Tenterden textures

I recently had the good fortune to camp for a few days on a small farm at Tenterden. Amongst other things the past generations of owners kept all their vehicles and bits of farm machinery. A veritable time machine for the cultivated history of the farm. This old car took my imagination. It seems to be moulded into the landscape.

I just love the lichen growing on the glass and paintwork.

There were tractors and trucks to delight the eye too. The Morris truck even has a fan mounted on the dash. Air conditioning in the early days.

There is a wandoo tree on the farm which had signs of the original inhabitants of the land. It is amazing because it has both the marks of a shield tree and the ring barking marks left by the first settlers.

The current owner very generously shared the history of the farm with us. His grandparents took up the property in the 1940's and his parents took it on the 1950's. The property was mostly uncleared and used for grazing sheep. The land that was cleared for cropping was all done by hand as were all the improvements on the property. The family lived a simple life and loved the wildlife there. He described the land as being as much a part of them as they were a part of the land. Apparently local Aboriginal people who had links to this part of country used to periodically visit and camp in the bush for ceremony and dong a roo to eat around the campfire.  When his parents finally had to leave the property due to ill health they both died within a few months.

Currently the farm is not being grazed and there has been good regeneration in some areas. Suitable paddocks have been retained for cropping. Tree plantations have been established both for economic and environmental reasons. The property is registered for land for wildlife and they are looking at whatever other options may be available for them to keep the farm in the family and retain the excellent natural bushland values which they love. As a visitor camping out under the wandoo I loved it too.