Caretakers' Reports. |
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John KirkbyOne of the best aspects of the Caretakers’ job at Yerranderie is watching the passing parade of birds, animals and flowers. Winter usually means we are overrun by Currawongs and, depending on your point of view, they are either a wonderful bush chorus with their happy warbles, or an awful predator of baby birds and looked on as the enemy. The Goannas have gone into hibernation and are no longer prowling the town looking for just about anything that moves, or not, to eat. Spring is just beautiful; the Lyrebird, who lives behind Krubi Cottage, is at his happiest and mimicking other birdcalls from early morning till dark. Our Chough family of 10, who swagger through town as if they own it, regularly visits us. They call to their one or two completely spoilt youngsters when a tasty nibble is discovered, then once again disappear noisily into the bush. The Maned Geese, who have spent the winter as a flock on the dam, suddenly discover last season’s partner and become very jealous and territorial, energetically defending their patch and partner from the competition. We have few goslings because of the predations of the Goannas, who by now have emerged from the nooks and crannies of The Peak. My favourite bird is our handsome Bowerbird. He spends his time in early spring, cleaning up last year’s bower, then stealing from his competitors or us, his new year’s collection of blue jewels. We hear him calling to the ladies, luring them to his bower. Sitting on the verandah of Krubi Cottage and seeing a flash of the deepest blue as he glides into the Lillipilli tree will always remind me of Yerranderie. How could I forget Cackles and his mate Mrs Cackles, the sleek and shiny Australian Ravens who sit in the big Ironbark and strangle out their caws and cackles at dawn? Could you resist falling in love with the tiny, golden coloured Pardalotes, watching them dig their minute tunnels in the banks of the mullock heaps and building the little nests in the bottom The noisiest visitors are the Friarbirds; they arrive in early summer to nest. The corncrake rasping call will assure you that the hot weather is soon approaching. Summer is also the signal for the Currawongs to leave for greener pastures on the coast. I have read that they are getting a taste for city life and are spending longer periods in town where there are easier pickings; I hope that it is true. Autumn is the peaceful period, most of the youngsters have fledged and left home. The Noisy Miners are quietly searching the gum leaves for insects and the Goannas are fat and sluggish. However, I have two special favourites, the Eastern Grey Kangaroos and the smaller Red Necked Wallabies. I think that these unique, peaceful, loving and caring macropods have to be the natural world’s Kings and Queens. We share the town with two mobs of Eastern Greys, the Dam mob and the Krubi mob. Both are made up of juvenile males, mothers, daughters, aunts and grandmothers. They live in complete harmony, regularly touching hugging and playing. The peace is only broken when one of the females comes into season. Then the word gets out on the wind, (a hormone in her urine that the males just love to smell) the boys down with their mob on the Tonalli River, come to visit. We see the big males shaping up to each other, sometimes a bit of fur flies, mostly accompanied by much growling, hardly ever an injury before the vanquished returns to the boys club and the victor savours his prize. The stud still has much wooing to do. He spends the next few days stroking her tail and following, stroking her tail and following, until she will let him close enough to mate. Watching the little joeys with their heads poking out of the pouch, ready to pull back in at the first sign of danger are so cute. It must be the most successful way to raise young, safe and secure, but watching and learning all the time. When mum has a nibble, Joey has a taste, when mum is alert; Joey looks nervously around to find the action. I love the fist tentative hops when the joeys leave the pouch for the first time, followed very soon with energetic leaps and what we call, circuits. The joeys hop like mad in a big circle so they arrive back very quickly to Mum. Imagine, we have the pleasure of all these wonderful creatures that we are able to share with any of our guests who know to quietly sit back and enjoy them with us. John Kirkby John can be contacted at: john@yerranderie.com
Tom WernerG'day to all readers out there. I never dreamed I would be writing a report on the internet as I don't even own a computer and the only websites I know about have spiders in them! After all, I live in a Ghost Town. Living out here is very different from what most people are used to and I often find people asking me more questions about myself than Yerranderie. One bloke seemed to think I lived in the most lonely and boring place in the world. "Listen," I said to him, "I live where you come to for a holiday and I wouldn't swap it for quids." In fact I 've been to Sydney only a handful of times in my whole life! Recently a strange thing happened. I was walking along a thickly wooded creek, only 50 meters from our cottage, when I saw three beautiful yellow dingoes. They had an old buck kangaroo bailed up for the slaughter. When they saw me, they all fled. Sometimes, on a still summer's evening, one can hear dingoes howling all around Yerranderie no more than 2 kilometres away, but you will rarely see them. Recently extensive DNA testing has proved that some of the purest dingoes in Australia still survive in this remote area of the Southern Blue Mountains On another occasion, I did a clever thing and managed to chop my finger off. It was at night-time and fortunately an English visitor nicknamed "Mungo", a real character, arrived and drove me to hospital. As fate would have it, a heavy snowfall had blocked the road well before Oberon, and we had to go to Camden instead. In the middle of the night, with a washed out river crossing on the Wollondilly River, this was a dangerous journey taking several hours. It was a long 4 W/D route which I had only crossed once before and of course, we took a few wrong turns along the way but got there eventually. The doctor just stuck my finger back on. He was an amazing bloke. On the way home, "Mungo" purchased a cheap camera and photographed 27 emus grazing near the river crossing that nearly drowned our battered old 4W/D Hilux. Emus are increasing in numbers around Yerranderie and are often sighted by tourists. Hope to see you soon at Yerranderie - the Closest Outback to Sydney. Tom Werner I ONCE MET A MANSitting under my verandah and sipping ‘Billy Tea’, A man came strutting up the track to old ‘Yerranderie’. He babbled loud, excited like, with no one by his side, His hair and clothes were ragged and he looked like he had died. "Hellor! Hellor!" He shouted, "Is dere anybody dere? I come too far and de hot sun, he chase me everywhere!" "Have a drink, mate," I assured him, "before long you’ll be right." But fifty miles in blazing heat just made him want to fight. "I come here from my country to see de bush," said he, "Und black und yellow crocodile is climbing every tree! De snake, he vont to eat me, de possum kill me mate, Me hungry und I vont to see de German Consulate!" I told him just to settle down, it really ain’t that bad, But he just gathered up his breath with all the strength he had. "Me fell off de mountain und my neck und head is broke, Und crazy bird, he laugh und laugh und say I vos a joke. Den big insect in de ground, he crawlin’ up my pants, Too many bite me everywhere und den I dance und dance!" Well, then I rang up ‘Careflight’ but the telephone was broke, So I found some old tobacco and I offered him a smoke. He shoved a handful in his mouth and chewed it till he screamed, Then bolted off into the bush and never more was seen! Tom Werner © 23.2.2001 Tom can be contacted at: tom@yerranderie.com John HopwoodParadise is hard to improve upon but Yerranderie, during perfect mild winter weather conditions, is unbeatable. The crystal clear air and brilliant light from the low mid-winter sun makes every gum leaf shimmer and the distant ranges and escarpments glow against a faultless blue sky. As much as any caretaker would like to sit on a high lookout contemplating the universe, reality must prevail. At present I am completely renovating the outside of Krubi Cottage, its weatherboard facade transformed from a flaky, dull, sun-bleached look to a vibrant, colourful, renewed exterior. It’s marvellous how paint can lift a place. Then there’s the never-ending round of building and vehicle maintenance, carting and chopping wood for the myriad wood-heaters and barbeque areas, cleaning up after the guests, giving guided tours etc. etc. It nearly makes one flip when city visitors arrive, scan the neatly restored heritage listed village, and pose the question, "What do you do out here?" What most visitors to Yerranderie never really see is the relationship the caretaker has with the local wildlife. ‘Narcissus’ the king parrot and his ever-present ‘wife’ will seek you out mid-afternoon, fluttering around you emitting short squeaks until you supply a handful of seed. Then all the crimson rosellas and wood ducks are in on the act. In literally no time flocks of birds are following you about, all demanding their share. I used to think eastern grey kangaroos had poor eyesight in daylight hours. That theory has been revised! Open the shed door where we keep the parrot mix, also beloved by marsupials, and within minutes ‘roos come bounding out of the bush, seemingly from nowhere. Major developments are underway up at ‘Government Town’, the other end of the original Yerranderie Township. The Police Station, Court House and St Senan’s Roman Catholic Church are being renovated. New rooves, brickwork repointed, drainage improved, post and rail fencing erected, composting toilets installed in the camping ground adjacent to the airstrip and landscaping around the historic dwellings. This is a very long-overdue facelift of the area of the town, under the jurisdiction of Sydney Catchment Authority, and the work is being completely supervised by a Mr Kim Walsh from Ourimbah, NSW. He’s enjoying every moment of his time out here, 4 months duration although, for many of his various contractors it is a huge culture shock, living and working in such a remote area. One thing they have learnt is not to forget anything for, although they have unlimited access across the Burragorang Valley to Camden, it’s still a four hour return trip to the nearest hardware store! I have managed to drag most of the workmen up Yerranderie Peak after work. It blows them away completely as they look at the ranges disappearing into the distance in all directions and realise there is no other habitation. That’s what I like most. You should come and experience it too someday. Cheers, from John Hopwood. Rosemary KirkbyReport from the caretaker’s caretaker. John Kirkby has been one of Yerranderie’s caretakers for the past three and a half years. During this time we have come to look forward to our fortnightly stints here, surrounded by the most fantastic countryside and in the company of a most diverse group of animals, birds and reptiles. It never ceases to amaze me how beautiful and serene Private Town is, even when we are entertaining quite large groups of visitors. People will suddenly stop what they are doing, look at the sunset on Yerranderie Peak, point to the kangaroos or just listen to the silence. When there is no one else in residence except John and me, the tranquillity is almost overwhelming. It is an unusual feeling to realise that our nearest neighbour is probably two hours driving time away. To go and fetch a newspaper or milk (unless Jim from Curtis Aviation flies them in to the airstrip) is a five-hour round trip to Oberon, so we sometimes feel like old-time pioneers. The irony is that we are so close to Sydney as the crow flies! We started working in Yerranderie just after the bushfires of 1997/98 and have watched the scorched earth become covered with wattle and eucalypt regrowth. Since then there has been good rainfall and now Yerranderie is covered in green vegetation, which is greatly appreciated by the kangaroos and wallabies. I cannot believe how prolific the eastern grey kangaroos are, with the females having a joey at foot, one in the pouch and often an older juvenile also feeding from its mother. They are the most delightful animals, each having their own distinct personality. Some are excellent mothers whilst others are very casual with their offspring. There is obviously a very strong family bond amongst the females and they certainly appear to prefer socialising with the same few individuals. The male only appears when the female is in season, fights off any competitor, hangs around stroking her tail patiently until she is receptive, mates then disappears back into the bush until another female takes his fancy. Every female ‘roo in Yerranderie seems to have a joey in her pouch all the time. As soon as one emerges, another is ready to be born! The redneck wallabies are loners, only seeking each other’s company to mate. Their joeys are very independent from an early age and do not stay with their mother once they are fully weaned. The baby redneck wallaby has to be the prettiest of all animals, especially when it is bounding around its mother, in ever increasing circles at top speed. I had an unusual experience early last year, whilst raking leaves in the camping ground. John had driven to Oberon to replenish supplies such as gas, cleaning gear and the ubiquitous toilet rolls. I thought I was on my own when I felt a ‘presence’ behind me. On turning cautiously around, I saw two emus, quite near and totally mesmerised by my actions with the rake. They continued staring at me for about five minutes, became bored and then strolled off into the bush. The emus have slowly worked their way up to Yerranderie from Lake Burragorang and we now see them quite frequently, sometimes with several chicks in tow. There is never a dull moment in Yerranderie. We have visitors from all over the world, people interested in animals, geology, nature and the environment, mining, bushwalking, photography, early Australian and Aboriginal stories and their own family history, to name a few. When we are not looking after the guests, there are plenty of maintenance and repairing jobs to attend to. We have to be totally self-sufficient as we are not on the national grid for electricity or water, and have no local supermarket. The caretakers are masters of improvisation and ingenuity. The questions we are asked are also diverse. "How far is it to drive to Katoomba via the Cox River?" "Can we fish and swim in Lake Burragorang?" "Where is the nearest petrol station?" "Can I get a meal at the hotel?" "Do you sell wine or beer?" We try to satisfy everyone, but some things are beyond our control! We do have the occasional emergency. Careflight has been called in a few times for cavers who have come to grief at Colong Caves, and injured bushwalkers who have overextended themselves. Even the most tired and emotional walkers seem to regain their sense of humour over a cuppa when they arrive. As soon as I bake a loaf of bread, someone will turn up and share it with us. Yerranderie is a magical place and it is well worth making the effort to visit us. Val and the caretakers (and the caretakers’ caretaker) will look after you, show you around and tell you the stories and history of this most beautiful part of Australia and the Southern Blue Mountains. Welcome! Rosemary can be contacted at rosemary@yerranderie.com John and I have just finished our fortnight’s caretaking in Yerranderie and have handed over to Martyn and Margie for the next five weeks. Friday 14th September was the first time Margie had been there so I hope it lived up to her expectations and that both Margie and Martyn have a long and happy association with Yerranderie. Private Town now has a rechargeable portable spotlight so John and I spent a few evenings spotting our near neighbours. We first found sugar gliders feeding in the stringy-bark trees near Krubi Cottage and then saw a yellow-bellied glider at the top of a gumtree on the way to the Tonalli River. This was a real highlight as they are on the threatened species list. We found a brush-tailed possum’s home, high in an old dead gumtree, complete with resident possum, which kept a wary eye on us through a crack in the trunk. In the distance, we could hear a couple of mopokes calling and bats were attracted to the moths that flew into the beam of the spotlight. During the last couple of weeks, the weather has warmed up to such an extent that the goannas and snakes have come out of hibernation in readiness for spring. The maned geese have paired up and the noisy miners have begun nesting. The male raven has been raiding the compost heap to feed his mate and the satin bowerbird has decorated his bower with all types of blue finery. All the female kangaroos and wallabies have joeys in various stages of development and the tiny red-necked joeys have been ‘doing laps’ round their mothers, exercising their ungainly back legs but not straying too far away from the pouch. Sometimes a couple of emus stroll through the camping area. Very early, one perfectly still morning, we decided to walk down to the Wonga Mine. On reaching the mine, John heard a kookaburra making a strange noise about 10 metres from us. Looking closer, he realised that it was a lyrebird tuning up for his morning repertoire. The bird was either unaware of or unconcerned about our presence as he continued moving towards us, singing and eating at the same time. This went on for about 20 minutes as he scratched around for insects until he hopped into a tree and went through his entire vocal routine. He was, by this time, only about 3 metres away from us. This is one of the fantastic things about Yerranderie. The animals and birds, though quite wild, have been allowed to co-exist with humans and so have very little fear of us and tolerate our presence, which enables us to study them quite closely. It is a wonderful place for every type of nature lover whether the interest is bushwalking, bird watching, history, geology, photography or just relaxing in the bush. Val, John, Martyn, Margie and I hope you will make the journey and visit us sometime. Rosemary (The care taker’s care taker). Rosemary can be contacted at rosemary@yerranderie.com Due to family commitments, John and I haven’t spent very long in Yerranderie for the last 3 months. Thanks to our marvellous caretakers Martyn, Margie, John Hopwood and Dave Hoad, Yerranderie and our visitors have continued to be very well looked after and, despite the fires and drought, (since ended) the place looks a picture. When we were last there, we spent a few evenings spotlighting and were rewarded with seeing many gliders (some quite rare), bats of which there are eight species, possums (of course) and a few night birds. The spotlighting walks are very popular and it is quite magical to walk through the dark bush, listening for the yellow-bellied gliders to call out to each other or suddenly catch a glimpse of a bat swooping for the insects caught in the light’s beam. Spiders’ eyes show up very brightly from quite a distance and it is surprising how such small spiders can have such powerful eyes. The noisy miners roost in the gums with their heads tucked under their wings and the occasional wombat rumbles off on its own wombat business into the undergrowth. During the day, birds, kangaroos, wallabies and goannas surround us. John gets great delight in catching the goannas and demonstrating their finer attributes. (Come and see them for yourself!) I had to laugh when I heard one of our campers, who had just arrived, call out to her friends that she had just seen a crocodile walk across the road! As they were from overseas, we forgave them. This year is the bi-centenary of Francis Luis Barrallier’s ‘Expedition into the Interior of New South Wales’ when he and his party walked from the Nattai to Yerranderie. He was very nearly the first white man to cross the Blue Mountains. Unfortunately for him, due to the loss of his Aboriginal guides, lack of provisions, and choosing an incorrect pass through the mountains near Yerranderie, he failed in his attempt. Val is writing a book entitled ‘Yerranderie is my Dreaming’, which covers this very interesting part of our early history of white exploration in the Yerranderie area. When you are looking for a bit of excitement or just wanting to get away from it all, please come out to Yerranderie and hear Val and the caretakers tell you about the unique history of the past and present times of this most interesting part of Australia. You will not be disappointed and we are looking forward to your visit. Rosemary (The care taker’s care taker). Rosemary can be contacted at rosemary@yerranderie.com
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