NEWS FROM THE CARETAKERS – September 2005

John and I have just spent nearly a fortnight caretaking at Yerranderie, whilst Val and Martyn have been travelling round the countryside visiting Tourist Information Offices and catching up with old friends.

Telstra is well on the way to completing the infrastructure for the new telephones at Yerranderie.  The tower is finished; the trenches are almost through, despite the extreme hardness of the rock especially in Quigtown and, when the cables are drawn through the conduits and connected to the houses, we should all be able to access the internet, something we have been hoping to do for some time.  Nothing has been too much trouble for the Telstra staff and it has been a pleasure having them in Yerranderie.  They are mostly from interstate, having never heard of Yerranderie before and are amazed when they arrive. 

The native animal and bird life is wonderful at the moment and everyone seems to have spring-fever.  The red-factor black cockatoos have been eating the Casuarina nuts, the noisy miners are nesting in the mistletoe outside Krubi Cottage and the Pardalotes are building their little tunnels in the softer earth.  The Bowerbird has been collecting all things blue and smartening up his bower and the ravens are scouring the camping area to feed their young. We have a large group of King Parrots in residence at the moment, which are very tame and inquisitive.  All the female kangaroos and wallabies have well-grown young and, after the rain in the last two weeks, the grass is beginning to come through.  The peach, apple and wisteria blossoms are in full bloom and Yerranderie is as pretty as we’ve ever seen it, despite the general lack of rain.

It was fun having two Bowral school groups walking in whilst John and I were in Yerranderie.  The group of 10 that stayed in the Lodge, on their way from Katoomba to Mittagong, arrived in good spirits despite having blisters after walking for five days.  They left the following day to tackle ‘Beloon Pass’.

Enquiries have been flooding in for accommodation despite the rising petrol prices.  We’ve noticed that most people are booking for at least two nights instead of cruising from place to place for single night stopovers. They are then spending time bushwalking and enjoying Yerranderie’s unique attractions and native animals and birds.

Hope to see you out at Yerranderie some time.

John & Rosemary Kirkby