Collector, NSW

Let’s begin our journeys in the NSW village of Collector.

You may have heard of Collector – or maybe not – it’s only small, but has some places well worth the visit if you’re travelling out that way. The streets are lined with crabapple trees, and other fruiting trees are abundant in the public areas of the town. The birds seem to like them

Collector is located just off the Federal Highway as you travel from Sydney to Canberra. It lies 231km south west of Sydney, about 35km past the Goulburn exit (wikipedia). I had driven past the turn off many times, but until now had never actually visited. After the greater Sydney lockdown had eased, we decided to take a few days to travel out to the country. We stayed in a place called Currawang, at the Greysen Estate Artists’ Retreat. Lovely place if you’re after somewhere away from everyone else, but still want to be able to access touristy type things without too much of a drive. Not going to talk too much about the place, apart from the peaceful setting (as long as you don’t count the flies!), and the native fauna that you can see roaming around (there was a kangaroo joey sunning itself just near our front door).

So, onto my story....

History of Collector

The name of the town is thought to have come from the Gundungurra/Ngunnawal people indigenous to that region. ‘Collector’ is said to have been derived from the word ‘colegdar’, the Gundungurra word for the area (aussietowns.com.au).

Collector was first occupied by Europeans in 1829 when Terence Aubrey Murray and his family were granted the farming and grazing lands alongside Lake George, NSW. The property went on to be called Winderradeen (Australian Dictionary of Biography). Murray later acquired other lands including Yarralumla sheep station, which would evolve over time to become the home of the Governor General. He later became a politician and was appointed to the Legislative Council of NSW Parliament (Australian Dictionary of Biography).

The post office in Collector first opened in 1848, and the first hotel opened in 1841.

The only hotel remaining today, originally titled the Commercial Hotel (now the Bushranger Hotel, see below), opened in 1861.

The 2016 census shows the town had at that time a population of 313 residents, with a median age of 37. There were no Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander residents recorded as living there at this time (census data).

So what is there to do in Collector? Collector has some interesting places to visit, and there is literally something for everyone!

Places to eat: First and foremost, let’s find somewhere to eat. Whether it be an early morning breakfast, leisurely brunch, lunchtime or something substantial for dinner, Collector has something to suit.

Some Cafe

Starting out in 2014 serving coffee and cake in the local town hall every Sunday, Some Cafe has gradually grown to operate 5 days a week (Thursday – Monday) serving breakfast & lunch alongside coffee and homemade cake as well as local goods, and hosts monthly Friday night dinners. It is now located in the historic Inn on Murray St, along with the award winning Collector Wines cellar door.

Some Cafe was a great little place to stop for brunch. The menu was short, but all the food we saw coming out looked delicious, and their poached eggs were done perfectly. The coffee was pretty good too. It is well worth a visit if you are around there.

The Bushranger Hotel

This place ticks the boxes on a number of reasons why to come to Collector. One of those boxes is for the food!

It’s the typical pub bistro food that you would expect from any country pub, and just as amazing (I love a good pub bistro!).

From the chicken parmi, to a burger, pizza or something from the grill, you can’t really go too wrong here. I had the pork chops, they were lovely and juicy….and huge! It was a tough choice though because the crumbed cutlets also sounded amazing – maybe next time!

The bistro is open Wednesday – Sunday for both lunch and dinner.

Now I want crumbed cutlets for dinner…..

Things to see and do…

Dreamer’s Gate

Across the road from the Bushranger Hotel is an outdoor sculpture called the Dreamer’s Gate. If you ask the locals they won’t tell you much about the installation, but you can look up the story online pretty easily. The Dreamer’s Gate was built by the then Canberra resident and artist Tony Phantastes. Phantastes bought the land on which the sculpture stands in 1992 as a ‘getaway’ from his normal residence in Canberra, and set about building the structure in 1993 or 1994 (depending on which website you read). The structure was originally meant to form the front and gateway to a cafe and art gallery, but this was never realised due to a stop work order issued by Gunning Shire Council in 1999. The sculpture was created as a tribute to Phantastes’ father, the history of the town and to the landscape. Phantastes’ son, who passed away at age 23, was the inspiration for the dreamer itself (abc.net.au). It is meant as a celebration of life. The installation is 26m long, 7m high and is set 10m back from the property line (environment.gov.au). It is made from wire, concrete and piping, and is covered by a skin of plaster, chicken wire and cement (atlasobscura.com). Since the stop work order no further additions have been made, and the sculpture remains unfinished. Phantastes no longer resides in Canberra, and has moved to the Northern NSW. He still owns the land however, and reportedly returns to Collector once a year to maintain the structure (abc.net.au).

More weird history….

The Bushranger Hotel

Now known as The Bushranger Hotel, the premises at 24 Church St Collector originally started out as a boot store. Opened by leather worker Thomas Kimberley in 1851, his store was built on land granted to him by the Murrays, who had subdivided part of their land grant to give to employees. Kimberley built the Commercial Hotel there (also known as Kimberley’s Commercial Hotel and Kimberley’s Inn) in 1860. There were, at the time, 5 hotels in Collector, which helped cater to gold prospectors travelling to the gold mining town of Kiandra in the Snowy Mountains (which is now abandoned – side note, maybe a future destination???). Kimberley’s Commercial Hotel is the only hotel that remains in Collector today (wikipedia).

The Commercial is no longer called the Commercial however, it is now known as the Bushranger Hotel. The Bushranger Hotel is one of a collection of places known as the ‘Ben Hall sites’, so named for their association with the bushranger Ben Hall and his gang. This association came about after Hall and his gang (consisting of Hall, John Gilbert and John Dunn) were run out of nearby Goulburn by police troopers and ended up making their way to Collector, taking 8 men and boys hostage in the process. They forced their way into the town, coming across Kimberley’s Commercial Hotel. Hall and Gilbert went into the Hotel to steal money and any firearms they had, leaving Dunn outside to stand guard with the hostages. Upon finding out about the gang, the local police constable on duty, Constable Samuel Nelson, made his way to the hotel. He was joined by others along the way, including his son. Upon seeing Nelson approach, Dunn yelled out a warning to stop. When Nelson failed to do so, Dunn fired upon him, hitting Nelson first in the stomach with his rifle, and then in the face with his revolver, leaving Nelson dead. Hall and Gilbert came out of the Hotel when they heard the shots and they all left town, but only after rifling through Nelson’s pockets and stealing his firearm first (wikipedia). After the shooting, Cst Nelson was bought into the hotel and laid upon a couch. The bloodstained couch reportedly remained at the hotel until around 1934 (Paranormal Guide).

John Dunn was eventually tracked down on Boxing Day 1865, and hanged at Darlinghurst Gaol on 19th March 1866. He was 19 years of age (Paranormal Guide).

A memorial to Constable Nelson has been constructed next to the Hotel, and his grave with another memorial is in the nearby churchyard.

The Bushranger Hotel is said to be haunted. There are tales of a former publican named Jimmy Quirk who makes his presence known to staff and patrons alike. Quirk and his eldest son are rumoured to still man the bar. Glasses are seen moving, seemingly of their own accord, and sometimes staff members will leave the room and return to find glasses have been stacked on the empty bar. Glasses have also been seen to shatter while still sitting on the shelf. Saucepans and lids have been thrown around the empty kitchen area. There are stories of shadows being seen in mirrors, phantom taps on the shoulder, white whispy figures disappearing around corners, sudden unexplained drops in temperature, and the sounds of someone stomping around in heavy boots. There have even been guests who have paid for accommodation, but refused to stay the night. Some people have reported seeing the figure of a young girl whilst on a ghost tour of the hotel. The ghost tours seemingly don’t happen at the moment, but will hopefully start up again sometime – and if they do, you know that yours truly will be there! (Goulburn Post & Paranormal Guide).

The Collector Ghost

There are also reports of a man who is dressed all in black, wearing a top hat and, as one eyewitness reports, carrying a bag similar to an old doctor’s bag. He has been seen walking the streets of Collector, as well as wandering along the road at nearby Lake George, in the township of Bungendore and even as far afield as the outskirts of Queanbeyan. It is unsure who this man is but it is said that he has been seen around the area since the 1930s (the-riotact.com/lake-george-extract-from-a-case-for-ghosts-part-5/132530, 2014).

So have you been to Collector, done a tour of the Bushranger Hotel, or seen the wandering man?

Let me know what you thought!

Until next time spooky friends.....