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17 Sep 2009
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QCC Weekend at Gulgong, 12-14
September 2008
A historical location, perfect weather and some forty two
members and wives of the IBM QCC made for a fascinating weekend at this
charming country town, a place where everyone greeted us as one of them
and hospitality was endless. This is a town made famous by one of its
own, poet and writer Henry Lawson, and it is of course famous for the
gold rush of the early 1800s, its fame being recorded on the old
Australian $10 note.
Our adventure started with a Friday evening get-together at the RSL for
dinner, followed next morning by a coach tour of Gulgong with local
raconteur Brian Cooke, whose knowledge of the history of the town was
phenomenal. Much of the town has been preserved and it is easy to
visualize the Cobb & Co mail coach clattering along the narrow streets
and between the lines of miner's tents.
The High Valley Cheese factory provided the morning tea stop where
Jersey/Friesian cows supply milk for a boutique cheese making process.
Their marinated fetta cheese was divine!
We toured prosperous Mudgee under the competent care of our coach driver
Noel Chapman, pausing at the restored Grand Railway Station, which no
longer boasts trains, but features fine dining, art and gift shops.
Ironically, Gulgong still has a tiny railway station and has lots of
coal train traffic, being on the Ulan line connecting East to West. The
famous Southern Aurora passenger train was standing there during our
visit.
Lunch on Saturday was at the Pieter van Gent winery & vineyard, a sample
of fine home-cooked Lebanese cuisine being served while local bush poet
Kevin Pye entertained everyone with his ballads of the bush. Some people
were also tempted to sample fine wines including the iconic White Port.
The coach departed with a variety of bottles in plain brown paper bags!
Next on the itinerary was a visit to Gulgong’s Cudgegong Gallery where
artists display their many talents, not the least of which are ceramics.
The current exhibitions were a collection of Ernabella aboriginal art as
well as paintings and drawings by David Middlebrook. Our hostess Lyn
Cole excelled herself and patiently answered the many questions that she
was inevitably asked. To mark the occasion, everyone received a unique
coffee mug hand-crafted by a local artist, accompanied by a delicious
afternoon tea of cucumber sandwiches, fresh scones and jam and cream.
To conclude the day, we went to the ‘Opera’ at Gulgong’s Prince of Wales
Opera House, the oldest opera house in Australia and now in the capable
hands of the Gulgong Musical & Dramatic Society ("MAD" for short!) The
building dates from the 1870’s, starting out as a music hall to
entertain the gold miners. Henry Lawson visited the opera house to see
“The Pirates of Penzance”, writing a review in which he wrote:
Rough-built theatres and stages where the worlds best actors trod,
Singers bring reckless rovers nearer boyhood, home and God,
Paid in laughter, tears and nuggets in the drama fortune plays,
‘Tis the palmy days of Gulgong – Gulgong in the Roaring Days.
Well, the QCC not only enjoyed a banquet at the Opera House, but were
entertained with "tales of the swaggies life" by four of the most
talented story tellers we are ever likely to meet - Mike Williams, Des
Kelly, Maurice Gaudry and Dave Warner. Accompanied by guitar, they sang
of the old days, of bushrangers, and bush chivalry.
They even enlisted members of the audience to enact the capture of a
bushranger, a production which was just hilarious!
It was a great weekend and thanks to the organizers, Clyde and Connie
Lee, Geoff & Ronda Nash.
John Watts
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Photos by Ray Allen
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