Day 5 Thursday 9/6/2022, Lockhart, chilly 6 – 12 degrees

Either it’s warmer or we’re getting acclimatised to winter, but it feels much warmer. There are scudding grey clouds and bursts of sunshine and, there is a chilly breeze.

We have a lazy start before venturing out to the IGA supermarket and returning to the butcher for a few more ‘essentials’ for a hearty beef casserole. The town is worthy of another walk to admire the artworks and read the many storyboards. It might sound silly but when storyboards are dotted around a town they do provide some colourful history for visitors.

We’re intrigued by an old plough mounted alongside the plaques that regale locals who have become famous. This town has certainly punched above its weight in that department. But, back to the plough. It was imported from England in 1886 and cost £880/10/6 (and for those too young to know, that’s a bloody lot of money and it wouldn’t have arrived by Fedex either). In fact, it came via ship to Sydney, train to the nearby town of The Rock and then bullock wagon to Boree Creek. It was used for dam sinking and land clearing, sounds simple? No, it took 16 bullocks to pull the damned thing, and another yoked alongside to keep it upright. Pity the poor bloke who had to steer that lot, he would’ve needed the arms and shoulders of a wrestler.

The weather turns cold again so after lunch we pop next door to the information centre and museum which houses the Doris Golder Gallery. Of which we have no knowledge whatsoever. We wonder why the lady on duty is shepherding us into a room of what we suppose are sepia portraits of famous Australians. Then she explains that each picture has been produced using single strands of wool. You see Doris Golder and her husband were sheep graziers and she painstakingly created beautiful works from their wool without ever using dyes, just the natural colours in the wool. Her works are captivating as you can see facial blemishes, even wrinkles and sparkling eyes. As photos weren’t allowed, here’s a link to the gallery website https://lockhartmuseum.org/doris-golder.

Also in the museum, there is a section devoted to the late Tim Fischer who attained the position of Deputy Prime Minister. Tim, a passionate train lover, was born in Lockhart and grew up on the family farm in nearby Boree Creek. Part of the collection was every mobile phone that Tim ever owned.

Camped down by the lagoon we cook the beef casserole and settle in for a cosy evening when the diesel heater suddenly puffs out some fumes and starts flashing a red warning light. Our base model was very cheap from China and it doesn’t give error codes, it just flashes. Time for bed, we’ll worry about it tomorrow.

Accom: $25.00

Towing Kms: 0