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Writer
John Blay Photo:
Wes Stacey |
In
2001 John Blay set out on foot to explore the relatively unknown
beauty of the South East Forests of NSW and to gather stories and
illustrations for various literary works. Spending up to six weeks
at a time in the wilderness, he researched old aboriginal pathways,
campsites, moth-hunting localities and gathering places and new
and interesting species of wildlife.
John will reveal the soul of this region, its amazing people and
landscapes in a series of publications. He collected plant specimens
for the National Herbarium in Canberra and kept wildlife records
for the Wildlife Atlas. All source material will go to the National
or State Library.
Pictures
and tales from the heart of the South East Forests
John Blay
The walking
was often as difficult as it can get. The South East Forests are
wildly up and down all the time. Some of the country is as rugged
as you’ll find anywhere else in Australia, much of it unfrequented
and unused.
Three years and four pairs of boots saw me progress around the rim
of the Bega Valley from Bermagui to the NSW-VIC border and Mt Imlay,
then from Mt Kosciuszko to the coast at Cape Howe and Nadgee, finally
through Croajingalong and Nadgee and up the coast back to Bermagui.
Along the
way I saw rain and drought and wildfire, not to mention the awesome
beauty of things like masses of wildflowers of just about every
hue and description. I found all manner of rare and endangered species,
some of which have yet to be identified. I kept detailed notes on
the countryside’s extraordinary qualities. I took over twenty
thousand photographs.
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Boronia
and grasstrees in the forest at Mt Imlay. Photos: John Blay |
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At the heart
of it all lies the South East Forests National Park, a much fought
over tract of very beautiful, much varied eucalyptus forest. I am
currently writing a book on all this, but then there is so much
more. There were also many remarkable old Aboriginal places as well,
and I have been able to trace several important path ways between
Twofold Bay and the High Country of the Australian Alps. These were
apparently used for thousands of years by the coastal Aboriginal
people to go each summer to the Bogong ceremonies, just as the inland
people went to the coast for whale feasts. Substantial parts of
these ways still exist in the wildest country, in National Parks
and State Forests.
It is of great
significance that you can still walk from the highest part of the
country to the coast through relatively natural surroundings following
pathways traditionally used for millennia. The distance is only
about 250 kilometres. A considerable part of the way today is away
from made roads, the remainder along trails and minor country roads
that essentially follow the route of the old ways.
The full potential
of this way in cultural and tourist terms is yet to be assessed,
but when coupled with its biodiversity, which runs in one generally
natural sweep from the coast to the highlands and is dominated by
a single genus, the eucalypt, that reveals remarkable variation
along the way, it could well deserve to be ranked as world heritage.
But also, it
is worthwhile to note that when I walked from Victoria along the
coast to Bermagui I was following the same route the shipwrecked
sailors took in 1797 on their way from near Wilsons Promontory to
Sydney Cove, in fact I was virtually following their footprints.
I can see from their diary notes that in the southern parts, very
little in the natural landscape has changed since they made their
incredible journey. There’s a story in that, too…
Putting all
this together is a massive task, and so it’s fascinating to
summarise and find some of the most fabulous stories for a progress
report and photographic exhibition. The whole project has been technologically
demanding. Of necessity nowadays serious exploration demands GPS
records, as well as computers for the digital mapping and photography
and so forth. All this was achieved, often in the middle of nowhere,
and more recently databased and made accessible.
Sony Australia
have been greatly helpful and have offered to assist with the technology
by sponsoring the coming exhibition. NPWS has also helped all along
the way and the FNPW have been inspirational and offered to co-ordinate
the coming events… |
