I have finally had the chance to live west of the divide if only for 3 weeks. I must admit that I was really looking forward to this stay. I have always had a fascination and love with rural Australia but the furthest west in NSW that I have been is Dubbo pretty much. So, staying a few steps further west meant that Forbes (and eventually Condobolin) was now as far west as I’ve been and it was such a beautiful experience for me. There was some seriously flat expanses, there was the dryness, the livestock, the magnificent old buildings, the over friendliness of the people except for when they are leaving the Woolworths carpark, the simplicity of life in some parts but the extreme complexity of life in other parts. I say that if it were closer to the beach I could live there but I guess it wouldn’t be what it is if it were closer to the beach. And to be honest, one criticism that would actually put me off living there is that there is no nice place to eat – first world problem and a half hey.
When we were there the farmers were facing the dilemma of having to plant seed but there had not been enough rain. Paddocks were pretty dry and dusty, rivers were very low to not flowing at all. To be aware of drought is one thing but to see it first hand is another. The irony is that just north of here was recently flooded and well west of here had the Queensland floodwaters running down and into Lake Ayer. It’s such a fickle country.
Fortunately, this drought hadn’t been going for too long and the livestock still looked ok and plentiful though supplemental feeding was taking place. But what I was seeing is the other side of Australia, the 15% that do not live <50km from the coast. The 15% of the population that provide us with the food we eat but have to pay so much more for services, get doctors on 3 or 4 week rotation, have to drive vast distances for sport, health specialists and specialty shops. And in order to get the food to our table they have to battle the environment, geopolitical issues and the blatant thuggery of Coles and Woolworths as they place more and more burdens on farmers whilst paying them less and less. We, in the city, simply have no awareness of the farmers plight and we complain about the price of things and the supposed lack of facilities. But when you compare what someone in the country needs to do to see a specialist, buy clothes, pay for essential services to the relative ease that we do in the city then you will realise that we don’t really have much to whinge about. The fact they keep feeding us despite all of this is why I have the utmost respect for the farming community.
Eugowra (Wiradjuri country) is a little town between Forbes and Canowindra on the Mandagery Creek which then flows into the Lachlan River. It’s a tiny little creek, usually running a good 3-4 metres below its bank. So, when one shop owner showed me that the water reached 2 metres up the inside of her shop in the 2022 flood I was dumbstruck as to where all of the water came from and how far it must have spread over a very flat landscape. There are still small demountable buildings being used as accommodation while they wait to get their houses repaired or to get enough money to do so. The town has been smashed. But it’s a beautiful little place with some great murals on the walls, some gorgeous buildings and some cute art. I was so glad I could walk around this town and have a coffee and chat with a few locals. It is when you speak with locals that you learn about life in an area that you really are unaware of.
Forbes is famous for being the town that bushranger Ben Hall was shot (well a little north of Forbes). The town seem to love him. There are places named after him, there is a statue and they even performed a community play the first weekend we were there. The small museum in town has quite an extensive display on Ben Hall and luckily enough I got to spend some time chatting with the volunteer at the front desk and another local who was there for the hell of it. I was able to hear from them some insights about the bushranger and why he is a hero.
But I will be honest I was not convinced. He did not kill anyone which makes him not as bad as a few other famous felons (though some of his party did kill). He treated “hostages” kindly when he bailed up a pub in Canowindra on three occasions no less. The constabulary and other officials of the time were pretty crooked and he was just trying to work against a corrupt authority. He was killed without being tried. BUT… he stole the equivalent to $47 million and often from ordinary people. If there was a crook going around today and had stolen $47 million then I do not think we would be building a statue of them. We would want them to be caught and dealt with. I am just not a big fan of statues being erected and admired for those who were hardened criminals. The fact that statues of bushrangers outnumber the statues of women is very wrong. Should we really be glorifying these criminals ahead of some amazing trail blazing women of Australia.
Orange and, to a lesser extent, Mudgee have set themselves as the foodie capital of the Central Tablelands. Orange is a really nice country town and the foodie element has made it even more attractive. Along with a bunch of first class restaurants and cafes they have beautiful old buildings and houses, some gorgeous parks and gardens, plenty of tree lined streets and not being built on a river means that it never gets flooded.
We visited Orange on the Show weekend so I thought we just had to go out and take a look. It’s best described as a mini me of the Sydney Easter Show in that it had livestock judging, rides, horrible show food, produce and output judging and even a small show bag alley, all on a much smaller scale than it’s Sydney grand daddy. But being in the country made it a little more special. You would see visitors to the show saying gidday to each other because, let’s face it, they knew each other. Kids could watch their school mates competing in equestrian events or looking after livestock there for showing. It’s a lot more homely.
On the way back to Sydney we went via Wellington where we visited another show and this time managed to observe a bit of the shearing competition. It’s a serious thing out there, that I know first hand as one of my clients was competing. She was not there to make up the numbers that’s for sure. The Welli show was even more agricultural (in both ways) than the Orange one but was a lot of fun. I laughed at the cherry tomato and the olive judging. Presentation was not a high priority. They were basically popped into a small paper bowl and judged accordingly. Nothing fancy just the tomato or olive which is exactly how it should be. That’s the important bit.
In Morocco there is a town called Chefchauan which was struggling to attract the tourists visiting. The council came up with a crazy scheme whereby they encouraged people to paint their houses blue. Today, it is one of the most amazing cities, just a sea of blue nestled on the hillside and the tourists, now with a reason to go, have flocked there in their thousands. Now to say there’s not a lot in Condobolin is an understatement. I don’t believe that I am being unfair when I say that there really isn’t a reason to visit there and really, apart from the fact that I worked with a guy from there, I had no desire to visit.
However, the local council out that way did two things:
- Established a sculpture trail from Forbes to Condo along the Lachlan River where 13 sculptures were dotted along that road; and
- Sunk money into developing a wonderful tourist information centre with café and amazing displays of art all centred around the great Australian Ute.
All of a sudden there was a reason to head out from Forbes and go to Condobolin. It made the trip worthwhile and it was definitely the only reason I got to see this sleepy little town in NSW’s central west. There’s still not a lot in the town and I won’t take a special trip out there to visit. But it does show that if the right thing is done then people will visit – build it and they will come.
Forbes, settled in on the Lachlan River in Wiradjuri country, is a town like many others in rural NSW – a shell of it’s former self. It once housed 30,000 people (due mainly to the discovery of gold) and now it is barely 6,000. As you walk through the town you can see what I once would have been with beautiful, grand old pubs, a stunning Town Hall, a Post Office of the finest architecture, a beautiful town park with bandstand and fountain and the big wide roads, a tell-tale sign of NSW country towns.
These lovely buildings and parks still exist and provide for a beautiful town It also now has what they call a lake but does look more like a river going through the town and they have done an amazing job in making accessible and available to the public with a great pathway all the way around which is lit up at night with hundreds of solar lights.
I liked the town a lot. It appealed to my low speed kind of life-style. People were all up for a chat which was always good. But I will say one thing though. Their driving can be pretty aggressive, especially the people in their big utes and 4WD, ie 90% of the town. If you don’t get out of your road they are not happy. And try getting out of Woolworths carpark easily. There is no courtesy given to anyone backing out of a spot. It did surprise me a bit.
If I had to I could live in Forbes but I would be travelling to Orange reasonably frequently. It’s only so often you can have the pub food out there and the Chinese restaurants are pretty ordinary to say the least. But the town is nice, the people are pleasant and they at least have a decent coffee.
Altamira Sound & Vision Productions 