New Norcia

Day 67 - New Norcia

New Norcia

Tuesday, 26 March 2013
Woke up in the middle of the night to heavy rain. In the morning Tuka's bowls full of water. Good thing he slept in the van that night. After breakfast we went for a walk in the eucalypt foest nearby. I found out later the Benedictine Community owns 20,000ha of land of which one third is bush - so plenty of land for walking. The town is entirely owned by the Benedictine Community. It was originally started as a mission in 1846 by two Spanish Benedictine monks.

Then went down to the Roadhouse and bought a loaf of the New Norcia Old Stone Mill bread. The bread was baked at the Monastery last night. Had a slice for morning tea - very good.

At 10am went the Visitor's Centre, Museum and Art Gallery and bought tickets for the Town Tour and Museum. Took Tuka for another walk and then came back to the Centre at 10.50 for the Tour. The Town Tour took two hours and a pleasant, friendly and knowledgeable guide told our group the history of New Norcia. Tour also provides access to locked buildings that are closed to the public. In St. Gertrudes College we joined a school group and were lectured by one of the monks. New Norcia is made up of 63 buildings of which 27 are listed by the National Trust so there is plenty to see.

In the afternoon I looked through the Museum & Art Gallery. It contains paintings by Spanish and Italian masters, gifts from the Queen of Spain, artefacts that span the life of the settlement, a history of St. Joseph's Aboriginal Girl's Orphanage (the original use for the Museum & Art Gallery) and a collections of botanical drawings by Charles Gardner, WA's Government Botanist from 1928 to 1962.

I took Tuka for a walk and then we went to the hotel a couple of glasses of Abbey Ale while I talked to a Wollongong couple travelling with a caravan anti-clockwise around Australia. Tuka and I then camped near the river along with a few other caravans and motorhomes.

	A clipped Tuka [Map]		The front of the Monastery [Map]
	Looking towards the Abbot's rsidence in the Monast [Map]		The back of the Monastery [Map]
	Abbey Church [Map]		The New Norcia Flour Mill and a well [Map]
	Inside the Flour Mill [Map]		Paintings showing the Aboriginal seasons [Map]
	St. Gertrude's College [Map]		New Norcia Hotel [Map]

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