Henry Miller and Mt. Wellington
In the 1890's Henry Miller selected land at Upper Maffra, where he built his homestead "Bunyule'. Hearing of the grazing to be had on the Wellington high plains, he cut, in 1900, the pack track along the Avon River, which my cousin and I followed in 1948, on our trip to Ben Cruachan. This track, along which he took his first mob of cattle to the high country, followed the Avon to the junction of the right and left hand branches, then continued along the left hand branch to its junction with Little River. From here it went up Little River to the foot of Purgatory Spur, where the real climb began. This spur rises nearly 1000 metres in about 8 kilometres, and when I climbed it years ago, the ferns and undergrowth were waist high, and rocks and fallen logs lay everywhere. It must have been very severe on the horses and cattle in those early times. From the top of the spur, the track went north along the Razorback, over Mt. Hump, past Connolly's soak, the only water between the river and the plains, and then up on to the Gable End and the plains beyond.
In 1905 he
built Miller's Hut, shown on the left under snow early in the
century. The roofing iron had to be carried up the track by
packhorse. In 1911, Henry cut a new track over the western
shoulder of Ben Cruachan, down to the Little River junction,
where he cleared the block known as Golden Point. This was an
alternative and safer route to the river track. He also cleared a
block on the latter which he called Lower Block. Huts were built
on both these blocks, which became rest stops on the journeys.
On the right is a view of the plains looking in the
direction of Miller's Hut, on the left is the Gable End, with the
Sentinels above Lake Tarli Karng on the right. Henry Miller drove
his cattle back and forth to the Wellington plains until 1938,
when he died after being kicked by a stockhorse, while branding
cattle in his Thousand Acre Paddock at the foot of the hills.
I feel privileged that I saw this country much as Henry Miller saw it, before it became crisscrossed with jeep tracks and logging roads.
The beautiful Moroka Valley is also rich in history, in addition to being a top birding spot. The Moroka River rises on the Wellington Plains, and eventually joins the Wonnangatta River. I first visited the area in 1955, and the Moroka page has photos and a brief history of its historical significance, as well as info. on birds.
Bowen's grave.
One of my birding areas is Mount Angus Creek,
north of the Valencia Creek hamlet, and where it forks there is a
lonely grave. The story goes that back in the depression years,
George Bowen, who had been a bank manager, went bush to try to
earn a crust trapping possums for their skins. He lived in a tent
on the small flat in the fork, and there he died. He was found
under his collapsed tent, and was buried where he lay, the site
marked by rocks over the grave, and a rough bush cross. This picture was taken
in 1962, but of course since then the cross has been burnt in a bushfire. I
believe moves are under way at the moment to erect a permanent memorial on the
site. Click on the thumbnail for a larger picture.
