ABPA - Australian Bush Poets Association

Since we are doing "firsts", this is the first poem I posted. I'd been writing poetry for five months at that stage.

Harrietville, one of the most beautiful spots on this earth!

Oh, and Bob, if you look closely enough you will see my car under the trees!

Wonderful view Heather. If any of them get up to have a look, I'm outta here !!!

Love Harrietville, in fact that whole rift valley region from Millewa to Mt Beauty.
There's a great Bluegrass festival at Harrietville annually ... I've seen the cemetary (but not that car)

Crisp, clean verse too Heather ...

Oh, ... did you pick up any chestnuts??

I think it would have given a better image without the picture first up as it is very descriptive. Now i can see what you said about the different colours from what we get up here.


Heather Day


Bob

The trees were oaks. It was quite a warm day in November when we were there and the trees provided some much appreciated shade.

Bob, I will see if I can find a photo of the area with "real" colours.

What a lovely spot to be placed in - something to look forward to - almost and a great poem as well

Cheers

Maureen

I love that they all have their toes pointed towards the view Maureen. Love the seat there too.

Heather

Someone told me only recently that everyone is buried with their feet pointing to the East in the UK and west in Australia - I don't know if that is true or not certainly can't say that I have taken notice of that - does anybody know

I'd say not true Maureen. I am on the Kilmore Cemetery Trust and in 2007 did a volunteer project in the cemetery mapping, photographing and recording every headstone and grave. Most graves are back to back with another so some face one way and the other row the opposite. In Kilmore, for example, they either face east or west - that's just the way the plan was mapped out. However, we found that the Catholic part of the cemetery didn't always (rarely even) followed the plan. The rows are as crooked and go off at weird angles and sometimes the graves are all facing East, regardless of supposed rows or any other alignment! (I figure it's the Irish in them if you know what I mean! )

Apparently, the Irish like to think that the sun will set on your back and rise on your face so a lot of the graves were pointed in that direction - I can only summise for that reason. Quaint I thought. Even found a couple of broken bottles upside down next to old graves.

What was interesting about Harrietville is that ALL the graves point the same way - in actual fact I think they looked to the north - (but that didn't rhyme!) It's pretty obvious that those that planted their relatives there wanted them to face the view. It also means that in places there are no paths between several rows of graves (I think up to seven from memory).

I plan to have my ashes sprinkled into my favourite fishing spot ,may as well give the fish something back.


Bob