On the road to Ensay - part two.

Continuing with our drive up The Great Alpine Road....

Another curiously named historic site:

This 1000 Pound Bend is so named after either the cost of repairs and insurance when two coaches collided, or the cost of constructing the road through hand-hewn rock at this troublesome spot.

<><><><><><><><><><><>

I'll return to some more curious historic sites further down the page. In the meantime, I'd like to briefly chat about  Wombats.  We saw evidence of a lot of them when we stopped by the Tambo River (in part one), and the surrounding area.

Here's a photo of the Common Wombat, the species who lives in this part of the country. I've also inserted a  link to the Australian Museum for those who wish to know more about this short, stout and solid marsupial, who's also earned the nickname "the Bulldozer of the bush"!

The Common Wombat
(Photo borrowed from Lone Pine  Koala Sanctuary)

[Warning.... some may choose not to look at the next photo]

We found lots of evidence of wombats.
Their scats are cube shaped  (so that they stay in the same
spot and don't roll away), thereby, marking the wombats' 
territory. 
This lot was smack bang in the middle 
of a bridge over the Tambo River!


I included this photo because those of us who follow
Laura of ForestWalkArt blogspot, know she'd be
interested ;-) 

When wombats want to go somewhere, they just go... nothing stands in their way except, perhaps,  solid rock.  

Farmers' fences are undermined, pushed out of shape, treated with complete disregard, much to their annoyance.  It not only wrecks their fences, but it leaves openings for predators, and other unwanted fauna,  to access their paddocks and stock.

Many methods have been used to try and deter wombats from ploughing straight through fences. One is incredibly inhumane and cruel and I'd hate to think it's still being used these days.  

On the other side of the road, and a bit further north,  from where we stopped by the Tambo, we saw another type of  wombat-proof fencing.  

This sort of wombat-proof  electrified fencing went on for 
kms - in both directions!
I did read that it only takes a few days for the wombats to learn 
to avoid it, so then it works on a visual warning basis,
rather than a physically preventative one.

<><><><><><><><><><><>

Back to the curiously named historical sites:

Left of Top Photo (Battle Point): was named after a fight between two bullock drivers or road foremen.

Top right (Haunted Stream): was named after its connection with the murder of Ballarat Harry. (Couldn't find out anything further about that story... think I'll leave well enough alone anyway!)

Bottom right (Dead Horse Flat): after a horse which was dragged along for some distance, dead, after being tied by a halter, while still alive, to the rear of its owner's wagon.

Bottom Photo (Devil's Backbone): after the tortuous nature of the country. 

We continued north, passing through open country with mountains on either side of the river valley, to Ensay, which is a small town now, but once celebrated for its wool production. 

It is at the base of the Nunniong High Plains sitting alongside the Tambo and Little Rivers.  The aboriginal name for Ensay is Numblaminjie, meaning "black fish".

Ensay Town Centre
Not my photo [source]

Hungry. Thirsty. The Cafe is open. I couldn't wait to check it out.

Pies, sauce and coffee - yum.

Refreshed, and homeward bound. 

We spied this wooden charmer giving everyone a big smile as they passed.

No clue as to her story.
She just is!

Next time we'll venture further up The Great Alpine Road and see what we can see.  

Hope you enjoyed the drive with us!

On the road to Ensay - part one

This time The Great Alpine Road called our names and off we went. It's a 308 km route in Victoria that extends from Bairnsdale, in the heart of Gippsland to Wangaratta in the north-east.  

We're doing a short section from the Bruthen, in the South, up to Ensay - a nice hour's run  We're essentially following the route of early european travellers.

We passed through beautiful Eucalypt forests

Catching a glimpse of the Tambo River down below

While I was taking a picture, MD was 'eyeing' off some timber
that'd fallen off a load, or something.... I sensed he was going to try and
retrieve it from that sheer drop.  Oh, I'm a spoilsport ... ;-)

We've stopped to play down by the Tambo River.
Can't resist a water shot

So peaceful.
The Great Alpine Road  is very close, the line of it can be seen in the
background.

Further up the river, all is calm 

Riverstones always catch my eye!

Time to walk back to the car to continue our drive

Still wet from the early morning rain 

En route are a number of curiously named historic sites. I've done a bit of research but information is a bit sketchy - would appreciate it if anyone can provide any further details, as I've made a few assumptions intermingled with what I could find out.

The whole area in the Tambo Valley was mined for gold back around the 1920s and beyond.
Guess most of the mullock (mine waste) ended up in this creek.

Couldn't find why this creek was so named.
However, Bullock teams were used extensively for haulage purposes.
May have been a favourite watering hole.

Here's a photo I found on the internet titled "Bullocky Jack
and his old red team".
It was taken in NSW, but the setting and purpose
 would've been similar
in Victoria - to clear land and haul huge logs

It was real nice to see the regeneration after the disastrous fires which began on 1st December 2006 until 7th February 2007. An area of 1,116,408 ha  was burnt across Gippsland and the North East of Victoria. Small towns were protected during the fire campaign, among them were Tambo Crossing and Ensay.

The bush is coming back.

More in the next post .....