Attractions in Historic Windsor
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Butterfly Museum Collection
Address: Wilberforce Road, Wilberforce
Phone: 02 4575 1955 or 4575 1265
Email: info@butterflyfarm.com.au
Butterflies’ antennae are a) feathery, or b) have little knobs on the end? True or False: male butterflies are usually smaller and prettier than the females?
After a visit to the natural history and insect museum just up the road from Windsor in Wilberforce, you’ll have the answers to these and other butterfly trivia. The extensive collection of moths, butterflies and insects is the creation of the late Russell Hodgskin who, in his heyday, was often spotted in pith helmet and armed with a butterfly net. Hodgskin, an unconventional and beloved local, gathered from across the world tropical specimens with iridescent greens and blues that are incredibly beautiful. We are surprised by the similarity in shape and form of species from across different continents. However, if your primary interest is Australian species, you won’t be disappointed.
Bugs that would set you screaming if they showed up in your sleeping bag are on display in this exceptional collection. Cicadas look like ballerinas clad in pink tutus. Stick insects will make you laugh. Plan an hour or two to take it all in, and save time to shop for butterfly paraphernalia.
Today, the museum, set in the Butterfly Farm and Ski Gardens, is managed by Hodgskins’ sons and daughter-in-law, who share their father’s passion for the region. The rustic indoor-outdoor pavilion along the Hawkesbury River has a capacity for 400, and is often the setting for company picnics, family reunions and church gatherings. A kiosk serving snacks and beverages, large covered picnic areas, a swimming pool, ski gardens and boat ramp are among the recreational amenities offered on the grounds.
Good AZ Gold Essential Indulgence Tour
Address: Oakville
Phone: 02 4573 6181 or mobile 0408 973 267
Email: info@goodazgoldtours.com.au
(Fully Insured and Accredited)
Start your girls’ weekend with a GAZG customised tour. Roses, aromatherapy, essential oils, blended oils, geraniums – perhaps a massage is in order. Sound enticing?
Next stop: Devonshire tea – freshly baked scones, home made jams, teas and coffee. Add a Hawkesbury wine, or two, perhaps three with a delectable slow, long lunch. Are you persuaded yet?
Back onboard, the chatter now turns to giggles. Shoes are kicked off. Naughty stories and gossip fill the afternoon as you proceed through the heritage locations of Hawkesbury with a final stop at a local produce store. (Hawkesbury is known for its wonderful fresh produce.) Can you envision yummy cheeses, chutneys, fresh fruit and vegetables – all you can carry? Where do you sign up?
Good AZ Gold has created this day of indulgence just for you and the girlfriends. From a central meeting point, a GAZG deluxe vehicle collects you and the girlfriends in the A.M. Leave the driving to GAZG – they never tell your secrets!
Hawkesbury Regional Gallery
Address: Deerubbin Centre (1st Floor) - 300 George Street, off Christie Street, Windsor
Phone: 02 4560 4441
Hours: Monday - Friday 10am - 4pm (closed Tuesdays and public holidays); Sat–Sun 10 am–3 pm
Email: gallery@hawkesbury.nsw.gov.au
The Deerubbin Centre which houses the Hawkesbury Regional Gallery is a recent architectural attraction of Windsor and is situated adjacent to the old convict barracks (converted later to a hospital), which has recently undergone renovation. The prominent steel exterior of Deerubbin stands in marked contrast to the ornate balustrade veranda of the old barracks, a juxtaposition of old and new Windsor. Yet when seen from Macquarie Street, the two adjoining buildings share an architectural strength of straightforward simple lines.
Getting to the Centre is reminiscent of driving in the medieval hill towns of Italy, where land is at a premium. You must drive through a small alley off Christie Street to arrive at the underground parking.
Public art at the Deerubbin is not to be overlooked. The plaque in the main pedestrian entry commemorates the first meeting between Yarramundi, the indigenous leader and Governor Arthur Phillip. In the courtyard near the café, Hospital Beds issimultaneously extraordinary and eerie. This public artwork will delight children with its frequent bursts of cool mist.
The Hawkesbury Regional Gallery has become a gathering place for art exhibitions, literary events, film and workshops for children. Disability ramps and lifts from the carpark to the gallery level ease entry into its many exhibitions. See Events for a Gallery schedule.
Hawkesbury Regional Museum
Address: 8 Baker Street
Phone: 02 4560 4444
Hours: 10am-4pm Wednesday to Friday, 10am-3pm Saturday and Sunday, Closed Monday and Tuesday to general public but available to pre booked groups.
The Museum Building officially opened in early 2008 with a temporary display about the construction of the museum. The official opening of the Museum’s exhibition is planned for Sunday, May 18, 2008 when the new building and the heritage building known as Howe’s House at 7 Thompson Square will together form a unique cultural facility. As well as its permanent exhibition, the museum will offer a changing program of temporary and travelling exhibitions.
Hawkesbury SightSeeing Tours
Addres: Wilberforce
Phone: 02 4575 1421, mobile 0408 751 422
Email:
(Fully Insured and Accreditated)
Janice Hart, host of this touring company, offers personalized chauffeured tours – in a luxury 4-wheel-drive – for small groups only.
Janice is a local in The Hawkesbury and she shares her love and knowledge in her specialized tours in history, in arts and crafts and in food and wine. She’ll arrange a tour for you to meet the regions’ patchwork and quilting artists, cheese makers, and best known vintners. If food soothes your savage beast, it’s the Farmgate Trail that offers the finest produce of the Hawkesbury. You’ll sample produce and pick up goodies to take home. Janice offers a “Historic Hotspot Tour” which is likely to convert you to a history buff and her newest tours offer the best of the Blue Mountains with a Saturday evening concert in the striking Jenolan Caves or a luncheon cruise down the famous Hawkesbury River.
This is a host who obviously enjoys people and who loves her work – she cannot hide her enthusiasm. Half day or full day tours are available – call for fees.
Tizzana’s Winery
Address: 518 Tizzana Road, Ebenezer
Phone: 02 4579 1150
Email: enquiries@tizzana.com.au
Hours: Sat–Sun and public holidays noon–6 pm
On the road to Tizzana’s, a soft November rain falls covering vineyards, waterlily lagoons and surrounding farmlands with a delicate mist. Some 20 minutes from historic Windsor, the country road bends and weaves. Without warning, on the damp hillside above the road, an imposing sandstone structure comes into view; you have been inexplicably transported into the Tuscan region of Italy.
In 1887, the vineyards at Tizzana were planted with imported French and Italian vine cuttings by Italian immigrant Thomas Fiaschi. A physician, Fiaschi had a practice on Thompson Square. The Fiaschi family continued the wine business after Dr Fiaschi’s death in 1927, until 1949. Some years later, the abandoned three-storey building was set on fire by vandals. All that remained was a stone shell. In 1969, restoration was begun by Peter and Carolyn Auld and, today, wine-tasting continues in this beautiful building. On-site group luncheons or dinner functions can be arranged. For a description of the Tizzana 5-star Hawkesbury bed and breakfast, refer to the Accommodation section. This is one setting in the Hawkesbury you won’t want to miss.
Windsor Ghost Tours
Host: Janice Hart
Phone: 02 45 751 421 or m 0408 751 422
Tour: Saturday - 7pm-9.30pm Weekdays for groups of 20 Reservations essential.
It’s a warm March evening. Clouds float past the full moon obscuring its bright glow momentarily. Walking quietly with your fellow travellers, your lanterns light the way along a dark footpath. Janice Hart, a long standing member of the Hawkesbury Historical Society and friend to the ghosts of days long past, guides your journey around Thompson Square’s heritage buildings, old bridges, graveyards and other sites of historic Windsor.
In 1850, five-year-old Amanda died in the doctor’s surgery. If you listen carefully, you can hear her crying softly for her parents. Then there’s Catherine, a cook to Constable John Howe’s family, who still rants loudly about her kitchen floor, now replaced with timber instead of the much-loved sandstone. Wicked wives and mysteriously disappearing husbands, convicts hanged without a trial and children murdered in their sleep, Janice knows all their stories.
The nightlife of historic Windsor Mall – restaurants filled to overflowing, giggling children with ice-cream cones and elegant travelling restaurants led by the Clydesdales – does not deter these pioneer apparitions that Janice calls forth. Perhaps you’ll feel their soft whisper on the back of your neck.
But you need not fear. Janice calms the tortured souls and makes certain you return safely to the Macquarie Arms for a light supper and refreshments. Here you can party with friends, present and past, until the pub closes.
A love of adventure and history, comfortable shoes, a bottle of water and a torch, in the event the moon fails to light the night, are the only necessities. Bookings are essential.
Windsor Mall Craft Market
Address: On George Street, Between Fitzgerald and Baker Streets
Phone: 4572 7348
Hours: Sundays 9am-4pm
Crafts, music, local produce and the paddlewheel are the staples of the Windsor Markets each Sunday. Sunday is a special day, somewhat like a street party with tall umbrellas and crafts carts lining George Street for two long blocks.
It’s a constant parade of people – shoppers and strollers. Hawkesbury farmers are on hand with corn, strawberries, pumpkin and zucchini. Jams, jellies and honey get a fair display as well. Flavours of ethnic foods fill the air, a didgeridoo performer entrances us and often a charming face painting artist has long queues. The Mall shops, cafés and restaurants are always open – it’s a big country market fair.
Windsor RSL Club
Address: Crn of Argyle and Mileham Streets, Windsor
Phone: 02 4587 6900
For local Hawkesbury residents, the Windsor RSL Club is a hot topic. In late 2006, the Club went through a major renovation in many of the public areas and architectural drawings and plans for the new additions were revealed. Stunning! Impressive! Extraordinary! All are accurate descriptions. However, innovative plans do not stop with the facility.
Today, the Windsor RSL Club can host wedding parties of two to three hundred guests in a newly reconfigured area that includes a private entrance and terrace. An elegantly decorated anteroom for the bride is charming and distinctive. The entire affair can be as formal or as casual as the bride and groom wish – well, as the moms wish.
And for trade show functions, awards nights, fashion shows or school formals, a new executive chef is now onboard whipping up traditional and original menus. New entertainment is planned for 2007 – several nights of well-known big name performers (call for details and dates)… the list goes on and on and on for changes to Windsor RSL Club.
Quick Planner
Links
Leura Blue Mountains
Hawkesbury Tourism
Hawkesbury 4H Festival
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