The Gathering of the Gnomes

  Never have I seen such an unusual sight.

A huge gathering of gnomes. Yes the common garden gnome, sometimes ridiculed, sometimes loved, but here they all congregated in their thousands.

They have come, one assumes with human assistance, from all over Australia and even from New Zealand and other parts of the world. I noticed Germany, Holland, Canada, Ireland.

They are a magnet for tourists and in summer busloads descend on this tiny corner of the Ferguson Valley,  just down the road from Donnybrook. Glades full of playful, naughty and sentimental Gnomes climbing logs, hanging out in trees, playing cricket, even flying planes! The parking is very limited and surprisingly there is no tourist shop to tempt you to buy memorabilia, not even a toilet… Just the gnomes…

These gnomes are waiting on the side of the road to greet you, in the background is the small area of parking along the road.

They disappear into the distance, almost a kilometre into the bush.

They squat on the tree stumps

These gnomes have grouped together to form a choir

Can you spot Jack?

There he is….

So how, and why have all these gnomes congregated here?

It all started in 1995 when the council decided to alter the road and put in a round-about. Next day a gnome appeared in protest to the alterations, no one knew were he came from. As in the legend, it wasn’t long before other gnomes joined in this silent protest. 

Visitors seem to love the opportunity to leave a part of themselves in this idyllic, rural wonderland. I followed along as Emma and Gino searched for a safe place to settle their 2 gnomes into the community.

Gino decides the opposite bank is not so crowded and will be a good position.

Hesitantly Emma follows, with a helping hand from Gino’s Mother. The resident gnomes urge them on.

This looks like the perfect spot.

I’m sure it won’t be long before they are joined and so the community will grow

And so the legend lives on…