With Eve Lamb

Three Lost Children Walk, Daylesford, 15 km (total)

Part B

Today is the day we shoulder our packs once again to complete the final remaining half of Daylesford’s famed Three Lost Children Walk.

We start where we left off last time, in Hogans Lane at Musk Vale surrounded by comfortable homes on acreage, and it’s a couple of ks of hiking on gravel, across the Ballan-Daylesford Road blacktop, and onwards, following unsealed Hogans Lane right to its end. Then it’s right into Foxs Lane, then left into Manna Gum Track.

Here, finally, we begin to leave the lifestyle acres, goats and alpacas behind, and things start to get a bit bushy.  For a start there’s a large male kangaroo eyeing us off and making me feel just a tad nervous, recalling tales of how these fellas, who have every right to feel miffed at people invading their ancestral home, have been known to eviscerate folk with a well placed claw hook.

Thankfully the big roo merely stares peaceably. And we walk on.

We’re equipped with a well thumbed copy of the Three Lost Children Walk brochure, readily available from the Daylesford Vistor Information Centre, and my copy of Walks, Tracks & Hikes of Victoria by Derrick Stone.

The bush is dry. The day is hot.  We reach the point where the trail descriptions indicate we should swing left into Paddock Track. But a brief moment of confusion arises. There’s a marker post facing us but its face is bare, displaying no signage of any kind.

My walking accomplice, Paddy H, ever observant, takes a look and discovers that the about-facing side of the post does display the now familiar stylized Three Lost Children trail marker, confirming that this is, indeed, where we turn left. And we’re on the right track.

“That’s why I bring you along,” I tell Paddy H who accepts this as his due. As we gain a bit of elevation there are fallen eucalypts on the forest floor, relics of the famous June storm from a few years back. We’re on a rough-hewn dirt vehicle track, surrounded by the forest now. After a while, we hear the  engine of a vehicle drawing closer.

A ute appears, trawling slowly behind us.

Glancing behind me, peering back at it,  I see the occupants are a friendly-looking couple.

Paddy H stops to say G’day to the bloke behind the wheel, beside whom the female passenger grins back at me. Or is that a look of empathy?

I wait beside the track while Paddy H and the bloke behind the wheel converse. And wait. And then wait a bit more.

Finally they’re done.

“Nice bloke,” surmises Paddy H as we start moving again. “He’s concerned about climate change and the impact it’s having on the forest.”

Pretty soon it becomes apparent that our printed walk guide has failed to mention just how gnarly, and flinty this walk is. Let’s just say there are some undulations here that could bring delight to hard core theme-park enthusiasts if you ran a light rail over them.

And once again I find myself thinking of those poor three lost little tackers whose tragic 1867 meandering this walk memorializes. This is no leisurely pleasure promenade. I marvel especially, for the hundredth time or so, at how their small-child legs could ever have carried them so far.

Sweating as we tackle the dusty undulations beneath the blazing February sun we reach the almost-evaporated and rather sad-looking Specimen Hill Dam. More of a bog hole today really. History records that it was near this spot that a young man called John Quinn had encountered the lost children and (unsuccessfully) attempted to turn the three doomed smalls back for home.

“Good advice,” I reflect aloud.

“Reminds me of the bullock driver in Joseph Furphy’s ‘Such Is Life’,” muses my walking companion, cryptically.

“I’ll have to read it.” We still have a fair way to go and I need to conserve energy.

The walk description is proving fairly straightforward to follow, though, and the trail well-marked. We reach, and cross Specimen Hill Road that wends its lonely way on through the Wombat State Forest bushland as far as the eye can see from this juncture.

And from here we trudge on along the dusty and evocatively named Cockatoo Track for about 3km to finally reach the Wombat Creek Dam.

The walk officially ends here at the Wombat Creek Picnic Area. The “dam” water storage reservoir is a decent little body of water. On a hot day like today just reaching it is a very welcome reward.

Note: The first part of this walk review appeared in the January 13, 2025 edition of The Local.

A new eight-lot housing subdivision proposed for Hepburn Springs has got the green light to proceed subject to multiple conditions following a Hepburn Shire Council vote late last month.

The proposal, relating to a 7,327 square meter site at 12-14 Vanina Street, within a residential zoning area, had attracted 12 objections.

Concerns about increased traffic flow, impacts on native flora and fauna and that the proposal was not in keeping with the existing neighbourhood character, and that the density was too high for the Hepburn township, numbered among objectors’ concerns.

The application had originally proposed an 11-lot subdivision but several planning amendments that had later been lodged by the applicant had reduced the number of proposed lots to eight, creating stronger protection of existing native vegetation on the site.

A report to the council noted that: “Whilst the development will result in the future loss of some surrounding native vegetation in order to create defendable space, the applicant has accepted council officer advice to ensure an acceptable balance between vegetation loss and fire protection has been reached through the implementation of carefully considered building envelopes which will control the location of future dwellings on the proposed new lots.”

Due to the number of objections, the matter went before councillors for a decision at the council’s February 25 meeting, with the planning officer recommendation supporting approval of the application subject to numerous conditions.

These included bushfire  protection measures, traffic management, stormwater management, landscaping, screening and vegetation planting requirements, as well as building height controls among others.

But not all councillors were in support of the officer’s recommendation to grant approval, with Cr Brian Hood opposing it, naming concerns about emergency access provisions and design factors among his reasons for doing so.

“The bit I really struggle with is either a court bowl or battle axe driveway. To me they are very, very urban and not consistent with the character and amenity and rural setting of our towns,” Cr Hood said.

“This needs a bit more work and therefore I can’t support it.”

Ultimately, though, the application got through in line with the planning department’s recommendation with councillors voting 6:1 in favour.

In support, Cr Lesley Hewitt said “I’m impressed with the thoroughness that has gone into this application and also the willingness of the applicant to do the negotiation and to shift it from an 11 lot subdivision to an eight lot subdivision.”

Words: Eve Lamb. Image: File

Happening over this Labour Day long weekend, the Newstead Open Studios art trail is a locally inspired and crafted event, held  annually since 2015 and based in and around Newstead, in the heart of  Victoria’s Goldfields region.  

Spokesperson and artist Sarah Koschak (pictured below) said every year artists opened their studios  to visitors.  

“There will be lots of beautiful and diverse art for sale at each of the studios, you might even make a purchase or two,” Sarah says.

“We can’t wait to welcome you to our studios. As well as many of our regulars, you’ll find some new artists and studios in the mix.”  

This year the lineup of 18 artists plus two group shows includes printmakers, jewellers, painters, potters, sculptors and more.  

For an overview of each individual artist’s work and for more about the art trail head to www.newsteadopenstudios.org.

As part of the event, the second Small Sculpture Exhibition and Prize will be held in the Newstead Arts Hub along with a group show at the RedShed Arts Workshop.  

The Central Goldfields town of Newstead is 10 minutes from Castlemaine and 20 minutes from Daylesford.  Participating studios will be open Friday to Monday on the 2025 Labour Day long weekend,  March 7 to 10, 10am to 4pm.  

with Eve Lamb

Newstead artist Roger McKindley is known far and wide for his amazing Antares Iron Art Garden. Sprawling over a picturesque patch of riverside acreage, Antares contains the amazing sculptural creations of this  compulsively talented creative. Roger takes unloved, broken and discarded materials and transforms them into fantastic and quirky pieces of original art that captivate all who visit this special place. Antares Iron Art Garden  will soon open as part of the Newstead Open Studios art trail event held over March 7-10.  

Eve: This iron art garden of yours is pretty amazing. When did you start making it?  

Roger: Seventeen years ago.  

Eve: Can you tell me a bit about your creative process, how you go about creating  these unique sculptural pieces?  

Roger: When I find the materials it inspires me to think – ‘what can I do with  this?’ – I try and start the process the same day I’m taking it (the recycled materials) off the ute. It totally thrills me and once I get started on one thing something else  yells out ‘over here’ and it just takes off. I’ll still be working at night.

Eve: Some of these sculptures involve pretty hefty pieces of metal. It looks like a  fairly physical creative process.  

Roger: Yes. It can be. See that old boiler over there. I was carrying that on  the back of the ute and the police pulled me up and said ‘where’s the rope?’ and  I said…‘try to move it!’ (chuckles). See that propeller on it…that’s been on seven different things. Things have a life of their own.  

Eve: What are some of the materials that you use?  

Roger: Metal is my main one, but I’ll also use wood, stone, old glass, bricks.  Everything is recycled…I don’t like plastic. Some people donate materials. I’ll also  go out on little pilgrimages, searching. Most of the things I get are bent or broken so there’s an abundance of stuff everywhere.  

Eve: And you’re also very into art photography too aren’t you? I have seen some of  your photographs capturing some quite amazing fleeting scenes.  

Roger: Photography is my dream. Capturing moments. I put a lot of photos  up on Insta. I’ve had people beg me to hold an exhibition of my photos. I’m thinking about it.

Eve: How did you get into this practice of creating sculpture?  

Roger: In my 20s I lived at Golden Point at Chewton and I’d find things in  the bush. I was probably 27 when one day I found a lot of metal in the bush and  made my first metal sculpture and I haven’t stopped since. I’d make sculptures in  the bush and also on the beach as well and people would stop and say ‘that’s so  beautiful’. I love metal. I love shapes, and I love the abstract because you can read more than one thing into it.  

Eve: Can you tell me a bit about your working background?  

Roger: I started my gardening apprenticeship in the Castlemaine Botanical  Gardens. They were the best days of my life, although I didn’t know it at the time. They’d trust me and leave me to work in a part of the garden by myself and it  was just wonderful being trusted like that.

Then after I completed my gardening  apprenticeship I travelled up the east coast and met blokes making art and realised  ‘oh you can be a bloke and be into art as well’. That was in the 1980s.

I also went  to the Northern Territory but it was too hot for me there. I passed out twice in the heat. Now I still work in a couple of private gardens.  

Eve: Antares has featured on TV a couple of times hasn’t it?  

Roger: Yes. It’s been on ABC’s Gardening Australia and on Better Homes and  Gardens.  

Eve: And it’s about to be part of the Newstead Open Studios Art Trail long weekend in March.  

Roger: Yes. I’ve been involved in the Open Studios event for at least seven  years now. Karen Pierce and I were the two local studios who started it, and now all these amazing artists have come on board.

I also go in the Festival of Gardens  over the Melbourne Cup week. I’ve done that six times, and I’m also on Insta and  Facebook, and I open the garden up to people by appointment.  

Eve: How do you find having people visiting your art garden and roaming about?  

Roger: I enjoy sharing my art and lifestyle. I’m totally off-grid here. I have  different clubs visit – camera clubs, car clubs, garden clubs – and a lot of people  from overseas.

I’ve had all sorts of nationalities here. I love to hear the laughter  as they walk through. Some people are shocked…and I love seeing people come back.

Creswick locals are continuing to call for the speed limit on a section of the Creswick-Ballarat Road (Midland Highway) to be lowered from 100km to 80km amid outstanding safety concerns. 

Last April, responding to the concerns, the Hepburn Shire Council resolved to contact the Department of Transport seeking the proposed reduction on the short stretch of Midland Highway that passes the main entrance to Creswick’s RACV Forest Resort. 

Residents say the section of road is particularly ill-suited to a 100km speed limit with traffic frequently turning in and out of the RACV Forest Resort – where the internal grounds speed limit is 20km – directly onto the 100km stretch. 

Residents say the safety of motorists, visiting tourists and pedestrians is the main issue at stake with a permanent bus stop used by school children, visitors and locals an additional factor in the potentially lethal mix.

“It’s actually 20km inside the resort grounds and then right alongside here it’s 100km,” says permanent resident in the RACV estate grounds, Kerry Williams. 

“People plant it when they hit the 100km sign. They come hurtling down that hill and at 100km there’s no way they’re going to be able to stop if someone pulls out or walks out.” 

Hepburn Shire mayor and Creswickian Cr Don Henderson is among those who say the speed limit reduction is needed to help reduce the risk of serious accidents. 

“It’s extremely dangerous and it’s an issue that needs a resolution,” Cr Henderson says.

“It’s a real concern to the residents and to anyone using the Midland Highway and anyone using the resort.” 

Creswick wildlife rescuer Marg Phillips says the 100km stretch of road passes right through a pre-existing wildlife corridor and has a particularly high level of wildlife road accidents, in a mix that’s highly dangerous for both people and wildlife. 

“The sheer number of incidents here causes a lot of pain and suffering, and subsequent distress,” Marg says. “I’ve had to console a number of traumatised tourists, and the tourists will actually often come here to enjoy seeing the wildlife. 

“Many people who collide with our wildlife are often very distressed themselves. And studies show that reducing speed, even by 20km, significantly reduces these incidences. It’s interesting to see just how much car wreckage you find here beside the road.” 

Residents also said additional signage to help warn motorists to be prepared to slow down and take extra care for wildlife crossing in the area would also make a lot of sense. 

Judy Henderson says efforts to see the speed limit reduced date back to at least 2017 and the town’s former Creswick and District Residents Association. 

“I’d just like to know if Regional Roads or Transport Victoria have ever counted the number of wildlife that are getting killed here,” Judy says. 

At the moment, however, it remains unclear as to whether there has been much progress at all towards actioning the request at a Departmental level. 

“Council followed up the matter with the Department of Transport in late 2024 and is yet to receive an update,” Hepburn Shire Council’s Infrastructure and Delivery acting director Sean Ludeke said. 

“Considerations of amendments to speed limits can be complex and it is not uncommon for this assessment to take some time to work through,” he said. 

“However council will continue to advocate for these changes on behalf of the community.” 

In a prepared statement emailed to The Local, after multiple phone calls, Department of Transport and Planning Barwon South West and Grampians executive director Michael Bailey said: “We are continuing to engage with the Hepburn Shire Council around the speed limit on Midland Highway, to explore how we can make our network safer on this stretch of the road.

“We urge motorists to drive to conditions as we continue to monitor the speed limits on Creswick-Ballarat Road. Speed limits are subject to a rigorous review process and are considered on a case-by-case basis.” 

Words & Image: Eve Lamb  

Setting off into the bushland with her fine art pens, quality paper, camera and fortifying thermos, Strangways artist Belinda Prest is one happy woman.

The accomplished Strangways artist and teacher admits she’s in her element when she has a mission of the artistic variety to complete outdoors.

Recently, Belinda enjoyed exactly this type of mission as she  lovingly depicted six of the region’s significant landmarks – volcanic peaks and ranges. Her drawings have gone on to feature in the newly launched book, Six Peaks Speak: Unsettling Legacies in Southern Dja Dja Wurrung Country by  Professor Barry Golding and Clive Willman.

“I had just a wonderful time,” says Belinda recounting her multiple “missions” to sketch the six peaks in question – Mount Kooroocheang, Tarrengower, Alexander, Beckworth, Greenock and Franklin, all featured in the book.

But the eye-catching outcrops that add vivid interest to the wider local landscape that Belinda, and her sculptor husband Trefor Prest, call home are just one of the many points of beauty this local creative celebrates with her innate eye for exquisite detail.

A former primary school teacher, current yoga and dance teacher, and trained artist, Belinda’s detailed pen drawings pay homage to the stately and wizened old trees, powerful vistas and markers of human presence both humble and profound, that characterize the region.

“I always draw with fine art pens,” she says.

“Sometimes I use a grey lead and just plot a little bit of perspective, but I then tend to go straight into the pen. And I like to use a good quality paper called Arches watercolour paper.”

A noteworthy additional feature of Belinda’s work is her frequent incorporation of small snippets of journaled text, typically appearing at the bottom of the drawing.

For the viewer these snatches of text provide extra insight into the artist’s personal experience at the time of creating the work – the memory of a place, a time and perhaps a precious small fleeting observation of  something else unseen in the sketch itself.

Next month Belinda’s work will go on show as part of the annual Newstead Open Studios Art Trail event taking place over the March 7-10 long weekend. The large studio that she and Trefor share at their Strangways bushland home will be open – along with 13 other local studios that all feature, showcasing the wealth of creative talent residing in the area.

Belinda admits she relishes these open studio events as a chance to meet others who share a knowledge and love of the area.

“I’ll have about 25 new drawings which I’ve completed over the past year since we opened last year, besides earlier works, and also some of the six peaks drawings,” she says.

Trefor will also have some of his new (and earlier) trademark organic-mechanical works, rendered in beautiful brass, copper and steel, included as part of the couple’s open studio.

The full list of studios participating in the Newstead Open Studios event can now be found on line. Suffice to say art lovers are in for a busy March long weekend.

Words: Eve Lamb

With Eve Lamb

My sturdy walking companion, Paddy H, and I had been planning to complete Daylesford’s famed 15km Three Lost Children Walk for this series, having trekked the first half for the last installment.

However, with weekend temperatures nudging 40 degrees we decided to delay until the arrival of kinder bush-walking weather. Instead, a leisurely mid-week sampler of the following fairly special new short stroll seemed just the thing. 

Since launching a couple of months ago, Trentham’s new self-guided walk honouring the life of Dr Gweneth Wisewould has been proving a real winner – much like the good doctor herself. 

Featuring an informative brochure, the self guided tour takes walkers around numerous Trentham township sites that were of central significance in the life of the much loved local medic (1884-1972). 

The new Gweneth Wisewould Walk brochure has been developed by the Hepburn Shire Council, drawing on detailed information that the Trentham & District Historical Society compiled a couple of years ago to mark the 50th anniversary of Dr Gwen’s January 1972 death. 

The walk brochures are now available at both Daylesford’s and Trentham’s information centres. So armed with our copy, as the mercury climbs to 32 degrees, we set out to follow it to the letter, starting at No 15 Market Street, the site of the good doctor’s surgery from 1938 to 1954. 

Along the way we are joined by Trentham & District Historical Society treasurer Nat Poole. The walk covers an easy distance of about 3.5 km all up and includes sites like Dr Gwen’s old surgeries in both Market and High Streets, the former butcher shop (now a cafe) where she used to store her perishable drugs in the cool room before reliable refrigeration arrived in the town, and the town’s former bush hospital site where she performed surgery and delivered a whole generation of Trentham babies. 

For those who haven’t yet had the pleasure of reading Dr Gwen’s biography by Ian Braybrook, or her own (at times hair-raising) autobiographical work, Dr Gwen arrived in Trentham late one rainy evening in 1938, steam erupting from the overheated radiator of her ancient Plymouth.

She would spend the next 34 years supporting the most vulnerable and sick in the Trentham district – and becoming much loved by the community in the process. 

She hailed from a wealthy Melbourne family and had recently left her role as a leading surgeon at the Queen Victoria Hospital (now closed). 

Together with her devoted housekeeper and companion Ella Miller Bell (Ellabelle) and their two dachshunds, Dr Gwen arrived in the Central Highlands seeking a new start – and what a new start it would prove to be. 

Her training and superb surgical skills saved many an injured local and those seeking treatment for all manner of incidents, mishaps and conditions, at the Trentham Bush Hospital. 

Dressed in her trademark boots and greatcoat, Dr Gwen often worked tirelessly through the night to attend to patients, driving all hours on muddy tracks in a variety of vehicles including her old Dodge truck – she was also known to ride a motorcycle. She was never known to refuse a request for help. 

The walk also takes in many more points of interest from her life including St Chads at 69 High Street, one of Trentham’s oldest residences which became Dr Gwen’s home after her prior Trentham residence was lost to fire. 

The walk brochure records that: “It (No 69) was built for Donald McPherson and later given by then owner Patrick Murphy to the Catholic Church and enlarged for use as a convent.

Following the loss of Westacres, Dr Gwen’s beloved earlier Trentham home of 20 years (in a 1965 house fire) St Chads was the house that the people of Trentham quietly cleaned and thoughtfully filled with new household goods as a surprise for the town doctor on her move-in day.” 

Especially noting the contributions of historical society member, Sue Worthington who is currently overseas, Nat says the walk is a great way for people to learn about this larger-than-life character whose community involvement also extended to plenty of lively civic activities as well. 

“I think everybody should know about her,” Nat says. “She was a pretty amazing woman. If you mention the name Dr Gwen, even today, people just start telling you stuff.” 

But Nat reckons that if Dr Gwen was to look down from somewhere lofty above today she’d be a bit “flabbergasted” to see herself honoured in such a way. 

“She was one of those people who just gave and gave and gave and never expected anything in return.” 

Paddy H and I continue on to complete the walk, including the final resting place of Dr Gwen, a peaceful grave-site at the town’s cemetery. At rest also in the same plot are Ellabelle and Dr Gwen’s foster sister Dorothy Bethune. 

As the walk brochure notes: “All three graves face west to capture Trentham’s gorgeous bush sunsets.” 

With structural cracks clearly visible and many of its exquisite little features broken and decayed, the historic fountain in Queens Park, Clunes, is clearly in need of some significant TLC.

Responding to questions from The Local, the Hepburn Shire Council has, in recent days, confirmed that it intends to explore future funding opportunities “to achieve renewal works to the historic feature”.

Much to the concern of locals – and visitors – who appreciate and value unique heritage assets, the little 1880s fountain is visibly falling victim to time and weather.

The Local wanted to know what’s being planned to restore and renovate this much-loved aesthetic treasure before it crumbles and cracks much further. In an email responding to the questions Hepburn Shire Acting CEO Bruce Lucas said:

“The Queens Park fountain is a much-loved historic feature in the township of Clunes. Our Parks and Open Spaces team monitor the fountain and carry out water quality maintenance as required.

“The Queens Park Masterplan, that has established the long-term vision for the parklands, was formally adopted at the 19 March 2024 Council Meeting.

“The Masterplan identifies and addresses gaps in infrastructure requirements; improved accessibility and safety; and increase participation, visitation and reserve connection opportunities for the local community.

“One of the actions contained in the Masterplan is to ‘Refurbish the existing Queens Park Fountain and check for any damages, leaks or blockages, (and to) provide feature paving around the fountain which is consistent with the post-contact heritage aesthetic’.

“Delivering this action from the Masterplan is currently unfunded and would need to be considered with other Council priorities and attracting relevant external funding.

“Council has commenced implementation of the Masterplan actions through the installation of a shade structure over the Queens Park playspace. The project is co-funded by the Victorian Government’s Tiny Towns Grant Program and Council.

“Council will continue to explore future funding opportunities to achieve the renewal works to the Queens Park Fountain.”

Featuring a recurrent floral motif, the unique little fountain was built to celebrate Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee in 1887.

Words: Eve Lamb

with Eve Lamb

Clunes’ Christine Lethlean is renowned for her beautiful textile work and well known through her role as a textiles art tutor and regional  co-ordinator for the biennial Textile Palette exhibition held at Clunes’  Warehouse. But this talented 3D conceptual artist is equally at home working with media spanning print, sculpture, paint and lead to create  works that constantly push her own creative boundaries in a quest to elicit in others a desire to look more closely.  

Eve: Hi Christine, what are you working on there?  

Christine: This sculpture is a 3D depiction of my own hands. I’m using papier mache and I will paint it and then add a rust treatment so that it looks metallic.  

Eve: Once it’s completed will it be able to be displayed outdoors?  

Christine: Yes. It will be suitable for display outdoors. Right now I’m doing the undercoat. I’m aiming to capture all the imperfections of my own hands, things like wrinkles and sunspots.  

Over the past 22 months I have been creating work focusing on the ageing woman, body shape, and the concept of letting go of what was and moving into what is. Work I have produced as part of this project was exhibited in several different exhibitions last year including at the fortyfivedownstairs gallery in Melbourne and at Oxygen College in Ballarat, and I’m continuing with this  project.  

Eve: What sort of work has this ongoing project included so far?  

Christine: It has included making a full-scale cast of my own body, working  predominantly in papier-mache using layers and layers of tissue paper, but also  using electrical duct tape and plaster cast. It’s my first ever full-scale life-sized  sculpture.

It’s called How Did I Get Here? and it’s concerned with the issue of homelessness that’s impacting more and more middle-aged and older women in our community. My daughters, who are both creative, have helped me with this project by  taking photos of me because the work is based on my body.

The girls take the  photos of me and then I work it up. But I’m also working with textiles, painting – I prefer acrylics, printing, graphite and charcoal for drawing. All of what I use in my work is recycled.  

Eve: Do you have any special events or exhibitions coming up?  

Christine: Yes. I will have work in a show called Threaded that will be running for three weeks at Caelene Nee Glen Gallery in Brighton opening February 20. It runs to March 9.

I will probably have six or seven pieces in that, predominantly  textiles. It will involve four textile artists. Three of us are from regional Victoria and one is from Melbourne.

Eve: Do you have any preferred subject matter?  

Christine: Portraiture, landscape, even abstract. But I also do a lot of still-life.  Still-life but really moody…  

Eve: Have you ever worked in any other field?  

Christine: Yes. In a former life I was a health professional, a registered nurse. I was brought up on a farm in Western Australia’s eastern wheatbelt. We learned how  to make something out of nothing. I’ve always had an eye for aesthetics. I’m very  privileged now but I’ve had a difficult and challenging life.  

Eve: What area of nursing have you worked in?  

Christine: Aboriginal health, mental health, drugs and alcohol. I’ve learnt to walk with people.  

Eve: And you teach art as well don’t you?  

Christine: Yes, I teach people how to create a masterful art piece using textiles and  scraps. I have my studio here in Clunes where I teach on Mondays and Wednesdays,  and I also really like to regularly invite guest artists in for special workshops as well.  Every January I do printing classes – woodcut, linocut, monotype printing.  

But I also teach all over the place. This year I’ll be teaching in Melbourne, Ballan,  Broken Hill, Adelaide, Mildura, probably Geelong…  

I do like to teach. I think curiosity is a quality that is so underrated. When  something is giving you the shits you’ve got to get to a space where if something  hasn’t worked you just ask ‘well, what happens if I do that instead?’.  

I’m always working on projects that stress the shit out of me. But you’ve got to  make mistakes because it pushes you into new parameters.  

Clunes Quick Shear promises a day of hot competition in more ways than one.  

Staged at the town’s local showgrounds on Saturday, February 22, it draws gun  shearers from across the state and much  further afield, notably including Kiwi  shearers who share a fair bit of healthy  rivalry with the Aussies.  

And then there’s the Undie 500.  

“This year we’re introducing a few new things including a women’s-only shearing category and the females-only Undie 500,”  says Jenny Redpath, treasurer of the Clunes and District Young Farmers who run the annual fundraising event.  

“We’ve run the open Undie 500 for the past couple of years and we always get a few  girls who enter but this year we thought we’d also give a females-only Undie 500 a crack as  well, and put up the prize money for it.  

“So get your good jocks on and if we can get at least 10 girls we’ll run it. It only costs  $5 to enter.  

“It’ll be the same course over the (showgrounds) oval covering 500 metres with a few obstacles thrown in like hay bales to get over, and you’ve got to skull a glass of  water. It happens after the shearing sashes have been presented, on dusk.”

If that’s not enough to give you your fill of classic country entertainment for the day, there’ll also be a couple of live music acts set to hit the stage when the day’s competition is done and the winners’ spoils awarded.  

“We’ve got Billy Menhennet who was on Australian Idol and then we’ve also got the band No Plans on after him,” Jenny says.  

As to the (often blisteringly) quick shearing itself, competition categories include novice, intermediate and open divisions as well as this year’s newly added women’s and seniors’ (over 50s) divisions.  

Shearers race each other against the clock and are also judged on shear cleanliness – with qualifying heats culminating in a three-sheep shear off.  

“Because we’ve added a few new things we’ll be opening a bit earlier so we can get  cracking,” Jenny says.  

“We’ll be opening the gates from 11am and the shearing will get started from 12.

“The prize money is the main draw-card and the chance to win your section. The  open section winner gets a perpetual trophy and the Bushy Hill Memorial Shield.”  

Now in its ninth year, the Clunes Quick Shear regularly draws around 50 competing shearers including some noted top guns with last year’s reigning open category winner, Caleb Morgan, among those set to return again this year.  

“His blistering winning time last year was 24.22 seconds…unbelievably fast. It’s  pretty amazing watching them.”  

Over the years it’s been running the Clunes Quick Shear has raised plenty of  money for many good causes. Last year it raised $5873 for the Royal Flying Doctor  Service.  

This time the dollars raised will be going to benefit the region’s own Fiona Elsey Cancer Research Institute in Ballarat.  

The event is family friendly with entertainment available for the kids and onsite catering including food, coffee and bar. It’s a gold coin donation to get in the gate.  

Words: Eve Lamb | Image: Supplied    

The region’s farmers are hoping for a good autumn break with decent rainfall following a year of well below average rain.

An analysis of 2024 rainfall data from almost 200 Bureau of Meteorology weather stations right across Australia show that  Ballarat was Victoria’s  driest centre for the past year, having received 442mm – or equivalent to just 64 percent of its annual average.

The BOM’s data analysis shows that the next driest centre for the past year was Stawell (339mm or 72 percent of its annual average) and then Horsham (266 or 73 percent of its annual average).

Local farmers like John Drife, whose family has been farming for many generations at Glendaruel, just south west of Clunes, says last year’s lower than average rainfall significantly impacted the amount of hay that was cut and baled on his property.

However, it was a mixed bag with some good outcomes with his grain crops of canola and wheat – both of which served to compensate John, and quite a few of the region’s farmers, for the lower-than-average hay yield.

“We were short on rainfall right through spring so our hay paddocks  produced about a quarter to a third of what they should produce – about two rolls to the acre when it should have been about six to the acre,” John says.

With his down-on-average hay yield now shedded, John’s been busy in recent days getting the last of his large round straw bales, made from the season’s wheat  stalks (remaining after the wheat grain has been harvested from them), out of the paddocks.

“It’s been a pretty evaporative summer so far,” he says.

“We’re feeding stock at the moment every day and we don’t normally start until February.

“We are looking for a good autumn break (with rainfall) in early April.”

Clunes farmer Malcolm Hull says the availability of on-farm water is  now becoming a real issue especially for local farmers who rely solely on  dams.  

“The dams are very low now. Water is the issue.”  

Malcolm says his barley crop of 2024 was saved “by the skin of the  teeth” by rainfall that arrived in late October-early November.  

“I’ve kept some grain back still sitting in the silo knowing we will more  than likely need this before the autumn break,” he says.  

“The stock are nibbling their way through hay very quickly and I suspect  we will have to buy some in. We didn’t have such a great spring and now with this hot dry summer the stock are cleaning the paddocks out.”  

A little to the east, Ullina farmer Tim Barry is planning to start dry sowing up to 900 acres of grain crops once again, from April.

“There is no real subsoil moisture at the moment so we will need good  autumn rain to get up and growing,” Tim says.  

“We will dry sow starting about April 14 with canola, and then we’ll sow  wheat in early May. We’ll also be looking at sowing some oats as well which  are milled locally at UniGrain at Smeaton.  

“Last year the last rain was the difference between a terrible year and a reasonable one. Our cereal hay was still quite good but grass hay was nearly non-existent.”  

Words” Eve Lamb  

Clunes locals are keen to form a new group to ensure the community gets good ongoing benefits from the 330 megawatt Nyaninyuk windfarm proposed for just west of the township.  

Acciona is looking to establish the wind farm between Evansford, Clunes and Waubra, on the western side of Mount Beckworth with the proposal now in the  planning and approvals phase.  

The proposed development is valued at $700 million and projected to generate enough energy to power the equivalent of 210,000 households with the Western Renewables Link power conduit route proposed to pass just south of Clunes.  

In recent days Clunes community members, farmers and council representatives  were among those who met to discuss the proposed development and ways to ensure  the community and landholders can broker the best impact compensation deals.  

One of the meeting’s several co-convenors, Malcom Hull says general consensus  emerging from the meeting is around the need to form and formalise a group to advocate on behalf of the community and to negotiate with the wind farm’s  developers to ensure the community receives ongoing benefits.  

“It’s coming and it was started back in John Howard’s day. This isn’t about being  pro or anti wind farm. It’s about making sure the community doesn’t get dudded,”  Mr Hull said.  

He points to impact compensation deals that other communities have negotiated  from the establishment of renewable energy projects in their area, as examples of what  can be achieved.

“Waubra is getting $90,000 a year for the community,” Mr Hull said.  

“Rokewood is getting $230,000 a year and every person who lives in Rokewood  (and was living there before the windfarm was established) is getting their power bill  paid for the next 25 years.  

“We need to formalise an entity that can argue on behalf of the community and  it’s up to the community to put thoughts forward as to how money could be spent –  maybe a community battery, maybe electric vehicle charger points, maybe money for  the CFA …”  

David Lawrance of Farm Gate Renewables was among those who attended and  spoke at this month’s community meeting.  

Mr Lawrance says communities, including landholders, are doing “the heavy  lifting” in the clean energy transition and need to be fairly compensated. But he  says that if communities like Clunes don’t pro-actively stand together then they risk  missing out on getting fair compensation.  

“You have a voice in this. You shouldn’t be a silent victim,” Mr Lawrance says.  

Farm Gate Renewables operates on a commercial basis, providing consultancy  and advocacy to negotiate better ongoing deals for impacted farmers and landholders.  But it also works on a pro bono basis to help communities that are impacted by  developments to get the best outcomes they can in terms of fair compensation.  

Mr Lawrance says providing legal advice on possible different structures that an  effective community advocacy group may be able to adopt is one way that Farm Gate  Renewables can assist communities like Clunes.  

From here, Mr Hull and fellow co-convenors like Dr Tess Brady, say locals who  are interested in being part of the proposed community advocacy group should attend  the regular Sunday evening community drinks gatherings that take place at Attitude  Clunes.  

“If people have got skills, legal skills for example, or any other skills or ideas, we’d  be more than happy to hear from them,” Mr Hull said.  

Dr Brady says the ongoing Sunday evening community drinks gatherings at  Attitude Clunes happen from 5pm (daylight saving hours) with all welcome to  attend.  

“We are looking closely at other cases, other communities and the kinds of  compensation they’ve had,” Dr Brady says.  

“It’s pro community and how can we turn this thing into something positive for  us. The main aim is to avoid contention and find consensus.  

“The big picture here is a redistribution of wealth into the regions. If you add up  the amount of compensation around, it’s big dollars.”  Words: Eve Lamb | Image: File   

‘Standing room only’ is the way a meeting held in Creswick this month to  discuss local concerns about crime – and try to find solutions – has been described.  

An estimated 130 to 150 local residents gathered at the town’s senior citizens rooms and met with police after a perceived rise in crime in the town has left many  residents deeply concerned and fed up.  

Social media posts had triggered a community discussion about crime, with  residents sharing phone and CCTV footage of individuals in the act of casing parked cars after dark and hooning around the town.

Police say the stats show the area’s crime rate has actually decreased since 2016-17,  many locals say they’re extremely fed up with what they’re seeing.  

Theft of private and public property – ranging from cars to copper piping and  even water meters – property damage, and burglary of local businesses are among the many recent complaints from the wider Creswick-Clunes area.  

In an effort to help tackle the issue, Hepburn shire mayor and Creswick local Cr Don Henderson convened this month’s public meeting, with local police and Member for Ripon Martha Haylett attending.

Cr Henderson says the meeting was constructive, allowing locals a chance to voice their concerns and experiences.

He says the formation of a taskforce bringing together  police, local government and support services, is now a priority.  

“It was positive. It highlighted to police and to Martha that we want something  done,” Cr Henderson said.

“A taskforce needs to be set up and people want it to happen reasonably quickly.  

“We need to tackle it as a community. There are a lot of families that are very  financially stressed, a lot of desperation, a lot of drug issues and a lot of mental health  issues.  

“We want to provide a safety net for people who genuinely need help. The idea of a taskforce is not just to catch the crooks but also to provide some answers to the  social problems.”  

Cr Henderson also believes the meeting resulted in residents gaining useful insights into how policing in Creswick and across the wider region operates, increasing community confidence around reporting crime, and about their ability to  obtain police attendance if required, at any hour.  

Creswick’s Acting Sergeant Marley Mookhoek, who attended, also rates the  meeting as positive.

He said that while the town’s station operates on 16-hour shift rosters, the community does have police coverage 24 hours a day.  

“A main concern of the community was that we are not a 24-hour station but  we do have 24-hour coverage in this area. We have units from Ballarat and Bacchus  Marsh patrolling this area.  

“Right now we’ve got six members (stationed at Creswick) which I believe is the most this station has ever had – and another one is gazetted.  

“I think that the meeting was great for the community to have a talk about what  they want to have addressed – a bigger emphasis on hoon behaviour and a bigger  emphasis on opportunistic crime.”

Acting Inspector Mookhoek said a weekend State Highway Patrol road blitz in the area had immediately followed the meeting and recorded strong results.  

“As a result of the operation two motorists were caught driving under the  influence of drugs, one drink driver was charged, three lost their licences due to excess speed, and we also impounded a car in Creswick yesterday (last Wednesday, January  22).  

“That vehicle was unregistered and was being driven by a 17-year-old driver who was unlicenced. And that State Highway Patrol operation is ongoing.”  

Acting Sergeant Mookhoek said much of the crime that has been occurring  locally is opportunistic, involving properties or cars that have been left unlocked.

He  urged locals to ensure they lock their houses, garages and cars.  “Most of the offences that are getting reported to us are opportunistic thefts.  

Seven out of 10 burglaries in Creswick involve houses being unlocked.  “I just want the community to know that we are here and very enthusiastic about  doing the best we can in helping the community.”

Ripon MP Martha Haylett, who attended the meeting, says she has raised the  issue with Police Minister Anthony Carbines.  

“A lot of great ideas were shared about how we can better address crime locally,” Ms Haylett said in a social media post following the meeting.  

“I have invited the Police Minister to visit and talk through options, and will keep  the community updated on next steps.  “Any victim of crime is one too many and our community deserves to feel safe.”  

Words & image: Eve Lamb  

with Eve Lamb

The Three Lost Children Walk. Daylesford-Musk Creek 15 km (Part A)

The first day of 2025 dawns sunny and mild, temperature in the mid-20s with a promise to reach no more than 28 degrees. Ideal bushwalking. Too good to pass up.

I check in with my trusty walking companion, Paddy H, and we decide it’s more than time to tackle the famed Three Lost Children Walk. This bushland walk covers 15 km starting in Daylesford, taking in part of Hepburn Regional Park and part of the Wombat State Forest. It ends at Wombat Creek Picnic Area near Musk.

It commemorates the tragic tale from Daylesford’s gold-rush era when three small boys (William Graham,6, his brother Thomas, 4, and Alfred Burman, 5) wandered away from their homes in Daylesford on June 30, 1867.

Sadly, despite a massive search after it became clear they were missing, they were not found alive. No trace was found until September 13, 1867 when a dog came home to Wheelers Hill, 10 km south-east of Daylesford, carrying a small boot that reportedly contained a small foot.

The following day the children’s little bodies were finally found. Two of them in a hollow tree and the other close by. The Three Lost Children Walk follows the approximate route the poor little fellas walked.

You can’t really write a bushwalking series centred in the Central Highlands and not include this walk, with its tragic tale tracing the doomed trek of these three intrepid  little tackers.

You can pick up a good guide description of the walk, complete with map, from the Daylesford Visitor Info centre. I’ve been holding onto my copy for all of 2024.  I’m also equipped with my good old copy of ‘Walks, Tracks & Trails of Victoria’ (by Derrick Stone) which includes this walk, while Paddy H has the relevant one of his many beloved topographical maps.

To get 2025 off and striding, we’re going to tackle roughly half the walk. We’ll come back again, another day, and complete the entire walk for this series. Today, first up we plant my car at our designated stop point of Hogans Lane, Musk Vale, and then drive Paddy H’s car  to the walk start point.

The start point is the cairn in the Lost Children Reserve at the junction of Central Springs Road and the Midland Highway. We set out from the top corner of the Reserve, heading south along Table Hill Road then straight ahead down Forest View Lane.

The track becomes a sharp descent and we notice the dedicated Lost Children Walk trail markers.  These feature a little stylized emblem representing the three small unfortunate adventurers.

We cross a footbridge over the Wombat Creek. A jogger, impatient in his bright tangerine running shoes, rushes past and tackles the rugged short flight of steps that we also must take, upwards, on the other side.

It’s pretty straightforward going now, just carefully following the walk guide description, maps, and dedicated trail markers. But just ahead, a point of potential confusion arises when, wending our way toward Sailors Creek, we reach a bush-land point where a medley of different  dirt tracks interconnect and ping off in multiple different directions.

The trick is simply to keep calm and continue,  basically following the path you’re already on as the gully naturally slopes down toward Sailors Creek. We reach the creek and turn sharp left as soon as we cross it, then remain on a very short little section of the trail for about 200 metres as it curves around to connect with Black Jack Track.

Here we turn left onto Black Jack Track which we will now follow for a couple of ks through Hepburn Regional Park.

The eucalypt bushland is tall and deliciously fragrant. I breathe in its spicy, inimitable  aroma and then notice that someone has painted the word ‘Bees’ and an arrow pointing up, in yellow paint on a tree trunk to our left.

“Is it because we’re s’pose to be concerned we’re going to get stung  … or to enjoy them?” wonders Paddy H who maintains a couple of backyard bee hives.

The bushland is beautiful but also fairly rugged going, and you’ve really got to admire – and wonder at – how those three small gold-rush era trekkers and their little legs ever managed to get such a distance.

Peering  down at my own boots moving along on the track I see that two-legged pedestrians are not the only ones who’ve been navigating this path. There are horse hoof prints here too, etched in the sandy surface.

A bit further on, the source becomes evident when Paddy H spots, not a horse and rider, but …

“Look it’s a horse and sulky,” he says.

“What?”

Within seconds we’re meeting Glenn Conroy, a noted local harness racehorse trainer who trains in partnership with his sister, Anne-Maree Conroy.

 “I use the bush lane every day,” Glenn says as the handsome bay horse in harness, takes a bushland breather.

“You must see some interesting things,” I venture.

 “Yes. I see lots of people doing all sorts of things, walking, jogging, prospecting…” Glenn says, maintaining a steady grip on the harness reins as the powerful bay shifts about a bit.

“What’s your horse’s name?”

“When he’s in the stable he’s known as Smith, but he’s also more officially known as I’maboganboy,” chuckles Glenn.

The attractive bay seems fairly civilized for a bogan,  I think. But we don’t want to delay them any further and in the whisk of a tail they’re off again heading further along the track.

Up ahead, the track climbs a gentle rise and here we encounter three bushwalkers, a middle-aged woman, older teenage boy and a teenage girl, whose serious-sized backpacks all lay heavily on the ground as their owners take a break.

Paddy H gets chatting and as a result we soon discover that they are: A. from Melbourne. B. plan to camp, and C. don’t know that the track we’re all on is part of the Three Lost Children Walk, or the story behind the name.

As Paddy H takes it upon himself to give them a brief tragic history lesson, I re-read the description for this section of the trail and see that up ahead we’ll soon, again, cross Sailors Creek.

By the time we’ve put a good bit more trail under our boot tread, crossed the creek and pushed hard up a gnarly little hill, admiring a gorgeous small pond on our left, to finally re-emerge from the bush in lifestyle-property-land at Hogans Lane, Musk Vale, we’re more than a tad happy to call it a day and sink into my awaiting car seats.

Is it the good life we’ve been living over the festive break catching up with us we wonder, as I simultaneously try not to get too upset thinking about those poor little lost chumpers. And I’m not even the clucky sort. Yet, later tonight when the lights go out, I will again find myself thinking of how terribly cold they would have been that frosty June long ago in the Central Highlands.

As we head for home we, by contrast, are sweating and looking forward to a summer salad dinner to round out our day on what has been a fairly ideal start to 2025.

Walk to be continued…

A huge diversity of multicultural music and acts have been announced for this year’s CresFest that’s set to transform the township of Creswick over three days in early April. 

Headliners for the award-winning folk and roots festival happening April 4-6, range from Neil Murray, The Maes and Queenslands’ Joe Geia to Grace Barbe from the Seychelles, Grassy Strings from India and Kofi Kunkpe bringing West African grooves to the mix.

Festival co-directors Judy Turner and Stella Savy say that alongside the many featured concerts, festival-goers will also get the chance to participate in a packed program of workshops.

“Local players will be invited to perform with visiting professionals, in an inspirational two-way collaboration,” Turner says ahead of the multicultural  music feast.

Just before Christmas, the festival secured a $17,000 grant from Festivals Australia.

Festival co-director Stella Savy says the grant will enable a program of music to be taken into each of Creswick’s three primary schools in the lead-up to staging a featured African Extravaganza as part of the festival.

It means local students will be able to learn repertoire with guest artist Ghana’s Kofi Kunkpe and Savy, herself a renown music teacher.

They will then be able to perform, participating in the African Extravaganza set for Saturday afternoon of the festival.

A coming together of cultures, it will also involve local choirs and the Creswick drumming circle as well as the featured African musicians and will “take over the street” Savy says in anticipation.

“We’ve got an incredible line-up of first nations and overseas artists. It’s so exciting.”

Encouraging people to check out the the festival website, Savy says another particularly pleasing aspect is the sizeable component of free community offerings and workshops, with the focus on participation.

In the countdown to the event, Turner says they’re now keen to hear from Creswick locals who may be able to host a muso – or even a group of performers.

She says hosting a performer or group promises to make for a rewarding experience.

It’s a chance to hear the music up close – “getting to understand more of the musician’s life and, of course, getting a free weekend pass for the festival in return for each artist hosted”.  

Ideally host houses will be situated within 5km of the Creswick Town Hall with those interested to know more able to check out the festival’s website and click on ‘get involved’.

And in a new initiative, the visually-minded will have a chance to win an attractive prize by capturing photographic images from the colourful annual event.

Turner says they’re introducing the new competition with festival-goers invited to enter up to three images capturing the festival vibe.

By entering their three top images they’ll be competing to win two day passes or one weekend pass to CresFest 2026. 

“We will be looking for funny, quirky, soulful, heart warming pics we can use in our reporting to partners and in marketing future festivals,” Turner says.

“All good quality images will be considered by a panel of local judges. Phone cameras of course accepted.”

Full conditions and details for the debut photo comp will be announced in early March.

Tickets to CresFest are on sale through the festival website at https://cresfest.com.au/.

Words: Eve Lamb. Images: Supplied