Chapter 11

This was happening when we got back from East of Sunset and north of Sunny Corner.

The Turon River is a No Name Creek in that vicinity ... or should be. The creek has carved its bed either UP or DOWN and sometimes both from one meter to the next. The road above is a firefighters trail and there’s quite a bit of evidence that they had been there recently. A smoky odor lingered over the forest ... was forest. Now it’s charcoal. But one can see where ones foot is being placed. The ability to see the ground is important; the fire uncovered much ... including some deep footpaths. Millions of years ago this was all under water as evidenced by water abraded boulders of quartzite and affected by volcanic action shown by the shards of reheated obsidian.

Because it can be sharpened to a 3 nanometer edge Obsidian is prime projectile point material.

Obsidian is rare in New South Wales. It is more prevalent in Queensland but wherever magma flows over superheated silica sands there is Obsidian.

There is considerable discussion among archeologists as to the route taken by the first migrants to Australia, widely taken to be ancestors of the modern Aborigines. Migration took place during the closing stages of the Pleistocene, when sea levels were much lower than they are today. Repeated episodes of extended glaciation during the Pleistocene resulted in decreases of sea levels by more than 100 metres in Australasia.

People appear to have arrived by sea during a period of glaciation, when New Guinea and Tasmania were joined to the continent of Australia.

The continental coastline extended much further out into the Timor Sea, and Australia and New Guinea formed a single landmass (known by some as Sahul), connected by an extensive land bridge across the Arafura Sea, Gulf of Carpentaria and Torres Strait.

Nevertheless, the sea still presented a major obstacle so it is theorized that these ancestral people reached Australia by island hopping. Two routes have been proposed. One follows an island chain between Sulawesi and New Guinea and the other reaches North Western Australia via Timor. Other research suggests an alternative theory, involving accidental colonization as a result of tsunamis. The journey still required sea travel however, making them amongst the world’s earlier mariners.

Therefore, Man has been resident in Australia a minimum of forty thousand years with a very real possibility of seventy thousand or more. It is a well known saying that The Early Bird Gets The Worm; This is the same as stating that the first people on the spot get to exploit the known resources first. Even the smallest obsidian flakes are used by those who came late.

Those footpaths were worn by gold seekers. It is a sad but true story that not only were the Gold seekers charged a license fee to prospect but government actively sought out the miners in the fields and charged other fees and taxes. Payment was on the spot or the prospector was arrested, taken to court and fined.

The banks of the river are rife with abundant tailings, glory holes and other diggings. But as our Ophir find attests, this bonanza was never mined as heavily as Hill End.

“They missed a spot,” said Abby.

“I want to call bullshit,” said Myndee, “But a garage full of Defender loaded with that damn big nugget won’t let me.”

“Shit!” I said. “I need a new truck.” Abby had the common curtesy to look guilty, “What?”

“Unless you get busy and sell your gold I’ll have to have a new truck.” I accused her with a glance.

“Myndee, please tell daddy to get a heavy hauler.”

“I heard, ask her why?”

“My dream said the last batch was chckenfeed.”

“We need to leave now,” Abby said.

“I need a truck first.”

“Nope ... the army is selling a whole raft of trucks at auction tomorrow.”

“And that concerns me How?”

“The auction is at Lithgow.”

“Get in the car.”

“I need to pack.”

“Shopping.”

“Hurry up Daddy.”