The Lachlan Sculpture Trail

24 August 2024 / Words and photos: Rod Nicholas

13-16 August 2024

There’s artwork everywhere in the countryside, but where I was headed was the Sculptures Down the Lachlan, a rather intriguing collection of sculptures and artworks dotted along the Lachlan Valley Way between Forbes and Condobolin. At Condo, we also had Utes in the Paddock, a tribute of sorts to the Cadillac Ranch located in Texas, USA. There was Eugowra, with its colourful murals, and the intriguing Animals on Bikes out of Molong (surely that would be art of some kind), the Exploding Head in Yeoval. And if other cultural experiences were looked for, we had the Banjo Paterson Museum in Yeoval, the Western Plains Cultural Centre in Dubbo, the Orange Regional Museum. We had zoos to visit, gaols to explore, Flying Doctors to heal our souls … and we had some breweries.

The first leg kicked off on a short drive towards Crookwell and then on to our first overnight stop in Orange. But first I had something else in mind—a lunch stop in a little village we had hardly ever visited, let alone stopped at: Neville, population about 200. Neville is ‘on the road to nowhere’ (as described by a local) and not very far from Barry or Hobbys Yard or even Trunkey Creek. If that doesn’t place it, it’s about 30 minutes from Woodstock. My planned route was updated the day before the run, when I was reliably advised that a road I intended to take was ‘not even suitable for a 4WD’. Ta, I said. We don’t take our cars on dirt. We arrived on time at Rustic Nature for lunch and were warmly welcomed by our hosts, who had opened for the day just for us. How’s that for country hospitality?

Pleasantly fed on tasty fresh wraps, rolls and toasties and rejuvenated by excellent coffee, we zoom zoomed off towards Canowindra and Eugowra—yes, in exactly the wrong direction for a trip to Orange, but we were looking for art, remember? We lingered awhile at Eugowra, checked out the painting of the infamous relative of our colleague Mike and motored on to our Day 1 destination. Checked in at the motel and fired up the phone to book dinner at the brewery. Calamity of calamities! It wasn’t open that night. Oh, the best laid plans …

Most ate at the pub adjoining the motel—good pub tucker—but a few donned their evening wear and shuffled off to a fancy restaurant for dinner. The only one disappointed was me—Badlands Brewery was one of the main reasons I had decided to stop at Orange!

Day 2 dawned cool and wet. It had rained most of the night and was still drizzling enough to be a pain when everyone started gathering in the carpark. Our next stop was Dubbo, less than two hours away, so I had suggested a leisurely late breakfast a bit down the road, and then a slow trip attempting to spot the Animals on Bikes along the road. Again, my plans went out the window. Canberra Chapter members get impatient if we are not on the road by 8.30 am, and a few needed food, now if you please, and a few others were itching to get going. The group splintered a little as we shot off in all directions (actually, the only one leading to Molong).

Weirdly (or not, given there had been some detailed run notes), when I pulled into Molong, a short 30km down the road, I had a couple of our cars behind, and the first café I walked into contained all those who had zipped off earlier. We fed, coffeed, and went our way again (I did emphasise the waypoint aspect of the run). I wandered the town—it didn’t take long—and took the Banjo Paterson Way towards Dubbo. Next stop Yeoval.

I seemed to be on my own (literally, as my co-pilot had not been able to come on the run), and between watching for potholes and Animals on Bikes sculptures, I managed to stop and take photos, and pick up another of our group by the time I got to Cumnock. The Animals on Bikes paddock sculptures are a strange lot—mostly built from junk and scrap items by locals—and first installed in 2009. More have been added (apparently over 100) but given the years since I wasn’t sure how many would still be around. I spotted dozens, and photographed quite a few. Info is available at http://www.animalsonbikes.com.au.

At Yeoval we found a few more of our cars up at the Banjo Paterson Museum. Paterson was born nearby and spent his early years on a property near Yeoval but doesn’t appear to have stayed long. The museum is worth a visit for its rustic charm, and contains an interesting collection of memorabilia, including first editions, original letters, assorted Paterson stuff, books, magazines and exciting items of the period, as well as captivating hands-on items.

And across the road in a park is the Exploding Head! Now that is art!

The Exploding Head at Yeoval

Along with a few others of our group I headed into Wellington, hoping for a spot of lunch. Waypointing it along the way was fine—the road allowed a little spirit to shine every now or then and the cafe where we lunched (Four Cats) was a good find.

Our hotel in Dubbo was in the town centre but to get there I had to pass the Devils Hollow Brewery. Who’d a thunk it, eh? I stopped in, had a yarn with the staff and picked up some tinnies, which I planned to share with a mate back home. (Sadly for him, they didn’t all make it.) A small group had braved the rain to visit the zoo, and found they were almost the only visitors there. They have lots of photos of wet and bedraggled exotic animals. Rhys collected a souvenir rhino for Ashley (who he forgot to bring with him) and the rhino featured in many of our subsequent photo shoots).

Rhys and rhino. Photo by Jo Blackburn 

Some went to the Flying Doctors exhibition, others rested, and yours truly spent some time preparing for an online meeting of the Club Committee later that night. Our evening meal—enjoyed by all—was at the local RSL Memorial Club, and some lingered. Others returned early to the motel.

Day 3 was a lovely day, with the sun shining and beckoning a topless drive to Condobolin for the really artistic chunk of our adventure. What a fabulous run it was! The roads were in great nick, the countryside was startlingly green and the only things to worry about were whether one of the cattle grazing on the ‘long paddock’ just out of Tullamore would sit (or s*it) on our car, how much water was in the floodways we frequently crossed, and whether the water was hiding deep and nasty potholes. (The cattle didn’t, the water was rarely more than a few centimetres deep, and yes it hid some holes but no one broke a wheel or punctured a tyre.)

The cows! Photo by Roz Barker

Condo was busy, and we all gathered in a couple of cafes for an early lunch. Then a minute or two down the way, we stopped at the Utes in the Paddock. Described as ‘unique and quirky’ it's twenty Holden utes stuffed in the ground, painted up and modified in interesting and amusing ways by some talented rural artists. In 2020, the exhibition was named ‘Best Sculpture Park or Trail’ at the Australian Street Art Awards.

The real deal, though, was Sculpture Down the Lachlan. It's a permanent, inland public art trail stretching 100 kilometres between Condo and Forbes, along the meandering Lachlan River. ‘Art embedded in nature. Designed to showcase the raw, unmanicured beauty of the rural landscape which envelops the larger-than-life installations. Featuring over twenty sculptures by some of Australia’s leading creatives.’ Much of it is brilliant—even amazing! Some is of the ‘I don’t know much about art but I know what I like’ variety. All is worth a visit. More information is at https://www.sculpturedownthelachlan.com.

Overnight in Forbes, at the trusty old Plainsman Motel, and a good feed at Club Forbes. Everyone made merry, some trying their luck on a Coopers to win a hat or stubby holder or similar (some good work here from Rhys). The trip back home, only three hours away, was waypoint, but everyone followed me to Grenfell along the route my GPS mapping intended, even if it was not the one I expected. A brilliant move, in hindsight, zipping between golden canola and crisp green fields, along a remote country lane that was often only just wide enough for a MX-5 (albeit well surfaced). More food and coffee and then the obligatory photos in front of the excellent silo artwork. Then waypoint home. (At which point, almost everyone turned up in Boorowa for more caffeine!)

Canola fields and a True Red masterpiece - photo by Peter Wilson

All up, 1,100 kms or so on a great run—art, culture, Australiana, good food, lots of laughs, great company, but a disappointing number of breweries. Still, I’ve got a few tinnies from Devils Hollow in Dubbo, it's just a pity my mate back home had to miss out.

Run Leader: Rod Nicholas

Lots more photos can be found at: Rod’s Google Photos Album