Home on the Range, the Condong Range

Over seven years I demolished,renovated and rebuilt  our five flats in Belmont Road.
I had this concept of a courtyard house providing private outdoor activity for a little frivolity,and wished to demonstrate this with a north facing property,which gets winter sun into its yard.The concept was highly acceptable to Mosman Council when they approved our strata plan.
Friend Douglas had shown me how to lay bricks,so with trowel,plumb, and level , I set about building a 6 foot high wall round the ground floor flat.
Aspect is important so north-south axis can deliver maximum sunshine.At one stage I had tried to register the name COURTHOUSE but it was rejected as we already have courthouses.
When the units were sold it delivered us independence,and the money was invested in three mortgages which provide income to buy the groceries.
Shortly after buying the property the well known real estate agent L. J. Hooker announced that Mosman was the next suburb to take off.And it did.!
We could now satisfy our dream of moving to the North coast of New South Wales and follow an alternative lifestyle.
We had looked at many rural properties,and liked the area between Lismore and Bangalow.The road followed an elevated ridge through towns like Bexhill,Clunes and Eltham,rolling green countryside on red volcanic soil.This had much appeal,warm climate,slow tempo living, worlds best surfing beaches at Byron Bay.
A friend looked at a rundown property at Possum Creek just outside Bangalow,but advised us we would not make a living from it.Paul Hogan later purchased land at Possum Creek and built a mansion for his new bride!
We negotiated for several 100 acre properties which had been dairy farms,over the years,and now had the potential as avacadoe,,macadamia and banana farms
I had been reading Earth Garden magazine ,and had become fascinated with their concepts "self sufficient man"building mud brick houses, solar power etc so we diverted to Melbourne for a week to inspect various houses at Eltham,home of alternate building in Victoria.
After inspecting   Monsalvat an artists colony,built with recycled materials   we believed anything was possible..All this was reinforced by several TV programs,BBC produced a series on life in China called The Heart of the Dragon showing the way their community came together to build additional rooms on houses and the use of ever present bamboo as a scaffolding in their building.
BBC also produced an alternative life style show about a suburban family turning over their back garden to vegetable production with much humor..
Our friend Dr Roger Burgess alerted us to to a 59 acre property on the top of the Condong Range for sale,this property had very successful history of prime banana production,because of its north facing aspect.This area just north of Murwillumbah is between the Condong sugar mill and Clothiers Creek road which heads down to Bogangah  by the sea.
On the property was a tractor shed,with its own snake.












CCCCCC












Original banana packing shed built
of galvanised steel sides and roof
sawn timber flooring

Over several months I spent time doubling the shed in size, installing a water tank on top of a tree stump
with an outdoor shower.







Below

Photo of interior improvements.
Gas stove on concrete blocks
supplied by bottled gas
kookaburra recycled cook top.
and stainles steel sink.






















The plastic covered shutters were
removed and replaced with sliding
windows.







Outside the extension was covered by
shingles.

The family were living in Wahroong,so it required me to make the 14 hour journey every second month in my EH Holden station waggon to do the building work,and dig out the patch of bananas ,the banana inspector said were infected with Bunchey top..
While in transition I stayed with Syd and Mavis on the corner of Clothiers Creek road.,which was very helpful.When the family moved in we were able to do the necessary work more easily,
There was no electricity connection to the grid so we purchased a portable generator to supply power for lighting and our fridge.
A dam was built  below the constantly flowing spring,this provided a swimming hole for our children Josh and Guy and their friends.

Photo of dam.










A trapeez was built over the dam
for some fun.






An overflow valve was manufactured at a local workshop with a stabalising plate buried in the dam wall.
Grass was planted on the dam wall to stabalise the soil,as it was a high rainfall area














The Acquarius festaval was taking place at Nimben,the heart of Hippydom.We could have been described as quasi hippies with our own celebrations on the top of the hill with our friends.

Party photos










We formed a friendship with Ted and Honey ,a local banana grower,who leased 10 acres of north facing land to grow his crops.This also provided a caretaker while we were away in Sydney.
The children were enrolled at the Condong school,and cycled to the bus stop,for their journey to school.
My day began with either picking bananas or avacadoes packing the fruit and taking it to the rail depo at Murwillumbah. My wife Marigold prefferred to play tennis and joined the local tennis club as she stated she would not help me on the farm.

Carrs Park Bush Reserve

             Arrangements to meet U3A harvest members at Carrs Park were disrupted by my rail journey being carried over from Kogarah to Hurstville without a guards announcement to change trains at Wolli Creek.

Having never been to Carrs Park before it was my intention to explore this beachfront suburb and take photos of the area.

The driver of the 958 bus could not direct me to the bush reserve so it was search and investigate.

Even school children I asked did not know the Bush Reserve.

Dropped off the bus at the oval I could see what appeared to be bush at the end of the road. Entering the carpark I gazed at a thin male person performing Thai Chee.

Opposite was a sign showing the track, up the hill through the tall Eucalyptus trees to the lookout.

No nymphs,fairies,goblins or nomes were spotted,but surely at night they would come out to play undisturbed.

The sandstone rock outcrop indicated a high point, with views over the bay                                                   Heading back down towards where the beach front was a pleasant grassed area with picnic facilities, a fine place for lunch, with views of boats on Kogarah bay.

Following the waterfront path I encountered an attractive sandstone house from a past era,built by William Carrs a cabinet maker in 1860.

His estate was left to Trustees of the Sydney Sailors Home.

Further on was a heated swimming pool,a Mens shed with woodworking activity, in a very calm and peaceful atmosphere,suitable for filming the TV series" Packed to the Rafters "

The enormous oval provided space for any outdoor athletic activity,cricket,football,running,or cycling,even a canal for canoeing,all this in brilliant Autumn sunshine and friendly local community.

Photos to follow

Bush reserve

Carr's House

Swimming pool

Picnic area

Mens shed

Oval

       

Freedom in Australia but not the color of your house

The Folly and the Simpsons

Below path from front gate in Olphert Avenue to garden shed

Lawn area of 17 Olphert Avenue above

                     

Below gran Simpson

Gran

In front of garden shed

T

                   Title,purchase and sale details 17 Olphert Avenue Vaucluse 1919 - 1950

Rough water swim Bondi to Watsons Bay - Sunday 21 May 2017

http://www.southheadroughwater.com/

Fairsky from Sydney to Southampton

Our Hurstville U3A writing group have been asked to write a story about a brothel,so I am including a page of historical facts from Wikipedia,followed by a second page of experience as follows............

Its 1959,after attaining my woolclasing certificate at East Sydney Tech,I booked a passage on the migrant ship Fairsky for its return journey to the United Kingdom,where I hoped to gain added skills in wool handling at Bradford.

Along with several hundred young Ozzi's we set off in February with band playing for Brisbane,also calling at Colombo,Aden,Cairo,Naples and South Hampton to Merry Old England .

My steward Ettore Serichino from Trieste settled me in to a four berth cabin,just above the waterline,with Rocco returning to Italy for a holiday and if the truth be known in search of a bride.

Ettore was very friendly and helpful,so along the way we became friends,and went ashore with Rocco when we got to Aden.

After passing Mt Etna belching smoke,and a touch of sea sickness in the Mediterranean, Ettore suggested when we get to Naples we go ashore and he would show me round. I had heard the expression "See Naples and Die " and being rather naive welcomed the invitation.

Naples duly arrived,my first experience of Europe,I was not going to miss this,Ettore and I set forth,into an overpowering atmosphere,but safe in a locals hands. First stop a hotel or should i say,a place where you could have drinks,after 50 years reflections can distort the picture,I remember the broad outline of the nights activities,but some of the fine detail may have been erased.

Next stop was a cafe for Pizza naturally,that's what you eat in Italy !

It was the largest Pizza I have ever seen,two feet across at least,without exaggeration,it took us quite a while to get through it,but stimulated by a few red wines we eventually managed to do the job.

Back out on the street Ettore ran into some Matelo mates,dressed in traditional uniform,who gave us directions for the next nights activity.We jumped into a Fiat taxi and sped round the corner,and marched into a house with a large baronial staircase.This was action at a fast pace,

Ettore and I were in bed with two Italian women,we had dispensed with our clothes and could be involved in love making. But the alcohol had taken control and I was not able to satisfy my partner, unlike Ettore who was showing signs of pleasure with smiles and laughter as we retraced our exit down the stairs ,I remember being accused of being a POOFTER !

Fast foward to 2015 where attitudes have changed,there is a proficiency of bordellos with names like ,The Penthouse,The Ultimate Gentleman's Club,Wild Orchard,Private Desire,Stilleto at Camperdown,Tiffany's at Surry Hills and Black Garter at Rockdale.

(C) Copyright Tim Williams

Travelling the Hume and Hovel Track, NSW (from Holbrook to Yass)

TEXT ......

Eggs Gilhooley

Eggs Gilhooley All residents of our house believed in a good hearty breakfast to sustain us through a busy day. In winter it was generally rolled oats cooked in a two-pot blue boiler, with hot water in the bottom pot, to heat the rolled oats in the top without burning them. At the weekend when things were more relaxed and we weren't rushed to get to work, we often had scrambled eggs on toast. Six eggs were beaten with a small amount of milk and tipped into a pan with hot melted butter so they would sizzle when they hit the butter. Mum's theory was the heat had to be high so the eggs would be browned on the bottom, not come out insipid and custardly, because we had a day’s surfing in front of us, and we needed loads of energy to crack the big one.
 Mum was talented – she could read a book, while knitting a sweater, generally a fairisle: two for Billy, one for Harry, one for Ken, two for Tim, one for Josh and one for Guy and another for George while having a glass of wine; it’s called multi-tasking now, but in the 1950's it was normal living.
 Mum was a keen reader. She had a book list she wanted to read, when heading for the library, and subscribed to the Observer. One of my jobs was to call at Fiorelli's in Surry Hills to collect a demijohn of red wine, which I helped my stepfather Bill decant into a dozen bottles. This wine was used in some of Mum's cooking – casseroles and spaghetti sauce, but not in the potato pie. It also helped to stimulate conversation at dinner!!
 Bill was a keen sailor; as a schoolboy he would sail on Sydney Harbour. He joined the navy when war broke out and spent time in England acquiring valuable information, which he passed on to us. When in London purchase Wild Woodbine cigarettes and light them on the Eternal flame. While in port in Simonstown, South Africa, Bill took up the local language, Negs vor Blanks, Alli stations neer Capstad, while riding the rail to Capetown.
 Bill was one of the crew of Query the 12 foot skiff that won the Australian championship on the Brisbane River; the other members were Harry the for’ard hand and Colin the skipper. All these sailors and their mates enjoyed keg parties, which occasionally took place in our kitchen. There was a nine-gallon wooden keg, placed on our sturdy kitchen table ready for the main performance of the night: punching the tap in! This could only be performed by a skilled operator, as a faulty insertion resulted in beer gushing out the side of the tap and being lost on the floor – very sad experience to keen beer drinkers.
There was generally some music and song, with Harry playing the guitar and Bill on the piano accordion, rendering old sea shanties and other bawdy songs – ‘My Old Man's a Dustman’. Bill was also skilled with his bosun’s whistle, on which he would give appropriate calls for naval procedures like ‘coming along side’. Among the guests were some very keen beer drinkers including Skinny who would remark if the drinking slowed down ‘Youse will never drink it’ which was akin to failure of this drinking team.
 Guests included Dorothy, John and Roma, Ross and Wendy, Louie and Nan. Louie was quite a character, with very Italian features, dark wavy hair, stocky build, slightly bent nose, and a nasal voice, with a great sense of humour and a volume of funny stories. He also operated as SP booker, besides having a day job. After the war there was a demand for betting, before Tab Corp set up. This was generally done by SP bookmakers operating out of local pubs, or in back lanes away from police view, as it was illegal.
 Louie's work commenced with donning his grey dust coat, getting into the van and doing deliveries for the local flying-boat base. But he  had an Sp betting agency on the side.So come Monday he would have to visit his clients and "Settle Up "after Saturdays racing.He generally carried a roll of notes you could'nt jump over.
Some of this money went to house renovations and paying me to help paint his house.
 . For recreation what did this group do in winter on a Sunday ? They went sailing, not in a12 skiff but a large 30 foot yacht, loaded up with a staple diet of beer, meat for a barbecue and salads, plus a little wine for appreciation. Depending on weather conditions, all sailors know you must check the forecast, observe the sky and the breeze, consider the tide and then consult with the skipper Ross as to their chosen destination. There was a fine choice of intimate beaches for swimming, picnicking and all round fun; these included, Stores Beach, Forty Baskets, Reef Beach, Castle Rock, Chowder Bay, and their favourite: Cobblers Beach, because it faced north and was protected from southerly winds. By Grainfed grandfather Tim
























an extension of freedom

Naomi Art WorkV

Travelling the Six Foot Track

Travelling the Six Foot Track

 

Afrikaan

13 Mar at 5:32 PM

> Goeie middag Tim,

> Hoe gaan dit met u? Ek was in Springs Transvaal gebore. My Oupa en sy broer het daar geboer. My Oupa en sy broer het teen die Britse geveg. As a gevolg daarvan het hulde baie geld verloor, maar dis in die verlede.

> My vrou en ek het drie kinders, nege Kleinkinders en vyf Agterkleinkinders. Ek is bly om te se die hele gesin lewens in Australia.

> Sien u Maandag by ons Duitse lesing.

> Totsiens,

> Brian.