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THE SYDNEY BUSHWALKER ….. - -8 L monthly Bulletin devoted to matters of interst The Sydney Bushwalkers, 5 Hamilton Street, Sydney – ,- No..105 SEPTEMBER, 1943 Price 4d. _ Editor: C1,,,re Kinsella Production; Yvonne Rolfe As.':t.Ed. Grace Jolly Assistant: Alice V!yborn Bus. Lanager: Alex Colley Subscriptions; Marie Kinsella. Page Index … 40 1 Mountain Idemories Hec Carruthers 2 A Little Gosip ….. … 6 Things to Came? … Les Harpur 7 A W.A.A.A.F.Tiool:s at 1::c.:3ga Frances Stodart 8 Letters from Lads 00. 00. 10 Federation 'Totes . 11 Our Own Meeting *.t 41, 12 Social Advt, 00. 00 13 Goodman's Advt. 006 .0 13 What Paddy Says … … 14 The roots of the trees are my roots, thrusting deep Down through the warm earth's dark deliciousness; And the cry of the black cockatoos in their clamorous sweep To the voice of my spirit rising above the 8tress Of the storm in triumph. nose-tinted in theix pride. Flesh of my flsh, the hills rise, and my blood Burns in the war,:.tah on the mountain side. The leaT of my pulses beats through the singing flod Of cool bush water that blazes a silver trail Whore saurjan lags sprawl evilly in the migi - The green slime seeping like Poison from each scale Their-blunt snouts darkly sunken in back-wash holes Peering- from eyenots never shuttered by sleep. Yonder the sun spills past the crayoned boles Of giant gums, to gild each fallen heap Of crescent lgnves until they gleam and glow Like little yellow moons, that time has thrust Bene th the trees to tarnish in the dust. From Bush-Born By Norma L. Davies. ,11 - k CO '11.,,–TTTS . – 4*-e* e 4,- - - 4 —– by Hec. Carruthers. Kanangra, Gallgerang lamorous sounding naoles, es,oci 10-1 ono hoc..rs man by club members wlio have roamed around thece Arv! then, w'.eo, one Foto ids on Konangra , i3c1 looks at the facilting litne eo's of Pip, or Lnd Rumble becooig in the ('isturce, the uro to ex )1ore is folt v troo;ly. a painbi-1, those places tonfl to lose be co a-rioro-ch, or so John and I decidod after wandering around sect-_on of the mountains. Full of ooci,),o tl_on of interentil rights ahead we st-ougT1,d out from Katoomba on a :1rious BUJ y mOrning that promised good wo-ther had ,;rabbed a handful of evorythin, in. si ht, stowed it in a couTole of packs, loaded the artillery ci,d cameras with a twingp of regret, etc., set out to discover e,,c1, other i n the reveing atmosiDhere of the hush. this tim-2 I war aol ardont c-osoest not uoci to carrying a pack o my lock. The u-oaccustoued weib. of 70 lbs saanod all my stren,th and left me in a dazed state of mind. The Lirot rt of the trip ca-L, therefore, only be described in a hazy manner. Ue rlo 1,7.,,od. to scial:ae o to the bus out to Clear Hill and alight Id at a snaJ.l town cal'.:(1 Olen na.)hael. Vie were unable to get tea, bed and break- fact at any of no hotels so we had to pitch the tent. I should say John pitched the tent an I w-o iic,:)able of 7)itching anything around. When the dinner bell sounded I strolled down the stairs in my tuxedo or torso or some- thin-, and rton of a :;ood137 meal, foosooth. The next thing I repenber war a voice within the tavern crying, ,,uvael my little one's and fill the cup.“ at sounded good so John and I immed- iately crawled out from under the canvas, filled the cup, then crawled in Suddenly John remembered we ware going somewhere so with a larger twinge of regret I crawled out to lo,k at the gloomy morn (or after- noon). Hearin- a dcturbance in some nearby bushes I went to investigate and saw a :Jiece of meat waltzing around and humming. I took after it with a tomahawk (scouts note) hut when c-u,ht it was too far gone to be of any use so John -Ilayed The Last ,:not while I buried our –,roo)osed lunch. After that sad scene we backed u o and saunt red off in the direction of Clear Hill, When I regained con'ciousneso I was sitting on ,1 rock overlooking some valleys while John was dashing around with a camera. I besscon to wonder why I had brought the rtillery, the camera, the films - in fact I wondered why I had forr hen my m rmaids for mountain devils. My revorie was broken by John saying r'ometing about a bird of time having but a little way to fly, and so, a stone was on the wing. It misoed me but I realised that I must arouse oyrolf to avoid being a to.-!:-et for more stones. So I leaved meself u,o on me launches -lid wobbled unste-.dily tow 1..0.E7 the ladders. Those 1,VIders a-e'oa,tled to me. There wLp something nauti-cal about them, Shi,)r, and 31,008 and stockings and all that, Tell I did the sailors hornpipe on to-r., then dash…?d down the co,,i-anio ln way to were he was woLting. From there we sauntered off ar7tin, hoh-_lobbed with a chap called Debert before descending to the gap known as Liedlow. We colli;ratul,Lted ourselves nj o- r superb feat of wa'7.ing and our timing IP 3 things so nicely that we had annle t ue in which to pitch our tent before dark. Our first job was to find a little stream that babbled over pebbles, Unfortunately there w-E; a droueeht about this time as well as a plaeue of grasehoepers. The poor little grasshupers had been very thirty. They ceene across the little e:tream, there, and dran17_. it all up leaving (ill, three tres, there, there eceed there. After playin:; hide e nd se k for an hour we re_lieed. that we were in dire r2treits. It was geine to be a bit tough haviee to go down to the Cox's River every time we wanted a drink. Then John got an i'a. Why not :;o down the Bleach Dog track E;n0 elm-) at the Cox. I imnedirebely phoned the Tourist Pureau for -Laformetion aeld as the Eh-das of nieht were falling fast we scurried o..r:f. I wanted to run the whole way. Fe ncy being out in the bush after dark, Cree)ing, crawling things everywhere. Things pe:ring at me from every stump. Gosh, I'd be a hero when I eot back. I stuck my chest out, busted two ttens end knoch:a over two tre_s (ComLittee, please note - they were dead). Well we follow-a the little diaylonds that sparkled in the trees until we reeche- the edge of the ridge. There all trace of the faint track vanished and we rushed hither and thither searching for a way aown. All our hitherine didhlt take us any thitherer so John sug ested camping for the ni-;ht, As I mat have my c?_–) of toddy before retirin: to rest I decided te continue my search. I diecovered a chimney down which we scrambled in an effort to go etraieht down the spur to the river. After sliding over rocks and leaves we landed ri(eht on the track and set off at a brisk pace for the Cox. By this time the Torms were rather hungry and we were pleased to arrive at the river at 10 -).m. “hat a feed the worms had. Next morning dawned very dull a-d gloomy se we just roamed around and wasted half our aeueullition on a yellow rabbit. Anyway I bet the little beggar got a helluva fright. Later on we enter tained seme visitors, who were walkine through to the Nattai TahiolaLid. They 1 ft us to cam-) further downstream while we di(] a bit of cooking and endeavoured to take a few photos in the por light. After lunch we organised a big Temo-hunting exodition. I veLs eaeerly awaiting my, first feed of rabbit so I hstily saddled up our elephants, collected the black boys and set out for vest unIce_oeel. We wandered down until we came to a place called Kill's scaredfile, but he neme scared us so we tuened back and on the return trip mcineed to bag one aC half rabbits. The next day we were aeTe:_eened by a band aireroeching or perhetes it was someone blowing his own trum-jet. Any /ay we ,:ot out the cetie,et, hid the wine and welcomed the new guests. Eventually, re-lid much blowing of truffeets they arrived - a couple who had come from Kanangra via the Kowmung. They intended finishing up at Canberra or Darwin, I don't know which. Now these peo,ele made me almost sJu. don the trip. The hero of their story had killed so may snakes that I straieLt away -Jut an advertisement in the local paper for a snake charmer. As there were no ap-elicants I tendered my resignation from the expedition. Joieee eleeded with me and. vrhtually I decided to accompany him further into the bad la_Ldc. After trudging along the glorious flats beside the Cox we reached the Black Doe; Canyon. Here we slilyeed and slid a bit but kept our tempers despite the sneLes that almoet obliterated the track. About midday we arrived at the Kowmung and thoroughly onjoy,d ourselves as we pushed through, over and around I:anuka trees and rocks. Now and again our hobnails skidded on the baealt and we plunged into the madly careering river. At 1:e't we reached the and of the gorge and got out of the L, builtup areas. We stepped on the gas and s-oed along, hoping to reach Cedar Road before dark. Friend John almost had heart failure on oAe occasion. On a very rocky part of the track he suddenly bounded into the air with a 7e11, I dashed Un an saw a snake lying ecrose the treeck. It had been lift there by our tr,mpet blowin, friend. I made John sit down while I endeavour el to celm him, I honed this would be a lengthy job but John suddenly jumped to his feet and dashed off. Reluctantly I followed and once again we struggled on. I was terribly disapnointcd when John decided that we would stop, I felt like stopping hours ago, And se the lon6- day closed and we sank into a well earned sleep only to be aeak ned in. the small hours by Mr. and Mrs. Clive Walker who were seeanding a holiday on the Kowmueg. So that morning we made an early start and set out for Huhes Ride. We be,.ee to enjoy the scenery as tin: river ran through better country. The sky we c overcast and rain seemed vary close. On reaching the Cedar Roe we sto-)ped for lunch and were joined by a party of Bush Walkers who had nad, a motor trip to the top of the old road. After talking for a while we decided to go on but the rain came to my assistance and we pitched our tent ejeing with the oth r party. Next morning we bid our friends Adieu and set off ,p stream for Hughes Ridge and Kanangra, At the bottom of the ridge we cooled off iii the s.2arkling stream and had a good feed in Preparation for the long climb ahead. We then filled our water bottles, collected a rabbit from the butchers and begale the ascent. Once we had reached the Jincery Ride we felt in good form so hurried along past the numerous ant hills to the track junction below Scrubby Ton. We swung to the ri-.;ht aosin the cave on our ascent un to the plateau. Soon we were lost in a forest of snail se:Ilings. For many minutes we strug led to find a way through the trees rend after much pushinn and shoving burst out into the open heath country end on to the track that took us Test Mt.Seymour and to the iron ladders that have Eince bean removed. It was dark by the time we took off our packs on the dance floor ,2.11c1 scouted around for wood. For he next three days we Litayed at Kanangra and shivered. 2. fierce wind was driving fro: the west nd clouds covered the sky all day. We wore all available clothes using our towels as scerves. Our gardening gloves sel dom left our ha-lOs and we w re continually on the move in order to keen warm, Our trigger fingers were itbhing but the clouds prevented us from shooting any of the interesting country. We inv stigated all the vantage points from where good shots could be obained so that when at last the sun peeped out we would be able to desh off to the spot marked X. Our intentiOis were to visit Big Misty and then stroll to Boyd Range had conditions been favourable. Instead we just haunted Kanangra. By the third day we were practically blown out of the cave and hket to tie our fir down in order to save ourselves from too much physical exertion. It was P. bit tough havin to chase the fire around the cave when trying to boil the billy. 2iventua11y we gave the landlord one hours notice and took the cave across the street which had been empty for a week or so. This deellin:; -eroved much better and we were able to enjoy our last night in comfort. Late in the afterneon the clouds started to break up and that night we saw the moon shyly peeping at us through the trees. Full of eagerness we awoke next morning to watch the golden cprb appear over thdistant mountains. 71e were soon dashing around with our cameras and after scratching our itchy fingers set off for Gangerang at 11 a m. After suc cessfully ne:-,otiating Smith's Pare we linered awhile on the cliffs to admire the Kanangra Gorge from a different an';le. Walking was easy until we reached r Skirtinj_ he massive rocks we encountered serious o-eposition dGLa ce em of small sa-aings and vines and we soon fel the pangs of hunger. ,:j10-e:eied lunch we journeyed on to arrive at Gabes d-rl-o, the oasis in the wdero eeo, Th-le is a deli:-htfel sepot in that rugged mountain range and pro- video ,,- welo-ele reci-,ing place before the lone task ahead. Our rest was rather be ief eno et :7? p,m, we commenced the arduous clump up Gallgerans, The sun was doo. strersly as we cliped ani. slid over to broken basalt that fef.TO tOe ;eel the n6r4ow ridse leadinz up to Rilp Roar and Romle, Hobnails WO” e uc etenr31 e-Te- dee'zerous. I,:ountain holly slashed knees anCt ari. while small sanos Leeocac entled with le:;s and bodies. How we lated that journey as breeleee _e,ehorl c ee 'Cr7.::-'3 and caused us to flounder on the jag3ed rocks. We had eerleprfr -eero-ee e'oe all those holly bushes and all those rocks as we scraiTh o, Oloudmaker. We wondered where was the enchant:lent of the disto nt 1/4e eee ee o ,,lot we were on them. eeeehed the bend where we turned rieht to climb over Rip Roat and Pni;-)le, teLped, tore and tumbled over these three “fascine:ing” peaLe- Ue evee,floily etreive at Cloudmaker. The station master was away when we ]-(2.Lo1. (:1_1,; station so we hurried away in order to reach Dexls Creek befoee deric it irst we want too for to the right and finished 11,_;) on the edge of a :oege. From hare we edged our way around to the left and back on to the main rirlge which took us down to the creek. Darkness had fallen by this and we felt anxious as we searched for a calep spot. After much searching we discovered a cleared s.)ot beside a pool aed in a short time had our tea on cooking. The night was very cold as the de,2_T) sot was rather' damp and misty. We were pleased to see the sun on the next morning and “enjoyed” an early morning dip much to the disgust of the frog that inhabitated the loon'. After more holly and see.-21ings we saw the Cox's river glimmering f,er down below. Like thirst-crazed animals we ran down the mountain side and threw ourselves into the refcshLg stream. We 1,zed for maoy minutes in the cool embrace of the water before attending to the needs of the inner man. John had injured an ankle and kn,m while coming dowl” the mountain so we just crawled along trying to reach Breakfast Creale before dari:. While still a few miles from our goal we stopped for camp and enjoyed a delicious meal of poultry. Our supplies were running low and we were forced to live on what we could shoot. We had become rather tired of rabbits and welcomed the chane in our menu. Next morning we pulled down the tent for the last time and began the long journey to Dlacl,:heath. We passed Breakfast and Galong creeks enjoying the scenery all the way. After Galong we were disappointed in the way the river broke up and ran over miles of pink granite. The last few miles of Gibraltar found us tired and cranky as we had to force the pace in order to complete the long journey before nightfall. At Gibraltar Creek we had a late lunch and ate our last food before the mo,:lotonous walk 11-:) the bridal track into Idegalong. And so, our walking ended, we soek into the comfortable seat of a car that conveyed us to Ble_cleath. It was with a pang of regret that I gazed at our last camp on that trip. Toworin:7 casuarinas, rocky cliffs and gently murmuring stream created an impression that made me linger in withdrawing the pe3es that transformed our tent into a crumpled mass of canvas. Perhaps something warned me of things to come. That was my last walk with John, He is now a Prisoner of war in Germany. A LITTLE GOSSIe. 4 4 -4 - 4 feel we must congratulate the Social Committee on the dances they are en lately. Everyone enjoy; them, Besides the sausage rolls and coffee -eious. 7Nel items of news which yoi have probably heard about. by now. Joan & Harry have a daughter, the image of Harry, we hear but we will wait and see and Mary Stoddart has announced her engagement. The Melbourne Talking Club are printing their Talks Programmes these days. Similar to ours in setup but much more encouraging than our formal affairs. For instance who could resist this, 7qL -oleasant, easy walk for the more sedate“ which you must admit does call one more so than ours which bluntly state more often than not “Rough” and is usually a gross understatement. Another one brightly insists that “we hope to see lots of Wattle”. Well we ask you J1 We feel a definite call to Melbourne. Speaking of Melbourne, there is a rumour that Ira and Dot are returning to Sydney. Fur coat and all. We don't really believe that Dot has boueht a hat though, Do you? . The life of an OLD nrall,]3/41 is not a happy one, It is these poor unfortunates who must always be a beautiful example and practically regulate their lives with an eye to the effect of such lives on the innocent Prospective. You can tell an OLD 1..:TL13,,:p at once, (not everything, of course, some of them are on the committee) by their apathetic look, and their tendency to lie down under vile accusatIons. The OLD LZADER is accused of plenty, such as holding opposition meetings on the land-.ng outside when the rest of the members (the really serious ones) are looking after the welfare of the club inside, speculating in land and spending our savings, at the general meeting. They also say an OTD MEMBZR is very rarely if evJr, seen on official walks and altogether it seems that to be an old member is a term of reproach. Which all leads up to the inescapable fact that a recent official walk was LED, ATTENDED, SUORTED and FOLIMED purely (?) by OLD MEMBERS. Thirteen of them. Of course they ma:- have wanted to talk about someone, but still, they were th re. Tim Coffey is fit to be “tied”. He unfortunately brought a girl along to “Old tails retold”, the first time he has brought one along he slys and they put photos on of him seerroundd by girls and looking thoroughly at home with them, too. In f_ct he was so annoyed that he came in next Fri(ay night without his TIE. An attempt to rob a member of his carefully hurtured up..-)er lip fungus, on Friday night, was unfortunately a com-elete failure. He defended the growth so valiantly, the mob were fright ned of cutting him. Better luck next time, we hope. ' r 1 kr' - II 11 k/00-r- - I, ) c I )– Q1 L– - ) - —._ (–,– ) . , .\ I A WAAAF LadHS AT VAC-GA By Francis Stoddart. Geologically s-eeaking, the Murrumbidgee at Wagga 1-agga is a rejuvenated rive,::; that is, it flows swiftly but along the winding bed of an old river. It is cutting down its banks along thd outside of the wide bends and lovely old trees are '1linr to a watery death. At one time (they say locally) it was navgable from Wag down and paddle boats used to thrash up and down to and from Mildura. Nowadays there are too many obstructions i logs and sandbanks and small islands, and of course the rivr flow is regulated at Durranjuck Dam. Near Iragga the Murrumbidgeo takes a turn westward. Having circled the mountains round Canberra and deserted the foothills of Gundagai, it comieences its devious course over the gently descending tableland toward the centre-line nf Australia, changing its direction where th Lachlan joins it, and turning towards the great Murray. It would be one of the most wonderful rivers imaginable to Canoe along. Its quiet rceeches are alive with nature fauna. Running through paddocks where mild-eyed cattle or ce-etented sheep have their residence, and where guns are seldom heard, snares seldom set, it pursues its untroubked way past lovely river gums, green wheatfields, lush meadows and thicketed islands, Walking along its banks one may stertle into flight a flock of sulphur crested cockatoos. Against the sun they wheel and turn again, flyin, round and round with raucous cries, their yellow underwing feathers glowing in the light and their ild freedom e thing of halcyon beauty. Once we came u-3on a lamb now born. Wet all over and sweetly weak it lay on the dew-heavy grass win its anximes mother beside. It was a silky gleaming white, with the most adorable nurE:eiry-book tail, liquid eyes and tiny sooty'nose, Often on these walks one may st:rtle a hare from the high grass. Like a brown bolt he will scoot off across the flats and if one waits quietly and patiently he will eventually come beck ae in to the same sot, The bl-ck swans are the greetest beaut:v of all, With dusky syeemetry of action in reieose, or repose in motion, they drift silently along the gleaming surface of the Water, aimless, untroubled and remote, their red bills pointing forward and down and the lovely curve of their sl_nder necks sracian in perfection of balance. When they fly they are magnificent. Their wings are tremendous, heavy and powerful and ti-Jped with snowy feathers which are invisible when they are on the water. Usually, on a quiet bend, one finds seven or eight of them. They will fly off if disturbed and sail by ath a wary eye even when one is sitting quite still on the bank. In spite of the beauty and attraction of the river - strange how wtter calls to something deep in one -, lovely days can be spent away from its magic in the outlying ceuntr7. Days on horseback i with the wind boisterous in the ears, the sun burning the face, every muccle elastic in response to the vigorous movement. There is an ex-yerimeetal farm about five miles o,,t of the town - a government affair - and at present skeleton-staffed. They have been pleased to welcome exercise-seekors and to encourage th,31a to muster sheep or horses and ride all over their lovely wide domein. One such day wE seat bringing in foals and separating th m from their mothers. A ticklish job this with only three riders and some fifty or so powerful horses, all just as wild or wild -s can be. The horse-man at th farm is 9. amazing. He sits his great black horse as though both were one. Vihen the mob is corralled he eoes quietly in amons the great nervous animals and gently puts the rope halter over their necks, then over their heads. It looks easy. He leads the mother out and the gate must be shut quickly on the baby who, when he is obstroperous, receives a smart slap on his snowy, chestnut, or sable nose. Finally all are separated and we round up the mothers and take them down to ;their paddocks about two miles es/ay. Poor dears. Illoically they th ek They will find the foals there, and they race about the wide knolls and Pine groves crying to them in extreme aesitation. It-is saddening but anyway they will soon forget. Meanwhile we ride back to deal with the fosls. The gorgeous arab stallion is shut away from all this excitement, but on almost any day one may sto-) to gaze at him as he races round his high fenced strongly-made corral, He is daeesled grey -die_ fine and slender. His whole body is a-quiver with fire.:ead Peed he races fleetly round, wheeling and turning with glorious agility, -eoetry of freedom in motion. On another day mustering shese was in progress. We can-tired down the long slope from the hill and fetched the sheep from their pade ock, brinine them through a gate -nd counting them. This part was difficult to do and quite entertaining. The lambs 1,se d to be ignored and some of the lambs were large. I was about ten over the mark in my count. The idea was to pick up four stones - there were about four hundred of the ewes - and drop one every time one reached a hundred, at the same time shouting. 'hundred in a loud voice, u: it was fun. Next they were-driven along lanes and other paddocks to a small yard where they were crammed in tightly and shooed in batches through a small race. Here they were seeos,rated. into threell:lothereeewes, small ewes and ramkins. I was in position on the race and no* and then held ise Proceedings by seizing some hesitant small wodly fat thing and lifting it up bodily to hug it. The yard was a lovely sight. Great shady peppercorns grew bh re making a green roof almost entirely covering the whole yard. In a green twilight the pale creamy fle ces heaved and circled casting, a reflected glow upward. were tired out :hen, the sun tuned fiery red-gold above the w stern hills bounding the wide valley. Turning h-neward'we rode slowly Ise toward the little shall) ?ointed green hill with its live green nines, and rounded granite boulders, beneath which the farm be ildings are grouped among giant gums .nd hoary j pel2percorns. The darkening fields were quit in the clear cold air and the only sound in the stillness cams from our horses hooves on an occasional cobble. In a few months now, I shall see again the glorious line of 1monds in ' bloom. They circle the eastern side of the hill and dive down .st the orchard into another wide valley. The- are old and symmetrical and very beautiful,with palest pure pink chalices centered with dark red, crowded on long stems in heavenly pre:-esion. In the huge co-1 orchard shed last Eering we sank our teeth into icy soft pears, brown-flecked sunny gold, and fountains of extasy. There are tables laden with boxes of almonds all sha-oes and sizes and conditions. Herei shells, soft shells, ones with the skins on and quantities without. As we munched our fill that day We were shown the specimen room where bottled fruits, olives, pears, peaches etc, stand in to=ting array. There is a great coeeper where the fruit is preservadland an intricate and interesting grader. The olives, clothed with -pointed glossy green leaves and loaded with purpling fruit, are contoue -lanted, lines run ing round thcurve of the hillside following the same level, The new orchard is being planted in this way and will look so much more ch-,rming than the old, with its straight rows are unimaginative squareness, My year in Wagga has been so crammed with new and educating exeee-,c-s the. I -c 1a run on in the foregoing Vein for an indJ,finite wordy S-21(.0, NJ doubt Hftr this war long yarns will be spun around the campfires, fe211ae)s amore v les of deroing-do and of overseas marvels there will come a moment when I wilt be able to communicate the quiet peace of the Murrumbidgee and the beauty of this wide and sunny -elateau, in the form of a murmurous lullaby to eoethe tired walkers to a well-earned sleep. LE=RS FROM THE LADS AD LASSES 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 0 0. 0. 0 .! .!+. Lettere were received during August frem:- Jean Ray 1Torm Scott Peter Allen - Bob Savage Jack Adams - R.R.C. Betty Isaacs S.B.W. Ruth McLaren - S.B.W. Brian Harvey - Jack Adams - Airo-ra-oh Letter from London 21 7 43 A copy of Bushwalker Songs and l'oems came to its final toWay(PoJEed to Evans Head - last known address) Believe it was posted in January. Old favourites like”Kanangra“, “Old Father Cox”, “Come to th, Bush”, etc-4 bring back memories of great and cheerful times at walks, friendly campfires and gorging barbecues. You and I can look forward to the future when we can lay aside the uniform of war and again don rucksack and old digs for many more “Down in the Blue Gum”. You no doubt wonder how I'm progressing in this great country. Final training almost couplet ,d prior to convertion to heavy bombers. With an English crew as rear gunner, our mid upper is a French C=nadiav. Quite regular fellows. The peo-ole over here are kind and hospitable to us “colonials”, many recall with passing years, the glorious Anzacs of the last great blunder. Many have boys overseas, some :prisoners of war at Singapore and by their friendliness to sons over from home they 1iio7oeto make up for their loss. The food question in not to bad. The whole country is under the hoe. Vegetables or hay everywhere. In fact this harvest of fodder has been an all time record. Anyway thanks for the booklet and “Till-we meet again”, Yours ever a Bushwalker. Jack Adams, Bob Sdvaree - 20th Jul,-Whilst in Harold Chxdonis office about a week ago a package arrived bee..rine; the familier stamp of the Services Committee and so, of course, the conversation swung to the old hunting grounds - the Garrawarra and the Central Blue Zountains - then to the old days of the Club when we were both very junior officers in Signals and week-ends have to be a-eportioned between militar7 reqFirements and th, walking game - having lived again a while in the past which is the privilege of Colonels we settled down to military requirements of today. On my return up country I found waiting for me a similar package and once again thanks to the Services Committee, Recently stationed near me was Sister Helen Moriarty - a sister of our Oliver - it was not until she saw a copy of last years “Lushwalker” that she made her relationship known and so the nagazine has its uses in introc7ucing people. 11. …..1….. Ray 3rd Auri-ust, After travelling down to Melbourne, and back to a lovely snap of Splendour Rock has just reached me f3-om the 7hotogra1hic com?etition and you. Many tha71.3,:s to tlo, u/lhoown ;;etc'eapher and to all concerned. This is one of tile e-Ipo'e,e I he vo not y21; reached under my own steam, and one I am hoping to peloto=aph, now adorning the far from ornamental beams c=L,,-,s, me dOea of the “why” behind the Dame. It must be a J-Let recently we received back from ngland Arnold's “prole book iii 111,111 we had a number of photos received from the Se2vi(ee. Cemmitf ee ne,(' otilor bushwalkers in odeitio,u to his own. From all acoeu lte., good c: !'lusralian snow country axe a constant source of amr,ent to jir,,Lyllcs at home who think that Au'S-er:alia is either a flat dee:ert or an ee.11.7 paradise. go keep up the good Work of photos to the lads away. 11,eo-t h,,,r point whie. the Committee nvy be able to help through it respeo- tT_ve ciubs. D4. McLennan of the Botany School, Melbourne Universityl Corlon N-3 is most anxious to get quantities of Australian fungi. She is tcsoting out all varieties for a drug, penjecillin(?Y which is su,Yeosed to be very beneficial in curi,ig bomb ha-leer 'and, shell shock cases. We do not. get the quantity or,variety of fungi that ,Victoria, does, but may have some that would prove of value and contrit,-ete to our store of this drug. Just aa mattor of interest, she is working on the moment on el: f ungus which actually groi:/s. on the optical gla6so f binoculexs etc., in the New Guinea area not on the glue, not ,on glue; but actually on. the glass, makire; them unserviceable after 1. few mohths until they 6a-la be thoroughly, cieorede It seems an extraordinary thing.' We have ben nearly blown off the Bradfield Ridge this week 1.1.d the dee, ire already Cxifting in onto thils- paper as I write. It is going to be another 9.ovely day” butJat least 11e 'u1 is shining. FE=ATION - NOTES The Publication Committee reports that it' has not yet located a -printer with the necessary stre li:s of Paler. The proposed alteration of he Cceeetitutian has-been carried so that the quorum. for a Council Meeting is 5 delegate6-ordvided they. represent at least three clubs. . The year's Annual Confdrence is to be held on September 31st at 8 p m. at the Boy Scouts' Associ-tion rooms, 4th floor Australia House, Carrin3ton Sbreet City. Ono of the main ,subjects of discussion will be thQ Greater nue Mountains National :'exle Hodgson, Preside'nt of the Blue Mountains Shire Council has sent e map' o' :.h- area prop osed as a park and the setting asdo of primitive areas within the park will :come before the Federation. Mer pers are urged to attend the Conference and ex-orase their views. The prciDosed res'erve is bounded by a line drawn from Hartley down the Cox's to Kill's, thence direct to the 1-Jarragmba Dam site; then clown the Nopoan and up the Grose to Tomah Creek, then North to beyond Mount Irvine and back to Hartley. A-reply was received from the National Park Trust to the Federation's request that the road to Little Marley Hostel be closed by a gate where it leaves the Bundeena Road. The Trust refused the request as it is against its e put a gate across any road and debar the public from any pert of the park A proposal that Arnold Rae's legacy be devoted to the purchase of lot 7 at Era gai- turned down. The C.M;I:j. pointed out that Arnold Rae (Ad not cerc for th. place and the Blue Mountains was his favourite walking country. It was sugs(,stod that Long Angle Gully and Fitsgerald Creek might be suitable. AT OUR OWN =TING v. do on Three rew reembers were welcomed by the president - Christa Calnan(who was admitted last month),Mrs. Sheila Montgomery, and Mrs.Betty Dickensen. It was announced that Freda Newman, Bob Banks and Dick Howard had also been admitted, but were unable to be present. The Federation decided against the purchase of lot 7 at Era. It was proposed by Alex Colley that a motion be discussed at the half-yearly meeting next month, for the purchase of Block 7 by the club, 2100 of the purchase price to come from accumulated Club funds and tho balance to be raised by loans and/or gifts from members. A number of members expresead opinionstmost of which struck a cautious note. Marie BYles said that a client of hers, who was favourably disposed to the walking movement was willing to buy the land if the Federation or the Club did not do so. The vendor wanted '-;razing rights for 10 years with an option for a further period. Ray Kirkby poilited out that it was unlikely that the /and would become ours for all time. It mieht be resumed or the surrounding lands might be sold to other people and developed, in which case our block would be of little use for camping. Wal Roots pointed out that a large sum was involved and we might jeopeeledise our financial position. On the other hand it might be impossible to develop the surrounding lands without the possession of block 7, Jean Moppett - drew attention to the difficulty of policing the area, Irving Calnan said that there IJITT_s a general encroachment on lands near to Sydney and that Era would be affected in time. He thought that the s me amount of money applied to publicity might achieve something more worth while - e g. the Greater Blue Mountains National Park. Ron Edees questioned whether many Club members went to Era. On the suggestion of Alex Colley it was decided that anybody willing to help by mans of loan or gift should give their name and the amount they were willing to put up to the assi-tant Treasurer, Joan Moprett, so that the half-yearly meeting would have some idea of whether members were willing to support the proposal. It was decided to put the pro,Dosal before the half yearly meeting. It was announced that, owing to the difficulty of obtaining leaders for walks, the Walks Secretary ie. trying out a new scheme for the next walks programme. Portion of the tentative pregramne is to be made out showing suitable routes, so that members may place their names against any they wish to lead. It is hoped that this would overcome the difficulty of many who would lead walks if they knew just where to go, though of course the choice of route and 1ate can still be decided by the leader. The Walks, Secretary (Allan Wyborn) requests that members do not wait to be asked to lead walks, but see him if they can lead a walk, and so kee-e the Club's activities going during these troublesome times. 13. -1- - – - – YOUR SCCIAL CLLENDAR FOR aEPTEI,DER AND OCTOBER 17th Sept. 24th Sept. 6th October In all probability Dr. Ian Ilogbin will not be in Sydney on this date, in which caL,!e Liss Dorothy Taylor will lecture us on Wilkie/s Dopulo_r book “One 1-Trld” Services Committee Night in the Club r,-)o ils. Join with us in natching the jits jittering at the Trocadero. 8th October Fifth rlatercolour Exhibitj7on of Australian WiL:flowers. 22nd October P1,-,y Night (would any asirin3 producer or actor see Mr. lirkby). 0 YOUR OPTOMETRIST F. C-00DMAN I.O. Optometrist and Optometrist 20 Hunter Street, Sydney Tel. B 3438 Modern method of eye examintion and eye training Careful Spectacle fitting. Fixing an a-,Dpointnlent will facilitate the reservation of tiio for siving you i)ro-)ar attention, but should you be tillable to ring us beforehand, your visit will be welcome at any time you may chose to call WATERPROOF LI …. Last month we discussed the different meanings of the word. Let us now turn from etymology to clothology. with cloth as with so maliy other things in life, we must conctently accept f compromises. As a rule, an advantaee has a corresponding disadvantage. For k instance, a giraffe finds his long neck handy for getting at treetops but not so good for gettine through doorways. Simil-xly a cloth which is com-eletely and absolutely waterproof has one or all of the following disadvantages, l. It is heavy 2. It is airtight 3, It is cold to the teuch and therefore causes dew to form on it. 4. When treated with oil or paint it loses tensile strength. 5. It -attracts the suns heat and gets unbearably hot when exposed to summer sun. Such a cloth is obviouEly unsuitable for tents but is good for groundsheets and loose capes which allow good ventilation. Loose fitting jackets and coats are not too bad but tend to 'sweat'. That is why it is impossible to get a s=etisfctory lightweight tent which is “absolutely waterproof”. - For tents whether “proofed” or 4ot we must depend on a good “run off”. A camper must therefore see that his tent is so designed that all water runs freely and easily off the roof. Of course water will run off any Eloping surface but we must bear in mind that cloth is a flexible and elastic substance which therefore has a natural “sag”, no matter how well the tent is pitched. This sag is very much increased when a strong wind hits the tent. A good rule is that the roofoof aolightwsight tent should have a minimum angle with the ground of 45 50 or 60 is better. Even a well designed tent will leak if by bad pitching there are puckers in the roof. Given a good “run off” any smooth tightly woven cloth will keep water out without having been treated in any way. Japaras being specially woven for such purposes are of course the bushwalkers choice. An untreated cloth however, while rung off the w r,…ter, nevertheless gets wet and if the wet underside of the cloth is touched, the 'skint of the wter is broken and a drip strts. Lost campers know the trick of running the hand down from the drip to the bottom of the roof which stops the drip, A tent made of water repellent cloth whils9 it resists the water or some time, eventually gets wet, but because of the resistance a drip is not so readily started. If a tent is packed la: in a wet state and pitched in that condition, there will be wet patches inside the tent. If rain falls the tent will leak. The moisture on the wet patch attracts more water through the cloth which runs down the inside of the tent until it comes to the edge of the wet patch. Here a holdup occurs and a drip starts. The wise cam-eer wipes down the inside of a vet tent with a towel or a handkerchief not so much to dry the tent as to spread the moisture evenly over the surface. PADDY PALLIN, /Phone. B3101. 327 George Street, SYDNEY.

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