Yarrangabilly

This was my favourite time of day, the morning light before sunrise. The crisp mountain air was exhileraing as I had explored the firetrail to the Coobragarra Wilderness. Unusual limestone formations stood sentinel along this uneven valley track. This limestone extends from Blue Water Holes to the north and to the Yarrangabilly Caves to the south.

As I turned the corner on my return, the sun shone on this verdant beautiful valley. I stopped to take in the vista with the dark majestic European trees standing alongside the tall Australian eucalypts. It is very hard to imagine that a substantial village of Yarrangabilly once stood here, with its own police, school and post office. Only the postmasters residence now stands along the now busy Snowy Mountains Highway. Very little else gives any hint of any civilization here only those trees that were planted here by the settlers. They are now well over one hundred and fifty years old.

What did fascinate me was a chair, a substantial armchair, carefully carved out of a tree stump. This is on the northern side of the hill near the Horseshoe Trail overlooking the valley. It certainly is not obvious to the campers. Yet one can imagine the love put into the workmanship and here it is still some one and a half centuries later. Here under one of those magnificent tall trees, I could just visualise a mum sitting here maybe looking over her brood.

Back then the Police were here to protect the gold being transported from the Kiandra Gold Rush to Tumut. I wondered why it wasn't taken straight to Canberra then I remembered that our capital didn't exist then.

Now years later, centuries later, nature has taken over again and this valley is deserted, nearly pristine and certainly glorious. Just another treasure in our wonderful diverse country. a place we delight return to a often as we can.