Tales
'QUESTION NOT'
by Adam Lindsay Gordon 1833 - 1870
(Excerpt from " Ye Wearie Wayfarer ")
Question not, but live and labour till yon goal be won,
Helping every feeble neighbour, seeking help from none ;
Life is mostly froth and bubble , two things stand like stone ,
Kindness in another's trouble, courage in your own.
Courage comrades, this is certain, all is for the best -
There are lights behind the curtain - Gentles, let us rest.
( Parts of this poem ( in orange font) , were written down for me by my late father , when I was about 8 years old )
'YOU BECOME'
An Extract from the Novel, "The Velveteen Rabbit", written by Margery Williams in 1922
This was a Facebook Post by one of my family or friends , I can't recall.
I find it quite apt for a life well lived
KEITH GARVEY - BUSH AUTHOR, POET, RACONTEUR
BORN 12th APRIL 1922 AT MOREE, NSW
DIED 1999 AT GLEN INNES, NSW
"Garve" was a legendary bush figure when I was a teenager - he seemed to be somewhat of a fixture at The Golden Grain Hotel at Pallamallawa, near Moree, Northern NSW.
Always dressed in the typical Head Stockman type of dress ; battered and tilted Akubra, plaited leather belt with pocket knife always in the pouch, Cuban heeled riding boots, shirt half open , well worn blue jeans, laconic in his speech and mannerisms.
Little did we realise, an Author of some prowess was still to emerge.
He wrote 214 works in his later years, nearly all based around bush life , on cattle camps, in shearing sheds etc . He was also a regular on the ABC radio, reciting his Bush Yarns and Poems for some years, especially his series of "Uncle Harry" tales .
A real bushman in my eyes at that time.
"BACK YA GO MATEY BRIDGE"
BUSH TRAVELLING, - A TRUE STORY STILL TOLD TO THIS DAY IN THE FAMILY
Dad and Mum and the 3 kids,(who were all piled into the back of the old Holden ute )- were travelling near Coolatai in Northen NSW. As we approached a small single lane bridge - a Drover was approaching from the other side with a mob of cattle.
There ensued a "Mexican Standoff" of sorts.
The Drover then galloped across the bridge and declared in a loud voice "Back ya go matey, them's the rules of the road " !
Dad decided to go along with this "rule".
As the drover went back to the other side - his mob of cattle bolted in every direction - and Dad calmly drove across the bridge, much to the annoyance of the Drover.
Whenever we approached that bridge in future months and years - it was always referred to as the "back ya go matey bridge "
SANDS OF THE KALAHARI
OLD AFRICAN BUSHMAN'S SAYING ;
" IF YOU EVER GET THE SANDS OF THE KALAHARI ON YOUR SHOES, YOU WILL ALWAYS RETURN "
These are the "shoes" I wore in the Kalahari- not sure if I will ever return . I would like to, one day.
I gave them to an Adventurer friend in Cape Town, Henry Enzlin
A BROUHAHA IN THE BUSH CAMP
ELEPHANT SANDS LODGE, NATA, NEast BOTSWANA ;
We stayed at this place for only one (memorable) night in 2014.
Whilst the season was lush, and nothing was happening on the waterhole in the evening, - during the small hours a commotion started - with lots of Elephant trumpeting etc.
In the morning, the young Sth African Park Ranger advised us that a pride of lions had been stalking a Mother Elephant and her just born baby. The Elephant herd retaliated, and the Lions ran and hid right behind the Rangers bungalow.
Luckily the Elephants didn't run over the top of it, and all the other bungalows, including ours
THE MISSING EGG COLLECTION
"COLERAINE" ;
"Bird Egging" was a popular pastime when we were bush kids.
We could identify birds at will, their egg colours, and patterns , types of nests, nicknames etc
Often the birds would have localised names - not even noted in the famous "What Bird Is That" reference book
When I was away at boarding school ( Farrer Memorial Agricultural High School ) - my bird egg collection box disappeared. Disappointingly I never knew whatever happened to it - thinking it had been thrown out of the house or similar.
Many,many years later ( approximately 35 years ) - I had a contact call from the Miller family ( who had purchased Coleraine from us in 1970 - and renamed the place Glenelton) - that they had just found the collection in the ceiling of the old house.
I could not believe it, and was soon happily reunited with a memorable part of my childhood.
Amazingly, the eggs are still in almost perfect condition after sitting under a corrugated iron roof in temperatures that would exceed 60 degrees celsius in summer.
Even the old box is still in reasonable condition
I still haven't worked out some of the names of the Birds who contributed to the collection. ( a long time has passed , since we were running through the bush barefoot and shirtless, , and climbing and falling out of large trees, in the endless hunt for new eggs to add to the collection)
DANGER TIME IN A TINNY
THE OKAVANGO DELTA, BOTSWANA 2014 ;
One of the most exciting days of my life was had on the Okavango Delta in 2014.
By exciting, I should also add terrifying
We left the Island Safari Lodge near Maun , by boat early in the morning at sunrise with our 2 Botswana Safari gides , Cobra and Obi.
There were 7 passengers and 2 guides in the boat, and noticeably only one outboard motor.
The bird and wild life was exceptional and the guides very knowlegeble in pointing out and naming all the different species.
They were also very skilled in not getting lost in the endless and vast array of small channels and streams and tall reeds , in the Okavango Delta at that time of the year ( late March).
We tore along the waterways in our little Suzuki powered boat
Little, that is, when compared to some unnerving moments with some very large animals .
- such as being challenged by 13 Hippos in their "Hippo Hole" - and who belligerently spread out across the channel , blocking our way.
All bobbing their heads up, and sinking invisibly under the water , and hissing at us upon surfacing closer to the tinny
A lunging hissing adult Hippo close by to the little tinny, was not for the faint hearted.
We gradually crept past them in the tinny, after the guides studied their behaviour for a good 30 minutes, to gauge what they were up to
Also being charged by an obviously pissed off full grown Elephant was equally terrifying.
I think the tinny was blocking his path down into the water from the embankment, where he was standing momentarily staring at us .
I remember then a huge greyness, large flapping ears, a trunk, large tusks, fast movement and dust flying everywhere, as he charged down at us - finally stopping a metre from the water's edge , and our tinny, a further 1 metre out in the water !
The Guides remained quite calm - or were equally alarmed and speechless as the 7 guests were !
But happily the group did not panic and jump out of the tinny !
Needless to say we survived, thanks largely to Cobra and Obi - but the events emphasised Africa is a wild and sometimes dangerous place - and you need to hold your nerve when confronted
The Angry Elephant - quick, blurry pic
Hippos across the channel above,
below, Obi (driver), and Cobra observing the Hippos behaviour
THE CHOOK HOUSE THAT STOOD
"COLERAINE" ;
When we three brothers were still quite young, - pre High School ( probably about 1960 ), - we thought it would be a great idea to build a new chook house and chook yard ( or fowl house as it was optionally called), for Mum to put the chooks in, and away from foxes and goannas - ( the latter having a particular fondness for fresh eggs)
We had quite a lot of Native Black Cypress Pine trees growing up in the top areas of the property on the sandier type of soil - which were used for all sorts of building work, telephone poles etc. Young ones were perfect for Christmas trees.
I can't remember how the design was hatched - but we set about cutting down trees with axes, barking the logs, dragging ( "snigging") them back with chains behind the tractor to the clump of Belah trees that grew next to the house.
We dug the post holes by hand with crow bars and shovels - and probably tried using a manual post hole digging contraption, that was gut busting to use as a kid.
We must have scrounged up enough tie wire, chicken wire and a gate to enclose the pine frame, and some corrugated iron sheets to make a roosting area under cover, at one end .
Dad was observing our goings on over how ever long it took to erect the new addition to the farm buildings- I guess it would have been 2 weeks or more on and off.
At the final commissioning - we threw the chooks into the yard and pronounced the project complete - and he exclaimed "it won't last you know "
I can happliy report that it was still standing,(with a slight lean), in 2013, (see photo) , and still being used for it's intended purpose, by the Miller family, over half a century later.
2007 MISHAPS AT RAMU, PNG
"RAMU" ;
The old saying that things come in 3 - proved to be true in the first quarter of 2007.
The Crop Dusting plane crashed after take off from our Gusap airstrip - Robert the pilot luckily survived
An excavator working training the Bora river, was inundated and destoyed before it could get out of the way of the quickly rising water - driver uninjured
One of bridges was destroyed by an overweight truck - with a crane loaded on the trailer
ROCK-HOUNDING
EVERYWHERE;
It all started in about 1960 with Dad discovering Agates on
" Coleraine" .
We would all spend hours looking for these beautiful stones - walking around in ploughed up paddocks - out in the blazing sun.
The Agates we found were smooth surfaced - well worn from being under the ocean milllions of years ago.
The Agates in Qld are rough surfaced and have a different, almost volcanic appearance and are more blue coloured. Coleraine agates are more red coloured - see pic
Things progressed to collecting Petrified wood, panning for zircons, saphhires , digging up fossils in gravel pits etc
Everywhere the family went we would be wandering around with heads bowed down, looking for 'rocks". Of course when we were still kids we were closer to the ground , and the pickings were better than Dad and Mums. " You kids have got sharp eyes" would be a regular comment from them - forgetting we were about a metre closer to the action !
The search for rocks continued when our kids were little, and still continues to this day - and Jen and I collect at least one rock in every country we visit ( sometimes jars of them, if some good stuff was found)
My rock collection is as valuable to me as the old Egg Collection, and the old Stamp colection, and the old Coin collection, and the old ...
The picture to the right was taken in the fantastic Kristall Galleries, Swakopmund, Namibia in 2014
The picture below - rockhounding in the Namib Desert
CHASING ROOS and Bowie Knives
"COLERAINE";
When I was about 8, brother Wal and I were out "bird egging" or just exploring the bush as usual - when we saw a couple of roos hopping along in amongst the Belah trees in front of us.
We were equipped with our new and recently acquired "Bowie" hunting knives ( it may have been after Christmas - as one of our American heroes, Davy Crockett, always carried a Bowie knife, and they went well with our Fox skin Davy Crockett Hats, complete with fox tail of course - not real Racoon skin as Crockett wore)
We took off after these roos and one got tangled in a fence- I launched the Bowie knife - it spun end on end and blow me down with a feather , it actually struck one roo pointed blade end first, in one it's lower rear leg tendons - and then thankfully, the treasured knife fell out and I retrieved it.
The roo disentangled itself and took off up in front of us.
Later on, we were both walking through the top scrub and a Tyre repair man from Moree drove along the sandy road we were near, stopped the truck, and asked us " is this the way to Sheba Downs ?" - (Arnold Canham's property up a bit further )
Before we answered him, we noticed the injured roo hobbling along over in the trees.
We took off after it, and subsequently put the poor thing down - and cut off its' tail for Mum to make Roo tail soup from.
The truck drove off and the driver never said anything more to us
Wal and I often laugh about what the Tyre repair man must have thought of these 2 wild eyed kids in the scrub ; no shoes, no shirts , tanned dark brown from hours out in the sun - and chasing after a roo with Bowie knives at the ready- and killing it.
The pic is from very near to where the truck stopped , and the driver observed the goings on.
- the place is what we still call "Sandy Corner"
Foot Note; We seemed to be always well stocked with weapons when we were kids, with Bowie, and pocket knives, air rifles( aka slug guns), home made shanghais, home made bows and arrows, and later .22 rifles, given when we turned 12 years of age
COOEE IN THE PEA BUSH
"LYRIAN DOWNS", GULF COUNTRY , FNQ ;
When I left High School I worked tractor driving and doing general Station work on "Coleraine" and neighbour's properties, with a plan to eventually work on "Coleraine" , and introduce Beef Cattle.
Uncle Jack Makim had a 200 square mile property near Julia Creek in Far North Queensland, named " Lyrian Downs", which was cattle country.
In about February 1970 I left with him on the long drive North to work as a Jackeroo on Lyrian. I was 17 years of age then.
Arriving there after 2-3 days on the road, I discovered we were the only 2 people on the whole property- as the Aboriginal Stockmen and their families had departed some time before, when the equal pay rates came in.
There are a number of tales that will be told about the time I spent on Lyrian - a greatly enjoyable and life changing 8 months.
This tale revolves around me on a trail bike mustering some 50 head or so of stray stock - we normally used horses, but for some reason I was on a trailbike on this occasion.
It was late in the afternoon when the mob ( who were fairly well behaved after a lot of work ) - came to a "Bogan Gate" which was shut as usual.
After going in front and opening the gate, I went back and started to push them along through the opening - however for some reason they bolted and never went through.
I took after them on the bike and tried to round them up - however along this section of road there was a very thickly populated tall woody plant called Pea Bush, and it was hard to get through to keep the cattle together and under control.
They scattered everywhere and all the afternoon's hard work was wasted
Darkness soon arrrived and I was lost in the thick of the Pea Bush- when of course the motor bike failed - it overheated or something.
No matter how much I tried, it wouldn't be restarted.
One thing about this area of Pea Bush, it was swarming with Tiger Snakes - we always saw them crossing the road when driving through this paddock.
Knowing this, I decied to sit with legs up on the seat and wait for Uncle Jack to eventually come to get me ( after realising I was late getting back to the homestead about 10 Km away )
Unfortunately, as I found out later ,he had dozed off and was fast asleep back at the house.
I couldn't maintain the pose for too long, so I had to game it and lay down on the ground next to the bike. My fears wer soon realised when a snake crawled across my legs - and thankfully kept going and didn't snuggle up. I was soon back in the pose on the seat .
It was getting late, and no sign of Uncle Jack - and I tried lying down again- the same thing happened with another snake.
Then I saw headlights coming from the House - Uncle Jack was on the way about 10pm .
But how was he to know I was in the Pea Bush ?.
I heard the ute stop at the gate and I let out an almighty COOEE call, hoping he would hear my call.
He did , and answered with his Cooee .
The problem then was I had to leave the bike where it was, and stumble through the Pea Bush and the Tiger snakes to the roadway, an unknown distance .
We kept the Cooeing going until we met up - and drove back to the house.
I was very lucky to have survived without getting even one snake bite.
HOWLING DOG "RED"
"COLERAINE"
Big Brother David was always keen on the Military, and the Army in particular. He was in the Cadets at High School and the CMF afterwards
He actually volunteered to do Service in Vietnam.
He had a big send off at the local Crooble Village Memorial Hall near "Coleraine" - on his last leave pass
He had lived in Moree before volunteering - working at the NSW Lands Department.
He also inherited a dog named "Red" in Moree
The dog was left at "Coleraine" with Dad and Mum when he enlisted.
In April , "Red" started an unholy howling and Mum couldn't calm him down.
( I was in the Gulf on Lyrian at that time )
Soon after, we had word that David had been seriously wounded in Vietnam .
Afterwards, Mum realised that "Red" started howling about the same time David got "hit".
Amazing !
DIGGING UP WAR STUFF IN PNG
RAMU VALLEY
Where we live in PNG is close to various WW2 battle sites.
Shaggy Ridge is the most well known.
A few years ago a travelling Company rep from Australia ( Victor,who is pictured below holding a live 50 calibre round - he is standing next to a WW2 aircraft fuel drop tank), arrived and brought his metal detector along for the visit , as I had discussed local WW2 history with him on the phone a bit - and he was also keen on that, and looking for any gold that may be around as well.
We set to work over the weekend - detecting on the cane fields - and found items almost immediately.
The first outstanding item we found was an American brass button from a Pilot's jacket. ( and we have never found another one since)- see pic to right
Over the years we have unearthed quite an array of WW2 items .
Our dig in March 2015 - down to 2 metres depth, uncovered a trench I had been searching for , for years - full of WW2 US 5th Army Air Force workshop materials.
Our extra good finds were donated to a new War Museum at Ramu.
The 2 display cabinets in the Museum have our names on them - one each
GETTING BLOWN UP
VARIOUS PLACES
We 3 brothers have each had a"blown up" incident in our lives
I think I was first ;
on my 12th birthday eve , "Coleraine" had the honour to host the annual Empire Day bonfire , or "Cracker Night" as we all called it.
Cracker Night was on a rotating farm by farm basis with about 4 farms inolved I think.
It was a huge event - the bigger the bonfire the better. Copious amounts of food and grog was stocked up by the host farm, and the bonfire took literally weeks to construct by the host family - ( internet pic)
All conceivable sorts of combustible materials were used ; waste timber, tyres etc etc was piled into a huge inverted cone , ready for the big night.
The event went off without a hitch - apart from a fire rocket in a beer bottle falling over at the time of ignition - and it took off towards the house , through the open louvre windows and exploded inside the house.
The next morning as was the norm- we all went looking for "fizzers'- the crackers that failed to detonate or just not sparkle enough etc.
I noticed a cone shaped cracker called the "Devils Cauldron" - ( like the Rising Sun in the Internet pic) which, as I could see inside ,had only partly gone off as it still had some "stuff" in it ( gunpowder or magnesium powder as it turned out). Carelessly dropping a match in through the top opening - it erupted with great force and badly burnt my face- to the extent nearly all my hair was burned off and my eyelids flesh were melted together- a terrible thing.
I recall calling out "Mum, Mum: - and I don't know what confronted her - a son's face badly burned and blinded most likely. A mad dash in the car the 40 miles ( 65 km) to Moree Hospital quickly ensued, where I was checked by the Doctors. I was a thousandth of a second from being blinded in both eyes apparently. Thank goodness for reflexes.
I slowly healed up, with no visible scarring - although my eyesight suffered a bit from the blast .
Second ( Middle) brother was blown up at High School, when petrol was thrown onto the fire as he was about to cook some toast for the Dairy crew. It was supposed to be kerosene, not petrol . He suffered bad burns as well.
Eldest brother had the worst of it though - his APC was blown up by a Viet Cong landmine in the Vietnam War - and he suffered very severe injuries. Thankfully he survived the blast.
LEAVING PNG FOR THE SECOND TIME
RAMU TO TOOWOOMBA 2015
In late 2015 we decided to pack up our gear, (and dog "Digger"), at Ramu, and head home to Australia.
We did this back in 2007
- we returned to Ramu early 2009 for 3 months , and stayed until late 2015.
It was a most enjoyable time, and we made some great friends and will always miss their company.
We had the pleasure of meeting many nice PNG people again, and also Expats from all over the world - about 15 different Nationalities were noted at Ramu at the one time. This was far more than in 2007.
I was suprised and overwhelmed to be awarded Life Membership of the Ramu Management Club , presented at our "Go Pinis" function just 2 days before departing.
I will treasure this award, - it is quite rarely made.
I decided to keep my boots , and took a pic on the plane enroute from Port Moresby to Brisbane.
I don't think they will return to PNG again.
BABY PHOTOGRAPHS
FAMILY CAMERAS WERE IN SHORT SUPPLY
There are no known baby photographs of my two brothers and I.
This is the earliest one in existence ( I am in the middle ), taken when I was about 6 months old.
Almost certainly it would have been taken with a Brownie Box camera
