Swamp Reloaded

Today we had an easy day. Up before the sun for a very early breakfast. I had to make a new batch of yoghurt and Pam decided to get some early swamp time. She had a good time stalking birds with her camera and came back with some more sightings.

The info centre was on our list to watch the Croyden video. Quite amazing to consider the vast township during the Gold rush and how quickly most of the town vanished after the gold played out. It was one of the biggest boom towns around with over 30 hotels catering to the population. The town was about 18 kilometres across.

As seems often the case, miners did all the work and spent most of their hard won money on expenses. What little was left spent on booze and gambling and possibly other immoral activities. The wealthy investors got even richer.

Today all that remains is a lot of rusting heavy machinery that was simply not worth shifting to new sites. Steam was being replaced with kero and diesel. The new engines were smaller, lighter and a whole lot cheaper. The real losers there were the woodcutters who suddenly had no jobs cutting firewood for fuel. On the positive side of that the vast areas levelled and treeless could start to regrow.

To end our day it seemed the swamp was calling. We returned back to the camp to take the yoghurt out of the incubator and put in the fridge. While there I made coffee using our Wabaco coffee device. I have worked out how to make a perfect shot then heat and whisk milk for a near perfect barista coffee.

Now we have enjoyed a great coffee sitting beside the swamp as the afternoon glow descends over the water.

As Stephen often mused, "life is good".Read more