Standing in the main street of Echuca on the first Friday in October, I ponder which upcoming event is generating the most excitement. Whilst there are several shops displaying St. Kilda and Collingwood colours and footy gear, one shop window has a desperate plea painted on it- “Tickets wanted for Deni Ute Muster”. As utes with black, singlet clad drivers cruise north to Deniliquin, footy fans head south to Melbourne, visitors pour into Echuca to see the Murray River up high and flowing, I head north west to my home town, Gunbower, for the races.
Gunbower is a small town on the Murray Valley Highway. You could drive through it without realising as the town sign is missing from the post. There is one pub, a butcher shop, a roadhouse (all owned by my relatives) a small general store, a primary school and a very flash looking police station.
The countryside looks marvelous. Green grass is visible all the way west to Mt. Hope. Full creeks, lagoons, and abundant birdlife make me reflect on the joys of growing up in this bush paradise. Thankfully the drought has ended. The land has never looked better.
The races this year will be significant for two reasons. It will be Jack Styring’s 60th consecutive and final call of the Cup and the grand final rematch will be on.
As usual I have lunch in the pavilion/shed and catch up with relatives, school mates and a couple of former teaching friends from Shepparton. The local and AFL football seasons are discussed as well as the recent rainfall. A lunch for Jack is on at the other end of the shed.
Fashions on the field are taken seriously by the women and just for fun, by a couple of blokes who enter the competition.
Locals, sporting groups on end of season trips and bus loads from neighbouring towns enjoy the beautiful warm spring weather.
My Shepparton friends know enough about the horses to bet on the Sydney races and win themselves some money.
Jack’s 60th consecutive call of the Gunbower Cup is apparently a world record. Thanks to him Gunbower will soon be in the Guinness Book of world records! Jack says that this will be his last call as he plans to move on to other racing ventures in the city. After the last race, Jack is thanked for his contribution to the Gunbower races over this extraordinary period of time and a presentation is made to him by the race club. When Jack responds he reflects on some of the challenges he faced such as calling with a mouth full of flies when the races used to be held in the heat of January.
The race events this year had been moved forward to accommodate the grand final. Just as well, as the large screen organised to show the game did not eventuate due to technical difficulties. Not to worry. Some folk came with their own TV’s for their marquees, some watched on the race TV screens, others descended on the Pub and some simply went home to watch it after the races had finished.
I suppose it was trial run for next year. After going home to a cousin’s house and watching the game for ten minutes I asked myself why I wasn’t, instead, sitting on the edge of the Murray river with my feet in the water. Very disappointing.
Later on I drive back out to the racecourse to pick up relatives. I don’t mind, as it’s another chance to meander the back way along the dirt track behind the tennis courts and football ground, and look at the full creeks again. On the drive back into town, as the red sun slowly sinks to signal the end of the day, all on board agree that there’s no nicer spot to be.
Win or lose at the races or the football, this countryside will still look marvellous to-morrow.
About Pamela Sherpa
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You have provided me with a clear picture of a settlement at the opporsite side of the inner Sydney scale Pamela. Sounds very relaxed.
I thought all the Sherpas came from Nepal, not Gunbower.
All the Sherpas do come fron Nepal Bill. I was a McGillivray before I married a Sherpa.
Despite the drought and rural decline, going home is still very much as it was for me and everyone remembers when the countryside used to look this good.
Good on you Pamela, I haven’t read any of your great pieces for a long time. I’m rapt Sir James has taken over at Essendon, what do you think?
Pam
Love the feet dangling in the Murray, and the general sense of the Australian bush.
Jack Styring once called the mighty D I Dodsn mare, Courting PLeasure, fourth in a race at Donald. Four of them finished across the track. She actually won.
Love your work Pam.
I am off to the Floreat Pica dinner on Saturday night. Michael Peck, whom of course you know, is coming along as well. Michael was telling me this week that he was up at Kerang recently (for the local GF) and hasn’t seen as much water around for many years.
Funnily enough, dangling my feet in the Murray water didn’t occur to me at all during the game last Saturday.
Andrew, I was in Kerang for a couple of days before the races Caught up with Michael’s younger brother Digger and the Kerang crew. All very pleased about their GF win. Especially that their young kids who have come up through the ranks had played a part. Have encouraged one of them to write something about it for the Almanac. Perhaps Michael could be persuaded to give us an account.
As for Collingwood’s win- well, life on earth didn’t end for the rest of us and the sun came up beautifully in the bush the next day.
JTH- not only does Jack Styring have a distict voice he has an absolute vice like grip of a handshake.
This of course requires mention of the famous Gunbower Utd Cricket Club which has absolutely no relationship to the real Gunbower. The club has started by a group of fellow minded Melb Uni students and the name adopted because some of us had recently driven through it on a country trip. 36 years later, the club still plays in the Mercantile competition which is largely played at the Fawkner Park in South Yarra – as far from Gunbower you could get in more ways than one.
I think the nonsensical naming inspired another club in the comp called Barnawartha North, who were famous for a rotating captaincy policy and using garden gnomes as boundary markers.
Fascinating Mark. The locals will be chuffed to know that.
Richard Jones in a review of the Heathcote league grand final (the comp that Gunbower-Leitchville now play in) wrote of the Great Northern United and one-time Rochester champion full forward Doug Cail stayiing on after the game to drink in the stubbies rain such was the the joy of the drought breaking in northern Victoria.
Seems like the Gunny people were basking in the sun while the crops grew. Just wondering if the former Murray Bomber brothers Greg and John Toll wwere on-course?
Greg Toll was at the races. Had a chat. My cousin and I went for a walk down past Toll’s one night.I turned around a bit earlier but after a good hour and nearly dark and my cousin still wasn’t back I was starting to wonder where he was. He met John Toll on the way and said John couldn’t stop talking footy!