The morning after the night before, I woke up around five, relieved to see that the storm, which had made the house shudder and lit up the backyard, had moved on. It was instead a sparkling Autumn’s day, crisp and blue skied and so it was an easy decision – it was the perfect time to head to the Wollongong Botanic Garden for their Sculpture in the Garden.

The exhibition runs every second year and this year attracted a record number of entrants. And it’s easy to see why. The gardens really are the perfect setting for the eclectic range of sculptures scattered throughout its grounds. As you wind your way around the various collections, the flora changes along with the artworks. 

Make no mistake though, this exhibition is wide-ranging, literally, and it would be best to set aside at least an hour but preferably two, to take in the 23 sculptures on display. We only had a limited amount of time (okay, we also got distracted after stumbling across lots of frogs which were begging to have their photo taken) and found we were rushing from site to site and missed quite a few of the artworks, including one I desperately had hoped to see and the winner of the Acquisitive Sculpture Award, Deborah Redwood’s Banksia. 

It’s probably no surprise that I found myself lingering over those sculptures that reflect back nature to the viewer, such as Michael Ferris’s Wave, Alice Nixon’s larger-than-life sea urchin Immortal and Greer Taylor’s collecting tears, which shifted and changed as the wind blew through it. 

The program, which runs until April 30, is chock-full of artist-led drop-in workshops, guided walks, talks and even live music to round things out on the final day. We’re planning to head back with a book, some nibbles and a lot more time up our sleeves.

Sculpture in the Garden is definitely something to be savoured.