ABPA - Australian Bush Poets Association

This was written years ago about our second property Dilladerri which was 3500 acres out the back of Inglewood and you had to pass through three other sheep properties to get into it. Warroo, Willaroo and Nabwood Isolated, heavily timbered hence the name Dilladerri, heaps of roos, feral pigs, snakes of all description - once we even had a bandy bandy wriggle under the chairs around the campfire, but usually just the more common browns and taipans, goannas, goats and the odd stray sheep and deer.

It has now been sold and bought by a lady who has turned it into a sanctuary. It had been satellite surveyed and PMAV maps were applicable. The discovery of the endangered Macrozamia cranei a variety of cycad on it made my ex's plans for it unworkable - we had bought it for the Cypress timber on it but now were unable to take that out - even though we were selectively logging and not fell clearing.

http://www.wildlifelandtrust.org.au/ind ... dilladerri

September there was always special - as you came through the gate a sea of yellow wattle blossom was spread before you. Lucky neither of us suffered allergies.


Terry's poem reminded me of it. I loved this place and our home there was an old Millard Van and an ex real estate donga set up underneath a bush shed of corrugated iron and saplings with an antiquated green wood burning Kooka stove and an old Lister generator. The long drop down the paddock had bullet hole ventilation but in reality you never closed the door for there was no one there to see and you would hear any one coming from miles away as their vehicles ground up the steep, rough tracks.


DILLADERRI DREAMING Maureen Clifford ©

Somewhere out in the country, somewhere out in the scrub
Is a block of land well hidden, far removed from prying eyes.
Whilst the track you need to find it, is rocky and quite rough
and above the wilderness the eagle flies.
No stock is running on it, unless you’re counting goat and pig.
In September when the wattle blooms it fills you with surprise.
For it’s just a rough scrub block, with Ironbark, Cyprus and Fig
but above this wilderness the Eagle flies.

This is 'Dilladerri ' dreaming in the warmth of summer sun
'neath a sky of azure blue and mare tails white.
It waits in isolation on a road where few do come.
It holds a magic that enthrals in mornings light.

In its solitary splendour it has stood for many years,
where once bush was cleared it now is overgrown.
The feeble efforts made by man to tame its rampant growth
have been by nature mostly overthrown.
Its creeks are all dried up now; the water is long gone,
and in the man made dams water is low.
Strata soil is now eroded, by the harshness of the drought.
Up above the Eagle surveys all below.

This is 'Dilladerri' dreaming on a frosty winter morn
when a heavy mist is drifting through the bush.
And a wallaby or two with a mob of kangaroo
slowly graze on winter grasses without rush.

When the rains finally fall, bringing greenness to it all
washing dust away from scrub, and bush and tree.
Filling dams and filling creeks, Spotted Marsh frog starts to speak
as the earth regains long lost vitality.
Little rills, become a trickle, joining up become a rush,
soon a brown and foamy torrent starts to flow.
And the sight of so much water, after years of drought or longer
is a wonder to behold, for those who know.

This is 'Dilladerri ' dreaming, as she’s once again reborn
as the water, precious water, soothes her heart.
Now she rises in her glory, no longer dry and forlorn.
Joyful Wedge tail Eagles soar a skyward path.

Hi Ya Maureen,

What beautiful memories you must have of Dilladerri and what a rich sounding name. The smell of the wattle and solitude of a such an unspolied place must have been truly magic. That is true wealth!

Thankyou for sharing.

Dot

I like the poem Maureen, has the lyric mood to match the nostalgia.
I think I'll give the place a miss though, too much like snake gully for me

Thank you Dolly - so happy you enjoyed the read.

The property when we bought it was known locally as Stone Fireplace all that remained of the camp where the Chinese gold prospectors had lived. The old tripod and windlass thing was still over the open hole - rusted solid. We did a bit of half hearted looking and had people out there with gold detectors but they never found anything. We did get mighty excited when a mining company contacted us and wanted to do surveys over it. We though you beauty - because they would have put some decent roads through the place, something our two old dozers were struggling to do, but it all came to nothing - their aerial surveys showed it wasn't a strong vein apparently.

There's are a lot of old gold mines and arsenic mines around that area and around Pikedale...something that is not really well known I don't think. The old arsenic mines are a problem as the waste tainted water is starting to leech into local creeks. The mining people were supposed to clean it up but haven't. Arsenic is used to treat/extract gold from the dirt. Terry would know more about that.

When we moved onto the sheep property we were told we would never grow big sheep there because of the arsenic in the soil which apparent stunts the growth . I know my hair literally went white over a matter of weeks living there and I got very sick out there.

Wouldn't have not done it though. Loved it

Thanks Neville - it was definitely that - I nearly picked up a Taipan for firewood just on dusk one night - lucky for me it moved but I moved faster

...I'll bet you did Maureen!...I would too, they are the most deadly snake of earth they tell me! Is arsenic mined Maureen? I never really thought about where it comes from. When I worked in the gold and copper mine they used arsenic at the plant, no body seemed too fussed about it but I was always pretty wary particularly working on the equipment used in the handling of the stuff.

Arsenic is a substance found in the environment. It occurs naturally in crushed rock. The Stanthorpe area is traprock country – lots of granite


You can see from the map how many mines were around the Stanthorpe Pikedale area. The red cross is approx where my old home Springdale is


Pikedale (32km north-west of Stanthorpe). Records show that the auriferous reefs were small but fairly rich. They were worked by small parties, and were generally abandoned about the 30m level. No general statements can be made regarding future prospects of these mines as the factors leading to their closure are unknown.

The Pikedale Lode Mine is an abandoned underground arsenic, gold, tin and tungsten mine. This mine was also known as the McDonalds Shaft Mine and Pikedale Reef Mine. You'll find the Pikedale Lode Mine just off the Ten Mile Creek in Queensland about 180km southwest of Brisbane At about 933m above sea level, the Pikedale Lode Mine is one of the higher mines in Queensland. It is also one of the southernmost mines in Queensland.

A new project is underway at Pikedale to which the Govt has allocated $53.500 on a dollar for dollar basis under their collaborative drilling initiative. It is to be known as the Lickhole Prospect. Ironstone, silver, copper and zinc The geophysical survey finds it extremely attractive as a future drill target


The Waroo Gold and Copper mine is situated on portion 5, Parish of Waroo, 67km by road west of Stanthorpe and 28.8km east of Cobba-da-mana railway siding. I am presuming this was the original name of what is now known as A man o ma The lode was discovered in 1906 and the mine worked spasmodically till 1913. Mineralization was exploited to a depth of 61m and for a strike length of approximately 90m. Some 2,000 tons of ore was treated on the site either by smelting or by cyanidation for an average yield of 113 oz of gold per ton. Near Warroo 32km further west, a gold-bearing lode was exploited to a reported depth of 60m until local smelting became unpayable. We had to pass through Warroo to get into Dilladerri

Texas (85km by road west of Stanthorpe). The old Silver Spur Mine, 11km east of Texas, produced considerable amounts of silver, lead, gold and copper, the zinc contents remaining in the slag dumps. Existing workings, to 152.5m depth, offer possibilities for further prospecting, but unwatering and reconditioning would be necessary. In recent years interest has been displayed periodically by various mining organizations.

I remember a couple of years ago when I stayed at Tenterfield that I went up to the top of the mountain at the back of Tenterfield and looked out across to the north west towards the back of Stanthorpe, I had this eerie feeling, it looked weird. I kid you not.
Dunno why that was.

Would that have perhaps been Bald Rock in Boonoo Bonnoo NP Neville????

Hi Maureen

The snakes are terribly frightening. My sister owned a cattle property 100 miles west of Clermont and the browns were bad there. They used to come under the high fibro house and sleep on the cool concrete floor. She used to have snake wires hanging up so you could grab one when someone yelled 'snake'.

We have death adders here on Maggie Island but they are slow and sleepy in the day and more active at night thus you never go out to the back yard or patio without a light on at night. They also hide in the leaf matter or in the garden under plants as I found out when weeding one day.

Still it looks a nice place Maureen and the history is fascinating.

DD