Day 7, Sunday 12th Jan 2014 Girgarre

We wake to the loud squawking of baby galahs in the gum tree beside us, noisy little critters. The town is packed with locals who have come to town to visit the market that has now transformed the park overnight. It’s a good market with plenty of variety and we wander about munching our complimentary egg and bacon rolls cooked by the CFA firies. At ten we rush off to attend gospel singing in the supper-room. M has been rehearsing and she’s up on stage singing her heart out. Then a group of gospel musicians hit the stage and take us through some old standards. Gimme that ol’ time religion the old hall is positively rockin’. At every mention of God, the guitarist rolls her eyes heavenward and the bloke sitting next to Woody punches his fist in the air. Yeehaa! And thus, we just about raise the roof in song.

Next up is a lecture on the history of the ukulele and a chance to hold and play some beautiful near 100 year old instruments. Then a chap shows us how to build a uke which is way over the abilities of all but the keenest carpenter. We have a couple of jam sessions and practice our newly learnt picking of ‘Let It Be’ and then retreat to our vans exhausted for a bit of timeout from music and the heat.

After dinner we set out for a stroll around the town half the campers have left and things are hot and quiet until we find the hall. It is packed and jumping again. The dress code of course is T-shirts, shorts, and thongs accompanied by a cold beer. The entertainment is great, and we all sing along. There is an amusing duo called Uncle Horace’s Chicken Coop and a solo singer whose amazing voice brings tears to our eyes. We finally escape the hall when the worst act of the weekend hits the stage, his guitar work was good but oh the voice, not even in tune (not that I can sing). As we got caught in the crowd leaving the room someone described him as “a real room clearer”. Once more we drop off to sleep to the sound of music, this time massed voices singing “Runaround Sue”. Yep, that 50 bucks for the weekend was great value.

2022 Note: We’ve returned twice to Girgarre and each visit has been memorable. The Girgarre Moosic Muster has been so successful that the town has built a new park with a sound shell.

Moosic? Well, this is a dairying region and there’s no shortage of moo cows.