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Published: June 11th 2014
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Pillaga Forest Discovery Centre
This stuffed tiny Yellow-footed Antechinus was, unfortunately, the only one we saw. Today we decided to see a bit of nature so we drove to Barradine, a small town 45kms from where we’re staying. We wanted to see the “Sculptures in the Scrub” and the Dandry Gorge.
We had forgotten to fill the diesel tank before setting out and looked for a petrol station. We found one, looking very old, tired and a bit battered, at the corner of the street. There were no markings to say which fuel was on sale (Shell, Mobil etc.) but the pump was displaying $1.629 for diesel (far better than the $1.719 being charged in Coonabarabran at both the Coles and Woolworth affiliated stations) so Barry filled up. He got a surprise at the till, though, the fuel was actually $1.689. When he challenged it he was told, “You can’t take any notice of that pump – the numbers don’t work properly. Look at the price on the other side of the pump.” He paid up and then went to check what it said. The owner was right, it said $1.689. When he checked out the side he’d taken the fuel from he discovered that the price now read $1.289 (we haven’t seen those prices for
a long while!). No sign of the owner putting up a pump out of order notice, either. It obviously didn’t bother him or his regular customers. Only in the country – so laid back.
Our first port of call, as usual, was the Pillaga Tourist Information Centre, which was also a Forest Discovery Centre. There we saw details and pictures of some of the flowers, birds and animals we could expect (or hope) to see. One was a tiny Yellow Footed Antechinus – very cute but also rare so we won’t see him (except the stuffed one they had on show). They also had a game of guessing which animals made some recorded sounds. One sounded like an angry pig (that’s the Koala); one grunted in a less aggressive way (a Sugar Glider); one sounded like a dog with a bit of a cough (a Barking Owl) and one had a deep, rich voice saying “Bonk” (a Pobblebonk Toad- don’t you just love that name? Not sure about the “Pobble” bit but he definitely says “Bonk”).
We then followed the instructions we’d been given for getting to the sculptures, which led us to a wide dirt road that
"Sculptures in the Scrub" in Dandry Gorge
My favourite "First Lesson" by Brett Garling made in bronze and standing right at the edge of the gorge. was rather rough, even with the 4 wheel drive engaged. It was named “No. 1 Break Road”. That inspiring name is because it is actually a road used by the Country Fire Brigade to access bushfires during the summer and to try and create a fire break to contain the fires. Not sure how effective it would be as we also saw that the tops of the trees from each side were almost touching each other.
We then turned onto “Top Crossing Road”, a much smoother and less used stretch of soft, dusty, dirt road, which led to the sculptures. We had lunch at the picnic ground and then set off on the walk. It led us on a gentle climb up the sides of Dandry Gorge along which had been placed 5 works of art that were helping tell the Aboriginal stories and raise awareness of their cultural history and ties to Nature.
The first had two elements, a group of throwing sticks standing on their ends, made of gleaming stainless steel. They had tiny faces at the top and engravings on them. The second part was more interesting to me – two tall, slim figures, also
"Sculptures in the Scrub" at Dandry Gorge
This lovely sandstone came from Wilcannia and was carved by Aboriginal William "Badger" Bates in shiny metal, standing on the edge of the escarpment looking out and across the valley. They were the spirits of the scrub.
Then came my favourite, a lovely bronze Aboriginal man, standing on one leg like a stork, pointing out, with the boomerang in his hand, something in the valley below to the young boy sitting on his shoulders. He was right on the edge of the escarpment, too. (Both this and the “Spirits” could be seen from the bottom of the valley and really looked wonderful.)
The third had huge representations of Aboriginal tools, one in white marble and one in dark grey granite. They looked impressive and they felt wonderful, both smooth and rough and warm in the sun and cold in the shade.
Next was an emotive sandstone carving done by an Aboriginal woman on a vividly coloured piece of stone from Wilcannia. It had both sides carved and showed the night sky, the Warrumbungles (without the telescope on them) and the Rainbow Serpent. It had a few carved wooden bench seats nearby, one with a big raised snake sculpted onto the top (bit hard to sit on that one!).
The last
"Sculptures in the Scrub" at Dandry Gorge
These are made of mosaic tiles and are called "Respect Mother" by Pamela Denise. While interesting, very lovely and well made, we felt they were in the wrong place. They seemed to clash with the surroundings. was a group of shapes meant to represent the plants in the bush. They were covered in extremely colourful mosaic tiles showing animals, flowers and tiny people. As sculptures, I really liked them but they seemed out of place in the setting. One of the briefs was that they should reflect and enhance the natural beauty of the surrounding area. The other pieces did this but this one reminded me of the Yellow Peril (to give it the name most Melburnians called it) in City Square in Melbourne. It was an interesting but complicated, huge, bright yellow metal pyramid-ish sculpture that was good but dominated and totally spoiled the location it was put in. When the council moved it (much to the horror of the sculptor) to a grassy bank by the Yarra River, it looked much better, in my opinion. Maybe these pieces should be in the picnic area, to brighten it up.
We continued around the walking trail at a leisurely pace and took about 2 hours to do it. After the sculptures along the top of the gorge, the path led us down to the bottom of it and we walked along the base of the
Dandry Gorge, NSW
At the bottom of Dandry Gorge walking at the foot of the escarpment. I managed to survive this 2 hour stroll and really enjoyed it.
escarpment. Surprisingly, I had no problem with my knees or back, which was wonderful.
We then headed back to the Newell Highway along the rough No 1 Break Rd. It did break – me. I was sore by the time we got to the Sandstone Caves. We had intended to see them tomorrow but, having checked out the road in the ute, we decided we couldn’t bring the van in there so we would have to hurry up around the walk before the already low sun, set. The walk was rated as 1 hour but we went quite fast between the caves and that, after the rough road, made my legs ache, although I’m not sorry we saw them.
Two of the caves had wire cages around to protect Aboriginal carvings of emu and kangaroo footprints and the deep grooves worn into the rocks made by Aboriginals sharpening their tools on it over many generations. Interesting but not thrilling.
The other caves were spectacular, with wonderful colours and shapes of rock that had been eroded into depressions (used for shelter) and one series of caves that had holes leading from one to another. The sun was ideally placed
Pillaga Nature Reserve, NSW
Nature did some wonderful sculptures of her own. to shine directly on the face and bring out all their glory. It was amazing.
We just made it back to the ute as the sun dropped below the trees. Talk about cutting it fine but what a way to finish a tiring but marvellous day!
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Snap Shot Stacey
Snap Shot Stacey
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When I first saw this picture I was wondering why on Earth you were giving a mouse thing a thumbs up. Hehe