The majestic fine classical Gundagai Court House, built in 1859 (clock added in 1877), is without doubt the most imposing building in Gundagai, due both to the quality of the building itself and to its elevated site giving it a dominating presence above the town’s main street. Continue reading “Gundagai Court House”
Residents of Australia and others familiar with its hardware stores will be wondering why the main picture in a review of a photographic gallery depicts a Mitre 10 hardware store. Well, it so happens that the Gabriel Gallery occupies most of the first floor of Butcher Roberts Mitre 10 store. To get to the gallery you have to walk through the store and ascend the narrow steep stairs at the back. Continue reading “The Gabriel Gallery”
It is hard to go anywhere nowadays which doesn’t claim to have the biggest this, the oldest that, the longest other and so on and so forth. Gundagai is no exception and its claim to fame is that it has Australia’s oldest continually operating bakery – the Historic Gundagai Bakehouse, more commonly referred to as the Gundagai Bakery. Continue reading “Gundagai Bakery: “Pies and Delicious Date Scones””
Moving back down onto Sheridan Street having view the former Gundagai Literary Institute we come across another former cultural institution – the Gundagai Theatre. ‘My what a terribly cultured place this Gundagai is’, I hear you say. Continue reading “Frock-up For The Gundagai Theatre”
Literary Institutes (akin to Mechanics’ Institutes and Schools of Art) played an important role in the life of early (European) Australian communities. They housed libraries and reading rooms and typically hosted lectures and served as adult education centres. Essentially they were the centre of a community’s cultural activities – not unlike, though on a rather more modest scale than, the Grand Peoples’ Study House that I recently visited in Pyongyang, North Korea. I imagine I am the first person to draw a comparison between the Gundagai Literary Institute and the Grand Peoples’ Study House in Pyongyang! Continue reading “Gundagai Literary Institute”
Dad & Dave, Australia’s longest running radio drama/comedy serialisation and its answer to BBC Radio Four’s, The Archers, ran from 1937 to 1953 with the same actors throughout and remains a much loved part of Australia’s cultural history. Continue reading “Dad & Dave, Mum & Mabel”
While the famous ‘Dog on the Tuckerbox’ monument, five miles from Gundagai, was designed by Frank Rusconi it certainly is not the most impressive example of the work of this talented artisan on exhibition in the Gundagai district. From an artistic perspective it is one of his poorest offerings. Rusconi was a stonemason so bronze was not his usual medium and added to this was the fact that he was blind in one eye by the time he produced it. Continue reading “Rusconi’s Marble Masterpiece”
Your first stop in Gundagai (after visiting Five Mile Creek and the Dog on the Tuckerbox if you have driven in from the Sydney direction) should be the Visitor Information Centre located pretty much in the centre of town.
The reasons for this are three-fold: Continue reading “Pop into the Visitor Information Centre”
This is a new 4 km walking (cycles, horses and dogs on leashes also permitted) trail between North Gundagai and Snake Gully where the Dog on the Tuckerbox is located. Starting or ending in the town centre will add an additional 3kms to the walk – each way – along quiet roads/footpaths to the trail head. Continue reading “Dog On The Tuckerbox Trail”
As well as stopping here on the Hume Highway, on the outskirts of Gundagai, to see the Dog on the Tuckerbox and what little that is left of Carberry’s Inn this is also a major rest stop along the highway connecting Sydney and Melbourne – about 4hrs from Sydney and just over that from Melbourne. It is also about 2hrs drive from Canberra, Australia’s Capital. Continue reading “Eating And Other Ways To Spend Your Money At Five Mile Creek”
The Rambling Wombat 