River Ron
Submitted: Tuesday, Aug 18, 2009 at 10:19
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Hi All
I did a search on River Ron and found that a few on this
forum new him what sparked this was the fact that after many years of being out of the district and not seeing Ron, i have now returned to the area and decided to take my family down to the turon river to meet Ron But i was to late he had passed back in 2006 i was saddened by this but just as sad to see the state of affairs that the old tin
shack was in so i have sent a letter to the national parks to see if something could be done about it and also volunteered my time to help and maybe get some sort of plague put up and have this as a protected area much like the snowy mountain huts. if there is anyone out there that may be able to help me with trying to achieve this or give me some ideas it would be greatly appreciated after all he lived a wonderful life and probably made a cuppa for a lot of people through the years.
this is a copy of the letter i sent to NPWS
Cheers James
Good Morning
This weekend just gone by i though i would take my wife and sons to the Turon national park in the hope that we may find a person that i met years ago River Ron, but unfortunately we were a few years to late. This man had a huge impact on my life at the time with many visits to him whilst on regular fly fishing trips, we would sit and talk for hours over a cuppa, i was amazed at his past and the way he still kept him self and his quarters neat and tidy,truly a man at peace with himself . Don't you get lonely i asked once and the answer replied was you only get lonely if you don't like the person you live with.
I was saddened by his passing and not seeing him for nearly a decade but that happens when you move far away, now that i have moved back to the region i felt i should see him and introduce my wife and children, it was not to be.
I was happy to see the parks and wildlife
sign say River Ron at the tin
shack, what i wasn't happy to see was the state it was in and the old
shack as
well was a disgrace and i know Ron would turn in his grave to see it in such a state.
I also found a plague at the old hut with Ron's name and date of birth and death it was also in a sad state of affairs.
Is it possible for the huts to be protected and maybe cleaned up { i would be more than willing to help } and would it also be possible to erect some sort of reminder to people that this man lived and died here.After all theres not to many people that are let reside in a national park and many people new him from there visits there pre national parks days and after it became a park.
Please do not ignore this small request i am sure there would be a mountain of people out there along with myself that would be willing to help.
Yours Truly
James Roberts
Reply By: Member - Tour Boy ( Bundy QLD) - Tuesday, Aug 18, 2009 at 14:16
Tuesday, Aug 18, 2009 at 14:16
I always remember having a cuppa with Ron at the old
shack before it was washed away.
He told us about the 24" trout that were in the river and that they were a staple diet of his. I also remember seeing schools of fish numbering into the hundreds all through the river. Sadly not anymore.
The police at
Capertee used to drive down and
check on Ron quite frequently and anytime we went past we always got a friendly smile and wave ( I didn't like to intrude too much).
Our campsite had a couple of platapi so on a moonlit night sitting around the campfire we could watch them going about their business oblivious to us.
I know it was his
home but it was a shame that the original
shack and caravan weren't there to preserve rather than the last one he lived in.
Unfortunately due to the easily accessable nature of the park, you will always get the tossers in there and so I doubt you will be able to have the
shack in a vandal free way for long unlike the
Vic high country that takes a little more effort to get to.
Cheers
Dave
AnswerID:
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Follow Up By: Madfisher - Tuesday, Aug 18, 2009 at 19:27
Tuesday, Aug 18, 2009 at 19:27
I guess that would have been in thew late eighties Dave?
Cheers Pete
FollowupID:
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Follow Up By: Member - Tour Boy ( Bundy QLD) - Tuesday, Aug 18, 2009 at 20:13
Tuesday, Aug 18, 2009 at 20:13
Yeah from memory '86.
Until 20mths ago we were living in
Portland and we used to go camping out there all the time. Funny how the place changes for the worse after national sparks and wildfires take over. More weeds, traffic, rubbish etc and not as many animals around now, I guess too many vehicles.
Dad may even have an old
pic of the first
shack somewhere. I'll have to ask him when he is finished the
grey nomad thing and buys a house and gets his stuff out of storage (could be another 2 years)
Cheers
Dave
FollowupID:
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Follow Up By: Madfisher - Wednesday, Aug 19, 2009 at 19:47
Wednesday, Aug 19, 2009 at 19:47
Thanks Dave,
I use to fish the Turon a lot in the eighties and early 90s. You are right about the no of trout their. I was giving a fly fishing lesson on up steam nymphing to some learners years ago. I walked in to the bottom of a run and unhitched the nymph from its keeper and just threw it into the water in front of me. Stipped some line off the fly reel and went to cast and couldnt, because I was already attached to a kilo
rainbow lol. Anyway their reckoned it was no wonder I caught fish because I was all asss.
Cheers Pete
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Follow Up By: Member - Tour Boy ( Bundy QLD) - Thursday, Aug 20, 2009 at 07:40
Thursday, Aug 20, 2009 at 07:40
Pete, you didn't live in Penrith and drove a red paj back then did ya?
FollowupID:
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Follow Up By: Madfisher - Thursday, Aug 20, 2009 at 21:13
Thursday, Aug 20, 2009 at 21:13
No Dave,
Live in
Bathurst, Think I had a yellow lj80, then a fj40 at this time. Mainly use to fish down arround turondale. The popular hole was amazing then, nearly a k long and god knows how deep in the bottom cnr. We would go out after work and catch our bag limit.Also caught some Murray cod in the seventies.
You may be interested to know they have got the
Sofala Acclimation society going again and hope to stock natives below
Sofala and Trout above it.
Cheers Pete
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