CHAPTER VIII: JOURNEY TO THE ILLAWARRA DISTRICT...
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CHAPTER VIII.
JOURNEY TO THE ILLAWARRA DISTRICT--LIVERPOOL--CAMPBELTOWN--APEN--ILLAWARRA--DAPTO--WOOLLONGONG.
DURING my stay in New South Wales, I visited the beautiful district of Illawarra, situated about eighty or one hundred miles to the southward of Sydney. Accompanied by a young friend, we started on horseback; and following the main road from Sydney towards Parramatta for a few miles, we then struck across to the Liverpool road. The distance of Liverpool from Sydney is about twenty miles. The country on both sides has been, and in many places still is, thickly wooded; but numerous inns and public-houses occur at intervals along the road, while the clearings in every direction, and the amount of population one sees, independently of the villages or clusters of houses here and there, all convey the idea of a thickly settled country. Liverpool itself, however, is as dull and uninviting a town as it is well possible to imagine: situated upon
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LIVERPOOL AND CAMPBELTOWN.
a nearly level tract of country, in the centre of a poor scrubby soil, and with neither hill nor river, nor any other attractive feature to render it tolerable, this miserable inland town consists of a few streets and scattered dwellings with small gardens, and numerous public-houses for the refreshment of travellers passing to and fro from Campbeltown. On entering the town we passed a large and well-constructed building, which I understood to be an hospital.
From Liverpool the country improves towards Campbeltown, and as the soil becomes richer everything around has a more pleasing aspect; the surface of the land is here undulating, and hills rise beyond Campbeltown. The town itself consists principally of one long street, reminding one of similar market-towns in England, in which the High-street is diversified here and there with the leading inns, such as the "Golden Lion," the "Angel," or the "White Bear:" it is just so in New South Wales. The conventional ideas of the old country have been carried out to the very letter as if they had been law: no allowance is made for the wide difference of climate, and consequently of habits, between the two countries; but here, in a latitude of 34 deg. south, we have houses destitute of verandahs or screen-work, built with great glaring windows and high roofs, as if to imbibe all the sun possible. The very taverns are such painfully exact fac-similes of those in England, that it is only after leaving the town and looking abroad upon the
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APPEN AND ITS IRISH HOSTS.
landscape of eucalyptus and banksia, and inhaling the sweet scent of the wattles in blossom, that one is again sensible of really being in Australia, and not in some old town in one of the midland counties.
Between Campbeltown and Appen, a distance of ten or twelve miles, the country becomes more wooded; log huts break the dull monotony of the sombre forests, and the wattle, now covered with a sheet of yellow blossom, enlivens the scene here and there with its gay and perfumed clusters.
Appen is a little straggling village amongst gum trees, with numberless clearings all around. It is inhabited mostly by Irish, and has two opposition inns: at both of which, however, travellers, especially strangers, are compelled to pay very extravagantly for a night's accommodation. The hospitality of the "bush," which is universal in South Australia and in the more remote districts of New South Wales, is unknown so near Sydney; the place of the ever-open hut of the settler being here supplied by a series of detestable little inns, kept by a race of low and pilfering Irish.
A few miles from Appen, the country suddenly assumes a totally different aspect: leaving the rich and cultivated fields of the numerous settlers, whose lands stretch away towards the north and west, the traveller descends a deep ravine, or pass, between the hills, called "Jordan's Creek," through which a small river winds its way amidst abrupt rocks and
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BUSHRANGERS.
overhanging foliage. The scene is extremely wild and picturesque--savage-looking rocks frown from above, and the steep precipices rising on both sides of the glen are clothed with trees and brushwood, that are mirrored in the dark still water beneath. This romantic glen was once a favourite haunt of bushrangers, but now they are seldom to be met with; though we were told at Appen that two were still lurking in the neighbourhood, and had stopped a traveller only a few days since. The effective mounted police force has done much to prevent the existence of these marauding bands of runaway convicts, who formerly struck terror into the breasts of the out-settlers: the bushrangers have been thus kept down, and many of their ringleaders being taken and made examples of by summary justice, others have been deterred from a similar bandit life.
On ascending the opposite side of the ravine-- which is so steep and precipitous that it was matter of some difficulty to drag up our horses over the loose and slippery rocks--we entered the scrub and stringy-bark forest, where the scenery is of a totally opposite character from that through which we had previously travelled. The soil, consisting of a light sand, is clothed with a stunted species of stringy-bark tree (eucalyptus), which has a gloomy and melancholy aspect; and beneath these trees grow an endless variety of low shrubs and plants, belonging exclusively to the poor and sandy soil of the scrub: many of these plants were in blossom, variegating the
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MAGNIFICENT WILD FLOWERS.
waste with their brilliant hues. Amongst the most striking and beautiful of the wild flowers that adorn these mountain forests of New South Wales, are the "warrator" and the rock-lily. The "warrator" is a slender shrub, growing with a single upright woody stem to a height of six or seven feet; at the top of which is a magnificent blossom of a deep crimson colour, in shape and size bearing considerable resemblance to a full-blown peony. The natives occasionally wear these "warrator" flowers in their hair as ornaments. The rock-lily is a superb plant, generally growing on the edge of some rocky precipice, or crowning a lofty barrier of rock with its giant stem. The flower-stalk issues from a bunch of leaves very similar to the New Zealand flax; and when it has attained its full altitude it often measures thirty feet, and bears at its summit a crown of scarlet lilies, several feet in circumference. This singular and gorgeous flower gives a peculiar character to the scenery of some of the rocky gullies and chasms that intersect these mountain forests; and the open flats that intervene, though mostly swampy, are often covered with heath and a variety of grasses.
From the summit of the hills, as we approached the Illawarra district, we obtained beautiful and extensive views over successive ranges of stringy bark forest, backed by the Blue Mountains; which rose in the extreme distance, breaking the horizon with their bold outline. The solitude of these forests is rendered more lonely and impressive by the almost
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ENCHANTING SCENERY OF ILLAWARRA.
unbroken stillness that reigns throughout their shady recesses.
The road towards Illawarra, after following along the flat-topped summits of successive ranges, takes a sudden turn, when the traveller's gaze is arrested by the unexpected sight of the vast Pacific Ocean, lying far beyond and beneath, and appearing of a deep hazy blue: its effect is truly refreshing to the sense, after emerging from the sandy forests. A little further on, the road surmounts the brow of Mount Keerah; and from this point the scene is grand and enchanting beyond description. Here we halted, and tethering our horses upon an open plot on the side of the path, made our way through the brushwood to the edge of the mountain's brow, from which we obtained an uninterrupted view over the entire district of Illawarra. Dapto lay at our feet; to our left the broad expanse of the Pacific Ocean glittered in the afternoon's sunshine; and beneath us the Illawarra lakes were visible, as on a map; the distant coast-line being discernible towards Cape Howe. The vegetation that clothed the steep sides of the mountain was of a totally distinct character from anything we had hitherto witnessed: it seemed, on descending and entering Illawarra, that we had suddenly become transported into a glen of tropical vegetation; and the scene all around us was totally new in character and aspect. We had entered upon another climate: the dry arid soil of the stringy-bark forest, with its stunted vegetation, was exchanged, as
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SUPERB VEGETATION.
if by magic, for a damp, humid region, sheltered from the wind by colossal barriers of rock, and presenting a prodigal luxuriance and wealth of vegetation almost inconceivable. Plants and trees were here altogether of different species from those we had before witnessed: the gigantic cabbage-palm and the seaforthia elegans towered to a height of fifty, and even eighty feet; the caoutchouc-tree, or India fig, reared its tortuous branches high into the air, clothed with rich draperies of curious and spreading parasites; and the graceful tree-ferns that flourish in the windless dells of the moist forests of New Zealand, are also indigenous here, enjoying a similar warm and damp atmosphere. In short, nothing can exceed the beauty of the scenery, as the traveller descends the winding and difficult path leading down the mountain to the rich plains below: here and there a group of cabbage-palms shoot up in all the unrestrained luxuriance of the tropics; and in other places the herbage is so rank with creepers, ferns, and vines, as to be quite impassable. Here we gathered wild raspberries, and beheld that splendid parasite, the elksicornia, adorning the trunks of the forest trees.
On reaching the foot of the mountain, we again entered a settled district; one of the richest and most beautiful perhaps in New South Wales. Sheltered from the scorching northerly winds by the wall of mountain-rocks that guards this favoured region, the meadows are green and luxuriant all the year;
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VALLEY OF ILLAWARRA.
whilst, on the other hand, they are open to the cool breezes from the ocean; and the surrounding mountains collect the clouds, which descend in fertilizing showers upon the valleys beneath.
Pursuing the road to Dapto, along this rich vale, we passed farms and cultivation on every side: sleek cattle were grazing in the meadows, and all looked beautiful in the glow of evening. The sun had disappeared behind the mountains, and the purple of evening settled over the landscape before we arrived at our destination. This was at the homestead of one of the settlers at Dapto; and it was with considerable difficulty, after groping our horses' way through paddocks and amongst gum-trees, that we found the desired spot. A light glimmered from the loft or upper story of a barn; from whence the barking of the dogs brought down our friend, to whom we bore a letter of introduction. After supplying our horses with corn, we ascended a steep flight of wooden stairs to partake of the hospitality of our host, in the temporary shelter which was afforded to his family by the upper loft of this capacious barn.
Although it may appear strange to speak of living in a barn, to those accustomed only to the extreme of civilization in an old country, yet the spirited and enterprising settler, who chooses to make a home for himself and a provision for his family in the wilds of Australia, must undergo privations that are unknown at home. And yet these very privations, and the rude and Crusoe-like life he has at first to lead, have
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SETTLER'S HABITATION AT DAPTO.
an air of romance about them that sweetens his toil; while the constant calls upon his ingenuity and skill produce an excitement that adds to his happiness. So it was with our worthy host: he was building a large and substantial dwelling-house close by, which he hoped would be ready for occupation in another month or two; and meanwhile he had converted the upper story of the barn into a very comfortable and exceedingly picturesque apartment. We sat down to an excellent meal, and after supper a neighbouring settler looked in; when we were agreeably surprised by the wife of our friend entertaining us by playing upon the harp. The apartment was a strange medley of refinement and "bush" life: in one corner was a piano with piles of elegant books; in another part of the loft were cooking utensils, with a stove, in which was a blazing fire--the smoke being led off by a funnel through a hole in the roof; whilst here and there the brush of a wild dog, or the tail of the lyre-bird, or Maenura pheasant, was stuck as a trophy between the rafters. We spent a most agreeable evening with our kind friends, and then descended to our night's quarters, whither our host conducted us: and very snug they were; for, climbing up a ladder in the lower portion of the barn, we reached the top of the straw, where we made ourselves a comfortable bed. All night we were serenaded by the shrill whistling of plovers feeding in the surrounding meadows; and when we awoke next morning, we found ourselves buried to our necks upright in the straw, with only our heads visible above.
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DAPTO--WOOLLONGONG.
From this perpendicular position we gradually exhumed ourselves, and felt truly thankful for so warm a shelter; for, on going outside, the grass was covered with a white frost.
The next day was spent in rambling about with our friend, and sketching, amidst the beautiful scenery of the surrounding neighbourhood. There is a grove of cabbage palms on the margin of a small stream close to this spot, and it was amusing to witness the dexterity with which the natives climb the branchless and smooth trunks of these trees, by means of a notched stick, and occasionally with no other assistance than a piece of wild vine or supplejack, which they draw tight round the tree.
The accompanying view is taken from a meadow just beyond the station where we were staying, and will convey some idea of the peculiar and beautiful scenery of the Illawarra country.
Bidding adieu to our friends at Dapto, we retraced the road to Woollongong, a small town on the sea-coast, near the foot of Mount Keerah. Woollongong is the port of Illawarra, and several small vessels trade constantly from thence to Sydney and back, carrying supplies and produce by sea: this is much more easy than land-carriage, as the mountains render it next to impossible to convey heavy goods by land to Sydney. The town is picturesquely situated, and has a good pier. Several islands lie at a short distance off the coast, which has obtained for this locality the name of "the Five Islands."
