In 1854
Charles Newman bought a 66 acre lot of land, having recently
returned from an unsuccessful time in the eastern goldfields. It
was named ‘Water Gully’ because of the natural springs present
there. He began to clear the gully and laid out a garden and
orchard. By the following year, he had built a house and 2 years
later he was married. Together, he and his wife had 17 children,
three of which died, leaving them six girls and eight boys to
raise.
Subsequent acquisitions increased the property to nearly 500
acres, with the ‘Model Nursery’ of Water Gully being formally
established in 1875. It included shade-houses, glass and hot
houses, 300 varieties of orchids, 600 varieties of roses and
90 acres of fruit trees, including 500,000 apple, plum and
cherry trees, 100,000 orange trees and 100,000 vines. They
also specialised in rare and exotic plants and acquired a
state wide reputation for their produce.
Charles Newman
died in 1899, when he fell from his horse on his way home from a
local council meeting.
In early 1913,
a disastrous rainstorm struck with two inches falling in
half-an-hour, along with hail that severely damaged the nursery. In
October another storm caused further damage. In 20 minutes, almost
every pane of glass in the six glass houses was smashed and most of
their contents - orchids, ferns and palms were washed away. The
nursery struggled, but never fully recovered from the storm. It was
eventually sold in 1932 after the death of Mrs
Newman.
One of the
sons (Fred) as manager, tried in vain to resurrect it but with
increasing family tension he and his wife finally left to establish
their own flower and bulb nursery in nearby Tea Tree
Gully.
This multi award winning nursery still exists, trading as Newman’s
Nursery and is well worth a visit, if for no other reason than to
enjoy a walk through the gardens and refreshments in the tea
house.
There are numerous ways to approach GZ but if you start
at gate 6, a pleasant 20 min walk along the Water Gully track
will bring you to the ruins. The cache is located at a
similar vantage point to the one that this photo was taken
from. Without the photo, it is hard to imagine what it must
have looked like 100 years ago. Take the time to wander
around as there are still remnant plantings that
remain.
There is more than one way to approach
GZ once you are at the ruins and caution is required, especially if
taking the most direct route (thus the terrain rating). This is not
recommended at night as there are numerous hazards nearby. Also, be
warned that the climb to GZ can be slippery and the silver leaf
plants that are growing on the slope contain many needle like
thorns (you do not want to slip and land in
one!).
Cache contents
are along a gardening theme. Try and maintain this theme when
placing swaps.