On leaving Forbes I finally 'found' the sculpture I'd been searching for! It was difficult to get close and I had a couple of slips in the mud - such an elegant sight!
After a 3 hour drive I realised that I'd made it to Griffith - the giveaway were the vines, citrus trees laden with fruit and the massive 'Yellow Tail' vineyard and distribution factory.
Not having been in a large country town for a long time I had forgotten that most shops closed at luchtime. Griffith must have the longest main street I've ever seen and my feet certainly knew about it! Being a very 'Italian" town I managed to get lunch in an Italian restaurant! Another walk led me to search for the lane containing a number of wall murals.
Griffith is in full bloom with Cherry blossom, pink and white, everywhere.
After a bit of a drive I finally found the spot where the 'Hermit's Cave' was situated. The hermit was a young Italian migrant, who arrived in Australia in 1914, and added rock walls to the cave-like rock shelter. It was quite a steep and slightly slippery decent but as another couple had gone before me I felt safe in my mountaineering or otherwise endeavors - I was hoping they'd come to my aid if I yelled!
The weather was glorious, 25C, good for last but one day of winter!
I have found some rather interesting facts about the Griffith region, which I would never have known if I hadn't travelled here ....
Grows 90% Australia's rice, 95% Australian prunes and is the largest citrus region in Australia. It is a significant chicken meat supplier and producer of olive oil, trellis tomatoes, quail and melons. There is growing industry of almonds and walnuts and a million hazelnut trees were recently planted for Ferrero!
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