. It’s unsafe and poor practice. Okay, my only soapbox comment for now….
The landscapes changes again as we go from a flat far off horizon, then trees following the river, to scrubby bushes high and low. We arrive in Balnarald for petrol and check in with the tourist centre to find out latest road conditions. Only a week or so prior to our trip, the rains impacted the roads going in and out to Lake Mungo. It was closed to everyone and now we know why. Once you go on unsealed roads in the outback you can see how much the road is torn up by vehicles stuck in the deceptive puddle. The ground beneath is already wet and so becomes a double sink hole. Also, hire a 4WD. We have a Mazda 6 and the amount of damage that would have been done (it’s low to the ground) would have set us back more headaches and a heftier bill if we had broken down due to a torn undercarriage.
We arrive at 1pm at the Lodge after a long nerve wracking drive. But it’s worth it to see the red earth. In summertime it covers everything as dust so we are lucky as it’s more clayish. We have lunch in the dining room then off to the Visitor Centre and National Park to learn about the history of the land, park and who has been there from indigenous tribes that walked 45,000 years before white people arrived. There is a viewing platform and several self guided walks. At the time, the self guided car drive was closed till September due to impacts to roads from vehicles and the wet.
We go on roughly a 3km walk around the ancient lake bed but as I tire easily we chop this down to 2kms. Also the red and eastern grey kangaroos are coming out in the late evening and we don’t want to run into a male. They are big and if need be - box with their legs. We see black bluebush and copperburrs which are common ground plants and salt tolerant. But time to head back, check in and enjoy the warmth of the sun on our private deck and read before dinner.
Dinner is booked early in shifts from 6-8pm. We find out later it’s because there is only 1 chef! He / she did an amazing job feeding guest all day long … Adam orders kangaroo and moi barramundi as well as damper bread with oil, dukkah and olive tapenade. Yum! A great meal, 1 bottle of red wine, stagger back to our room and promptly asleep by 9pm! We sleep till 7:30am as we are booked on a tour at 10am.
We are lucky to have Tania as our guide on this indigenous tour to show us Golgol (Lake Mungo) and the Great Walls of China. Her extensive knowledge of the country showed an enormous respect for the land, preserving and educating children and adults how the sites have ‘immense cultural significance’. We thank the Barkandji/Paakantyi, Muthi Muthi and Ngiyampaa people for welcoming us.
This sunset tour was by Lake Mungo Lodge and provided a different perspective. It was so good to go back again to see the land in a different light providing a moonscape feel not that dissimilar to Star Wars and faraway planets.
Day Five | Sea Lake | 2 nights
I discover Sea Lake is a town not a lake. It turns out Lake Tyrell is Victoria’s largest salt lake.
We hire gum boots from Jenny at the new information centre. She’s an artist and her indigenous paintings form part of the gallery’s collection. The water closet to the edge is ankle to knee deep and the sand's strong grip means it’s practical to wear them and avoid ruining a pair of your favourite shoes. Even if you don’t go in the water I suggest wear a throw away pair as the salt eats right through them.
From the main carpark its an easy 1.3 km walk to the Lake. You go through smaller parts of the lake to spot small handful chunks of salt, old powerlines with porcelain insulators and rusty machinery that has sunk into a bygone era of harvesting salt till you reach the next main carpark.
You can drive up to this one if you don’t want to walk. From here it’s this new circular boardwalk that appears to be floating. It’s very moon space like. I capture a family of four at the right time. We get chatting as they walk past and I show them the photo. Smiles all round as we airdrop the photo for them to keep.
We head back to wash our gum boots in supplied water drainage trowels and head to our Airbnb. I read about Andrew’s retro house in another traveller’s blog. It was enough for me to go we are staying there! It didn’t disappoint! It was like walking back in time with an Italian renaissance interior fit out. We decide to settle in and leave the sunset over the lake till the next night.
I’ve checked out the main street and a lovely old grand pub sits in the middle of Best Street. There are a few specialty shops, food works, two cafes and a pharmacy. There is a silo art trail. I’m happy with going for walks in the suburbs and checking out gardens, old garages and imagining life in a sweet little town. Enjoy!
Final note
If you plan to do a road trip make sure you pack a small COVID care kit. While we packed our St John’s medical kit it doesn’t have the supplies you need for interim care. My tips are eucalyptus tissues, anaesthetic strepsils, throat gargle, sinuses nose spray and cold & flu tablets or whatever natural products you prefer.
Safe travels everyone xx
New artworks have landed! | Paintings by Susan Wearne | Brooches by Vicki Grima
Sue has proven popular with her paintings and we are lucky she has created another series of three works as part of Loch Near Kilchoan I-III. Vicki has created more of her stunning porcelain brooches with an array of patterns that will suit any outfit. I’ve given them names simply to help you identify each one.
Top image left | Loch Near Kilchoan III | Top image right | Loch Near Kilchoan II with dot design and ceramicist Julie Pennington and poppies from Kerist; Bottom image left | stripes tear drop within oval brooch #30 | Bottom image right | mushroom brooch #23 | All images Anne Masters
Love GOST?
We welcome reviews to help visitors locally, interstate and overseas to visit us as one of many gems in Canberra. Your positive feedback also helps us (and many tourist operators) when being assessed for awards. You can choose Tripadvisor, Facebook or Google My Business. Tripadvisor review, or Facebook review, or Google My Business review. Thanks!
