Goulburn
Categories: uncategorized
Date: 28 January 2006 00:54:50
An absolutely wonderful evening and day in Goulburn and at Wombeyan Caves: I'm already planning my next visit! I enjoyed the quiteness and beauty of Goulburn, and I'd love to do some of the bushwalks around Wombeyan Caves -- there are quite a few. I also hear there are glow-worms not far from Mittagong, which is on the way down to Goulburn: I'd like to see them as well. It is amazing to discover there is so much, so close: and yet I had no idea.
Goulburn is Australia's first inland city and has a population of around 25,000. From my childhood, all I recalled about Goulburn was The Big Merino, a 15-metre tall cement Merino sheep. Goulburn is (was?) a great sheep and farming area. [Australia seems to be home to a surprisingly large number of Big Things: each representing some form of local industry or habitat.]
I stayed at the wonderful Mandelson's, run by a husband and wife from Germany. It was a beautiful place to stay at, very historic and very warmly and richly decorated and furnished. And Renate was a most wonderful host: showing me around the hotel and up to my bedroom (on the top floor), and making an absolutely beautiful breakfast (including her own muesli, home-made jam, and cooked nectarines). For someone who generally woofs down breakfast, or skips it, it was lovely to sit down and have such a beautiful breakfast. I had an early breakfast, and as well as Renate another guest was in the dining room and I had a talk with him. The welcome Port and chocolates in my room were very nice as well.
You can see some photos I took of Goulburn by clicking here. I can't recall when I was last in Goulburn: it must've been a long time ago. Now you can bypass Goulburn on the freeway down to Canberra, the Snowy Mountains and Melbourne, and that is what I do most of the time. But it was wonderful to go to Goulburn and to see all the sights.
From The Anglican Cathedral to the former Roman Catholic Cathedral to the Uniting church, it was wonderful to see such beautiful architecture built for the glory of God. The Anglican and Roman churches were open, and it was wonderful to be able to enter and -- in the silence (only two or three others were there) -- pray. The Catholic parish had a Mass book so I was able to say a shortened form of Morning Prayer, and I recited some Anglican liturgy in the Anglican Cathedral of St Saviour. And then I looked around at the marvellous spaces: from beautiful stained glass to the organ to the beautiful font and cover, they were places out of the current world and time, away from the rush of busy life [though, I wouldn't say Goulburn is exactly bustling! ;-)], and a place to meet God. It was interesting to see that St Saviour's has taken as a line on its pamphlets a comment from a nine year old girl, which went along the lines of: "I feel like whispering." Very true.
A nice view of Goulburn can be seen from the Rocky Hill World War I memorial, which was built in 1925, but planning began before the war had even finished! You can see a bit of brown land: Goulburn is still on severe water restrictions due to low dam levels. I'm not sure exactly what the situation is now, but there has been rain so there has been an improvement, but it was said last year that Goulburn would run out of water in early 2006. Please pray for the residents and for rain, for Goulburn and for all places in drought.
Back in Goulburn, there are a number of beautiful buildings. In a street full of lawyers, solicitors and tax agents, the Elmslea Chambers stands out as a beautifully adorned and designed building. A bit further on I was surprised to see the Liedertafel [literally "Song table" in German: a popular name for an all male singing group] rise up before me. But, to me, the most beautiful building, excluding the churches, was the Court House (left). Opened in 1887 to replace the old court house, the huge dome towers above as you approach Belmore Park which is opposite, and then you see the beautiful building.
On my way out of Goulburn and on to Wollondilly Caves, I passed a stone house that so caught my eye, I stopped, u-turned, and went back to take a photo. Also rather interesting were the paintings on warehouses next to one of the cemeteries. Very nice work, and much better than a plain black or grey side.
And then it was off to the caves.