Thanks to everyone who joined RAA’s Field conversation – Natural High – on Friday 31 July in Melbourne, where we gathered at Collingwood Yards, on traditional lands of the Wurundjeri people from the Kulin Nation.

Following the Thursday afternoon fringe events or for those newly arrived, please join us for the Community Dinner (buy your own) at Cobar’s historic Great Western Hotel.

Our final Saturday fringe event will be a visit to the Mount Grenfell Rock Art Site, where we'll experience one of the most significant collections of Aboriginal rock art in New South Wales. Located within Mount Grenfell Historic Site, this remarkable cultural landscape has been a place of gathering, ceremony and knowledge sharing for Ngiyampaa People for thousands of years.

Another of our Saturday fringe events will be a visit to the Ward Oval Pavilion, also led by Jonathan Temple (Dunn Hillam). Here we'll explore how architecture can strengthen the civic and sporting life of a regional community. Positioned at the heart of Cobar's Ward Oval Precinct, the pavilion forms part of DunnHillam's broader masterplan to revitalise one of the town's most important public places.

One of our Saturday fringe events will be a visit to the Cobar Early Learning Centre, led by Jonathan Temple (Dunn Hillam). We'll explore how thoughtful architecture can respond to both climate and community. Opened in October 2024, the purpose-designed facility was created by DunnHillam to provide an exceptional environment for children, families and educators while responding to the harsh climatic conditions of outback New South Wales.

Our first Thursday fringe event will be a guided bus tour around the main attractions of Cobar, concluding with a longer visit to the Sound Chapel.

The tour will offer an introduction to Cobar’s mining landscape, industrial heritage and civic identity, taking in Fort Bourke Hill Lookout, the Cobar Miners Memorial, Cobar Mining Heritage Park, the Cobar Sign and views to the Great Cobar Open Cut.

We will then spend some time exploring and experiencing the Cobar Sound Chapel, a permanent sound installation artwork by composer / sound artist George Lentz in collaboration with architect Glenn Murcutt.

One of the Thursday afternoon fringe events will be the creation of a communal wall mural displaying the experiences of our collective journeys to Cobar.

As you travel to Cobar we invite you to document your journey through sketches, collage or other creative forms. Your work may capture the physical experience of travel- the landscapes, towns, roads, encounters and discoveries along the way, or it may explore a deeper, less tangible journey.