my connected community (mc2) is funded by the Victorian Government and coordinated by Vicnet
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Marble Quarry — Thomson River
(Doreen King) DATE: Sunday 03 September LEADER: Geoff Proudfoot Meeting place is the Cowwarr Hotel. A fine morning, cool, pleasant temps. Sorted ourselves into the 4WDs. Drove up along this road towards Brunton’s Bridge. We seemed to be driving up a mountain side – “Bumpy Track” – mainly used by fire and log trucks. Up through this dense bush of tall, spindly gums reaching to the sky. Some amaze me as they are like matchsticks. Down we go towards the river – here scenery changes. Wattle blossom and bushy-leaved undergrowth. Actually, we are only driving around a hill somewhere west of Cowwarr. Stop and meet the rest of the walkers. Several had pieces of polished marble to show. Quite beautiful, this marble with markings of white fossils like tiny horse shoes. One chappy had made a paperweight – two square blocks joined together, rather incredible. We don our backpacks and off we walk down track – towards river. I haven’t any idea of where we are – I just follow!! This was also a “bumpy track” to walk – up and down. One stretch was down and down. My thoughts, “I will have to climb this road back” Oh golly. Geoff and group were waiting ahead where we turned along a track. This was steep and treacherous as the river was below and we were carefully watching our footsteps. And we climbed our tree trunks fallen across our path. Scary along this narrow track. Then a shout from walkers in front – “We’ve found the marble”. This was two huge boulders perched on the cliff side. Further up you could see signs of boring into the hill – a huge big hole – the quarrying look. Here we stopped to relax, have lunch and enjoy the scenery, listen to the birds. We can always find beauty in the bush. Moss patterns on the burnt trunks. Grandfather’s Beard laced around the rocks and branches. Birds love this plant to build their nests. Enthusiastic fellows (who have mining licences) chipped pieces from the boulders. Each taking pieces, we returned along the same tracks to our vehicles. By coincidence, my family have just returned from Thailand where they visited Marble Mountain. Huge blocks are hand-carved and hand-polished. Statues of Buddhas, etc. Workers wear protective glasses. Mostly women do the polishing – just sit with a cloth, rubbing away at the marble, all day long. Thanks everyone for an enjoyable day. “Little Ol Me” would class the walk as “Difficult-Easy”! Ben Cruachan Walking Club - Walk Reports |
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