10 Local magic

Most of the properties in the area are around 100 acres. That is a nice size to attract a wide range of buyers. Real farmers with properties measured in square miles are totally disinterested. We had no idea initially how diverse the owners were and why they had moved there.

Shortly after buying our place we were invited by Jon Fox to come over for morning tea. He wanted to welcome us to the valley on behalf of the 80 or so local land-holders. He had been an original member of the Creewah Bushfire Brigade so was high on the civics pecking order. We were met by a 70 year old who acted a bit like a professor, though he had floppy gaping shorts and a comfortable stomach. He apologised for not having raised the Union Jack up his flag pole to recognise my English origins. Morning tea matched the image with freshly-baked pikelets and scones and a choice of home-made jam. That over, Jon read his poetry to us in the sun-filled lounge while we absorbed the expansive views over the river. A photo of us at that time would have been sepia with a slightly out of focus oval border. It was slightly unreal.

Neighbours explained that Jon’s life was more complicated than ours. Though he did have a repetitive ordinary side like us, growing and selling vegetables and his jams and pickles at local markets, he had recently lost his partner. This had changed him from a happy to a sad person. As in the poem, his partner was a man who had had a sex change and then taken up with another person and moved away. It seems they had been attracted to the valley by its beauty that had held them in a golden haze for many years. Love drove their property. This was a bizarre story for us.

A second same-sex couple down-stream from us had a similar story. They had fallen in love and moved from the city to the valley because they were wrapt by its beauty. One of the partners had a family from a previous marriage. The story was repeated again by two more same sex, but female couples. As it turned out, only a few of the owners were gay.

John and Jill warned us about drinking the river water. It turns people strange they said jokingly.

As we got to know more of the owners, it seemed that only a few had decided to try to be farmers or use the land in some way to make a living. Most had an alternative income or were bringing some wealth with them from ‘outside’ or were on war or disability pensions. One grew a large crop of marijuana under the tree canopy on his block but was caught before making lots of money. Many were weekenders or lifestyle owners. All were attracted to the area by its magical beauty, its native forests, its river and its granite tors.