A wonderful weekend of camping and hiking. The highlight was the beef stir fry we cooked up on the fire and the stunning pagodas on the hike. We also had fun squeezing into and exploring some amazing cracks in the rocks.
Showing posts with label Capertee Valley. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Capertee Valley. Show all posts
1 January 2012
Abandoned Shale Mine, Glen Davis
I felt a lot like I was Indiana Jones when exploring the abandoned shale mine in Glen Davis. For several reasons.
Firstly was the nature of the ruins themselves. They were only abandoned 60 years ago, but the remaining rows of pillars and soaring brickfaced walls and arches make them look a bit like ancient classical ruins, like Ephesus in Turkey or Pompeii in Italy.
Secondly, nature has done a remarkable job of reclaiming many of the ruins, with huge trees growing inside the old walls and monstrous, thorny weeds, the size of small trees, just as you'd find in an Indiana Jones movie.
Third was the marvellous natural setting of the ruins. Set right in the heart of the Capertee Valley with sandstone cliffs on either side. Not quite like Petra in "Indiana and the Last Crusade", but beautiful nevertheless.
Fourth, I had to do my explorations in secret. The mine is only open to the public on Saturday afternoons at 2 pm for an hour, so I had to slip over the fence and creep in quietly, and I faced the constant threat of discovery and capture.
And finally, but most importantly, there were snakes!!! Not pitfulls of snakes like Indiana faced in "Raiders of the Lost Ark", but I did see two large black ones in the space of just two minutes! And as I had snubbed my toe the day before, I was wearing open sandals, so totally vulnerable to poisonous bites!
So all in all, it was a marvellous adventure. Of course, I was not there to find priceless relics, but to take photos and this I managed to do without capture or being bitten, so mission accomplished. I think Indiana himself would have been impressed, except for the girlie squeal I made when I nearly stepped on the first snake.
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31 December 2011
Scenes from Glen Davis in Capertee Valley
Glen Davis is a tiny town situated in the Capertee Valley. The valley forms a canyon that is apparently (according to Wikipedia, so it must be correct!) the second largest canyon in the world. Only the Grand Canyon is larger.
From 1938, the town became the centre of an oil shale industry and housed over 2000 people at it's height. However, the township was almost completely abandoned in 1952 because shale oil was not viable in a non-war, non-government supported economic environment. After the closure of the oil shale mine, the skeleton of a town survived in the form of some properties, a post office (that is now closed) and a shop or two that survived intermittently. Now the shops are closed too.
The creation of the Wollemi National Park has brought a degree of tourism to the area, especially attracting birders like me who can see an unusually high number of species here. That's what attracted me here in 2007 but this time I was on a mission to photograph the old, abandoned shale mine.
From 1938, the town became the centre of an oil shale industry and housed over 2000 people at it's height. However, the township was almost completely abandoned in 1952 because shale oil was not viable in a non-war, non-government supported economic environment. After the closure of the oil shale mine, the skeleton of a town survived in the form of some properties, a post office (that is now closed) and a shop or two that survived intermittently. Now the shops are closed too.
The creation of the Wollemi National Park has brought a degree of tourism to the area, especially attracting birders like me who can see an unusually high number of species here. That's what attracted me here in 2007 but this time I was on a mission to photograph the old, abandoned shale mine.
