We always enjoy visiting the Margaret Olley Art Centre at Murwillumbah, and this display was equally enthralling. She painted in many different styles, but was best known for her still lifes and portraits.
A wet Wednesday this week had us heading indoors for a bit of cultural exploration. After a coffee to warm us up at the State Library, we were treated to a private tour by a friend of Jenny's who works there. It was really interesting getting some inside information and an explanation of the various sections of the library. We finished with a tour of the a current exhibition called Home: a suburban obsession. It consists of an immersive virtual reality streetscape, art installations, stories and rarely-seen photographs through Frank and Eunice Corley’s work During the 1960s and 70s, they roamed the suburbs photographing houses in South-East Queensland. It was then a short hike over to GOMA to join a guided tour of the Margaret Olley exhibition, which profiles a life that was immersed in art – her own and those she supported. Olley is a much-loved Australian artist, who spent a formative part of her career in Brisbane. She exerted a lasting impact on many artists as a mentor and friend and was also a muse for artists including William Dobell and Jeffrey Smart. We always enjoy visiting the Margaret Olley Art Centre at Murwillumbah, and this display was equally enthralling. She painted in many different styles, but was best known for her still lifes and portraits. Appreciating art works up an appetite, so a walk across the river took us to the Casino, where we dined on this month's special - lamb shanks. Paired with a glass of red and followed by sticky date pudding, we had a perfect, wet weather, heart warming meal.
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White Rock is one of our favourite walks, and it always looks spectacular under a blue sunny sky. We are becoming used to early morning starts and picnic breakfasts, so we chased the late setting full moon to Spring Mountain Conservation Park and dined on one of the many picnic tables there. Walking trails vary in length and difficulty. We chose the six kilometre circuit which is a relatively easy walk on a wide well-cleared track. Some parts needed a little rock scrambling as we chose to climb and follow a ridge that gave us excellent views of the surrounding countryside with the skyscrapers of Brisbane looming in the distance. It is now well signposted thank goodness, as we have been known to get a little lost in the past. In fact one of our group (not mentioning any names) once turned the two hour walk into a five hour one because she was lost. Part one of our day successfully fulfilled our hunger for food and hiking, but the day was yet young, so we headed into Ipswich to explore the landscape through art. Arthur Boyd (1920–1999) is considered one of Australia’s most significant modern artists and the Ipswich Art Gallery's exhibition "Landscape of the Soul" is open until 18 August. We spent a bit of time wandering here before ending the morning with a delicious Indian banquet and a fine glass of wine. All in all, another great day of retirement.
We have hiked this section of the Brisbane Valley Rail Trail before, but it is a great one to revisit under winter sunshine. We set off very early to begin with a breakfast fit for a king in the park near the old Lowood train station. Leanne never disappoints with her picnic breakfasts and this one was spectacular. Much of the trail near Lowood is near the Brisbane River and features beautiful views of the river. Some sections of the trail pass through railway cuttings stabilised with dry-stone pitch rock and brick walling, but then it runs through lovely farm lands of the Brisbane River Valley. The trail itself is mostly gravel and the 8.5 kilometres to Fernvale was easy walking. We had to forgo a local pie from the famous Fernvale bakery as we were still quite full from breakfast. (I know ... I hear you saying that is hard to believe, but it's true.) We rested our feet and sipped a coffee at the bakery instead. Then it was back on the track again. The original railway line through the Brisbane Valley was built during the early years of last century to transport supplies to the growing number of small farms in the Valley, and to transport milk products, timber and stock to Brisbane markets. The last rail motor service on the line was in 1989 and the railway line was finally closed later that year. We look forward to completing more sections of this trail in the future.
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