Cavorting in Candelo

Hello,
It has been a while since I have written a blog post. I have been very busy at my day job, and with life in general.

Tonight Dad reminded me that I had promised to blog about Candelo, so I thought I had better get onto it.

Last holidays, my husband, daughter and I went on our annual trip to the coastal town of Tathra. There is not all that much to do in Tathra, so one sunny day we set off on a day trip to Candelo. 
Here it is in Google Maps: Map of Candelo
Before I went there, all I knew about Candelo was:

a. there is a signpost pointing to Candelo along the road from Bemboka to Bega. I had driven past many times and thought it sounded like a nice place to visit. The road is called Mogilla Road, by the way.

b. in recent weeks, a music festival had been held in Candelo which looked really interesting - I was sorry I had missed it. A folk singer named Melanie Horsnall was one of the artists, and I checked out her website and I really like her style. A lovely painting of the hills around Candelo features on the cover of her album "the Cloud Appreciation Society". You can have a listen - tell me what you think if you do! 

c. I thought Candelo was a very romantic sounding name for a town, and evoked images of candles, but I wasn't sure if was pronounced quickly with equal emphasis on the syllables, or with the emphasis on the first syllable, as in Can-dello.

d. I had a feeling Candelo was involved in the timber industry many years ago. But I wasn't sure why.

* * * * * * * * *

It took an hour to get there from Tathra, but we did go the long way around. The landscape was beautiful, with rolling green hills and peacefully grazing dairy cows. 

Here are some things I noticed while I was in this tranquil sleepy village, and some other things I have learned since.

* A river flows through the middle of town. There is a road along the west side of the river, and a road along the east, and a bridge connects the two to make an enormous letter H. Have a close look at the google Map and you'll see what I mean. This was quite a nice change from the "drive straight through town and over the river" arrangement that you usually find in country Australia.
 
looking east towards the town hall.


* This river has a park on the eastern side, with the most enormous plane tree I have ever seen. Photos don't do it justice! All the trees and the river flowing through the town give it a peaceful, sleepy feel.



* Most of the buildings are wooden, with charming verandahs and Federation architecture. 

A bridge in someone's backyard.A house in the main street, love the roses. Someone else's backyard

Old fashioned service station - love the signage!

I had a coffee in this cafe. It wasn't all that crash hot.

Looking along the street, the Post Office is on the left.

Looking back across the bridge to the other side of town.

very cute house. the back fence could use some work though!

* Despite its tiny size, Candelo boasts a Blacket church. Edmund Blacket is a prominent architect from the colonial days of Sydney. He was appointed colonial architect in 1849 and designed more than 100 churches across New South Wales. I found a recording of Heath Cullen and the Yearlings playing "Fullerton's Bridge" in the church - great bluesy sound.


* The town hall (with the white front) looks like a lovely place for the residents to get together, both for social occasions and the business of running the town. 











* There is another Candelo in Italy. Don't get them mixed up. They are not the same. (photo from  Flickr


* Candelo is a bit like Tilba but a gazillion times better because there were no tourists in Candelo. Well, apart from us.

* Apart from a bunch of timber houses and a few logging trucks trundling along the road I couldn't find much evidence of the timber industry in Candelo.

* Candelo is about six hours drive from both Melbourne and Sydney, so ideally situated for those who like to visit the big smoke now and then.

This blue B&B is for sale.

* If you are planning a visit to this historic town, I would recommend that you go on the first Sunday of the month because then you can visit the markets.

* I found some much better photographs on Flickr for your perusal

the church
The Valley
the pub

Hope you have enjoyed my blogpost. I will try to write again soon.
I will leave you with some gumblossoms I found at the coast.
 

April Autumnal Adventures

It is holiday time again, and with the family I set off for the coast via two open gardens in the Monaro district east of Cooma.

To get to the open gardens we passed through a tiny town called Numeralla. I would like to return here one day, the little town in a valley surrounded by poplars looked very appealing. 

As we drove through I was singing "There's a happy little valley by the Numeralla shore" which is actually about the Eumeralla, a river in Victoria, but hey it rhymed! Here's Slim Dusty singing the Aussie folk song about cattle duffing (stealing). I love the bit which goes "When the moon has climbed the mountain and the stars are very bright.."
 



The first garden was "Wondalee", the garden of Sue and Mike Litchfield on the Tuross Road at Countegany. This lovely, well established country garden surrounds a fibro house. From the garden there are beautiful views of the countryside.
This is a cold climate area, and there were autumn leaves in abundance as well as late blooming roses.

 In the cabbage patch

An old fashioned country tennis court. In the background is a gigantic silver elm

 Looking towards the house. I quite liked the combination of garage with loft above, separate from the house.

Folk enjoying tea and a chat 

 These rounded steps with white seaside daisies growing along them were quite unusual. I have always loved crazy paving too.

My husband and daughter stride across the lawn, leaving me to admire the roses growing up the verandah  pillars. I plan to plant an ornamental grapevine like this one on the northern side of my house, but I have to build it a metal pergola first.

                                             An oak tree along the drive

Ducks waiting for someone to turn on the tap. They've been waiting a long time I feel.

 The wind here in winter is very strong and freezing cold. So a windbreak is essential.

Wooden gates were available for sale. Here my husband is chatting to the gatemaker, Tom Brown. I liked the look of these sturdy tree guards. If I had tree guards like these the kangaroos would come off second best.

There was a sheepdog trial demonstration. Here the dogs are having a rest after showing us all how they round up the sheep. The farmer is chatting to the visitors about how to train a dog without destroying its spirit. 

I admired this stone wall.

 

The next house was completely different. It is the garden of John and Shilo Bowe, surrounding the house and nursery of their business, Tableland Trees and Shrubs. (there's a great photo on their website of the nursery in the snow).

This garden is 25 years old, and serves as a source of plants for the nursery and to demonstrate the specimens for the customers. To get to the garden we drove higher up the mountain, along a windy track through tall gum trees and scrub then to a clearing.

Walking in the gate, we saw an interesting cow sculpture.

 

 Just look at this beautiful golden elm. I like the log seat underneath.

 

 Looking out from under a weeping silver birch across to the willow by the dam and the gum trees in the background.

A lovely old gum tree. Can you spot the cubby in its branches? 

I think this one is a ribbon gum. Gum trees are evergreens but they shed their bark at certain times of the year, which can be an amazing sight.

       
A dam provides water for the nursery. The owner collects the water once it has been used to water the plants and sends it back into this dam for reuse.

 

I am an admirer of vegie gardens and hope to put one in at my place before too long. This one had a handy tip for defeating the dreaded cabbage white butterfly that longs to nestle in your brassicas, lay its eggs and poop to its heart's content. The trick is to enclose your cabbage patch with ordinary white netting - the butterflies can't get through the mesh and your broccoli etc will be safe.

I have a blue spruce like this at my place, but it is nowhere near this tall and majestic. Maybe one day....they seem to grow really slowly. 

The Pickle found me some chestnuts. We saw some in the supermarket the next day for $6.99 a kilo!

 

 Rather interesting retaining wall made from pine logs.

The little trees in the nursery each have a dripper for irrigation and are buried under weedmat. I fought back the temptation to buy a few for souvenirs since we had a car load of stuff and were headed off on holidays.

This is a swamp oak. The Pickle was interested to hear that there are deciduous conifers. We like to listen to a They Might be Giants song called "C is for Conifer". 

This one is turning a lovely yellowy hue.

 Each tree in the garden was labelled so you could jot down its name and ask for one at the nursery. What a great idea!

 

Here's the song about conifers:  

When we sat down for a rest, I asked the Pickle "What tree is this leaf from?"

 

I was very proud of her when she answered "The tulip tree!". Then I realised she was reading a label on the tree. D'oh! We have one of these at home but it had the misfortune to collect a passing kangaroo and is not looking so good.

 

Well, that was a great start to our holidays.

I will fill you in next week on our adventures at the beach. Until then, here's a photo from when I was down the coast on year seven camp last week - coincidentally at the same little town where I am staying with my family.

PS I found a house which was for sale in the same road as the gardens, and I'm including the link because the photos of the landscape are just stunning and much better than mine! It's very rustic and the toilet is a dunny out the back but really I think I'd be in heaven here. So long as I had an internet connection, that is!
http://www.raineandhorne.com.au/properties/70026