This morning we were on the road by 8.15am heading to New Norcia - Australia's only monastic town. This is a very unique town.
Once set up on the side of the oval our first stop was the Museum & Art Gallery & Gift Shop, where we purchased our tickets for the town tour and the museum/art gallery.
With lunch over we made our way over to the museum, where we met our guide at 1.30pm for the walking town tour. A guided tour is the best way to discover New Norcia. Hear stories of the last 160 years, visit the monks' own chapel within the monastery, the Abbey Church & beautifully decorated interiors of the College Chapels (not otherwise open to the public). This was a really enlightening tour lasting for 2 hours.
The Monastery is home to a community of Benedictine Monks since the first missionaries arrived from Europe in 1846. Today New Norcia continues to be a living expression of 1500 years of monastic hospitality. While the monks invite you to share their art, architecture, prayer life and natural environment, the monastery residence is a restricted area and we are asked to respect their privacy.
Once the tour was over we began looking through the museum & art gallery. We only had time to do the ground floor as the museum closed at 4.30pm. This left the top floor, which housed the art gallery, for the next day.
For dinner we decided to go to the Hotel. The New Norcia Hotel was built in 1927, and exudes old world charm and offers comfortable accommodation for singles, couples and families. Enjoy a coffee on the terrazzo tiled veranda, glass of Abbey Ale at the bar (available exclusively in WA at New Norcia), dinner in the grand dining room, or a special function on the balcony. This hotel was originally built as a hostel for the families of the college students.
New Norcia consisted of 4 colleges - one for the white boys, one for the white girls, one for the Aboriginal boys and one for the Aboriginal girls. These are no longer used for teaching children. They are now used for school camps, art and music workshops, retreats, conferences and special events.
Whilst closed to the public, freshly baked bread from the New Norcia Bakery is available for sale at the Gift Shop & the Roadhouse.
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