Cup Fever in Wagga Wagga

There is something about country race meetings – they retain all the colour, glamour and excitement of the major metropolitan carnivals but their economic importance to regional centres is not widely appreciated. There are always great historical links and many of our great Australian sprinters and stayers started their careers at tiny country or regional race meets – such is the ongoing importance of country racing to the multi-million dollar racing industry.

While country racing has been the victim of amalgamations and many smaller centres have lost their much loved race meets, major country centres have been able to maintain and enhance their annual race carnivals and continue to draw much needed tourism dollars to their regions. Places like Birdsville in Queensland’s outback, the Parkes Picnic Races and Esk in Queensland’s Brisbane Valley spring to mind as race destinations that swell the local population from a mere handful of locals to many thousands of visitors.

New South Wales has many similar regional race carnivals and amongst the very best of the annual country race carnivals is the Wagga Wagga Gold Cup. Held on the first Friday in May each year, this prestigious country carnival, held over two days with the culmination being the running of the Gold Cup on the Friday, attracts more than 18,000 visitors to the already vibrant and charming inland city of Wagga Wagga.

Wagga Wagga is a strategically important inland city particularly for defence, education, agriculture and manufacturing. It is a prosperous city of some 63,000 people nestled on the banks of the mighty Murrumbidgee River in the heart of the Riverina district. Wagga Wagga or Wagga as it is affectionally referred to by locals, is well serviced by road, rail and air transport and is the largest inland city in New South Wales. The city is situated on the Sturt Highway and is virtually midway between Sydney and Melbourne.

Surprisingly, despite its location, it is just four hours to the New South Wales south coast by road, an hour and 20 minutes to the border cities of Albury and Wodonga, two hours to the snow fields and just four and a half hours along the Sturt Highway to Sydney. It is a similar distance and driving time to Melbourne and two and a half hours to the national capital.

What may come as a surprise is that at one stage during negotiations between the states leading to Federation, Wagga Wagga was cited as a possible national capital. The area was first discovered by Captain Charles Sturt in 1829 and just 20 years later, Wagga Wagga was proclaimed a town. Wagga Wagga was proclaimed a city just after the war in 1946.

Both Qantas and Rex Airlines fly regular daily services from Sydney while Rex fly from Melbourne to the council operated Wagga Wagga airport – a modern regional airport located around 20 minutes from the centre of town. Not surprisingly given its strategic location and importance as a regional centre, the Wagga Wagga airstrip underwent a major upgrade in 2010.

In addition air services, Greyhound and Firefly provide return coach services to Wagga Wagga from Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Adelaide as well as Country link from regional towns in New South Wales. The city is located on the Great Southern Railway between Sydney and Melbourne and is serviced by rain twice a day, so it is easy to get to Wagga Wagga.

It has been a few years since my last visit to Wagga Wagga and while I had often heard of the Wagga Wagga Gold Cup, rather than continue to have the event on my ‘Bucket List’, I decided 2011 was the year to visit this inland metropolis and sample the excitement of the Wagga Wagga Gold Cup and country racing at its best, while still allowing a few days to enjoy the city and its attractions.

Arriving on the Wednesday, we had time to take in the city sights and explore this inland hub. Wagga Wagga is a city of non-stop entertainment. The annual calendar is dotted with amazing, well organised and attended events including a Food and Wine Festival in March, an Outdoor and Leisure Show in April, the Gold Cup in May, a Jazz and Blues Festival in September, the Wagga Wagga Agricultural Show in October and the list goes on. And of course, given the large defence force presence in Wagga Wagga, ANZAC Day celebrations are really big in the city.

First stop on any visit to this sprawling and picturesque inland city should be the Visitor’s Centre, easily located on the run in from the airport. Owned and operated by the Wagga Wagga City Council, the centre is a treasure trove of information concerning Wagga and the surrounding areas.

Perhaps somewhat surprisingly, we quickly learned that Wagga Wagga had a famous beach and lake so water sports – fishing, sailing, boating, water skiing and swimming are high on the recreational priority for locals and visitors alike. Fishing and game hunting are big drawcards in the area. The International Bow Hunters Championships was held recently in Wagga Wagga and the city is also a major centre for rugby league, cricket, tennis and soccer.

It is a city which has much to offer – there is plenty of accommodation and infrastructure is well maintained. Speaking OF infrastructure, the sweeping bridge over the Murrumbidge flood plain on the highway to Junee is an engineering masterpiece. Such is the attraction of Wagga as a venue for international events that the Wagga Wagga Field Archers staged the World Titles there over Easter this year, attracting more than 580 competitors from all corners of the globe

It is not hard to get the feeling that this is very much a city which loves its sport and its ability to attract international sporting events is well known.

The ‘famous’ Wagga Wagga beach is located on a beautiful bend in the river. The city straddles the might Murrumbidgee with a north and south development. The devastating floods of October and December 2010 when the river peaked at 9.7 metres, appears to have left few visible signs of damage – the sand is pristine and the council run amenities are equal to or better than those found in any major coastal centre. A caravan park is located close to the beach and given the ever-increasing numbers of grey nomads hitting the roads these days, the park is a popular spot for visitors in caravans and motor homes. Floods are a common occurrence in Wagga as the river peaks in good seasons. A reliable levee bank system now protects the city from anything but extreme floods.

The Murrrumbidgee River brings with it valuable water to this fertile region and the river is popular for fishing. Locals report fishing has never been better in this major inland river system fed by the Snowy Mountains. Major fish species include Murray Cod, trout, Golden Perch, Silver Perch and Cat Fish. Best fishing is enjoyed in Spring, Summer and Autumn however if you wish to land the big Murray Cod, it is bet to dangle a line in Winter. Fishing licences are required in New South Wales and these are easily obtainable at major bait and tackle shops such as Rod’s Custom Rods. Fishing is such a popular pastime in Wagga that there are 28 fishing clubs located in the city and surrounding areas.

Lake Albert by contrast, is a superb stretch of still water about 10 minutes from the city centre. Parklands surround the lake and there is a bikeway around the entire circumference. A sailing club is located towards the northern end of the lake with a superb vista over the water. There are barbeques, exercise regimes and picnic tables dotted around the lake’s edge and in the warmer months, is a mecca for recreational activity.

In terms of accommodation, Wagga Wagga has an excellent range from which to choose however some of the more interesting places to stay are B & Bs. One such B & B is Mates Gully Organics located on Fitzmaurice Street, just over the lagoon bridge. Mates Gully Organics is one of the better cafe’s and coffee shops in Wagga – a great place for a casual lunch and their breakfast fare – totally organic and locally grown – is simply superb. The B & B is above the café and is akin to an old world country manor with 12 foot high pressed iron ceilings, beautiful bay window giving superb views over the streetscape and classic bathrooms.

Mates Gulley is a refreshingly different take on a conventional coffee shop. Large canvas artworks adorn the walls while the impressive displays of local produce and preserved fruits in jars are a focal point. From a culinary perspective, the menu is completely organic and everything is made in house – even the lamb is grown organically by the café owners. Organic and regional wines are readily available and the breads served at Mates Gulley are crafted by a local artisan baker. Mates Gulley Organics is a great place to chill out and enjoy the real taste of food.

Wagga Wagga is centred on a rich agricultural belt and the region is renowned for its unique and high quality produce. Centred at Wagga Wagga is the Charles Sturt University. Not only is the university a centre for excellence, it is also home to a fully functional commercial winery and cheese factory. The National Wine and Grape Research Centre is based here. Students studying wine science are employed at the centre to give them a true grounding into the real world of commercial wine production. Some are employed full time while others already working in the industry, can elect to study partime.

The university’s wine centre has around 10 hectares of grapes under cultivation with another 18 hectares of vineyards at Orange. The real benefit of the university’s commercial winery is that it produces ‘job ready’ graduates who are able to immediately take their place in the commercial sector. Wine maker Andrew Drumm heads the winery’s operations as well as overseeing the sales centre. Here visitors can sample the university wines and purchase as their palettes desire. Drumm is tasked with ensuring the winery’s viability and its capacity to produce good quality wines under the Charles Sturt University label. According to Drumm, in a normal year, the university to pick up to 200 tonnes of grapes however because of the adverse season this year, only 70 tonnes were harvested. To supplement the university’s vineyards, Drumm sources good quality fruit from grape growing regions throughout New South Wales. While it is not the intention of the university to have its winery compete against commercial enterprises, the university none-the-less produces between 10,000 and 15,000 cases of wine each year, for sale under its own unique label.

White wines are bottled in the year of harvest while red varietals are aged for at least a full year in French and American oak barrels. The university winery was set up as a conventional modern Australian winery so the skills learned by their students during their three year course, are instantly transferable into a commercial environment. The winery has another unique claim to fame – it is built around the oldest (planted in 1893) olive grove in the Southern Hemisphere and whilst the olives harvested from the grove are not used by the winery, they are used by the university’s master cheese maker, Barry Lillywhite. Situated adjacent to the winery, the university’s cheese factory is a thoroughly interesting operation. Lillywhite, a colourful character who has forgotten more about making cheese in his 30 year career than most people will ever know, conducts tours of the factory as well as conducting weekend courses which teach people how to make cheese in their own kitchen.

The Charles Sturt University cheese label is genuinely boutique. The factory produces less than 10 tonnes of its distinctive cheese each year but of the extensive varieties of cheese made here, all leave a lasting impression on one’s taste buds – they are simply that good. Their range is all encompassing and Lillywhite uses both goat’s and cow’s milk to achieve different flavours in the cheese. We struggled to decide whether the cheddars, flavoured cheese, ricotta, Camembert, ricotta or blue cheese was the best, so we simply bought some of each. The university’s Australian Native Flavoured range is extremely popular with such varieties as Bush Tomato, Lemon Myrtle and Alpine Pepper.

Charles Sturt University’s Cheese Factory also make an moorish and delectable yoghurt. Made exclusively on sheep’s milk (Lillywhite reckons sheep’s milk makes the best yoghurt) with no additives, just cultures. The cheese factory also sells the superbly marinated olives picked from their 100 year old grove and the taste is just sensational

Initially Lillywhite started doing student tours of the factory and soon became aware that little was known by the general public of the science and skills behind cheese making. “I decided it was time to start educating people when one of the students asked, ‘what part of the cow do they cut the cheese from?’, he said.

Tours of the cheese factory have become so popular that Lillywhite has had to expand his operations to cope for the demand. Evening tours and now conducted and culminate in a dinner which is held in the student’s mess. A wine and cheese tasting tour of the winery and cheese factory costs just $25 per person and usually takes around three to four hours. Bookings can be made by phone and details are available from the university or Wagga Wagga Visitors Centre.

While a tour of the university cheese factory is a thoroughly rewarding and enjoyable experience, you don’t have to wait to visit the factory to enjoy their cheese varieties. All of the university cheese varieties can be ordered online at www.csu.edu.au/cheese/purchasing.

Dining options in Wagga Wagga are as complete as any coastal or metropolitan city. There is everything on offer from the major take away brands to gourmet restaurants and traditional hotel food. One of the most popular eating spots in Wagga is Romano’s Hotel. Romano’s offers a traditional style pub menu at reasonable prices and the hotel’s restaurant has a cosy ambience. The food is good and the decor interesting with Spanish style arches, high backed red and black leather chairs and mood lighting. Service too, is very good and for those with a sporting interest, there are big screens to watch a replay of the day’s racing.

For finer dining, Thyme Out At The Manor is highly recommended. The historic manor is situated in Morrow Street not far from the city centre has a colourful history including time as a private boarding house, accommodation for RAAF service women and a YMCA hostel. The manor has been fully restored by current owners James and Barbara Little who purchased the manor in 1983 and still live there to this day. The building has such wonderful character – lead ceilings, chandeliers, an original fireplace and stained timber floors. The Victorian furnishings and crisp linen give the manor an unique colonial ambience. The cuisine is exciting and their wine cellar is equally impressive offering an excellent range of reds, whites and fortified wines as well as a colourful selection of Australian and imported sparkling wines.

For a fine dining menu, prices were surprisingly inexpensive – entrees were around $22 while mains ranged from $22 to $38 for the Rack of Lamb and the Rib Eye. Mouth-watering desserts were $16.50 while an Australian and imported cheese platter was just $25. The service was prompt and courteous and there were lots of nice little touches only associated with fine dining restaurants of distinction. Thyme Out At The Manor has a wonderful period style character and an excellent menu completed by a fine cellar.

While we had come to see the running of the Wagga Wagga Gold Cup, there was so much to see and do in our short three day visit. For those with a love of history and an interest in railway nostalgia, a ‘must see’ is the Wagga Wagga Historic Rail Museum.

Located at the heritage listed Wagga Wagga Station in the old Porter’s Room, the rail museum houses an eclectic collection of rail history and memorabilia lovingly maintained by past and current New South Wales Railways employees. The museum opened in June 2009 and is a wonderful reminder of a former time when rail travel was such an important part of life.

The once bustling Wagga Wagga Rail Station is now only a shadow of its former glory. In fact, as well as the Wagga Wagga station, there were 87 stations in the immediate area and all were manned. Today, only three remain after a steady rate of closures first implemented in the 1980s. There are no signal boxes, no shunters and no fettlers at the station now but the historic museum captures the magic of another era when train travel was not only essential but the preferred means of transport between Wagga Wagga and the major capital cities.

Amongst the collection of memorabilia is a fully restored rail trike and digitally enhanced photos, which capture the glory days of train travel, adorn the walls of the old Porter’s Room. The collection of memorabilia has been a 20 year labour of love for the museum’s custodians and members and is one of the finest examples of rail history anywhere in Australia.

While modern day Wagga Wagga is a thriving inland city with its major emphasis on education, there is much history to be absorbed in this city. The Wagga Wagga City Council are to be congratulated for their approach to the preservation of the city’s heritage and the advancement of arts and cultural activities. While Bayliss Street is the main street and home to a kaleidoscope of retailers including the big names such as Myers and Target, the Civic Precinct is the true cultural heart of the city.

The Civic Precinct houses the new council building constructed in 1999 as well as the national Art Glass Collection, the Wagga Wagga Art Gallery and the Museum of the Riverina as well as the magnificent city library. Time spent here simply flies.

Most impressive is the National Art Glass Collection. Australia has many regional art collections which have, over time, gained national status and recognition. The Australian Art Glass collection at Wagga Wagga, is no exception.

The national Art Glass Collection at the Wagga Wagga Art Gallery began with purchases from regular national glass exhibitions organised by the Wagga Wagga Art Gallery from 1981. By 2010, the collection had grown to more than 500 pieces of stunning and unusual art by 184 Australian artists. Today, the collection continues to expand on the basis of purchases of prized art and considerable donations of works of glass art.

To comprehend the importance and stunning visual effect of this superb collection requires a visit and may I say, not just a fleeting one. I spent several hours at the gallery totally captivated by the intensity of creativity, colour and visual effect of many of the pieces on exhibition.

Importantly, the National Art Glass Collection, in Wagga Wagga, surveys the studio glass movement in Australia from the 1970s to present day. Without doubt, it is the most comprehensive public collection of Australian studio glass. The entire collection reflects the diversity in style, subject and technique in contemporary practice. It is a continuous record of the glass community’s achievements and evolution.

In 1999, the national collection was relocated to its own architecturally designed gallery within the Wagga Wagga civic precinct. The National Art Glass Collection is central to Wagga Wagga City of Glass Strategy adopted by the council in 1998 to promote Australian studio glass.

To further enhance and promote contemporary art glass in Australia, the gallery launched the inaugural National Student Art Glass Prize in March last year. This prize was established as a biennial competition to reward and promote innovation and excellence in contemporary glass within the student sector. The Student Prize is an acquisitive prize, which is a strategy to grow the National Art Glass Collection through the acquisition of new and innovative works.

Equally, the Art Gallery and Museum of the Riverina are well worth a visit whilst in town. Whilst the art gallery hosts touring exhibitions – it has a collection of more than 1500 prints original prints by some of Australia’s most recognised artists. The collection is known as the Margaret Carnegie Print Collection, a gift to the museum by local arts patron Margaret Carnegie in 1980.  The gallery also focuses on promoting established and emerging artists from the Riverina. On display, there is a collection of memorabilia from HMAS Wagga. The ship’s ensign was given to the city council on ANZAC Day 2011 and is proudly displayed in the gallery.

Adjacent to the new council building and library is the historic Wagga Wagga Council Chambers. The old chambers today houses the Museum of the Riverina with its quirky take on art and history including an amazing Farm Gate Exhibition. Exhibition themes change every three months at the museum.

There is some amazing history to be seen at the old council chambers including the curious and intriguing story of the Roger Tichborne. The case, heard in London, made legal history as it sat for 102 days. Some would believe that Tichborne was not the errant son of a wealthy English noble family but a crafty Wagga Wagga butcher named Tom Castro who simply (and successfully) impersonated the real heir to the Tichborne wealth.

The Civic Precinct is adjacent to the impressive Wagga Wagga Botanic Gardens with its eternal flame, beautiful lawns and children’s playground.

Time now to explore the slightly different attractions in Wagga. The Gourmet Soap Kitchen in Forsyth Street is a fascinating and relaxing factory and retail shop. Its exists as a consequence of a serious illness suffered by co-owner Angela Forman some 21 years ago.

The recovery process involved removing all chemicals and processed foods from her diet. Such was the dramatic effect on her recovery that she started researching ways to replace processed foods and other life needs with natural products. That research led to the establishment of the Gourmet Soap Kitchen which has, by no coincidence, a superb range of personal care products all made from natural ingredients such as honey, extra virgin olive oil, jojoba, aloe vera and many other herbal extracts.

There are more than 150 product lines on offer including some unique offerings such as soap in the form of an ice cream sundae and candles formed as a cup of tea.

The Gourmet Kitchen Shop also sells a selected range of local organic and farm gate products as well as such products as youth elixir (guaranteed to work) and skin care products.

We’d come to Wagga Wagga to see the running of the 2011 Gold Cup and the big day had arrived. Race Day in Wagga is akin to the excitement the Melbourne Cup generates amongst Melburnians. We started the day with a late breakfast/brunch at Mates Gulley Organics and then it was off to the track.

The Wagga Wagga Gold Cup is organised and run by the Murrumbidge Turf Club. Cup Day includes an eight race program as well as the stunning Myer ‘Fashions of the Field’. The cup day attracts more than 20,000 people to the track for a day of country racing, fashion and the occasional flutter of a good thing. The cup is run over 2000 metres and the 2011 field was as impressive as ever with horses drawn from throughout the country.

But before the cup would be run and won and history made, it was time to enjoy the fashions of the field. Prizes are given for several categories on the day including best dressed couple, best hat, best dressed lady and so forth. All sections were hotly contested and Wagga’s finest attire was on display and brilliantly so. The WOW factor was clearly on display and as usual, there were some characters dressed in devilish attire – not the least being the ‘Ball and Chain’ Gang.

The hour has arrived, form guides were out and the bookies ring was filled with excitement and a flurry of activity as odds shortened on the favourites and plunges were made. The 2011 cup was to be the 135^th time the cup had been run.

In the hotly contested field, the result was to go down to the wire – a photo finish between cup winner Voice Commander and second placed World Wide. Voice Commander is owned by a syndicate with a strong Gundagai connection and appropriately as results were posted and correct weight declared, the song ‘Along The Road To Gundagai’ was boisterously sung by the horse’s owners and sections of the crowd. History too was made with the running of the 2011 Gold Cup. The winner, Voice Commander was ridden by Sydney jockey Kathy O’Hara and in so doing, O’Hara became the first female to ride a cup winner in its 135 year history.

So the cup had been run and won and fortunes also won and lost. Now was time to celebrate or commiserate. The hotels and night spots in Wagga were abuzz with excitement. One of the best places to enjoy post cup fever was The Thirsty Crow. The Thirsty Crow is a micro brewery located in Kincaid Street. This boutique brewery is owned and run by local boy Craig Wealands who returned to Wagga Wagga after 10 years away learning his trade.

The Thirsty Crow is perhaps appropriately named as Wagga is a local aboriginal word thought to mean crow. Wagga Wagga is therefore interpreted as a ‘place of many crows’ and given the events of the day, ex race-goers had developed a mighty thirst.

The Thirsty Crow had only been open a few weeks by the time the Gold Cup Carnival came around and such had been the popularity of the brewery, that the biggest problem Wealands had was being unable to keep up with his customer’s thirst for his specially brewed beers.

While the Thirsty Crow was new in town, the concept of Wealands micro brewery was backed by five solid years of planning and a considerable investment in training, gleaming stainless steel equipment and technology. In its first few weeks of operation, The Thirsty Crow had created 17 local jobs and has become a fabulous place for locals to relax in superb surroundings – there are not too many cities where patrons can actually drink at their favourite brewery anytime they like and enjoy the best and freshest pizzas we have ever tasted.

But before we reveal possibly the best pizza place in Australia is at The Thirsty Crow in Wagga Wagga, a little more about this brilliant concept of a micro brewery. The brewery itself is based on a 500 litre system – that means master brewer Wealands produces 500 litres of his tasty drops every time he brews and that happens seven times every two weeks.

Using only the finest hops, yeast and malt as well as ingredients sourced locally, The Thirsty Crow’s boutique range of beers offers something for every taste and with some very interesting names. However, if you are torn between the devil and the deep blue sea as to which beer to try, Wealands offers a sample tray – a small glass of all six beers on tap. As for the names, how about Pipsqueak Cider ,White Rabbit Dark Ale or the Red Light Ale which comes in at 2.9 percent alcohol. For the heavy hitters who like a full flavoured beer, the Hefewuzen, American Pale Ale or the Kolsch – all being around 5 percent alcohol will sit nicely on the palate. If curiosity doesn’t get you, the pure glistening icy taps – the centre piece of The Thirsty Crow bar will certainly entice.

If there has ever been a better staple than beer and pizza, it probably hasn’t been discovered but at The Thirsty Crow in down town Wagga, this micro brewery not only serves the best beer in town, it has arguably the best range of pizzas ever tasted. If there is a better pizzas on any menu anywhere in Australia that tops the ‘Sunday Lamb Roast Pizza’, we’d be surprised. Unfortunately Wealands hasn’t perfected a sample tray of pizzas so you just need to eat your way through the moorish pizza menu.

After a big day at the races, a tough day at work or just visiting, to spend a few hours at The Thirsty Crow is pure stress relief. The decor is modern with a mix of colonial heritage styling thrown in. The red and orange brick work, exposed beams and black leather chairs and sofas set around an open log fire place create a club atmosphere while the long stained drinking tables filled with trays of barley are an ideal place to share a pizza, an icy cold beer and a chat with locals.

The mood at The Thirsty Crow on Cup night reflected the events of the day but both winners and losers celebrated in style and looked forward to next year’s cup with renewed enthusiasm. Gold Cup fever in Wagga Wagga is definitely catching.

Story & Photography: Peter Scott