The little township of Collector NSW just off the Federal Hwy is one of those places you might easily drive past on your way to somewhere else. The historic town of Goulburn is 25 minutes back up the highway and the Australian capital, Canberra 45 minutes further south. Yep, when it comes to attracting visitors, Collector has some stiff competition in the region. But this little spot punches above its weight when it comes to quirkiness and a wonderful sense of community. Here’s five good reasons to call in at Collector.
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1. The Pumpkin Festival
This was the annual event which brought Collector to our attention. We were unable to resist the quirky allure of this festival – and judging by the huge crowds that were there in 2016, we weren’t the only ones who felt like that! Collector Village Pumpkin Festival is held on the first Sunday in May each year (this year on Sunday, May 7). It’s said to be the largest community event in the region, and celebrates everything pumpkin and all things rural. The whole shebang is run by locals and the profits go to the community. On the day we were there, the weather was less than ideal – a bit wet and windy – but pumpkin festival fans streamed into town regardless. It must be quite a pumpkin frenzy when the weather is fine.
When we say this festival is a celebration of all things pumpkin, we’re not exaggerating. It’s amazing the things you can do with pumpkin: Grow them to enormous size and see who’s got the biggest. Roll them down a slope or race them around in a wheelbarrow. Use them for heads in a scarecrow building competition. Bake them into delicious scones. The CWA ladies were run off their feet in the hall serving them up warm with a cup of tea.
We even saw a sign for pumpkin flavoured icecream but just didn’t get around to trying it. There were giant piles of pumkins for sale and many a visitor walking about with a pumpkin under their arm. There must be a veritable ocean of soup and pumpkin based delights whipped up in the weeks following the festival. Throw in a rock climbing wall, coach rides, food, coffee and market stalls, a hay bale maze, vintage cars and exhibitions and you’ve got a fun day out all sorted.
2. Wine and Food
Some Cafe
For such a little place, Collector has some interesting eateries. Our first stop for a pre-festival breakfast was Some Cafe which is located in a charming old building in Murray Street. The building has been renovated to give just the right blend of country charm and modern cafe culture. It’s a lovely space. On the day we were there – Some Cafe was fully committed to the township’s pumpkin festival theme so a lot on the menu had that flavour. But their general approach is simple – home made country fare featuring locally grown produce when possible. Ingredients from the kitchen garden and eggs from their own chook run are also featured.
The Bushranger Hotel
The Historic Bushranger Hotel is a must while you’re in Collector – not least of all for it’s history – which is covered below. Known fondly as “The Bushy” You can expect solid pub food – burgers, steaks, schnitzel, chicken parmi and the like washed down with cold beer in an amazing old building. Live music frequently in the beer garden too. If you’re there for the pumpkin festival – you can be certain there’ll be something on the menu featuring pumpkin!
Collector Wines
Collector Wines is a small concern producing table wines made from grapes from the Canberra region. Their cellar door is located right next to Some Cafe in the same 1829 building. On the day of the Pumpkin Festival last year, we popped in to check it out. Never mind that the sun was not yet over the yard arm, we tasted a few varieties in front of the crackling open fire and left happy with a bottle of their 2013 Reserve Shiraz for later.
3. The History
Collector has a long history – beginning with Gundungurra/Ngunawal Aboriginal people from whose language the name of the township is thought to derive. The town was surveyed in 1859 and the Anglican Church built in the same year. By 1861 the the Commercial Hotel was up and running – now known as The Bushranger Hotel. Some of these early buildings remain: St Bartholomew’s Catholic Church (c. 1861); All Saints Anglican Church (1859); Mill Hill where, in 1820, Governor Macquarie first viewed nearby Lake George; the Bushranger Hotel (1860) and the General Store, once a hotel which dates from 1841. There’s a big map near Some Cafe which tells you where to find the key historic sites.
4. The Bushranger Hotel
If ever there was an aptly named hotel – this is it. By far the most interesting and sad part of Collector’s history is the infamous shooting of the local police constable Samuel Nelson by bushrangers Ben Hall, Johnny Dunn and John Gilbert in 1865 and carried out by Dunn. Hall and his gang held up the publican of what was then called the Kimberley Hotel.
On their way into town the gang had fired at a horseman which attracted the attention of the town’s policeman Samuel Nelson, 38, a father of eight. Although urged to wait for reinforcements, Nelson put on his uniform and went up the street to investigate.
He was accompanied by at least one of his sons. John Dunn was outside on guard while the rest of the gang robbed the hotel. When confronted by the constable he shot him twice. Depending which account you read, the unfortunate policeman died in the arms of his son, or alternatively was carried into the hotel and laid on a couch where he died. Ben Hall was ambushed and shot dead by police in May 1865. Dunn was captured, tried and sentenced and hung in January 1966. Gilbert was also shot by police.
A memorial to the police officer is next to the pub and his grave is in the local cemetery.
5. Dreamer’s Gate sculpture
If it’s your first visit to Collector you’ll propbably be as suprised and amazed as we were by this very large sculpture just across the road from the Bushy. It’s big. It’s weird. It looks like a section of a set from Lord of the Rings. This controversial sculpture is called Dreamers Gate and was created by Tony Phantastes between 1993 and 1997. It’s 7m high and 26m long and made of cement and chicken wire. The Department of Environment describes the sculpture thus:
“An essential part of the Collector pastoral landscape. The work provides a narrative document of the history of Australian land-use practices told through the story of the life and death of one man.The work acts as both a frame of and as part of the landscape intrinsically tied to its location. It is a unique world view rising up out of the land and inseparable from that place. Dreamers Gate is unique in the process used in its design and the method and materials adapted from outside the art realm. It is not art for arts sake but art of passion and emotion and available for all.”
Yes, well, be all that is it may, it’s a hell of a thing. What makes it controversial you ask? In 1999 Gunning Shire Council deemed the work structurally unstable, fined the artist and ordered him to “stop work”. It was never finished. The piece has been scheduled for demolition for years, but as it is still standing, we assume nobody really has the stomach for destroying it. Having a close look at it, however, it’s showing signs of rust and deterioration and may now actually be structurally unstable if it wasn’t before.
