This walk was organised and led by me as an irregular CBC Tuesday walk:

Tuesday 22 July - Gudgenby Area European and other sites - L/E-M,X. A wander round many of the European and other sites in the Rendezvous Creek mouth and Bogong Creek areas. Some you will have seen before and some may be new. Trust me. Around 20km and 200m total climb. Moderate fitness required. Route not fully known to leader. Maps: Rendezvous Creek and Yaouk. Limit of 8. Leader: John Evans – jevans@pcug.org.au, (h) 6288 7235. Please contact me if you would like to co-lead. Transport: ~$12. Further details at http://jevans.pcug.org.au.

11 of us gathered from across town at the Kambah Shopping Centre car park at 7.30am. We drove to the Rendezvous Creek car park where 2 more from E of Cooma met us.

A review of the reference material reveals this area to be rich in sites - although finding them from sometimes inaccurate GRs is another issue.

Walk 1 - From the Rendezvous Creek car park, a round firstly up Rendezvous Creek to search for Paddy Moore's hut site and Joseph Greenfield's hut site, then S to the paddock site and on to the Gudgenby Homestead area. We can have a look around there (OK-ed by Brett McN), but not the Managers House where a Ranger currently lives.

Walk 2 - From the Yankee Hat car park, over to the bridge across Bogong Creek and then a search for Sinclairs hut site and well and J Rustin's hut site. S to the Yankee Hat rock art, then SE to Bogong Swamp. Old forestry trails will then take us to another area. Over the causeway to Frank and Jacks Hut and the sheep dip and yards. Back to the Old Boboyan Road and a search up the hill amongst big granite blocks. Back via the Foresters Hut.

Walk 3 - from a point on the road out, a search for Paddy Smith's hut site.

We have a great party of 13 or 14 to spread out and find these sites. Should be great fun!

Civil twilight: 0638 - 1741

Walk

A blue-sky, bitterly cold in the wind, day with snow on the Bimberi Wilderness peaks and Mt Gudgenby. Away as soon as we'd all gathered, heading for our first objective, Paddy Moore's Hut site. I knew this would be difficult, as there were conflicting clues from the reference material - the reported GR was down on Rendezvous Creek and the description had the creek 180m to the N. After circuitous searching (see the Google Earth track!) we found the site around 270m SE of the reported site. All power to persistent party members who joined in with enthusiasm and searched N, S, E and W. The usual clump of vestigial granite hearth blocks (see pic 1) on a level site was found primarily by matching the horizon to the 30 year old picture from the reference.

We next headed NW up Rendezvous Creek to the next hut site. Again, conflicting evidence, with the written material having Rendezvous Creek 120m N and the sketch having it 150m N. A probable location of this hut site (see pic 2), which was valued at £15 for Joseph Greenfield.

Our next leg took us S. Beautiful, unhurried walking all day. Different to the usual in this area, when one is usually belting out to get somewhere else or staggering back from somewhere. Found a site in the paddock, then headed SE down to the Gudgenby Homestead area. This part of the country I'd not been in before. Saw a couple of white wild dogs chasing the kangas - I've seen these coloured dogs in the area before.

On next to the Gudgenby Homestead area. We had permission to be here, but didn't approach too close to the homestead (see pic 3) where someone lives. The complex is Site of Significance in the ACT G19 and includes sheds and a stockyard. A new footbridge beside the old footbridge (see pic 5) took us across the Gudgenby River to a beautifully and newly restored 'Ready Cut Cottage' (see pic 4). The signage says:

The Hudson's Ready-Cut Cottage - Gudgenby
This cottage is an early ready-cut or prefabricated kit home produced by George Hudson Ltd, Sydney. It was purchased and probably erected by A W Bootes, the Gudgenby Valley property owner in 1927.
The Bootes family traveled from the family home at "Bywong" each summer for the busy branding and weaning period and used the Cottage for accommodation. The main double-brick Gudgenby Homestead on the other side of the Gudgenby River was completed in 1964 and from this time the cottage became known as the Manager's Cottage.
Alterations were made to the back of the building to include a laundry and to extend the kitchen to make permanent living in the Ready-Cut more comfortable. Electricity arrived in 1967. The Bootes were the last grazing family in the Namadgi National Park. The Commonwealth resumed the land and buildings in 1975. Namadgi National Park was gazetted in 1984.
The Ready-Cut Cottage is the earliest fully prefabricated construction in the Namadgi region. It provides indicative intact evidence of prefabricated fabric, design and construction techniques. The building has strong associations with prominent early European pastoralists.
The restoration work here is being carried out by the Koscuiszko Huts Association (KHA) with support from the ACT Government's Heritage Grants Program. Namadgi National Park staff are also providing significant practical assistance and the Heritage Grant is being complimented through Namadgi National Park operational funds.
Coincidently, this is an identical kit home to that which Douglas Mawson took to Antarctica in 1911, modified slightly, when he set up an Australian base there - that cottage still survives and is called Mawson's Hut.

The front verandah provided an excellent sheltered spot out of the wind for morning tea.

Some of us then returned, past the Cultivation patch just near the ford, up the road, onto the Boboyan Road for a few metres, and to the cars. We drove to the Yankee Hat car park, picking up the remainder of the party on the way.

Parking and treading carefully so as not to get in the way of the resurfacing work going on today at the car park area, we strolled down to the bridge over Bogong Creek. We had a little historical reenactment of the bridge opening by Rosemary Follett on 6 May 1992, as the senior public servant who was responsible at the time for all ACT parks and reserves was with us. He said they had a great opening and morning tea on the day.

We headed N and then W, trying to find Sinclair's Hut site and well. No joy, even with much searching and even with lining up the horizon on the reference material pictures. We did find the bridge across Middle Creek (marked on the 1st edn map).

On W up Middle Creek we did find J Rustin's Hut site (see pic 6). Easy, as it was by a significant zig (or was it a zag) in the fence line. Jenny reckoned that the magnificent gum trees between the site and Middle Creek were more attractive, and one would have to agree.

A few hundred more metres W took us to the Middle Creek cascades, very pretty (see pic 7), where we lazed about in the sun and protected from the still biting wind, for lunch.

Refreshed, we headed via the nearby Yards marked on the 1st edn map, to the Yankee Hat aboriginal rock art. New for at least one member of the party. With the SoS in the ACT reference material, we spent some time at the 'Yankee Hat 2' site (see pic 8) nearby.

With the afternoon moving on, we moved on via the nearby boulder (red * on 2nd edn map) to pick up an old pine forest trail which took us down to near Bogong Swamp. This extensive area of swamp vegetation is, in fact, Site of Significance in the ACT G18. A trio of wedge-tailed eagles soared nearby. We followed along its edge, heading upstream on the NW bank, looking for the bridge marked on the 1st edn map. Someone commented that there were two ways to get to a bridge - either along a road (there was a nearby parallel fire trail) or up the creek. In this case neither proved successful and all we found were cleared pine and willow trees, briars and blackberries.

We extracted ourselves, then wandered around the fire trails looking for things. We found 3 and left them there.

Next, SE to Frank and Jacks sheep dip and hut, with the original hut site in front of the very suburban looking structure.

From here, NE to join the Old Boboyan Road, then up the hill a little to find a particular block of granite.

Back down to the road and along it to sign in at the walks register, then up to the Foresters Hut. One member of the party remembered an NPA camp here in 1969 and another a rogain around 8 years ago, Both remembered the two corrugated iron hut/sheds. Signage inside the hut says:

The small Forestry Hut was built in 1966 for the planting of the Boboyan Pine Forest and was used by the forestry gang at lunch and other times for shelter. The larger building was constructed at the same time as a machinery shed to house the bulldozer.
These huts are conserved for their heritage values and may be used as temporary shelter.

All this leads me to believe that the Forestry Hut is the same as W-G GR4 Two sheds and loading ramp.

Sited out, we returned to the cars and left the third little walk for another time.

Timings
 

An excellent day of discovery. A lazy walk on a lovely winter's day through an area usually hurried through.

It was great to welcome 3 new Tuesday walkers. Thanks to Barrie, Cynthia, Damien and Hania, David and Meredith, Dick, Ian, Jenny, Karen, Mark and John for huge site identification skills and great company.

Distance: 21.3km  Climb: 200m.  Time: 8.20am - 4.15pm (call it 8hrs), with 40mins of stops.
Grading: L/E-M,X; M(9)

KMZ file for Google Earth/Maps: Gudgenby area sites