Rebuilding in Marysville
The
town is still rebuilding after the Black Saturday fires almost five years
ago. The mood seemed sombre, and Sunday
nights had been so quiet no restaurants bothered opening. We could get pizza for dinner but only before
5.30pm. Otherwise we could drive to either the Black Spur or Buxton Inns. We opted for the historic Black Spur Inn.
A friendly local in Marysville
Before
dinner, we made two stops. First was
Bruno’s Sculpture Garden – a testament to the resilience of humans and
nature. Bruno had remarkable stories to
tell about the displays in the gallery that survived (or partially survived)
the fire. My favourite was the
still-torn painting hanging on the wall.
Bruno had saved some of his paintings by putting them in the kiln, a few
more he loaded into his car. When he
stopped to rescue a dog, the dog jumped straight on the painting, tearing the
canvas. Art tells a story and the ripped
canvas is now part of the story; as is each lovingly restored piece of
terracotta in the garden.
This restored hand-fountain was broken off at the wrist during the Black Saturday fires.
Next
we visited Steavenson Falls, one of the highest waterfalls in Victoria.
Majestic Steavenson Falls
The
next day, before driving over to Buxton, we wound up the track to Keppel Lookout. It must have been 2 degrees up there. I told the family to stop looking cold while
I took a photo, but it was a feat they couldn’t achieve. The view over Marysville was breathtaking,
in-spite of the cold (and probably because of it too).
View of Marysville from Keppel Lookout
A
picturesque drive brought us to Buxton and the trout farm where the kids caught
three whoppers. The kids were curious to
watch the man gut and scale the fish, so he called them over to take a closer
look. He showed them the innards,
pointed out the stomach and the spleen, then showed them the still-beating
heart – ewwww!
Lunch!
It
was a little early for lunch (and we were still full from breakfast at the
bakery in Marysville), so we took the kids to the park for a play. I wandered around the nature trail along the
river, enjoying the peace of listening to the water gurgle by.
Steavenson River at Buxton
The
Buxton Inn cooked up our trout for lunch, thankfully serving it with only a
handful of chips and a salad. We somehow
managed to devour all three fish – yum – before heading home.
The
best bit of Marysville: Bruno and his
indefatigable spirit in rebuilding, restoring and regenerating all that was
broken and burned. His garden is a
celebration of survival.
