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+=====Talbingo.=====
-T./.1.10-3ING0.
 by Stoddy Senior.
-Bushwalkers who are looking for a dclightful place in which to spcnd a holiday, cannot. do better than to take train to Tumit and Mail Car to Talbingo, 20 miles out on the road to Yarrcngobilly. There arc good sites for a fixed camp on the grassy banks of crook and river, or one cal stay at the Hotel and enjoy perfect meals and unlimited hot baths.
-Mary said "Come and mot me womehworc on my n,xt leave so that I don't have to make that awful train journey from jagga to Sydncy". So wc mot -at Tamut on the first of May, and Lisle Matchott call,d for us in his car and drove us ar and thb town to sco the tre_s in the glory of their autumn colouring.
-Thc drive along the Tamut river provided every new vistas or delightful scenery where willow trees and gums framed the swiftly flo.-!ing strcLois, Each bond of tho road reveals something different, and one fools that the car travels much too quickly through the bcautifal valley. On the right hand side of the road tho stcap wooded hills hid the BoLongs from siLht, and on the loft the land sloped down to the river and beyond farm houses appeared tackud away in the midst of orchards. Passing through Blowering we saw the men omployed by the Irrigation Commission drilling for rock
-bottom. A dam may be built here some time in the future, and the waters of the Tumut will cover the valley as far as Talbingo.
-Round a bond in the road we cam suddenly to the little hotel. It sits right on the road at the foot of the mountains, and in the back garden the Tumat river and the Joan:ma Crock moot. The hight T,cky banks are good places to fish from, and below the rapids there is a swimming pool. A flying fox is the only way of getting across the river dryshod since thc footbridge was swept away in the last flood.
-.-:Tcspend a happy time here climbing the hills around and fishing unsuccessfully. The days were warm and sunshiny, but early morning and evening wore very cold. Every two or three days a flock of sheep came from their sumor pasture up Rule's Point way, going north to winter qaartors. 5,000 sheep on a mountain road escorted by dogs and drovers and covered_ waggon against a setting of giant gums, sent the Jir Force Photographer rushing for his camera.
-To reach the best viewpoint one should take a day and climb Little Talbingo Mountain. It is reached either by going through the station paddocks, keeping one cyc on the hercford bulls, and the other on hardy trees and fences, or by following the river t1.1) tiil oner:3.07 to the spur
-that runs to the top. There is a pool of weAor half 71r:.y Co tho
-billy tea. After reaching the top of Little ToAblrigo2 wo oc:,o(1 a little =,y and climb Big Talbingo where a glorious view is sc.,oh of the so athern
-ranges.
-Buddong Falls on the creek of that name is a long days walk being about 3_4 miles there and back with SDIEL rought climbing. Jounama Crook is easy
-to walk along as far as the Falls, then it is as rough and touch as can bc, clay up near its beginning there is a-big smooth rock: mass known as Black
-It can be seen from the valley as well as from thc Yarrangobilly rocA Flnd looks like an clophantTs head.
-A god two day trip wJuld be to go along the left bank of
-the J'Junama Crook c,ad ascend the mountain by the Bridle Track. On the tops the coantry is strangely fascinating. There is open country and littlo stroams and pools to fish. There are Peaks to climb also before retunAng by Black Perry and down Jounama Creek.
-to Yarrangobilly Caves can be easily made whilo stayi ng at Talinc:. Ono can go by car and back in a day. But it is butter to go up 1!:i. Cue Mail Car which comes out from %mut on Tuesdays-and Fridays, anfl returns on Monday and Thursday caqh weak.
-wore invited to a wedding at the hotel. Mine HostTs charming daughter was married to the son of a Pioneer family in the district.
-We decorated the little Dance Hall which is used as a church on Sundays, with chrysanthamams and dahlias from the garden and Aatamn leaves and Berries and groat branches of Poplar. After the ceremony we wore invited to the wedding breakfast and the dance which ended at midnight. We very much enjoyed the turkey and ham and chicken and fruit salad, and also the contents of a large array of bottles which had boon saved for the occasion.
-Autumn is certainly a lovely time to go to the Tumut Valley. Could there be a more boautiful sight than thozo huge poplars whose loaves have turned goldnn? Yes, they toll me that the wildflotcrs in Spring beggar description. So I think I'll go.
-al* ma*. am IMP
-LETTERS FROM THE LADS AND LASSES.
-Letters wore received from the following during July:
-H.J. Thomas .6 Rucksack N. Melville C. M. W.
-Alan Hardie S.B.W. Bill Burke S.B.W.
-Geoff Higson S. B.W. B. Evans Rucksack
-Ron Boakes Y.M.C.A.
-Harrz Thomas From Tonnant Crook. Whilst hero in the north I am not
-neglecting my walking. Aticast once a week I go for a walk in the surrounding country with a cobbor, one "Angus" Goote. There is one torment to ideal walking at this time of roar and that is a small sitrub called Spinifex. It is a small spring shrub that penetrates the thickest of sox, puttco, gaiters and what have you. The country itself is the strangest that I have over soon, quite unliko the Bluc Mountains sandstone country. Smell hills, quite disconnected with one another, the tallest under a hundred foot, risc up abraptly from a porfcctly flat plain. There arc unworkcd gold mines everywhere (this is a very rich gold bearing area). The wcathcr is ideal for walking hero at the present tine, mild days with cool to cold nights, quite unliko what one would imagine for a tropical centre, but wait until summer is with us again. Tompertures of well over 1000 in the shade with night temperatures not much better. Then I am
-afraid my walking days will be cancelled until I either roach Sydney again 0 or the winter is with us again. Would you mind sending me a few photos of various places that the Walkers froquont, notably, tho Bluo Gum, North :
-.
-Era, Mtrloy Beach, Kanangra otc., I will reciprocate with t:spical photos of thc cJantry ht,ru of which I havo taken many.
-Ninian Mblville Now Guinea. Zifc; up hero
-OOIIgS1aaOaiQjQ s Y. I am learni hor. my 'line" fr tivs consists of 40 tao pi rsonal servants who also do oda jobs my washing, prepare my bath (in a 44 gal. my bets etc., this is the lifc. Oar Colo the average rough muntain country up hero.
-Alan Hardie - North Australia. Tho ontertainm-nts and hospitality (whore such oxistsj arranged for us-Cannot compare with the honour, gopd cheer and spentanity of our old bashwalkor gathuring. I watch with interest in the 'Bushwalicc-rs" you send mc each month what matters crop up at the mnthly meetings to occupy the minds of those givun to dialectics and argument. The 1.,:uth Hostels, I see, arc causing a fair amount of uneasiness and. disputation. When I asc,& to be nble to particapatc in debates we were chiefly concerned with the shacks in Bati;nal Park or else; in trying to curb Wiff Khicht's expansionist ideas of f anding Emlo-nadist colonies. Your maGazincs and photographs provoke those thoughts of old times together, and this is the chief reason why I am thankful for thorn. "Peter" Page I see fairly often. He is still my link with the past. Since writing the better which you partly published in thu Bushwalkor, he has changed the sitc of his loction Whereas I last described tho watercourse near which ho was criped as very much like the Cox, the one he and his men ar now camped al:Jngide in ccrtaia respects resembles the Knwmang. It has the grassy banks (howboit the prickly grass irritates one's bare feet) parallel banks and clear water fast moving over the shallow cobblost)ncs, sJmewhat like the Kowmung. "Peter" has a team of sprightly, happy-go-lacky youngsters under him; they are full of life) and ao not gait understand his more mature point of view. They speak of him as "Old Peter" and "Mbalitaincer Page"; and I think, at times they got somewhat obstreperous for him. They arc camped under a gigantic fig tree with clusters of figs hanging down just outside the tent. Here all the birds of creation congregate, and sunset and sunrise, arc accompanied by all the chirping and. chattering imaginable. 7hen'I wont there, it was to deliver ammunition, and I ha& to bring "Pater" and all his boys across the river to our truck, necessitating their ro-crossing the river in real, porterage fashion.
-Whon,I have a day of rest, I walk round about our camp. The long grasses now arc dry and dead, and near the roadside arc discoloured with the rod dust stirred up by the army trucks. You can hoar the dead grass cracnc underfoot, as you walk through it. Thom arc some good panoramas to be gained by climbing the neighbouring mountains 'which arc siiadclot with huge monoliths and bare woatherworn rocks. What I do not like aboat thos6 mountains, however, is the long grass you have to wade fitircuE, although it'is now dead or dying. You are fearfal about
-treading on, imagining some rock-python or tiger-snako uri6or
-Moreover, grass seeds with barbed points as sharp as noodles got iL0-3 one's clothes and socks, malcing things very uncomfortabj c for S311.0 time after. I have known the seeds still to be in my socks after a:11 my washing and scrubbingp and for weeks afterwards. A crisTains Coati-2o about wandering these mountains is, howver,_that they fora part -)i the same Groat Divid ir Rangu that the Blue Mountains belong to. I feel that I have a connecting ink with the Gingra and. Gangcrang aangcs of happy manor
-is very inter,Jsting and the
-ng Mar - the official language of all shapes and sizes. I have round the camp, mk y bed, do dram cut lengthwise) polish trip is in my opinion equal to
-.
-rcmarkablc fcaturc about thc bash up hcrc is thc pcculiar spocics of gum oucalypt that predominates. It scums toloc altogothcr out of kocping with tho hot climc:te, bcaring vividly groon lcavcs, instcaa of parcho1. ary ones, tlirlt one would n-Ltnraly expoct. Mbrcvor, tho trunk ana bough do not bctro y tho 9-114,:hte,et mrrk of any bush fire, alth:-Io gh growing in regions whoro bush fircs sh:aid bo ramr,ant Tlioy aro siivoicy-whitc in
+Bushwalkers who are looking for a delightful place in which to spend a holiday, cannot do better than to take train to Tumut and Mail Car to Talbingo, 20 miles out on the road to Yarrongobilly. There are good sites for a fixed camp on the grassy banks of creek and river, or one can stay at the Hotel and enjoy perfect meals and unlimited hot baths.
-colour arui rinr-L-kflioly clean.- The Loaves aro rourtdd in shapc likc thc
-L8--aocu:. loaghs an.LL tra;.1k ' liston in the san's xys; ana to look upon them io to make the olDsorvor feel fresh and. to -J.:orrsot tho enervation that como of tropicc7 heat. Thu stTangcst pLrL abut it all is that thoso gums scam to thrivo 'host in tho sandiest p1accs I wIsh I 7v_no7 tho corroct, botani c-_1 name of thosc troc, Just not tho nichts Erc r2jEerab1y cola,
+Mary said "Come and eeot me somehwere on my next leave so that I don't have to make that awful train journey from Wagga to Sydney". So we met at Tumut on the first of May, and Lisle Matchott called for us in his car and drove us around the town to se the trees in the glory of their autumn colouring.
-whjlc thodays crc hot, j c aro glad. to scc thL; r,u r2 cone np tho hills,
-and_ a ro l.a t2c2mor g-9co down our spine as wo watcJ.. iii 11.k l'poncath the
+Thc drive along the Tumut river provided every new vistas or delightful scenery where willow trees and gums framed the swiftly flowing streams. Each bend of the road reveals something different, and one feels that the car travels much too quickly through the beautiful valley. On the right hand side of the road the steep wooded hills hid the Bogongs from sight, and on the left the land sloped down to the river and beyond farm houses appeared tucked away in the midst of orchards. Passing through Blowering we saw the men employed by the Irrigation Commission drilling for rock bottom. A dam may be built here some time in the future, and the waters of the Tumut will cover the valley as far as Talbingo.
-westorA 1=zon, 'rho irony of it all is that our grc,atc:ts takon
-frm bar= J6ft Wollongong; thoy havc novur Lcon l'eoLacca,'ovid-
+Round a bend in the road we came suddenly to the little hotel. It sits right on the road at the foot of the mountains, and in the back garden the Tumut river and the Jounama Creek meet. The high, rocky banks are good places to fish from, and below the rapids there is a swimming pool. A flying fox is the only way of getting across the river dryshod since the footbridge was swept away in the last flood.
-enty wo th=o vicims of sonic hasty gonoralisation. 1,11 into:costing
-foature of tic cold:misty nights, howover, is thc faint rajnbow offoct madc. by concentric cdrlos around the moon. Thu rcason for this isl-I think, that tho moon is much brightor than down south, bcoaasc it roflocts more of the sun's rays. ILs the morning san asccnds, shafts of light arc soon protruding through thc trees and permeating the cola,misty air, and I am rcmindoa of tho concluaing scoria of Walt Disncy's "Fantasia7,wheran. Schubcrt's "Avo Maria". supplants at dawn the horrors of'tho provious
+We spend a happy time here climbing the hills around and fishing unsuccessfully. The days were warm and sunshiny, but early morning and evening were very cold. Every two or three days a flock of sheep came from their summer pasture up Rule's Point way, going north to winter quarters. 5,000 sheep on a mountain road escorted by dogs and drovers and covered waggon against a setting of giant gums, sent the Air Force Photographer rushing for his camera.
-Gooff. son_- Now Guinca. We arc all hoping, praying to got out of horo-
-ToTaT GO -.tar to no avail. On Monday we did a stunt with -it was
+To reach the best viewpoint one should take a day and climb Little Talbingo Mountain. It is reached either by going through the station paddocks, keeping one eye on the hereford bulls, and the other on hardy trees and fences, or by following the river up till one comes to the spur that runs to the top. There is a pool of water half way to supply the billy tea. After reaching the top of Little Talbingo, we descend a little way and climb Big Talbingo where a glorious view is seen of the southern ranges.
-quite gooa in spots and vary fast. By the tine it was over we were fairly knocked up. A good nights sloop fixod that, we arc now as good-as now. (Oh Yeah) Woll anyway we are good which is no fault of ours: I'll look forward to thc photograph you will bo sonding, as far as I am conccrnod they are dofinitoly a morale booster of tho first ratc. Tho- way GcorGc Archer's latter reads and thc way conditions are hero Ira gladly change him although I datosay it would havo its disadvantages also. The leo skating appeals to me. Thu only ice wo got is in thc glances of the
-Officers on occasions. -
+Buddong Falls on the creek of that name is a long days walk being about 14 miles there and back with some rough climbing. Jounama Creek is easy to walk along as far as the Falls, then it is as rough and tough as can be. Way up near its beginning there is a big smooth rock mass known as Black Perry. It can be seen from the valley as well as from the Yarrangobilly road and looks like an elephant's head.
-Talking about going poa picking rciindsie f ''The Pea Pickors' by Eve Langlcy which I enjoyed so thoroughIymot so long ago. I hopc it swolas: tho B.S.C. funds quito considerably. As I am on duty in tho kitchen. today I must loavo you for a while:
-I. erc I am back on tho job looking for inspiration.
+A good two day trip would be to go along the left bank of the Jounama Creek and ascend the mountain by the Bridle Track. On the tops the country is strangely fascinating. There is open country and little streams and pools to fish. There are Peaks to climb also before returning by Black Perry and down Jounama Creek.
-The nights up hare arc vury cold and very clear. Thu sleepin bags arc not adcquate, not being a patch on tho genuino Padd ymadotTbat, ovon so; they are bettor than blankets. The days arc perfect withoUt a cloud in the sky and a nico cool breeze. I wish I had the gift of the gabs to be ablc to doscribo the countrysido hero. It ia somothing like thc Blue Labyrinth on a largor scale only much grecncT and not so scrubby. Its rather pretty if one ciald only got tho thought of the Army out of ono's mina for a while. The vast majority of trees just here are-mostly gums, Blue sI3ttoa etc., but I havonIt noticca any rod.. There are alSo ciult. a few Acacias but the Paper Barks are far more namorous.
-Thank all the B.S.C. for the vc,rious books etc.,. -thcy have sent me.
+A trip to Yarrangobilly Caves can be easily made while staying at Talbingo. One can go by car and back in a day. But it is better to go up in a Mail Car which comes out from Tumut on Tuesdays and Fridays, and returns on Monday and Thursday each week.
-in the past.
+We were invited to a wedding at the hotel. Mine Host's charming daughter was married to the son of a Pioneer family in the district. We decorated the little Dance Hall which is used as a church on Sundays, with chrysanthamams and dahlias from the garden and Autamn leaves and Berries and great branches of Poplar. After the ceremony we were invited to the wedding breakfast and the dance which ended at midnight. We very much enjoyed the turkey and ham and chicken and fruit salad, and also the contents of a large array of bottles which had been saved for the occasion.
+Autumn is certainly a lovely time to go to the Tumut Valley. Could there be a more beautiful sight than those huge poplars whose leaves have turned golden? Yes, they tell me that the wildflowers in Spring beggar description. So I think I'll go.
+----
+=====Letters From The Lads And Lasses.=====
+Letters eore received from the following during July:-
+H.J. Thomas (Rucksack), N. Melville (C.M.W.), Alan Hardie (S.B.W.), Bill Burke (S.B.W.), Geoff Higson (S.B.W.), B. Evans (Rucksack), Ron Boakes (Y.M.C.A.)
+===Harry Thomas - From Tennant Creek.===
+Whilst here in the north I am not neglecting my walking. At least once a week I go for a walk in the surrounding country with a cobber, one "Angus" Coote. There is one torment to ideal walking at this time of year and that is a small scrub called Spinifex. It is a small spring shrub that penetrates the thickest of sox, puttee, gaiters and what have you. The country itself is the strangest that I have over seen, quite unlike the Blue Mountains sandstone country. Small hills, quite disconnected with one another, the tallest under a hundred foot, rise up abruptly from a perfectly flat plain. There are unworked gold mines everywhere (this is a very rich gold bearing area). The weather is ideal for walking here at the present time, mild days with cool to cold nights, quite unlike what one would imagine for a tropical centre, but wait until summer is with us again. Tempertures of well over 100° in the shade with night temperatures not much better. Then I am afraid my walking days will be cancelled until I either reach Sydney again or the winter is with us again. Would you mind sending me a few photos of various places that the Walkers frequent, notably, the Blue Gum, North Era, Marley Beach, Kanangra etc., I will reciprocate with tropical photos of the country here of which I have taken many.
+===Ninian Melville - New Guinea.===
+Life up here is very interesting adn teh boongs make a lifetime study. I am learning MOTU - the official language here. My 'line" of natives consists of 40 of all shapes and sizes. I have two personal servants who also do odd jobs round the camp, make my bed, do my washing, prepare my bath (in 1/2 a 44 gal. drum cut lengthwise) polish my boots etc., this is the life. Our Colo trip is in my opinion equal to the average rough muntain country up here.
+===Alan Hardie - North Australia.===
+The entertainments and hospitality (where such exists) arranged for us cannot compare with the humour, good cheer and spontanaity of our old bashwalker gathering. I watch with interest in the "Bushwalkers" you send me each month what matters crop up at the monthly meetings to occupy the minds of those given to dialectics and argument. The Youth Hostels, I see, are causing a fair amount of uneasiness and disputation. When I used to be able to particapate in debates we were chiefly concerned with the shacks in National Park or else, in trying to curb Wiff Khight's expansionist ideas of funding male-nudist colonies. Your magazincs and photographs provoke those thoughts of old times together, and this is the chief reason why I am thankful for them. "Peter" Page I see fairly often. He is still my link with the past. Since writing the letter which you partly published in the Bushwalker, he has changed the site of his loction. Whereas I last described the watercourse near which he was camped as very much like the Cox, the one he and his men are now camped alongside in certain respects resembles the Kowmung. It has the grassy banks (howbeit the prickly grass irritates one's bare feet) parallel banks and clear water fast moving over the shallow cobblestones, somewhat like the Kowmung. "Peter" has a team of sprightly, happy-go-lacky youngsters under him; they are full of life, and do not quite understand his more mature point of view. They speak of him as "Old Peter" and "Mountaineer Page"; and I think at times they get somewhat obstreperous for him. They are camped under a gigantic fig tree with clusters of figs hanging down just outside the tent. Here all the birds of creation congregate, and sunset and sunrise, are accompanied by all the chirping and chattering imaginable. When I went there, it was to deliver ammunition, and I had to bring "Peter" and all his boys across the river to our truck, necessitating their re-crossing the river in real, porterage fashion.
+When,I have a day of rest, I walk round about our camp. The long grasses now are dry and dead, and near the roadside are discoloured with the red dust stirred up by the army trucks. You can hear the dead grass crackle underfoot, as you walk through it. There are some good panoramas to be gained by climbing the neighbouring mountains which are studded with huge monoliths and bare weatherworn rocks. What I do not like aboat those mountains, however, is the long grass you have to wade through, although it'is now dead or dying. You are fearful about what you are treading on, imagining some rock-python or tiger-snake under your feet. Moreover, grass seeds with barbed points as sharp as needles get into one's clothes and socks, making things very uncomfortable for some time after. I have known the seeds still to be in my socks after all my washing and scrubbing, and for weeks afterwards. A consoling feature about wandering these mountains is, however, that they form part of the same Great Dividing Range that the Blue Mountains belong to. I feel that I have a connecting link with the Gingra and Gangerang Ranges of happy memory.
+A remarkable feature about the bush up here is the peculiar specics of gum eucalypt that predominates. It seems to be altogether out of keeping with tho hot climate, bearing vividly groeen leavcs, instead of parched dry ones, that one would naturally expect. Moreover, the trunk and boughs do not betray the slightest mark of any bush fire, although growing in regions where bush fires should be rampant. They are silvery-white in colour and remarkably clean. The leaves are rounded in shape like the fig-leaf. Leaves, boughs and trunk glisten in the sun's rays; and to look upon them is to make the observer feel fresh and to forget the enervation that comes of tropical heat. The strangest part about it all is that these gums seem to thrive best in the sandiest places. I wish I knew the correct botanical name of there trees. Just now the nights are miserably cold, while the days area hot. We are glad to see the sun come up over the hills, and a cold tremor goes down our spine as we watch it sink beneath the western horizon. The irony of it all is that our greatcoats were taken from us before we left Wollongong; they have never been replaced, evidently we were the victims of some hasty generalisation. An interesting feature of the cold, misty nights, however, is the faint rainbow effect made by concentric circles around the moon. The reason for this is, I think, that the moon is much brighter than down south, because it reflects more of the sun's rays. As the morning sun ascends, shafts of light are soon protruding through the trees and permeating the cold, misty air, and I am reminded of the concluding scene of Walt Disncy's "Fantasia", wherein Schubert's "Ave Maria" supplants at dawn the horrors of the previous night.
+===Geoff Higson - New Guinea.===
+We are all hoping, praying to get out of here but so far to no avail. On Monday we did a stunt with ----- it was quite good in spots and very fast. By the time it was over we were fairly knocked up. A good nights sleep fixed that, we are now as good as new. (Oh Yeah) Well anyway we are good which is no fault of ours. I'll look forward to the photograph you will bo sending, as far as I am concerned they are definitely a morale booster of the first rate. The way George Archer's letter reads and the way conditions are here I'd gladly change him although I daresay it would have its disadvantages also. The ice skating appeals to me. The only ice we get is in the glances of the Officers on occasions.
+Talking about going pea picking reminds me of "The Pea Pickers" by Eve Langley which I enjoyed so thoroughly not so long ago. I hope it swells the B.S.C. funds quite considerably. As I am on duty in the kitchen today I must leave you for a while.
+Here I am back on the job looking for inspiration.
+The nights up here are very cold and very clear. The sleeping bags are not adequate, not being a patch on the genuine "Paddymade" but, even so, they are better than blankets. The days are perfect without a cloud in the sky and a nice cool breeze. I wish I had the gift of the gabs to be able to describe the countrysido here. It ia something like the Blue Labyrinth on a larger scale only much greener and not so scrubby. Its rather pretty if one could only get the thought of the Army out of one's mind for a while. The vast majority of trees just here are mostly gums, Blue Spotted etc., but I haven't noticed any red. There are also quite a few Acacias but the Paper Barks are far more numerous.
+Thank all the B.S.C. for the various books etc., that they have sent me in the past.
+----
 co