A walk to Whibay Gamba

view to Nobbys Beach & Fort Scratchley

On the 10th May 1770 Captain James Cook whilst sailing up the east coast of Australia on his journey of discovery, sailed close enough to the coast to notice, what he described in his journal as, "A small clump of an island lying close to shore...". It was in fact Nobbys Head, the former island that marks the entrance to what we know today as Newcastle harbour and provides Newcastle with an iconic natural landmark.


Now the history of this little island goes way back further than James Cook and was also part of the local Aboriginal Dreamtime stories, with the island which they named Whibay Gamba. The local Aborigines, the Awabakal tribe, tell the story of how  a kangaroo was chased from the mainland by the Wallaby clan after disobeying their laws and under the cover of a heavy fog, swam to Whibay Gamba to hide under the rocky outcrop. The Wallaby clan believed that the mischievous kangaroo had drowned, however, he survived his ordeal and is still hiding there to this very day, hiding under the island. Apparently the kangaroo lets us know that he is still there by thumping his tail, which causes the occasional earthquake around the Hunter region. 


The island itself has changed since the time of Captain Cook with the island now being less than half of its original  height, now standing at 27.2 metres. Although there is now evidence from the Coal River Working Group that the island wasn't as tall as the officially accepted height of 62 metres and was more like 43 metres, which is about the height of the current signal station. What we do know is that changes began to take place as far back as 1818 when Governor Macquarie started work on a pier to link the island with the mainland with convicts using rock from the island to construct the breakwall. Then again in the early 1850's  the height was reduced  another 10 metres to assist navigation, as the island took the wind out of the sails of the sailing ships entering the harbour and then to aid the construction of the lighthouse (completed in 1858) another 2 metres were taken off the top of the island. 

the 1858 lighthouse 

Now due to the isolation of Nobbys and especially since the erection of the Signal Station and Lighthouse, public access to the site has been very limited, however a change in the use of the former island is allowing public to enter the site through a series of limited open days.


I was lucky enough to join many other Novocastrians on one of those days and walked up to the site that offers a different perspective on our wonderful city. The day was another perfect Newcastle day, fine, sunny and with a nor' easterly keeping the edge off the heat. Also taking advantage of the carnival atmosphere were the anti coal protest group Rising Tide, who decided to form a  mini blockade of the harbour in their canoes and other energy efficient water-craft to make their point known. Newcastle Ports, which knew of the protest, just rescheduled the port operations for that day and so no coal loading was hindered that day. While I don't agree with all the aims of Rising Tide, I do appreciate that they give the community a conscience, that there may be another way to live our modern lives and to me, that isn't a bad thing.


So next time Nobbys is open to the public, make sure you grab your best walking shoes, some water to keep hydrated and of course your camera to make the one of Newcastle's most unique photographic locations.


I just hope that the kangaroo who is still hidden beneath Nobbys doesn't get to upset with all the activity above his rock home and start thumping his tail!  

           

The Lost Post Offices of Australia - Dubbo (2830)

Up until the explorer John Oxley passed through the area, that was later to become Dubbo in 1818, the land belonged to the Wiradjuri people who were custodians of the the rich river flats around the the Maquarie River. It didn't take long after John Oxley reported on this bountiful land that in 1824 squatters moved into the area, immediately moving sheep and cattle on to the rich pastoral lands and driving off the traditional owners. Things remained static until Robert Delhunty, who between 1829 and 1833 moved onto land around 4 miles south of the present town and named his property 'Dubbo', (the aboringinal word meaning 'red earth'), that the town started to thrive. The first shop opened in 1841 and by 1846 the NSW Colonial Government decided to establish a Police presence in the area, so in 1847 a Police residence and lock up were built.  


Now we all know you can't have a town without postal services, so in 1848 the first Post Office began operations from Mr Serisiers's store, making him Dubbo's first Postmaster (however from 1847 there was an 'ad hoc' service from Wellington). In 1849 the township of Dubbo was declared and the first land sales began to take place. Even though the town was situated in a prominent area and had a viable crossing of the Macquarie River, the population numbered only numbered 47 in 1851. 


In 1862/3 the Court House moved again to new premises in Macquarie St and it also seems to be when the Post Office also moved to into the new Court House premises. In 1866 however, with the arrival of the telegraph from Wellington, tenders were put out for the construction of a new Post Office and in 1867 the new Post Office was completed.  


The town continue to grow and in 1872 the town had grown to 850, becoming the major commercial, manufacturing and service centre for western NSW. It was also in 1872 that Cobb & Co. took over the mail run from Wellington to Dubbo to Bourke with a twice weekly service, utilising a two horse coach. The town was now thriving and its status was confirmed as the 'capital' on western NSW when the railway finally arrived in 1881 and the population quickly grew to 3200.


Around 1885 NSW Government architect, James Barnet  was commissioned to design, not only the new Post & Telegraph Office, but also a new Court House. Dubbo was certainly a town on the move. The new Post Office, completed in1887, was designed in Barnets Italian Renaissance style, using cement rendered brick, ornate archways, slate roof and the imposing clock tower, very similar to the Maitland Post Office.


This lovely building was handed over to Telecom in 1982, (who have since restored it to its former glory) when Australia Post moved into a more functional purpose built building in Talbragar Street.


The people of Dubbo now have a generic, somewhat bland, Post Office (that is now getting close to 30 years old!) and although functional, it has not got the classical design of a James Barnet original building, a building that has complemented the Dubbo streetscape for over 123 years.


I don't think people will be commenting on the current Post Office in another 100 years.

This blog is nowhere near complete and I will have to spend full day at the Dubbo library to fill in some large chunks of the missing postal history of Dubbo.  

Country To The Coast - 29 June 2008

After the mild weather we had become acustomed to over the past week, it was a real shock to wake up & find the car covered in ice! Yes, the New England Tablelands do get bloody cold during the winter!

Inverell is pretty town located on the banks of the McIntyre River with plenty of beautiful buildings from the late 19th & early 20th century to give the town a real heritage feeling. Inverell was also the spiritual home of The Kurrajongs. The Kurrajongs were a group of 112 volunteers that enlisted in Inverell in January 1916 & along with a second contingent of 47 (in February) left for the battlefields of France & Belgium in WWI. All up the Inverell district sent over 800 men to serve with distinction on those far off battlefields ... a high price to pay indeed for many of these small communities & it always makes me humble when I read of their sacrifices. So when in Inverell take the time out to marvel at the heritage & give thanks for the efforts that so many gave so long ago.

Another interesting & controversial part of Australian history can also be found at Bluff Rock on the New England Highway 10klms south of Tenterfield. This is where in 1844 a posse of white settlers sought to avenge the murder of a shepherd, by driving an entire tribe of aborigines to the top of the bluff & then throwing them off onto the rocks below, women & children included. While Bluff Rocks reputation has been stained by this incident, the rock itself is a perfect example of the forces that shaped this wonderful country 225 million years ago by the cooling of molten lava beneath the earth & then the forces of erosion that have now exposed it for us to marvel at.

From Tenterfield it was onto the beautiful towns Casino, Kyogle & then to Murwillumbah. Casino & Kyogle are both known as 'volcano towns' due to the fact that they sit over the former massive volcanoes that dominated the east coast of Australia 22 million years ago. As you drive through this escarpment the scenery is spectacular with Mt Warning in the distance & pockets of Gondwana rainforest to be found, so keep your camera handy for shots of this wonderful vista.

The once you reach Kanghur at the foot of the escarpment, you then enter the Tweed Valley, at the head of the Tweed River & into the start of Australia's coastal sugar cane country.