Geelong

Thursday 5th March – Geelong

Sheila picked us up and drove to Geelong Botanic Gardens. The Arid Garden was most impressively designed and executed, with sweeping curves of contrasting light sand and dark basalt. The planting was mostly a combination of native and Canarian plants with many cycads.

Then on to the Jerralinga Sanctuary at Barwon Heads on the Bellarine peninsular. This was a very extensive collection of native animals and birds, as well as providing rescue facilities for injured wildlife. We saw ( and patted) koalas, watched kookaburras, dingos, wombats, kangaroos and wallabies. A very nice guide opened up the quarters of the nocturnal possums and one was obliging enough to peek out at us and have his photo taken. We also saw an echidna, a spiny marsupial ant-eater.

Lunch at the Wharf Shed back at Geelong, then to the National Wool Museum in an old wool warehouse. Around the Geelong seafront are beautifully carved and painted wooden bollards, each several metres tall and artfully sculpted to resemble a local historical figure. In the basement studio of the museum was the final sculpture, a tribute resembling the original artist who had recently died.

The museum had a working Jacquard loom and an old ex-patriot carpetmaker from Kidderminster demonstrated how it worked by weaving part of an Axminster carpet. It was intriguing to see it working, but at least we could understand what it was doing which we couldn't with several other wool processing machines. The museum was extremely interesting, including its explanation of the origin of the lyrics to 'Waltzing Matilda' as political comment about the poor treatment of shearers at the time.

Then it was time to say goodbye, we hope it won't be another 30 years before we next meet.