Vic Branch: Launch of Goronga Garden History Booklet and visit to Nobelius Heritage Park and Museum

Join us for a self-drive day trip to the foothills of the Dandenong Ranges where the highlight will be the launch of Tim Gatehouse’s latest garden history booklet about Goronga, a c19th hill station property.

We will meet at the Nobelius Heritage Park, Emerald, where Barrie Gallacher, landscape architect, will lead a walk through this remnant site of the once vast Nobelius Nurseries developed in the late 1880s.  As one of Australia’s foremost plant nurseries, the site still contains many significant trees, commemorative plantings and the well-known packing shed adjacent to the Puffing Billy Railway siding. We will have morning tea in the Emerald Museum, located in the park, where guides will be available to explain the collection of nursery records, photos and horticultural implements and other local history items.

We then drive 20 minutes to Goronga, Packenham Upper, for a BYO lunch (tea and coffee provided) and the launch of the Goronga Booklet. This C19th hill station is remarkable for its old garden, huge oaks and other significant trees.  Still a grazing property owned by descendants from the original owners, small groups will be able to view the inside of the house built in the early 1900s. John Hawker and Barrie Gallacher will be available to answer questions about the gardens.

Cost: members $35,  non-members $45.

Further event details: view Nobelius and Goronga event flyer.

Book: at Trybooking

Self-drive: Meet 9.45am for 10 am sharp outside the Emerald Museum located in the Nobelius Heritage Park, 5 Crichton Rd, Emerald. (Parking and toilets available).

Directions will be given to Goronga, a 20-minute drive away, where we will have a BYO lunch.

 Includes: Morning tea, Museum entrance, guided walks, tea/coffee at lunch and a printed copy of Goronga booklet (note: a pdf copy will be sent to participants prior to the day so it can be read beforehand, and a hard copy distributed on the day).

BYO:  Lunch, folding chair, strong shoes, water, mask, sanitiser.

NOTE: THERE IS A LOT OF UNEVEN GROUND SO MEMBERS MUST BE CAPABLE AND PREPARED FOR THIS.