Reflections of a Rural Social Worker: Grieving for losses: Postman's Track, Bega Valley, NSW

There is an out of control rapidly moving fire along the Postman's Track today, and it has already burnt more than 1,000 hectares. We drove this 4WD trail in 2016, but I imagine it will be closed for quite some time now. Sadly, areas that escaped earlier in Summer are now being consumed by bush fires.

It was cold last night and this morning in Bombala, and wood fires had cast a smoke haze and smoky aroma across the landscape. We drove out to Cathcart on the Mt Darragh Road and found Cathcart to be a small settlement with a hall and general store, and a mixture of old and newer houses, glimpsed as we continued across the plains to take the gravel Tantawanglo Mountain Road out towards another section of the South East Forests National Park, crossing grazing land and driving through forests on the way.

Initially we drove down to Six Mile Creek Rest Area, to explore this area of dense forest clinging to the sides of ranges. Here we took the 300 metre boardwalk along the lovely unspoiled Tantawanglo Creek, which flowed in a transparent stream over a sandy bed and around granite boulders, forming small white cascades, to reach a medium sized waterfall which tumbled down a steeper granite slope. We then found well-formed steps leading from the viewing platform to the creek bed, and brushed through the slightly overgrown sections to reach a section of large boulders. By rock-hopping a little way upstream we had another perspective of the falls (although here I found a juice box eddying around and around at the base of a small cascade).

Before leaving, we surveyed the small camp ground (that did have one taker in a camper trailer), and I found a small sandy bend in the creek.

We returned up Tantawanglo Mountain Road to follow the 4WD Postmans Track through a tall forest, featuring Tree Ferns and Bracken, downwards to reach Postmans Camp on a sandy bend of the Tantawanglo Creek. Here we did find the remains of the foundations of a hut (after a bit of searching), and we needed to cross the creek at sandy Devils Crossing (and nearly lost a mudflap in the process). The Postman used this track in the second half of the 1800s to transport mail by horse and packsaddle from Cathcart to the bottom of the escarpment at Kameruka, where others then took it to the coast.

Shortly after Devils Crossing, we descended steeply to cross the creek again, and then we continued to climb steadily, and then more steeply, up again to reach a more level section of the Postmans Track. This took us to join the Cattlemens Track – another 4 WD track with some steep climbs and descents. We stopped for morning tea at a bridge crossing over an unnamed creek (probably Tantawanglo).

Continuing on, there were a couple more steep climbs and descents, one over another creek crossing, but eventually we reached the top of the escarpment and relatively level ground. Then, seemingly a long way from the end of the Cattlemens Track, we encountered a couple walking, who enquired how far it was to Postmans Camp – we told them “about 15 kms with lots of ups and downs” and, after recovering from their surprise, they replied that they would keep walking until it got too steep (we forgot to tell them about the water crossings). Finally we joined the better formed Robinsons Track .