Story and Photograph by Algernon

The last week of January, the Algernons went off to visit family in West Australia. It was the first time for about seven years that we’d all travelled to the West, though Mrs Algernon would go back each year.  The cost makes it difficult for all of us to go. Mrs A’s mum is getting on an in her late 80’s and the juniors in their late teens. It was a time to reconnect with family they rarely see.

Mrs A grew up in a town famous for its wine and cheese, her father being principal of a high school there. I first went there when we returned from Europe in the mid eighties and found the place idyllic. However, each time we’d visit after, it would lose is a little of its charm. On our last visit, the Perth nouveau riche had basically destroyed the place. Nowadays the family lives elsewhere but that is  a story for another time.

Perth doesn’t excite me that much but the south west of West  Australia, is somewhere I can highly recommend to visit or holiday and we always enjoy when we go. We of course picked the hottest week in 50 years to visit. We stayed with friends of Mrs A in Bunbury as the town where her family lives is near mines and unfortunately the hotels, motels and even caravan parks of the town think that they can charge what they like because the mines will pay. For us it was only a 40 minute drive each way to visit and $10 in petrol and that was more favourable than $200 a night for a rat hole.

On one day another of Mrs A’s friends came to visit. She’s a deputy matron at a hospital in a wheat town two and half hours drive away. She had a five day weekend and chose to visit many friends on the coast. She popped in for the afternoon and to give her space, I took the Algernoninas for a drive to a place called Gnomesville in the Ferguson Valley about 40 minutes away from Bunbury.

Now Gnomesville started its life as the result of building a roundabout at the corner of Wellington Mills and Ferguson Roads near Donnybrook in 1995. It was built to supposedly alleviate the traffic at the intersection. This intersection I might add probably sees around 100 traffic movements a day. Apparently this traffic hazard was mentioned a part of a mock council meeting of year 7 students at Dardanup Primary school. Dardanup council somehow got wind of this and spent money on building the roundabout. This caused much discussion with the local community regarding its cost  to “solve” the traffic problem in a deserted mill town.

Soon after its completion someone placed a gnome in the middle of the roundabout, one became two and soon there were enough for a football team so in winter the gnomes would play football and in the summer they’d play cricket. Eventually many would visit to see the gnomes causing distractions to the passing traffic. It was decided to move the gnomes to their present day hamlet on land adjacent to the roundabout. The land appears to be an abandoned rail reserve.

Nowadays there are many thousands of gnomes living in communities in the hamlet of Gnomesville and many more come to stay from visitors all over the world. The hamlet is maintained by the local Wellington Mills Community Association.

Somehow one of the brain dead of West Australia thought it would be a good idea on Australia Day to smash up all the gnomes at Gnomesville.

(1)The Bunbury Mail ran a front page headline “AUSTRALIA DAY GNOMESVILLE BATTLE” in the article it stated “A facebook page which invited more than 200 people to “smash up” popular Dardanup tourist attraction Gnomesville has been slammed by the police and the community.

The page, called Australia Day Gnomesville Smash Up, invited people to Gnomesville on January 26 to drink alcohol and smash the hundreds of gnomes which give the site its name.

More than 170 people have been invited and thirty-three people have said they may attend the event.

A second Facebook page was created in response called Australia Day Gnomesville Smash Up is Disrespectful to Aus Day.

Almost 200 people have supported the page which labels the planned vandalism as “un-Australian.”

Furthermore is stated that “Dardanup winery Bonking Frog Wines owner said Gnomesville had a positive influence on the area and many tourists sung its praise.

“We always have positive feedback, people think it’s a quaint and unique attraction for the South West,” they said.

“There’s a strong feeling of ownership from people that live in the Ferguson Valley – I think they would be personally affronted if anyone was to destroy Gnomesville.”

Bunbury police officer in charge said local police had operational plans in place for Australia Day.

He said the Gnomesville site in the Ferguson Valley was already part of their patrols.

Anyone caught vandalising the site will be charged by police. “

Now the brain dead of West Australia are renowned for using quokkas in Rottnest Island as footballs or as sexual objects should they be spurned by the equally brain dead.

Into action went the members of the Community Association to save the gnomes of Gnomesville from the ravages of the brain dead as the local community chose to have their Australia Day celebrations there instead.

The thing is that nearly everyone in the south west knew of the gnome bashing planned for Australia Day.

The Algernoninas and I enjoyed this trip to see the gnomes and much care and consideration has been taken to the placing of these gnomes in their communities as well as the messages left. We spent a while there looking at the gnomes with the heat in the end taking us in search of cool drinks and some delicious fresh local stone fruit from Donnybrook on the way back.

For some views of the gnomes you could look at these sites.

http://www.southwestlife.com.au/articles/gnomesville.html

http://www.fergusonvalley.net.au/Member%20Details?row=171341602

http://www.abc.net.au/local/photos/2011/03/01/3152393.htm

(1)   Bunbury Mail 17/1/2012