Almanac Road Trip: Part 3 – More Swan Hill
Our final day in Swan Hill was another bitterly cold day. As such, our thoughts focussed on sightseeing indoors where possible.
First up we visited the Swan Hill Regional Gallery where a new exhibition called ‘Connections’ featuring contemporary Aboriginal art from the region had just opened. The exhibition was an inspiring example of Aboriginal art in all its forms as some of my photos indicate.
One of the advantages of travelling during off-peak tourist times is you often have a place to yourself without the hinderance of crowds or people ‘hogging’ certain pieces. This allows you the opportunity to extend your viewing times of individual pieces enabling a closer, more in-depth analysis of the work without the worry of holding up other patrons wishing to view the works.
After thawing out in the gallery, we moved next door to the Swan Hill Pioneer Settlement. We knew it would be cold viewing the outside exhibits but acknowledged many exhibits were inside buildings of various descriptions we were hopefully it would be warmer. Again, there were very few patrons, perhaps only half a dozen beside ourselves, so we basically had the settlement to ourselves.
I first visited the settlement in 1989 as part of an induction conference for newly elected civic councillors but my memory is somewhat hazy of that time. Undaunted by the cold weather I was keen to stimulate my memory to discover if I remembered anything from my previous visit but the only thing that came to mind was the settlement appears much bigger than 1989. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed viewing all the displays at the settlement. It is fascinating to be taken back to by-gone eras and appreciate how past generations lived.
The old farm machinery in particular was very impressive, a lot of the pieces in terrific nick considering their age and the work they performed.
Mildura is our next port of call and we are both looking forward to some warmer weather.
All photos taken by Col on his iPhone.
You can read more of Col’s trip Here
More from Col Ritchie can be read Here
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About Colin Ritchie
Retired teacher who enjoys following the Bombers, listening to music especially Bob Dylan, reading, and swimming.
We are in Echuca and experiencing somewhat similar conditions, Col. Went on the paddle steamer Pevensey yesterday, which proved a good plan and excellent trip, great to see an old war horse still going well. Today is somewhat Arctic with scattered rain, so few choices other than what you have done. Wandered around the old Port area this morning, it has a very good modern museum, but not as many of the Port buildings as we remember are occupied and trading. Suppose the COVID has killed much of their trade, still a pleasant place to be though, despite weather.