Gnomesville

If you don't like very strange things or aren't easily enamoured to a bit of whimsy then I suggest you look away now. What I am about to show you is very, very weird and also (if I'm honest about my proclivities towards the bizarre) a little bit freaking awesome.

About 2 hours drive south east of Perth there lies a magical place. A place so shrouded in myth and mystery that it attracts people from all over the world. Alongside a fairly average country road there lies a village of critters no taller than your knees. Gnomes. Yes, gnomes! Thousands of these critters inhabit a small strip of forest alongside a beautiful bubbling brook. And when I say thousands I mean THOUSANDS! Now, I didn't just stumble across Gnomesville. I deliberately set out to find it and had no navigational problems thanks to the directions of my mobile phone GPS. Yep, Gnomesville is officially on the map!

I only learnt of the existence of Gnomesville a few months ago. I was kind of mystified as to how I could not know about such a remarkable example of community outsider art in my own country, especially because it attracts visitors from far and wide. There were a number of international visitors exploring the site whilst we were there. It was truly marvellous to see people from all over the world smiling their way through the winding paths of Gnomesville! 

I love outsider art and kooky landmarks so Gnomesville was a bit of a dreamscape to me. Whilst there is undoubtably a sense of whimsy and childlike wonder surrounding Gnomesville, there is also an element of the macabre. Being exposed to the elements the gnomes are in various stages of decay. Some are faded, others chipped or dirty, the saddest creatures are missing limbs or wear large cracks in their gnome armour. Add in the gloominess of a dreary, drizzly overcast day and you could be forgiven for sensing something a little bit sinister happening amongst the inhabitants of Gnomesville.  Of course, this just adds to the appeal!

Would I recommend a trip to Gnomesville? Hell yes! If you're in WA and heading down to the Margaret River then be sure to take a little side trip to visit this remarkable site. It is really something to behold! The below photo explains the history of this most unusual shrine:

The end of the road...

Well, we're home now! Safe and sound and relaxing into our ordinary, everyday world again. We travelled quite a way - about 7000 kilometres - on our journey down South, and I must say that I enjoyed almost every part of it! I say almost because after 6 weeks of being on the road I was really very glad to get home. :)

So our final destination on our road trip was the Blue Mountains. Situated about 100 clicks west of Sydney the Blue Mountains are certainly one of Australia's most iconic regions. We had never been there before and though we weren't overly excited about visiting the place, we thought that since we had time we'd go and see what all the hoopla was about. Well, I'm certainly glad we made the effort because it really is such a spectacular place. Standing at the main tourist site in Katoomba, looking out at the Three Sisters and the great cavernous valley between the mountains, I said to Ben that it reminded me very much of the Grand Canyon! It may seem quite a strange thing to say, but it's true. Instead of dusty reds and oranges the Blue Mountains are filled with slightly faded blues and greens, lavender and indigo hues. The scenery is all rather painterly and it's not such a leap to imagine why this place has long been the muse of artists, writers and other creatives.

We stayed in Leura, a small village in the Blue Mountains, at a delightful little studio apartment near the Everglade Gardens. The Everglades are magnificent. Once a private garden it is now open to the public to explore freely. We spent quite a few hours there taking in the beautiful surrounds. It was all rather romantic, wandering through rambling forest and over mossy stones....

The house on the property is a magnificent example of modernist architecture and I greatly enjoyed being able to mosey about inside. Large glass windows had been built to frame the scenery - it was all really rather clever. And outside in the 'everglade' part of the garden the deciduous trees were heralding in autumn, their leaves taking on yellow and orangey tones. 

We then spent much of the afternoon wandering through local antique stores searching for a bargain to bring home as a souvenir of our stay. Alas, we didn't find anything that spoke to us with any sense of conviction so we turned back to nature instead, soaked up a bit more of the Blue Mountain majesty and resolved to come back again one day for a longer stay. A day really wasn't anywhere near long enough!

The next day we jumped in our red beast and drove for 13 and a half hours straight all the way back to Queensland. It was an epic journey (If we were on a plane we could have arrived in LA!). 

And so ends our Southern road trip and our first adventure for 2013.

The bit in-between Great Ocean Road and Adelaide...

Wowsers, we have been going non-stop over the past week or so! So much to see and so little time! I can’t even really remember half of what we’ve done so it’s a good thing that we’ve got photos as evidence of our adventures. The trip from the end of GOR to Adelaide has been quite a surprise. We didn’t really know what to expect from this journey, but we’ve had no problem finding things to do. The coastline is just beautiful so we’ve spent plenty of time walking along beaches and submerging ourselves in crystal clear seawater. We’ve also been attacked by over-aggressive march flies (seriously attacked! I’m still itching 5 days later!), climbed the highest sea cliff in Victoria, checked out the cobalt tones of the Blue Lakes, experienced the natural baroque-like wonder of the Tantanoola Cave, dodged bush fires, and stood in awe of the Big Lobster. It’s been a whirlwind I tell ya!

We’re in Adelaide now, staying in the coastal suburb of Glenelg and preparing ourselves for a family wedding. We’re taking much needed time out to relax, watch tv and indulge in the luxuries of urban living until we turn ourselves around and start the journey back East. We’ll scoot back to Melbourne and then start to explore the coastline of Eastern Victoria and Southern New South Wales before heading home. But that’s a long way away, there’ll be no thinking of home yet! 

There's a lot of blue in the pictures below, but that's what you get when it's all sea and sky! :)