Friday, May 14, 2010

Frere's Crossing

Short pants. Felt hat. Funny handshakes. Dib dib dib - oh no, that was the cubs. It's Boy Scouts I'm on about.

As a scout I'd go with the other lads and often Jim the scoutmaster all over - Jamborees, shooting trips to Tenterfield and the Piliga Scrub, long bike rides, scuba diving, horse riding, boat trips up the Hawkesbury River, water skiing... and of course camping. We camped in the Blue Mountains, the Royal National Park, the South Coast, lots of places. One favourite was Frere's Crossing, in bushland at Kentlyn not far from Campelltown. I'm reminded of this because there's a story in today's Herald about a girl who has gone missing after setting off to go camping at Friars Crossing (sic).

Yesterday I returned from a visit to a friend's farm in NE Queensland. Our mutual friend John Woodrow, one of the founders of that farm, lived in Leumeah in a spot I would pass when hiking up the hill to go camping at Frere's Crossing back in the 60's. In the early 70's I would visit John in Leumeah. In the late 70's I had bought a business in Liverpool and was looking for a place outside of Sydney and not too far from the business. At a dinner party in Sydney I was introduced to people who had a place at Campelltown which would be for rent shortly, and I subsequently moved into it. The house was in Kentlyn (the PO called it Leumeah) just up the road from John's place and just a few km from Frere's Crossing, Kentlyn.

I should add here that I had not for one moment mentioned Campeltown when speaking to people about a house outside Sydney, and in fact the very first time I raised the subject was that occasion. It probably sounds incredible, but that's how it happened.

And there's another connection with that area - the station before Leumeah is Minto, and I used to go train-spotting there on occasion with Richard Eslick, a school friend.

Ain't life strange!

P.S. My friend wrote recently (Nov 2010) to tell me he too as a boy scout camped at Frere's Crossing. John Woodrow introduced us.

No comments:

Post a Comment