news, latest-news, tim the yowie man, eucembene River, matthew higgins, memorial, fisherman, bushfire, camping, spot
This column’s recent feature on the mystery grave perched on a rocky knoll above a remote stretch of the Eucumbene River between Kiandra and Adaminaby (Ashes to Ashes, November 14) prompted many theories as to its origins. Some readers suggested it may have been the final resting spot of a beloved pet, others a memorial to a worker on the Snowy Hydro Scheme. However, after several leads this column can reveal that the small memorial and now-indecipherable plaque (due to fire damage) is in fact a memorial to a keen fisherman. Close contacts to the man’s family requested his identity not be made public. “It’s not surprising that it’s a tribute to a fisherman as there’s a fishing hole, renowned for its big trout, just near there,” says Steve Brayshaw of the Adaminaby Store, who until last summer’s fires exposed the memorial, was unaware of it. Several other readers recognised the spectacular stretch of river. “I’ve fished there many times,” reports David Vincent of Weetangera, musing “until now, not many people knew about”. Oops. The photograph of the fast-running alpine river also prompted this column’s good friend Matthew Higgins to finally spill the beans on his ‘secret’ riverside camping spot. Matthew had kept the exact location of his camping spot, located just upstream of the memorial, close to his chest, annually teasing your akubra-clad columnist with photos, the only clues of the location. In fact, for over a decade, many a drive along the Snowy Mountains Highway which connects Kiandra and Adaminaby (he’d at least told me it was between the two) has been filled with speculation as to the location of the campsite. For the record I got it wrong, I thought it was further upstream. While it’s the lure of catching a big trout that draws most to the upper Eucumbene, for Matthew “the biggest attraction is the delightful sense of isolation, and the lovely river. People hear ‘Eucumbene’ and think ‘Dam’ but upstream of the dam it is a very beautiful stream, or at least was until the bushfires.” How true. On most trips Matthew caught trout, but only to sustain himself, his philosophy being that you should only kill a fish (even a feral one like trout) to eat it. “Indeed, I started deliberately taking too little food with me so I had to catch fish in order to eat enough,” he explains. “There’s nothing better than fresh trout cooked in the coals of a campfire, with a few spuds thrown in too,” he adds. Yum. Regular readers of this column will also be aware that Matthew has a keen eye for native wildlife. In fact, flicking through the pile of photos in the file on my laptop titled ‘MH’s secret camping spot’ is like watching a David Attenborough documentary, a reflection of Matthew’s many close encounters of the natural kind. These have included “enjoying sightings and calls of many birds, finding lyrebird nests, watching platypus and water rats swimming in the river, seeing copperhead snakes as they went about their hunting in the tussocks – sometimes only a few metres from the tent(!), and glimpsing wombats. Dawn and dusk dingo howls were eerie highlights too. Closer at hand were insects, including mountain grasshoppers and stick insects.” Everyone loves a good campfire. It’s what can turn an average campsite into a memorable one and Matthew especially recalls “sitting at night by the fire, the stars shining bright overhead and on full moons the moonlight reflecting off the rippling river’s surface”. While Matthew yearns and embraces solitude on his trips up the Eucumbene, given it’s also part of the Bicentennial National (Horse) Trail it’s not unexpected he’s occasionally shared his patch of paradise with others. “Sometimes fishermen would wander past but mostly I had the place to myself,” reports Matthew. “Though there were also signs of horse riders passing through, only on one occasion did I meet some. A commercial horse-riding group from Reynella stopped for a break. I noticed a couple of the grazing steeds making across the river (perhaps they could smell ‘the green green grass of home’ further downstream) so I pointed them out to the leaders who quickly rounded them up and brought them back.” A notable high country historian, Matthew is also drawn to the area for its rich pioneer past. “Along the river are water races dug by goldminers, either late in the nineteenth century or the early twentieth, and, of course, the famous Kiandra gold field was not that far upstream,” he explains. Sadly, not all historic relics in the area have been left undisturbed. “Unfortunately thieves (perhaps associated with scrap metal?) stole the historic sawmill boiler next to the highway at Connors Hill some years back, then more recently the boiler at Alpine Creek was also taken.” Fortunately the boiler was later returned and NPWS staff anchored it more securely. Like much of northern Kosciuszko National Park, last summer’s fires didn’t spare Matthew’s beloved campsite on the Eucumbene. “The beautiful and stately alpine ash forest on the south side of Alpine Hill escaped 2003 but not this time. My friends the Black Sallees that provided lovely shade for the campsite got burnt too,” laments Matthew. “Yes the bush recovers, but for many years to come the spot will not be the same, not by a long way. Vale, oh beautiful place…” Have you ‘lost’ a much-loved camping place, through fire or otherwise? If so, I’d love to hear from you, and no, I promise not to reveal the exact location unless you give me the ‘all clear’. Note: NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service advise that private plaques or memorials are prohibited in Kosciuszko National Park. Over the years this column has dedicated many column inches to the peculiarities and quirks of Canberra’s iconic bus stops. Today for something slightly different. Following last year’s feature on the former bus terminus in Ainslie (October 20), several readers have enquired as to the purpose of the concrete pole with crossbar that stands alongside the bus stop on Matina Street in Narrabundah, a former terminus for some southside services. “It looks like the part of a clothes line or something to hang plants on,” muses John Wilson of Kambah, adding “but I suspect it’s neither”. According to Barry Snelson of Calwell the curious concrete post is a relic from Canberra’s bus network dating back more than 80 years. “When I was a trainee bus driver in January 1968 we had a ten-minute layover at the Narrabundah bus terminus and I asked my instructor Jack Bradley what was that old clock on that concrete post? He said it was an old Bundy Clock.” According to Barry, “In the 1930s and 40s, buses would arrive at the terminus and the conductor would put a ticket into the clock and bundy-on arrival time. Before departure they would bundy-on again the departure time.” “The bus inspectors would come along check the bundy clock for actual arrival and departure times,” explains Barry. “It was a very old method of checking timetable adherence. “Eventually the old clock and mechanism disappeared and only the concrete post and rusty steel brackets remain,” says Barry who believes ”it’s the only remnant of its kind left in Canberra”. I wonder who fleeced the old clock. It might be in someone’s garage. Either that or near the bottom of the Mugga Lane tip. I really hope it’s the former. Clue: Eucumbene-bound Degree of difficulty: Medium Last week: Congratulations to Gary Scheld of Kambah who was first to correctly identify last week’s photo, sent in by Richard Cobden, as part of the weighbridge at Stonehenge Beltana landscaping centre in Pialligo. Gary, who just beat Lachie Mills, Lisa Studdert and Andrew Drayton to the prize, says he “checked-out the weighbridge a few years ago when looking around the yards. It’s a great old piece.” Indeed it is. Turns out there are a few others around the region, mainly at railyards, but sporting different dates. How to enter: Email your guess along with your name and suburb to [email protected] The first email sent after 10am, Saturday January 30, 2021, wins a double pass to Dendy, the Home of Quality Cinema. While recently hiking in the Budawangs, Tony Boston of Curtin noticed this over-sized black rabbit (burnt stump) on the track. No, it didn’t hop off. Meanwhile, still in the Budawangs, while studying satellite images Dan Slater of Richardson found this symmetrical rock formation on a cliff face (co-ordinates: 35°12’25″S 150°07’52″E ) in rugged bush to the east of Corang. “It looks oddly uniform and straight edged,” he states. “I know it’s got to be a natural formation, but it does make me imagine it’s part of some ancient fortress.” Does anyone have an on-ground photo of the formation? CONTACT TIM: Email: [email protected] or Twitter: @TimYowie or write c/- The Canberra Times, 9 Pirie St, Fyshwick
/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/Z4Q6sUEHdcmw72MBPYgZkU/c56a101d-cc3c-45f8-b770-2c0e4aa9bc6a.JPG/r4_68_1696_1024_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg
Matthew Higgins boils the billy at his ‘secret’ camp on the Eucumbene River. Picture: Matthew Higgins
This column’s recent feature on the mystery grave perched on a rocky knoll above a remote stretch of the Eucumbene River between Kiandra and Adaminaby (Ashes to Ashes, November 14) prompted many theories as to its origins.
Some readers suggested it may have been the final resting spot of a beloved pet, others a memorial to a worker on the Snowy Hydro Scheme. However, after several leads this column can reveal that the small memorial and now-indecipherable plaque (due to fire damage) is in fact a memorial to a keen fisherman. Close contacts to the man’s family requested his identity not be made public.
“It’s not surprising that it’s a tribute to a fisherman as there’s a fishing hole, renowned for its big trout, just near there,” says Steve Brayshaw of the Adaminaby Store, who until last summer’s fires exposed the memorial, was unaware of it.
The memorial to a fisherman in northern Kosciuszko National Park. Picture: Sue O’Leary
Several other readers recognised the spectacular stretch of river. “I’ve fished there many times,” reports David Vincent of Weetangera, musing “until now, not many people knew about”. Oops.
The photograph of the fast-running alpine river also prompted this column’s good friend Matthew Higgins to finally spill the beans on his ‘secret’ riverside camping spot. Matthew had kept the exact location of his camping spot, located just upstream of the memorial, close to his chest, annually teasing your akubra-clad columnist with photos, the only clues of the location.
The fisherman’s memorial overlooks this section of the Eucumbene River. Picture: Sue O’Leary
In fact, for over a decade, many a drive along the Snowy Mountains Highway which connects Kiandra and Adaminaby (he’d at least told me it was between the two) has been filled with speculation as to the location of the campsite. For the record I got it wrong, I thought it was further upstream.
While it’s the lure of catching a big trout that draws most to the upper Eucumbene, for Matthew “the biggest attraction is the delightful sense of isolation, and the lovely river. People hear ‘Eucumbene’ and think ‘Dam’ but upstream of the dam it is a very beautiful stream, or at least was until the bushfires.” How true.
The Eucumbene River from the same rocky knoll pre-2020 bushfires. Picture: Matthew Higgins
On most trips Matthew caught trout, but only to sustain himself, his philosophy being that you should only kill a fish (even a feral one like trout) to eat it. “Indeed, I started deliberately taking too little food with me so I had to catch fish in order to eat enough,” he explains.
“There’s nothing better than fresh trout cooked in the coals of a campfire, with a few spuds thrown in too,” he adds. Yum.
A nice Eucumbene River rainbow trout. Picture: Matthew Higgins
Regular readers of this column will also be aware that Matthew has a keen eye for native wildlife. In fact, flicking through the pile of photos in the file on my laptop titled ‘MH’s secret camping spot’ is like watching a David Attenborough documentary, a reflection of Matthew’s many close encounters of the natural kind.
These have included “enjoying sightings and calls of many birds, finding lyrebird nests, watching platypus and water rats swimming in the river, seeing copperhead snakes as they went about their hunting in the tussocks – sometimes only a few metres from the tent(!), and glimpsing wombats. Dawn and dusk dingo howls were eerie highlights too. Closer at hand were insects, including mountain grasshoppers and stick insects.”
A lyrebird nest, located in a broken tree trunk a couple of metres above ground level. Picture: Matthew Higgins
Everyone loves a good campfire. It’s what can turn an average campsite into a memorable one and Matthew especially recalls “sitting at night by the fire, the stars shining bright overhead and on full moons the moonlight reflecting off the rippling river’s surface”.
While Matthew yearns and embraces solitude on his trips up the Eucumbene, given it’s also part of the Bicentennial National (Horse) Trail it’s not unexpected he’s occasionally shared his patch of paradise with others.
“Sometimes fishermen would wander past but mostly I had the place to myself,” reports Matthew. “Though there were also signs of horse riders passing through, only on one occasion did I meet some. A commercial horse-riding group from Reynella stopped for a break. I noticed a couple of the grazing steeds making across the river (perhaps they could smell ‘the green green grass of home’ further downstream) so I pointed them out to the leaders who quickly rounded them up and brought them back.”
A would-be escapee steed being retrieved by one of the trek leaders, Rachael. Picture: Matthew Higgins
A notable high country historian, Matthew is also drawn to the area for its rich pioneer past. “Along the river are water races dug by goldminers, either late in the nineteenth century or the early twentieth, and, of course, the famous Kiandra gold field was not that far upstream,” he explains.
Sadly, not all historic relics in the area have been left undisturbed. “Unfortunately thieves (perhaps associated with scrap metal?) stole the historic sawmill boiler next to the highway at Connors Hill some years back, then more recently the boiler at Alpine Creek was also taken.” Fortunately the boiler was later returned and NPWS staff anchored it more securely.
Like much of northern Kosciuszko National Park, last summer’s fires didn’t spare Matthew’s beloved campsite on the Eucumbene. “The beautiful and stately alpine ash forest on the south side of Alpine Hill escaped 2003 but not this time. My friends the Black Sallees that provided lovely shade for the campsite got burnt too,” laments Matthew.
Matthew Higgins’ Eucumbene River camp at twilight. Picture: Matthew Higgins
“Yes the bush recovers, but for many years to come the spot will not be the same, not by a long way. Vale, oh beautiful place…”
Have you ‘lost’ a much-loved camping place, through fire or otherwise? If so, I’d love to hear from you, and no, I promise not to reveal the exact location unless you give me the ‘all clear’.
Note: NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service advise that private plaques or memorials are prohibited in Kosciuszko National Park.
END OF THE ROAD FOR BUS STOP MYSTERY
The curious pole and metal crossbar in Narrabundah. Picture: Tim the Yowie Man
Over the years this column has dedicated many column inches to the peculiarities and quirks of Canberra’s iconic bus stops. Today for something slightly different.
Following last year’s feature on the former bus terminus in Ainslie (October 20), several readers have enquired as to the purpose of the concrete pole with crossbar that stands alongside the bus stop on Matina Street in Narrabundah, a former terminus for some southside services.
“It looks like the part of a clothes line or something to hang plants on,” muses John Wilson of Kambah, adding “but I suspect it’s neither”.
According to Barry Snelson of Calwell the curious concrete post is a relic from Canberra’s bus network dating back more than 80 years.
“When I was a trainee bus driver in January 1968 we had a ten-minute layover at the Narrabundah bus terminus and I asked my instructor Jack Bradley what was that old clock on that concrete post? He said it was an old Bundy Clock.”
Barry Snelson examines the post. Picture: Supplied
According to Barry, “In the 1930s and 40s, buses would arrive at the terminus and the conductor would put a ticket into the clock and bundy-on arrival time. Before departure they would bundy-on again the departure time.”
“The bus inspectors would come along check the bundy clock for actual arrival and departure times,” explains Barry. “It was a very old method of checking timetable adherence.
“Eventually the old clock and mechanism disappeared and only the concrete post and rusty steel brackets remain,” says Barry who believes ”it’s the only remnant of its kind left in Canberra”.
I wonder who fleeced the old clock. It might be in someone’s garage. Either that or near the bottom of the Mugga Lane tip. I really hope it’s the former.
Know the location of this horse and cart? Picture: Tim the Yowie Man
Degree of difficulty: Medium
The weighbridge at Stonehenge Beltana landscaping centre in Pialligo. Picture: Richard Cobden
Last week: Congratulations to Gary Scheld of Kambah who was first to correctly identify last week’s photo, sent in by Richard Cobden, as part of the weighbridge at Stonehenge Beltana landscaping centre in Pialligo. Gary, who just beat Lachie Mills, Lisa Studdert and Andrew Drayton to the prize, says he “checked-out the weighbridge a few years ago when looking around the yards. It’s a great old piece.” Indeed it is. Turns out there are a few others around the region, mainly at railyards, but sporting different dates.
How to enter: Email your guess along with your name and suburb to [email protected] The first email sent after 10am, Saturday January 30, 2021, wins a double pass to Dendy, the Home of Quality Cinema.
A black ‘rabbit’ spotted in the Budawangs Picture: Tony Boston
While recently hiking in the Budawangs, Tony Boston of Curtin noticed this over-sized black rabbit (burnt stump) on the track. No, it didn’t hop off.
Can you see the rectangular-shaped formation? Picture: supplied
Meanwhile, still in the Budawangs, while studying satellite images Dan Slater of Richardson found this symmetrical rock formation on a cliff face (co-ordinates: 35°12’25″S 150°07’52″E ) in rugged bush to the east of Corang. “It looks oddly uniform and straight edged,” he states. “I know it’s got to be a natural formation, but it does make me imagine it’s part of some ancient fortress.” Does anyone have an on-ground photo of the formation?
CONTACT TIM: Email: [email protected] or Twitter: @TimYowie or write c/- The Canberra Times, 9 Pirie St, Fyshwick
