Black Duck Dreaming ..... From the Present to the Past and back again

Trip Members :- Paul, Barb, Clayton F & Cathryn, Jackie, Tony, Rob, Paul, Paula & Kaiden C & JC.

Prelude
This all started for me over a half a century ago when as a young boy of 6 I would travel to my uncles farm at Nadia which is about 20 Kms up river and inland from Swan Reach. This is where my dear old Dad grew up.

I remember visiting Swan Reach during the ’56 floods. My Uncle Clyde who was the punt manager, took us across the river and up the main street in a small open boat with an outboard motor. It was both exciting and scary because of the fact that a tiger snake tried to get in the boat with us, that was until my uncle discouraged it by hitting the snake with a wooden oar.

Then as teenager I fondly recall some interesting afternoons spent with my cousins on the banks of the river.

I’ve always liked country girls.

The Gully Pub
The meeting point for this journey was to be at the Tea Tree Gully pub by 9am. Surprise, surprise I was late and Rob was going to meet us late afternoon.

Then we were off through the hills to the "Steam and Whistle Bakery" at Mount Pleasant for morning tea. It was a very interesting location with a lot of old steam train memorabilia and good food.

Refreshed and rested we pushed on through to the look-out at Walkers Flats for a cuppa and watched the paddle steamer Murray Princess go sailing past. It was a perfect autumn day, blue skies, very little breeze, warm and sunny. In fact picture post-card perfection.

Ngaut Ngaut
Off again through Walkers Flats, crossing the river by ferry and then up the road to Ngaut Ngaut. Guided by Richard (an Elder of the Nganguraku People), Cynthia and Cess we visited an aboriginal cultural site on the banks of the Murray River.

In this, a part of the ancestral home of the Nganguraku People, we climbed a wooden staircase up the delicate sandstone cliff-face, which is imbedded with scores of fossilised sea crustaceans. This was the site of the first archaeological dig in Australia with carbon dating tests showing there were campsites at this location 8 thousand years ago. This pre-dates the Egyptian Pyramids.

Swan Reach
We set up camp at the Swan Reach caravan park and as usual everyone had a happy hour, relaxing while I erected my campervan. I must confess I did have a little help from the audience.

Then off to the pub for our evening meal but still no sign of Rob. We ordered our meals, purchased a glass or three and were taking in the views of the sunset from the dining room when in he raced, the inimitable Mr. Leggett.

Big Bend by Night
After our wonderful food and wine at the historical Swan Reach pub we set off to David and Mardi LeBrun’s farm for the nocturnal tour "Big Bend by Night".

We were taken on the nocturnal tour in a covered wagon pull along by a 4-wheel dune buggy type bike. The tour, which lasted about 1½ hrs, was full of nocturnal native fauna, including kangaroos, greys and western reds, southern hairy-nose wombats, hares, spiders’ eyes, one fox, one rabbit and plenty of sheep.

The night was clear and crisp, in fact it was very cold in our covered wagon. David had a heap of blankets, which he handed out to anyone who needed the extra warmth. One of the highlights of the ride was Rob and his blankets. He spent the tour wrapped up like an Egyptian mummy.

The Morning After
The next morning we rose to have a leisurely breakfast and depart. Normally it is a toss-up whether Rob or JC will be last to be ready but this trip I won hands down. Rob had left while most of us were still asleep, something about a big country business coup he was going to pull off.

Several of us parted company at this point instead of the usual convoy home. For me, I wanted to hang around, talk to the locals and soak in some of the past.

My quest took me to the general store where I purchased a local publication called "Swan Reach, Small Town Big History". I also met and had quite a long chat with one of the authors of the book.

Conclusion
For me this weekend was a very rewarding journey from the present to the past and back again.

For Your Information
Early settlers named Swan Reach after the native black water birds that flocked on the river. It was later found that they in fact a species of duck hence the title "Black Duck Dreaming".

JC

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