Awesome trip, and equally awesome photos. Thanks!
Australia is definitely on my bucket list as my brother lives in New South Wales. But with the quarantine nonsense, It'll have to wait until the covid mess is sorted out.
I will have to put Mt. Airly on my list of places to see!
A mate and I had a trip booked to do Moab and The Rubicon this year.so pissed that we couldn't do it.
The more I researched the trip , the more I feel in love with the scenery.
We were going to camp the whole time.
Airly has so much to offer.
I have been there at least 40 times , and each time find more.
There's a whole back story to the place.
In a nutshell , this old bloke and his sons use to do a bit of fossicking.
Opals, diamonds , rubies and gold.
They found this area on a plateau that could be accessed by scrambling up a steep narrow section.They built a flying fox to get gear up , powered by a motorbike motor.Read the letter in the link.
It fills alot of it in.
The opened up the area , putting in a road , to get thru one part , they had to blast alot of rock.
It is know has pass of many bangs.
National parks would have kittens if they had seen it being built.
They found a plant , right at the end of the plateau, that isn't found anywhere else in the world.
They put in ladders and handrails so the public could enjoy it.
They had a 99 year lease on the area.They said that 4wders would always have access.
Col , on of the sons , was the guardian of the area.
The road in went right past his front door.We always stopped , had a chat , dropped him off some veges or fruit.
He had old airplanes the kids could play in.
He wouldn't let you in if alot of rain was predicted , or it was wet.
So National parks 10 years ago took an interest in the area.
Why, only they know that.
Facts , There is a Coal mine that was edging towards the area.
They were trying to take the area over.
Col spent alot of money fighting them in court.
He sold the mining company and rights.
The company that bought it , brought in all their multi million dollar equipment.They couldn't make it viable.
The told Col he had sold them a dud.
He bet them $100,000 that if he bought his antique contraptions back , he could get so many ounces a ton.They said , no way , our hitech equipment couldn't get anywhere near that, deal.
He got their $100,000 too.
And they left.
One meeting with National parks minister, in his old bus, that he was doing up to tour Australia.
They were talking about the Wollemi pine that had been discovered. The find of the century.
Col said why , its terrible, when you put a chainsaw into it , it gums up the chain until it stops , a bit like a palm tree, she spat her tea across the table.
Anyway , Col was getting on , whilst he enjoyed the fight with the greenies , he wanted to travel in his golden years and put it all behind him.
So , with the promise the 4wders would always have access, he did a deal with The Conservation dept.
They took over .Drilling rigs came in , roads were upgraded to get them in.
Core holes were bored.
Conservation dept borders were realigned.
Guess what , contract null and void, now under a different office.
National parks got their hands on it.
Gates went up.
Cameras went in.
Col wanted to take them to court.
The rare plants at the end , say there were 12, under National parks care , 4 died.
They blamed 4wders running them over.
They put up a fence 1 mile away , still they lost them.
They put up cameras, we were in drought, the kangaroos were eating them.
Airly coal was given a 20 year extension that would have them mining right under the area.
Next door is a old shake mining village , lots of stone houses ,stoned up fronts on over hanging rocks where people lived.
Its National park.They have come under there mining the coal , heading towards Cols old area.
Recently , a landslide had huge rocks fall across the road thru the village.
Gate goes up well back. Effectively locking us out of the area.
I went for a walk up the mountain behind it.Its a very steep 20 minute slog to get up on top of it.
It is scattered with datums every 2 or 3 metres.
I found prisms , and could see lasers under shelters way in the distance on top of pagodas.
There's obviously a lot of movement from the mining that they are monitoring.
Who gets the royalty per ton from the coal?
Our 4wd association's fighting to keep Airly open.
Apparently the paperwork is done to shut it , but they cant convince the minister to sign it just yet.
Their main angle is safety.
The track is up to their standard , and they came up with a figure in the millions to get it there.
The association got a figure of $120,000 , which they many pay for themselves, if there is a guarantee for access.
Of course, we love it the way it is , selfish as that maybe.
Personally, I think they want nobody seeing what happens when they are mining under it.
Let me know if your coming over, more than happy to share what I can of the area
http://www.airlydiamond.com/media-releases.html
