195910
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On Wednesday, September 23rd, the evening at the Club was given over to an important debate. Subject: "The Older Members are of Greater Benefit to the Club". | On Wednesday, September 23rd, the evening at the Club was given over to an important debate. Subject: "The Older Members are of Greater Benefit to the Club". | ||
- | The President, Jack Gentle, was in the chair, and three members, Messrs. Ardill, | + | The President, Jack Gentle, was in the chair, and three members, Messrs. Ardill, |
Kevin Ardill, clothed in white robes with an angelic halo nodding atop his head (which garb suggested that he was already defunct) opened the debate on a sober note, marred slightly by frequent libations of a golden fluid in a bottle marked: " | Kevin Ardill, clothed in white robes with an angelic halo nodding atop his head (which garb suggested that he was already defunct) opened the debate on a sober note, marred slightly by frequent libations of a golden fluid in a bottle marked: " | ||
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It's a funny arrangement getting a job here. You ring up - he sayd to call on such and such a date a week or so later - you go in and see him - he writes in a few days to say you've got the job, rate of pay and to R.S.V.P. - you write back and accept the job and rate of pay - he writes back to say when to start - what a lot of boloney. You've almost got to swear you are staying in England for good. I feel like making them swear they' | It's a funny arrangement getting a job here. You ring up - he sayd to call on such and such a date a week or so later - you go in and see him - he writes in a few days to say you've got the job, rate of pay and to R.S.V.P. - you write back and accept the job and rate of pay - he writes back to say when to start - what a lot of boloney. You've almost got to swear you are staying in England for good. I feel like making them swear they' | ||
- | I saw a funny incident last week that really tickled me. I went for a walk around the suburbs to the Zoo and Primrose Hill and further on to Hampstead Heath. I got lost a few times getting there but it reminded me something of Norton' | + | I saw a funny incident last week that really tickled me. I went for a walk around the suburbs to the Zoo and Primrose Hill and further on to Hampstead Heath. I got lost a few times getting there but it reminded me something of Norton' |
"Where I'm working I'm the only one who can fit, turn, weld and mill and the " | "Where I'm working I'm the only one who can fit, turn, weld and mill and the " | ||
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=== Sanitarium Health Food and Vegetarian Cafe. === | === Sanitarium Health Food and Vegetarian Cafe. === | ||
- | Warmer weather | + | Warmer weather |
13 Hunter St., Sydney. BW1725. | 13 Hunter St., Sydney. BW1725. | ||
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The subjects vary in different regions, whether we speak of our local district, or of the whole of the Continent. For instance, marine subjects are much more common near the coast; some tribes depicted them, others did not. Again, though some inland tribes ate river fish, they never presented them in their art. Strangely enough though such animals as the platypus, koala, wombat, possum, birds, are not often seen, the spiny ant-eater is not uncommon, while the wallaby and the kangaroo are hot favourites. Flowers and shellfish are among the rarest objects depicted in rock art, because they were considered to belong to the realm of women, and believe it or not, there was nothing effeminate about being an aboriginal artist. That was a man's work. Something like being a monumental mason, I guess. As so much of the aboriginal art had to do with native laws, ritual, fertility, and hunting for bigger game, perhaps the reason for the division of labour is easy to understand. | The subjects vary in different regions, whether we speak of our local district, or of the whole of the Continent. For instance, marine subjects are much more common near the coast; some tribes depicted them, others did not. Again, though some inland tribes ate river fish, they never presented them in their art. Strangely enough though such animals as the platypus, koala, wombat, possum, birds, are not often seen, the spiny ant-eater is not uncommon, while the wallaby and the kangaroo are hot favourites. Flowers and shellfish are among the rarest objects depicted in rock art, because they were considered to belong to the realm of women, and believe it or not, there was nothing effeminate about being an aboriginal artist. That was a man's work. Something like being a monumental mason, I guess. As so much of the aboriginal art had to do with native laws, ritual, fertility, and hunting for bigger game, perhaps the reason for the division of labour is easy to understand. | ||
- | There are exceptions, particularly in the Kimberleys, where Dr. Phyllis Kaberry, a girl I went to school with, discovered that the wife of a clan headman, goes along with her husband when he does a repaint job on a crocodile figure in a cave, to increase crocodile numbers. As in the Kimberley paintings and the Sydney-Hawkesbury rock engravings, the dominating forms are human and huge spirit beings. I remember going on a walk beginning at Mt. Kuring-gai and discovering not far from the railway line a huge spirit being. Leading away from this rock carving, in a northerly direction, I counted 32 footprints carved in the rock in a distance of about a quarter of a mile. I saw another | + | There are exceptions, particularly in the Kimberleys, where Dr. Phyllis Kaberry, a girl I went to school with, discovered that the wife of a clan headman, goes along with her husband when he does a repaint job on a crocodile figure in a cave, to increase crocodile numbers. As in the Kimberley paintings and the Sydney-Hawkesbury rock engravings, the dominating forms are human and huge spirit beings. I remember going on a walk beginning at Mt. Kuring-gai and discovering not far from the railway line a huge spirit being. Leading away from this rock carving, in a northerly direction, I counted 32 footprints carved in the rock in a distance of about a quarter of a mile. I saw another |
- | The manner of their presentation is also very interesting. If you recall seeing any of these larger-than-life human figures, you will have noticed that they are always shown from the front. Mostly with arms outspread or above the head. The legs are usually apart. The fingers and toes, if present, look like forks, the hair like that of a model who had just received an electric shock. Sometimes the figures had phallic symbols and were used for instruction of the young, as is seen in the carvings (off the beaten track to visitors) at Muogamarra | + | The manner of their presentation is also very interesting. If you recall seeing any of these larger-than-life human figures, you will have noticed that they are always shown from the front. Mostly with arms outspread or above the head. The legs are usually apart. The fingers and toes, if present, look like forks, the hair like that of a model who had just received an electric shock. Sometimes the figures had phallic symbols and were used for instruction of the young, as is seen in the carvings (off the beaten track to visitors) at Muogamarra |
Animals are usually shown in profile. Whales and sharks usually have one (sometimes two) eyes showing, with a line for the mouth, and sometimes only one pair of limbs or fins, shown. Mammals such as the kangaroo were drawn in profile, but lizards, snakes, turtles, were depicted from above. It seems as though the rock artists depicted their subjects from the angle at which they most commonly saw them; they would see kangaroos hopping, emus running, but they would look down on a tortoise or a snake. | Animals are usually shown in profile. Whales and sharks usually have one (sometimes two) eyes showing, with a line for the mouth, and sometimes only one pair of limbs or fins, shown. Mammals such as the kangaroo were drawn in profile, but lizards, snakes, turtles, were depicted from above. It seems as though the rock artists depicted their subjects from the angle at which they most commonly saw them; they would see kangaroos hopping, emus running, but they would look down on a tortoise or a snake. | ||
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In many respects aboriginal surface rock art in our district seems childlike, because no effort has been made to suggest body contours, feathers, fur, scales, or tones of body coverings. Still in other parts of Australia, the aboriginal artist did some very original work, with the MIMI stick people and the X-Ray fish, kangaroos and birds. | In many respects aboriginal surface rock art in our district seems childlike, because no effort has been made to suggest body contours, feathers, fur, scales, or tones of body coverings. Still in other parts of Australia, the aboriginal artist did some very original work, with the MIMI stick people and the X-Ray fish, kangaroos and birds. | ||
- | These MIMI stick figures of the north are in striking contrast to the huge figures on the Hawkesbury sandstone. Perhaps the fact that even adjacent tribes often had a distinctly different artistic history, accounts for this pattern of contrast. But no matter what part of Australia you travel and search for aboriginal paintings or carvings, you will find an all-over talent for telling a pictorial story. It may be the story of spearing kangaroos in Dufgy's Forest, of a whale feast in Muogamarra Sanctuary, or the trail of an Emu hunt in the big gallery in the red cave at Mootwingee, in far western N.S.W. | + | These MIMI stick figures of the north are in striking contrast to the huge figures on the Hawkesbury sandstone. Perhaps the fact that even adjacent tribes often had a distinctly different artistic history, accounts for this pattern of contrast. But no matter what part of Australia you travel and search for aboriginal paintings or carvings, you will find an all-over talent for telling a pictorial story. It may be the story of spearing kangaroos in Duffy's Forest, of a whale feast in Muogamarra Sanctuary, or the trail of an Emu hunt in the big gallery in the red cave at Mootwingee, in far western N.S.W. |
We are particularly lucky to be doing so much of our bush walking in the Sydney-Hawkesbury district, because anthropologists believe that in the heavily dissected plateau where one finds numerous fairly flat rock surfaces, there are more engravings, more carved outlines than in any other part of the world. They believe there are close on 4,000 figures, a wonderful record of the aboriginals long occupation of the area and an enduring museum of his culture - if vandals don't discover their whereabouts, | We are particularly lucky to be doing so much of our bush walking in the Sydney-Hawkesbury district, because anthropologists believe that in the heavily dissected plateau where one finds numerous fairly flat rock surfaces, there are more engravings, more carved outlines than in any other part of the world. They believe there are close on 4,000 figures, a wonderful record of the aboriginals long occupation of the area and an enduring museum of his culture - if vandals don't discover their whereabouts, | ||
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=== Walking trial (12 hours). === | === Walking trial (12 hours). === | ||
- | Eight parties entered and interesting routes were taken, e.g. Kanangra - cross Kawmung, Scott' | + | Eight parties entered and interesting routes were taken, e.g. Kanangra - cross Kowmung, Scott' |
It all ended in a campfire at Carlon' | It all ended in a campfire at Carlon' | ||
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---- | ---- | ||
+ | ===== "The Rates Were Delicious" | ||
+ | |||
+ | Written by J.W. for Eileen, Snow, George and Yarmak. | ||
+ | |||
+ | It was all Snow's fault. But then it always is. He suggested White' | ||
+ | |||
+ | Yarmak and I went down to Cooma on the Midnight Horror (alias the Koszi Snow Express) and met Snow, George and Eileen at the Hotel site early Saturday morning; well, it was 11 o' | ||
+ | |||
+ | While we were off-loading the food and sorting out how much light stuff we could each get into our respective packs and how much heavy stuff we could push off on to someone else, we were nearly run over by a large tourist bus which descended on us, belching black smoke and disgorging hundreds of tourists. They eyed us curiously, and our great pile of food incredulously. But there __were__ five of us to eat it! | ||
+ | |||
+ | " | ||
+ | |||
+ | "There might be Rats here" says Snow. So when it was time for bed we did our packs up tight, pulled our heads in and went to sleep on the mattresses on the floor. About 12 o' | ||
+ | |||
+ | I had no sooner got comfortable when one of the plates fell onto the floor with a crash and we all jumped upright, even Snow; but the Rat was gone, and after hanging up the packs and plugging up one of the more obvious holes we all went back to bed. George had blocked up the hole with a tine and a large stone on top. For half an hour after the poor rat strained and grunted with exertion trying to get that rock off his hole and for spite came over and chewed Yarmak' | ||
+ | |||
+ | The following day was mighty, with clear blue sky and marvellous snow. The boys went up to Dickey Cooper, Bogong, and gloated over the view and the fantastic rundown, while Eileen and I made a great job of messing up the slopes around the hut. That night was rather quiet with only one exchange between Snow and the Rat, with Snow relatively victorious. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Tuesday saw us up fairly early and away to Tate. With skins on our skis the climb up to the tops was maggies meat. From the tops (where we ate Loganberry Snow) we could see The Grey Mare Range, Twynam and then over the Murray Valley to Bogong in Victoria. | ||
+ | |||
+ | After lunch which we ate on Tate's west ridge Eileen and I started back, as a storm was brewing, leaving Snow and George to complete the climb. The trip back in the gathering storm was very impressive. The mist gathered around us, enclosing us in a world of silence, lifting only once to give us a magnificent view of Jagangal, lit with gold from the late sun, to a backdrop of angry blue black storm clouds. Yarmak greeted us back at the hut and very soon after Snow and George arrived, beating the darkness by about half an hour. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Now Tuesday night was a crucial point in oar stay at White' | ||
+ | |||
+ | George sprinkled the floor and Yarmak liberally, but the Rat didn't even wait till we put the torch off. He raced out of a hole and gobbled some, so it was whack, whack, whack again. " | ||
+ | |||
+ | Meanwhile out in the main room the rest of the Rat family were having a glorious time sliding off the top of the meat safe and sharpening up their teeth on the gauze sides, preparatory to coming in and having a chew at us. For the rest of the night I slept soundly, but in the morning George informed us that they had used his bunk for a race track and even had the hide to chew at his hair. | ||
+ | |||
+ | The following day was a rest day, when we gathered strength, and collected amo to battle with the Rats. The trap was duly contrived, much to the horror of five Y.M.C.A. bods from Guthega, who were visiting at White' | ||
+ | |||
+ | We retired to bed and waited. Suddenly one of the traps crashed down and everyone jumped out of their sleeping bags and rushed into the other room. Festering; it was a false alarm. So it was back to bed, and I think everyone went to sleep very soon after. | ||
+ | |||
+ | In the morning when we awoke no one bothered to look at the traps, having heard no more crashes during the night. Snow was the first one to go into the main room, and pick his way between the traps towards the main door. Suddenly he yelled " | ||
+ | |||
+ | Exclamations of amazement finally brought us into the room and there was a Rat in our trap and funnily enough it was the very trap that the Rat had laughed at the night before. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Thursday morning was memorable because not only did we catch a Rat but we also climbed Gungarten and visited Tin Hut and were home for afternoon tea. The view from the top of Gungarten was well worth the climb up: the range was clear and glistening in the early sun and the air was as pure and cold as crystal. The run down was fun especially over the small waves of ice on the saddle. Tin Hut was nearly buried and as the snow had come in on one side we didn't linger long over lunch. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Friday morning we all departed from White' | ||
+ | |||
+ | ---- | ||
+ | |||
+ | === Paddy Made. === | ||
+ | |||
+ | Wet trips! We ask for our new " | ||
+ | |||
+ | Superbly made from Neoprene coated Nylon fabric at 99/6 each. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Paddy Pallin Pty Ltd. Lightweight Camp Gear. | ||
+ | |||
+ | 201 Castlereagh St., Sydney. BM2685. | ||
+ | |||
+ | ---- | ||
+ | |||
+ | ===== Blossoms And Bulljoes. ===== | ||
- | "THE RATES WERE DELICIOUS" | ||
- | or | ||
- | "DING DONG YOUR. DINNER" | ||
- | Written by J.W. for Eileen, | ||
- | Snow, George and Yarmak. | ||
- | It was all Snow's fault. But then it always is. He suggested White' | ||
- | Yarmak and I went down to Cooma on the Midnight Horror (alias the Koszi Snow Express) and met Snow, George and Eileen at the Hotel site early Saturday morning; well, it was 11 o' | ||
- | While we were off-loading the food and sorting out how much light stuff we could each get into our respective packs and how much heavy stuff we could push off on to someone else, we were nearly run over by a large tourist bus which descended on us, belching black smoke and disgorging hundreds of tourists. They eyed us curiously, and | ||
- | our great pile of food incredulously. But there were five of us to eat it! | ||
- | " | ||
- | we'll be there for tea" says Snow'. We groaned and tried to get above horizontal | ||
- | under our packs and skis and dutifully trotted after him up the zigzag road. At 3.32 p m. the following day we arrived at White' | ||
- | "There might be Rats here" says Snow. So when it was time for bed we did our packs Up tight, pulled our heads in and went to sleep on the mattresses on the floor. About 12 O' | ||
- | I sat up' and looked around) but couldn' | ||
- | fallen off the table and was rocking slowly back and forth on the floor. ' | ||
- | thought " | ||
- | Not a thing moved, not a sound anywhere, so abandoning the search, I went back:to the | ||
- | crack beside George in which I had been wedged. Once on your side and you couldn' | ||
- | I had no sooner got comfortable when one of the plates fell onto the floor -with a crash and we all jumped upright, even Snow; but the Rat was gone, and after hanging | ||
- | up the packs and plugging up one of the more obvious holes we all went back to bed. | ||
- | George had blocked up the hole with a tine and a large stone on top. For half an hour | ||
- | after the poor rat strained and grunted with exertion trying to get that rock off his | ||
- | hole and for spite came over and chewed Yarmak' | ||
- | The following day was mighty, with clear blue sky- and marvellous snow. The boys went up to Dickey Cooper, Bogong, and gloated over the view and the fantastic rundown, while Eileen and I made a great job of messing up the slopes around the hut. That | ||
- | . night as rather quiet litith only one exchange between Snow and the Rat, with Snow relatively victorious. | ||
- | Tuesday saw us up fairly early and away to Tate. With skins on our skis the climb up to the tops was maggies meat. From the tops (where we ate Loganberry Snow) we could see The Grey Mare Range, TiArnam and then over the Murray Valley to Bogong in Victoria. | ||
- | After lunch which we ate on Tate's west ridge Eileen and I started back, as a storm was brewing, leaving Snow and George to complete the climb. The trip back in the gathering storm was very impressive. The mist gathered around us, enclosing us in a macld of silence, lifting only once to give us a magnificent view of Jagangal, lit with gold from the late sun, to a backdrop of angry blue black storm clouds. Yarmak greeted us back at the hut and very soon after Snow and George arrived, bePting the darkness by about half an hour. | ||
- | Now Tuesday night was a crucial point in oar stay at White' | ||
- | George sprinkled the floor and Yarmak liberally, but the Rat didn't even wait till we put the torch off. He raced out of a hole and gobbled some, so it was whack, whack, whack again. " | ||
- | Meanmhile out in the main room the rest of the Rat family were having a glorious time sliding off the top of the meat safe and sharpening up their teeth on the gauze sides, preparatory to coming in and having a chew at us. For the rest of the night I slept soundly, but in the morning George informed us that they had used his bunk for a race track and even had the hide to chew at his hair. | ||
- | The following day was a rest day, when we gathered strength, and collected | ||
- | amo to battle with the Rats. The trap was duly contrived, much to the horror of five | ||
- | bods from Guthega, who mere visiting at White' | ||
- | We retired to bed and waited. Suddenly one of the traps crashed down and everyone jumped out of their sleeping bags and rushed into the other room. Festering; it was a false alarm. So it was back:to bed, and I think everyone went to sleep very soon after: | ||
- | In the morning when we awoke no one bothered to look at the traps, having heard no more crashes during the night. Snow was the first one to go into the main room, and pick his way between the traps towards the main door. Suddenly he yelled " | ||
- | PADDY PAWN EZ, Lightweight Camp Gear. | ||
- | 201 CASTLE REACH St SYDNEY | ||
- | BM2685 | ||
- | Exclamations of amazement finally brought us into the roan and there was a Rat in our trap and funnily enough it was the very trap that the Rat had laughed at the night | ||
- | -before. | ||
- | Thursday morning was memorable because not only did we catch a Rat but we also climbed Gungarten and visited Tin Hut and were home for afternoon tea. The view from the top of Gungarten was well worth the climb up: the range was clear and glistening | ||
- | in the early sun and the air was as pure and cold as crystal. The run down was fun especially over the small waves of ice on the saddle. Tin Hut was nearly buried and as the snow had come in on one side we didn't linger long over lunch. | ||
- | Friday morning we all departed from White' | ||
- | hearts. The sun shone brilliantly and the snow crackled under our boots as we walked up to the tops for the last time. Just before the run down to Guthega (where we were fed coffee and bun loaf at the Y.M.C.A. Hut) we stopped for a brief rest and a final look. | ||
- | .1==wanw | ||
- | BLOSSOMS AND BUL1JOES. | ||
Puffing Billy. | Puffing Billy. | ||
- | On Everest, they say, it's not the number of steps between breaths that counts, | ||
- | but the number cf breaths per step, and so it was on Len Fall's wild-flower walk | ||
- | dawn Engadine Creek last month. ' | ||
- | innocently - but it didn't say that the S.13.11T. contingent of 11 members, 4 bunyips would be. mixed up with 70 N.P.A. types, making a total of over 90, including kids and | ||
- | canines: | ||
- | Ybu know the traffic jams that occur at The Cross, when you wait interminable minutes with the traffic at a standstill and then proceed at the merest crawl? Ditto on the wild-flower walk. But have you experienced the sensation of standing still | ||
- | in the bush for five minutes and then discovering that you were in the midst of a colony of red bulljoes which have meanwhile migrated up' | ||
- | long slacks? Under such circumstances, | ||
- | ask us. | ||
- | Frank Ashdown covered dozens ofmiles, dashing thither and yon with a bottle of antvenene. We noticed that he never removed the cork as he dabbed it on alle4ed | ||
- | bites. Was this Ashdown thrift or psychotherapy? | ||
- | on hip foresight in bringing his aatibite, Frank' | ||
- | The wildflowers were good - Gompholobium, | ||
- | Boronia Serrulata - we know that those were the names, 'cos Phyllis Ratcliffe wrote | ||
- | than in a book as the nan recited them. There were also waratahs, which we identified | ||
- | unaided. And we finally discovered that Edna Stretton wasn't saying "Hell, it's mighty" | ||
- | 15. | ||
- | RECOMMENDED | ||
- | OCTOBER 16-17-la Picton - Car to Nattai Pass (Sheehy' | ||
- | ay | ||
- | Easy grades out to Hilltop via Starlight' | ||
- | Maps: For location - Tourist Map of Blue Mountains and Burragorang, | ||
- | For Detail - Military sheet of Mittagong covers the southern part of the trip. | ||
- | Burragorang sheet not available. | ||
- | Leader: Bill Rodgers. | ||
- | .00TOBER 24-25 | ||
- | Katoomba, along Narrow Neck to camp at Glen Raphael (water, wood and westerlies). From Clear Hill, panoramas of the roughest country in the State. Descend spikes and drop from Medlow Gap to Glen Alan crossing. Track walking across upper Breakfast Creek and through the thickets to Canon' | ||
- | Maps: For location - Tourist map of Blue Mountains and Burragorang. | ||
- | For Detail - Myles Dunphy' | ||
- | Leader: Jack Gentle. | ||
- | WITH LYN BABER I1 PAKISTAN AND AFGHANISTAN. | ||
- | 1,In Pakistan we traVelled through Lahore, R,awal Pindi, ,Peshawur, to Khyber. Lahore was a very big city, very clean, with lots of trees and wide ' | ||
- | 16. | ||
- | We spent a very pleasant evening aid had our dinner in real Paid stani style. A cloth spread on the floor, no chairs, no cutlery at all. There was one big dish of rice in the centre, snail dishes of mat, vegetables, and fish, and some roti, which are round flat things, like a..pancake only dry and not sweet. Ne ate everything, even the rice, with our fingers, and used the roti to eat some of the wetter things. That | ||
- | - is the real Indian style too and is quite fun. | ||
- | I always thought that Khyber Pass was in Afghanistan but it is in Pakistan. We left Peshawar in the morning, drove about 30 miles before we got to the beginning of the Pass and were through it and at the border by lunch time. Photographs were | ||
- | banned by the officials on the way through the Khyber Pass, I'm not sure why. We were told that if any of the tribesmen saw us taking photos they would take us straight back to Peshawur. The Pass was about 30 miles long and all little jagged mouqtains, with the road winding through, On every second muntain there seemed to be some type of fort or post and we saw dozens of guards on high points over the road, almost unnoticeable with the countryside, | ||
- | MAMA, 100 miles from Kabul, 25th January. | ||
- | After Eric arrived back from Kabul with a brand new dynamo we drove on for awhile and it was actually snowing. It was difficult to even see the road and the snow was half way up the wheels in some places - four wheel drive most of the time to keep us from sliding off the road. When we eventually stopped to sleep in a deserted house the car slipped off the road into the snow, so we just slept. When we awoke the next morning it was still snowing, had been all night, and the road was just not there. The boys managed to dig the snow away and drive Tess back on to the road, aid just then a bus and a Russian Jeep came by with amaa walking ahead in the snow to find the road. They were going in the opposite direction, and just after they passed us they decided that they could go no further and turned around, or at least the jeep did. He got stuck trying to pass us and we had to pull him back on the road: The bus went off the road trying to tuna. We spent ages trying to pull him out but just could not. The trouble was you could not see where the road was and where the ditches were, so all the people from the bus had to pile into our little house, and we set off for Ghaznia to get a tractor to help them. One man, the only one who could speak English, came with us. 'nen we bought some petrol from the bus driver he wanted to charge us 50 Afghanis a gallon instead of 15. When we protested and said we had tried to help pull him out he said that he didn't want us to. . Honestly, these Afghansw, | ||
- | 17. KANDAHAR, 28th January. | ||
- | We've just arrived here today - 51- days to do 318 miles. The road has been shocking - really awful, and this Russian petrol is putrid, makes poor old 'Tess work twice as hard. The nights have been just so cold that the whole motor freezes up and takes a couple of hours to thaw out in the morning. We heat the water, we heat the pipes, we do everything, but it still takes a long time to get it to go, ' When we left Ghaznia, after all our troubles in the snow, one of our friends from the Rus clan LandroTer, , actually a Rus sian., f arewelled us with Vo cka. - vile stuff. Was it funny? We all ended up singing Grand Old English Songs to him and he sang us Russian ones, and I'm sure all of that will stop any possible war between us and | ||
- | Russia. Great friends. Gosh, it' s been cold. This afternoon when we arrived we | ||
- | met two V.W' s travelling in the opposite direction, and containing 2 German boys and the other two Aussie boys (one Katoo mba and one Sydney) bound for hme. One of them | ||
- | knows Snow Brown from S.B.W.well. What a coincidence, | ||
- | "tale swapping" | ||
- | real Aussies, In Afghanistan there is all right-hand driving and on our way to | ||
- | Kabul we hit a taxi - very minor damage - we just could not make up our minds ithich side of the road to drive on. | ||
- | TEHERAN I 11th February. | ||
- | Arrived here last night. From Kandahar we travelled north again to Herat along the edge of a desert, on one side and really rugged mountains on the other side. We actually had a couple of wonderful camps here, something we had not had for quite some time. Honestly the mountains in Afghanistan are breathtaking. We saw quite a few wolves and one night Bruce was off looking for firewood when we heard the cry "Eric, the gun, quick" | ||
- | 18. | ||
- | way round the world and they are mostly teaching English in Teheran.. This is really quite a Western city. It has very little Persian flavour, except when you go to the "Big Market" | ||
- | KASVIN, 17th February. | ||
- | Just this afternoon we left Teheran after being there for over a week. We had Sue h a lot of repairs to be done. At the moment we are in a very comfortable hotel room, heater and all, at the expense of the local police. We went to the police and said that we had no money and this is what they arranged. Actually we are very short | ||
- | d Iranian currency and have just enough to see us Dub of the country. I think I | ||
- | forgot to tell yu about our ov-ernitt stay at a Construction camp in Afghanistan. It was just the day before we reached Herat and our third last night in Afghanistan. Eric was bad with his Malaria, in fact was almost, unconscious and we knew there was | ||
- | an American Construction firm in the town of ShandoTer so we called on them. We also | ||
- | wanted some welding done, which was completely impossible to get in any Afghan, town. | ||
- | We were just lucky that it happened to be lunch time and they invited us in. There | ||
- | was one American and f,tr. Filipino boys there, superviaLng the building of a bridge. | ||
- | Were they well set up.. They had huge caravans and a truly magnificent kitchen and dining toom, all on wheels. So we sat down to a lunch of cold chicken and ham. They | ||
- | had absolutely everything, all imported from the States. Gee, food means a lot to us, | ||
- | especially even the smallest luxury. Anyway they asked us to stay. the night, in the | ||
- | guest trailer, so we put Eric to bed and proceeded to take full advantage of air stay by using the electric washing maohine - their laundryman even did it all for us, while I just supervised (ha ha) and helped him to hang the things on the line. That night you can just imagine our faces when the cook carried in a huge roast turkey. | ||
- | We certainly have extremes, first it's Jugle Foot, then Malaria and now | ||
- | Chilblains. Gosh, it's cold at times. Tonight for example I drove into this town | ||
- | and my hands and feet were just freezing. When we stopped I was shivering, but by a heater it's very easy to warm up. Nearly every room in any decent building has an oil heater. | ||
- | INTERESTED IN TASMANIA? I | ||
- | Available from Paddy this month - " | ||
- | 19. | ||
- | JIM BROWN' | + | On Everest, they say, it's not the number of steps between breaths that counts, but the number of breaths per step, and so it was on Len Fall's wild-flower walk down Engadine Creek last month. " |
+ | |||
+ | You know the traffic jams that occur at The Cross, when you wait interminable minutes with the traffic at a standstill and then proceed at the merest crawl? Ditto on the wild-flower walk. But have you experienced the sensation of standing still in the bush for five minutes and then discovering that you were in the midst of a colony of red bulljoes which have meanwhile migrated up your legs, underneath your long slacks? Under such circumstances, | ||
+ | |||
+ | Frank Ashdown covered dozens of miles, dashing thither and yon with a bottle of antvenene. We noticed that he never removed the cork as he dabbed it on alleged bites. Was this Ashdown thrift or psychotherapy? | ||
+ | |||
+ | The wildflowers were good - Gompholobium, | ||
+ | |||
+ | ---- | ||
+ | |||
+ | ===== Recommended Test Walks For October. ===== | ||
+ | |||
+ | __October 16-17-l8__. Picton - Car to Nattai Pass (Sheehy' | ||
+ | |||
+ | __October 24-25__. Katoomba, along Narrow Neck to camp at Glen Raphael (water, wood and westerlies). From Clear Hill, panoramas of the roughest country in the State. Descend spikes and drop from Medlow Gap to Glen Alan crossing. Track walking across upper Breakfast Creek and through the thickets to Carlon' | ||
+ | |||
+ | ---- | ||
+ | |||
+ | ===== With Lyn Baber In Pakistan And Afghanistan. ===== | ||
+ | |||
+ | "In Pakistan we traVelled through Lahore, Rawal Pindi, Peshawur, to Khyber. Lahore was a very big city, very clean, with lots of trees and wide streets. The older part of the city is just a jumble at narrow lanes and markets. Everywhere in Pakistan the women are completely veiled too. We called at the Castrol Agent and garage and there met a very nice Pakistani, who invited Lou and I to stay at his home. The Pakistanis really guard their women, so the boys were not even asked inside, told to sleep at the Y.M.C.A. Of course they didn' | ||
+ | |||
+ | We spent a very pleasant evening and had our dinner in real Pakistani style. A cloth spread on the floor, no chairs, no cutlery at all. There was one big dish of rice in the centre, small dishes of meat, vegetables, and fish, and some roti, which are round flat things, like a pancake only dry and not sweet. We ate everything, even the rice, with our fingers, and used the roti to eat some of the wetter things. That is the real Indian style too and is quite fun. | ||
+ | |||
+ | I always thought that Khyber Pass was in Afghanistan but it is in Pakistan. We left Peshawar in the morning, drove about 30 miles before we got to the beginning of the Pass and were through it and at the border by lunch time. Photographs were banned by the officials on the way through the Khyber Pass, I'm not sure why. We were told that if any of the tribesmen saw us taking photos they would take us straight back to Peshawur. The Pass was about 30 miles long and all little jagged mountains, with the road winding through. On every second mountain there seemed to be some type of fort or post and we saw dozens of guards on high points over the road, almost unnoticeable with the countryside, | ||
+ | |||
+ | Ghaznia, 100 miles from Kabul, 25th January. | ||
+ | |||
+ | After Eric arrived back from Kabul with a brand new dynamo we drove on for awhile and it was actually snowing. It was difficult to even see the road and the snow was half way up the wheels in some places - four wheel drive most of the time to keep us from sliding off the road. When we eventually stopped to sleep in a deserted house the car slipped off the road into the snow, so we just slept. When we awoke the next morning it was still snowing, had been all night, and the road was just not there. The boys managed to dig the snow away and drive Tess back on to the road, and just then a bus and a Russian Jeep came by with a man walking ahead in the snow to find the road. They were going in the opposite direction, and just after they passed us they decided that they could go no further and turned around, or at least the jeep did. He got stuck trying to pass us and we had to pull him back on the road. The bus went off the road trying to turn. We spent ages trying to pull him out but just could not. The trouble was you could not see where the road was and where the ditches were, so all the people from the bus had to pile into our little house, and we set off for Ghaznia to get a tractor to help them. One man, the only one who could speak English, came with us. When we bought some petrol from the bus driver he wanted to charge us 50 Afghanis a gallon instead of 15. When we protested and said we had tried to help pull him out he said that he didn't want us to. Honestly, these Afghans wouldn' | ||
+ | |||
+ | Kandahar, 28th January. | ||
+ | |||
+ | We've just arrived here today - 5 1/2 days to do 318 miles. The road has been shocking - really awful, and this Russian petrol is putrid, makes poor old Tess work twice as hard. The nights have been just so cold that the whole motor freezes up and takes a couple of hours to thaw out in the morning. We heat the water, we heat the pipes, we do everything, but it still takes a long time to get it to go. When we left Ghaznia, after all our troubles in the snow, one of our friends from the Russian Landrover, actually a Russian, farewelled us with Vodka. - vile stuff. Was it funny? We all ended up singing Grand Old English Songs to him and he sang us Russian ones, and I'm sure all of that will stop any possible war between us and Russia. Great friends. Gosh, it' s been cold. This afternoon when we arrived we met two V.W's travelling in the opposite direction, and containing 2 German boys and the other two Aussie boys (one Katoomba and one Sydney) bound for home. One of them knows Snow Brown from S.B.W. well. What a coincidence, | ||
+ | |||
+ | Teheran, 11th February. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Arrived here last night. From Kandahar we travelled north again to Herat along the edge of a desert on one side and really rugged mountains on the other side. We actually had a couple of wonderful camps here, something we had not had for quite some time. Honestly the mountains in Afghanistan are breathtaking. We saw quite a few wolves and one night Bruce was off looking for firewood when we heard the cry "Eric, the gun, quick" | ||
+ | |||
+ | Kasvin, 17th February. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Just this afternoon we left Teheran after being there for over a week. We had such a lot of repairs to be done. At the moment we are in a very comfortable hotel room, heater and all, at the expense of the local police. We went to the police and said that we had no money and this is what they arranged. Actually we are very short of Iranian currency and have just enough to see us out of the country. I think I forgot to tell you about our overnight stay at a Construction camp in Afghanistan. It was just the day before we reached Herat and our third last night in Afghanistan. Eric was bad with his Malaria, in fact was almost unconscious and we knew there was an American Construction firm in the town of Shandover so we called on them. We also wanted some welding done, which was completely impossible to get in any Afghan town. We were just lucky that it happened to be lunch time and they invited us in. There was one American and four Filipino boys there, supervising the building of a bridge. Were they well set up. They had huge caravans and a truly magnificent kitchen and dining room, all on wheels. So we sat down to a lunch of cold chicken and ham. They had absolutely everything, all imported from the States. Gee, food means a lot to us, especially even the smallest luxury. Anyway they asked us to stay the night, in the guest trailer, so we put Eric to bed and proceeded to take full advantage of air stay by using the electric washing machine - their laundryman even did it all for us, while I just supervised (ha ha) and helped him to hang the things on the line. That night you can just imagine our faces when the cook carried in a huge roast turkey. | ||
+ | |||
+ | We certainly have extremes, first it's Jungle Foot, then Malaria and now Chilblains. Gosh, it's cold at times. Tonight for example I drove into this town and my hands and feet were just freezing. When we stopped I was shivering, but by a heater it's very easy to warm up. Nearly every room in any decent building has an oil heater. | ||
+ | |||
+ | ---- | ||
+ | |||
+ | === Interested in Tasmania? === | ||
+ | |||
+ | Available from Paddy this month - " | ||
+ | |||
+ | ---- | ||
+ | |||
+ | ===== Jim Brown' | ||
"The Gent in the Tent". | "The Gent in the Tent". | ||
- | DATE; 8-9th August, 1959. | ||
- | ROUTE; Colo Vale - Mt l Flora - Nattai River - Starlight' | ||
- | CAST I ILEMBERS. PROSPECTIVE MEKBERS. | ||
- | Pam Baker Roy Craggs | ||
- | Phil Hall Wal Moore | ||
- | Kevin Ardill Geoff Ley. Alan Round | ||
- | I have often heard articles about various walks criticised because vital statistics about the excursion are not included in the story. Personally, I can't see that it matters much, especially if the account is well written. However, for the benefit of the curious, and those members who promised Jim that they would came and didn't turn up, the information is published above. | + | __Date__: 8-9th August, 1959. |
+ | |||
+ | __Route__: Colo Vale - Mt. Flora - Nattai River - Starlight' | ||
+ | |||
+ | __Cast__: Members: Pam Baker, Phil Hall, Kevin Ardill, Alan Round. Prospective Members: Roy Craggs, Wal Moore, Geoff Ley. | ||
+ | |||
+ | I have often heard articles about various walks criticised because vital statistics about the excursion are not included in the story. Personally, I can't see that it matters much, especially if the account is well written. However, for the benefit of the curious, and those members who promised Jim that they would come and didn't turn up, the information is published above. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Now to the story. As I was packing on the Friday night prior to the walk a knock came to the door. The time was about 8.45 p.m. Rather late for social visiting, but in these modern times, one has to be prepared for any eventuality. Open the door and Jim Brown stands revealed! Kath is ill and he would not be able to take the walk tomorrow. Would I do the honours? Of course, especially as he produced a Mittagong map marked with his intended route. I hadn't been on the Upper Nattai River before. That is why I had ' | ||
+ | |||
+ | Saturday morning was dull and drizzly, which probably accounted for the roll call of only eight for the 9.30 a.m. Goulburn train, including the deputy-leader and Alan Round, whose name was not on the " | ||
- | Now to the story. As I was packing an the Friday night prior to the walk a knock came to the door. The time was about 8.45 p m. Rather late for social visiting, but in these mAern times, one has to be prepared for any eventuality. Open the door and Jim Brown stands revealed: Kath is ill and he would not be able to take the walk tomorrow. Would I do the honours? Of course, especially as he produced a Mittagong map marked with his intended route. I hadn't been on the Upper Nattai River before. That is why I had ' | ||
- | Saturday morning was dull anddrizzly, which probably accounted for the roll call | ||
- | of only eight for the 9.30 a m. Gouiburn train, including the deputy-leader and | ||
- | Alan Round, whose name was not on the " | ||
After an accordion recital of chiefly Gaelic airs by fellow passengers in highland dress, we changed to the rail motor at Picton. The recital was a pleasant change from music emitted by transistor radios so frequently inflicted upon helpless train travellers, whether they wish to listen to it or not. The train crew were quite interested in our proposed excursion. I promised to see them at Hill Top tomorrow night with rather forced joviality. | After an accordion recital of chiefly Gaelic airs by fellow passengers in highland dress, we changed to the rail motor at Picton. The recital was a pleasant change from music emitted by transistor radios so frequently inflicted upon helpless train travellers, whether they wish to listen to it or not. The train crew were quite interested in our proposed excursion. I promised to see them at Hill Top tomorrow night with rather forced joviality. | ||
- | A cold westerly wind was blowing when we set out from Colo Vale, and it wasn't very long before the clouds came over with a promise | + | A cold westerly wind was blowing when we set out from Colo Vale, and it wasn't very long before the clouds came over with a promise |
- | near Mr. Flora, it was bright and sunny. The country opens out very suddenly near | + | |
- | Blatch'Trig., | + | |
- | Keeping West framBlatch Trig., we soon found oar selves swinging round to the South on a bridle track until Mt. Jellore was almost ahead of us, instead of being on our left. Maps were hastily consulted and opinions aired, but the ridges didn' | + | |
- | 20. | + | |
- | look promising. The time began to fly, as it so often dues in these situations. Kevin took off in alffesterly direction to see what lay ahead, while the remainder did a " | + | |
- | reported a negotiable route by crag and creek into the Nattai. | + | |
- | Away we went to come out on the edge of a cliff face in less than a mile. By | + | |
- | descending into a creek nearby, we were able to sidle along a wallaby track under the cliff line to the point of a very steep ridge between two all creeks running into the | + | |
- | Nattai about 200 yards above Jellore Creek. The seemingly excellent camp site ahead | + | |
- | proved upon examination to be badly washed out by recent floods. Soon after passing | + | |
- | Jellore Creek, a suitable spot was located on the right bank. For various reasons, most | + | |
- | of the party were tired after their hectic week in the city, so, instead of campfire entertainment, | + | |
- | We were all up fairly early next morning and got away before 9 a m., after a very definite request that the party stay together to obviate the need for a search of large areas of the Valley by myself and my advisor, K.A. The Nattai Valley is very beautiful, | + | |
- | in spite of evidence of heavy flooding about two weeks previously. The river bubbles and gurgles over the water worn rocks with occasional outcrops of pink granite. Then the water seems to lie in long green pools, reflecting the surrounding rocky outcrops | + | |
- | and trees, flanked in parts by stretches of sand. It was necessary to cross several times when the bank became too steep on one side, and this led to some competition as to who could keep dry feet the longest. We traversed a couple of expensive bracken covered flats before reaching a really good camp site at Reeky Waterholes Creek soon after 10 a m.. All these flats were covered with holes leading to wombat warrens, and should be treated with caution, as a misplaced fact in one of these holes can cause serious sprain or -worse (shades of Peggy Bransdon;) and its a long way back to transport. | + | |
- | I could now afford to relax a bit as the map shmed that we should reach McArthur 's Flat by noon. This was accomplished without difficulty, but the Lively river flat here r, has been severely mauled by a bushfire, and is only now recovering. Naturally, we had lunch here, in bright sunshine. | + | |
- | The track up the point Jf the ridge from McArthur' | + | |
- | Mr. Coates and two of the boys were doing some car repairs when we reached the top and stopped fa. a chat with them. Er. Coates told us of the bushfire which burnt right up from the Nattai River on 4th Nevember, 1957 destroying most of the bush in its progress. He also mentioned the adventures of a couple of overdue parties in the area. We set out frcm the farm at 3.45 p m. so as to be sure of catching the only train from Hill Top on Sunday night. We arrived at the station in good time to cook a couple of packaged soups and to have our ears bashed by a local while we " | + | |
+ | Keeping West from Blatch Trig., we soon found ourselves swinging round to the South on a bridle track until Mt. Jellore was almost ahead of us, instead of being on our left. Maps were hastily consulted and opinions aired, but the ridges didn't look promising. The time began to fly, as it so often dues in these situations. Kevin took off in a Westerly direction to see what lay ahead, while the remainder did a " | ||
+ | |||
+ | Away we went to come out on the edge of a cliff face in less than a mile. By descending into a creek nearby, we were able to sidle along a wallaby track under the cliff line to the point of a very steep ridge between two all creeks running into the Nattai about 200 yards above Jellore Creek. The seemingly excellent camp site ahead proved upon examination to be badly washed out by recent floods. Soon after passing Jellore Creek, a suitable spot was located on the right bank. For various reasons, most of the party were tired after their hectic week in the city, so, instead of campfire entertainment, | ||
+ | |||
+ | We were all up fairly early next morning and got away before 9 a.m., after a very definite request that the party stay together to obviate the need for a search of large areas of the Valley by myself and my advisor, K.A. The Nattai Valley is very beautiful, in spite of evidence of heavy flooding about two weeks previously. The river bubbles and gurgles over the water worn rocks with occasional outcrops of pink granite. Then the water seems to lie in long green pools, reflecting the surrounding rocky outcrops and trees, flanked in parts by stretches of sand. It was necessary to cross several times when the bank became too steep on one side, and this led to some competition as to who could keep dry feet the longest. We traversed a couple of extensive bracken-covered flats before reaching a really good camp site at Rocky Waterholes Creek soon after 10 a.m. All these flats were covered with holes leading to wombat warrens, and should be treated with caution, as a misplaced foot in one of these holes can cause serious sprain or worse (shades of Peggy Bransdon!) and its a long way back to transport. | ||
+ | |||
+ | I could now afford to relax a bit as the map showed that we should reach McArthur' | ||
+ | |||
+ | The track up the point of the ridge from McArthur' | ||
+ | |||
+ | Mr. Coates and two of the boys were doing some car repairs when we reached the top and stopped for a chat with them. Mr. Coates told us of the bushfire which burnt right up from the Nattai River on 4th November, 1957 destroying most of the bush in its progress. He also mentioned the adventures of a couple of overdue parties in the area. We set out from the farm at 3.45 p.m. so as to be sure of catching the only train from Hill Top on Sunday night. We arrived at the station in good time to cook a couple of packaged soups and to have our ears bashed by a local while we " | ||
+ | |||
+ | ---- |
195910.1545256321.txt.gz · Last modified: 2018/12/20 08:52 by tyreless