Esteemed author and Bushranger enthusiast Greg Powell talks us through the Sculpture Down the Lachlan Trail, revealing awesome camping opportunities along the way.
It now takes twice as long to travel the one hundred kilometres along the scenic Lachlan Valley Way between Forbes and Condobolin in the Central West of NSW. No one is complaining though, because the extra time is taken up by pulling off the road to inspect some amazing sculptures.
In 2017 the first large-scale artwork was erected along the Lachlan Valley Way. This was the iconic Amazing sculpture, a huge 3-D red word standing stark beside the road. It rises from the dust, grass, or flood waters, depending on the western conditions.
Now more than 20 commissioned sculptures stand in Forbes or line the highway between that town and Condobolin.
Easy to Access
Ten of the works can be found in parks in Forbes and the remainder in roadside reserves. Most can be seen from the road, and all have large tourist signs indicating the location.
After pulling off to visit the first few, it soon becomes evident that these are becoming familiar friends. Although each sculpture is unique, each location has a friendly and familiar feel.
The works in Forbes are mostly conventional sizes but once let loose out along the highway, they grow to huge proportions.
Gun Swamp Splendour
Just south of Forbes near the Condobolin turnoff is the huge and popular Goanna or Varanus. It stands in the Gum Swamp Reserve beside the wetland with bird hides.
Tower is an entirely wooden structure which depicts an old tank stand. It represents the importance of water in the rural landscape. There is a man standing at the top of one of the support posts. He is leaning out and gazing down. He makes the viewer feel quite uneasy.
The comical piece of the whole exhibition is Road Kill, a mammoth rusty structure depicting vehicles traveling along a ribbon of road. It would be hard to travel this road without seeing the remains of our national animal along the edge. The sculpture turns the concept of road kill around, as a giant kangaroo swats a vehicle with a cricket bat, with cartoon sparks radiating.
The unusual Sonata is one of the latest works to be installed. It depicts a girl playing a violin on the back of a bull.
Heart of Country
A personal favourite is Heart of Country, where a native hunter stands over four metres high, with a ridgeline of boulders as a backdrop. He strides forward with purpose. His body, feet, spear, and arms are all facing forward but his head is turned, and his gaze is over his shoulder, as if something is just not quite right. To show how the changing landscape adds to the changing meaning of the art works, when I visited in mid-winter, the hunter’s gaze was turning away from the huge fluoro-coloured rolls of baled cotton arranged in endless rows in the paddock opposite. His chest is open, to expose rocks – a true heart of country.
Camping Up
Campers and vanners have a bonus when exploring this section of the Lachlan Valley Way, as apart from caravan parks in Forbes and Condobolin, there is an excellent free council camping area in each town. Both have new amenity blocks.
Forbes has the reserve in Wheogo Park beside the lake
…and Condobolin has the Gum Bend Lake reserve.
There’s also a new Visitor Centre on the Newell Highway south of town centre closer to the start of the Sculpture Trail.
While not a part of the Sculpture Down the Lachlan trail, there’s also a bushranger Ben Hall statue that was recently returned to the centre of town.
