Quamby Bluff

[corvus]

A small group of NW members including our honorary NWster Fly Fisher decide that our Day walk for May would be Quamby Bluff(where are the other photos men) its all that its spoken about and more,the more being if you miss the right hand turn on the the track proper and decide to go up the scree I can tell you that this member started to question his sanity with the thought that what goes up must come down especially if it was on the Scree thankfully I found the real track and we all descended with dignity.
This is another example of Forum Members getting together our ages ranged from 23 to 63 and we have varying stages of experience in bush walking so if you want to come along don't think we are all gung ho and experts just remember we only get together as mates and we are in no way covered or endorsed by any organisation
Check us out, our next proposal is the Three Peaks Claude Van Dyke and Roland as an overnighter in late June so if it appeals let one of us know.(check out finding walking companions)
corvus

[ILUVSWTAS]

Good to hear we wernt the only ones who missed the track proper and went up the scree.
Had some tapes in our packs so we put a couple of fresh tapes up so others wouldnt make the same mistake.


Im not sure this thread should be in the OT section of the forum though, when I climbed Quamby it was nowhere near the Overland track.....

[pazzar]

Which scree did you lose the track on? The one near the bottom or the final ascent? I don't remember the track being hard to follow at all. I did have a perfectly clear day though.

[ollster]

Which scree did you lose the track on? The one near the bottom or the final ascent? I don't remember the track being hard to follow at all. I did have a perfectly clear day though.

On the way up you briefly see out of the forest to a scree slope, and it seems the obvious way to go, but there is a less obvious path to the right which meanders through the forest. Not really a lot of difference between the two in terms of time taken, but after coming off a very well trodden path you do start to wonder where you went wrong! ILSWT and I completely missed the scree on the way down, that was when we started to get confused!

[Son of a Beach]

Im not sure this thread should be in the OT section of the forum though, when I climbed Quamby it was nowhere near the Overland track.....

Moved.

[Tassie Tigger]

I went for a solo walk up Quamby Bluff today. It's been calling out to me for years as I drive from the NW Coast to Launceston and back so I finally answered the call... One question I have, does anyone know the significance of this particular cross on the western edge of the plateau? Its right near a huge drop so I can only guess what may have happened.

[ILUVSWTAS]

Wow, how interesting!
Makes me want to go back and have a look. Thanks very much for posting. I wonder what the story behind this is!!

[Azza]

When I was young my mother told me that one of our relatives lost his footing in the mist on Quamby Bluff and died.
I belive there was an death notice published in the Examiner. I am not sure of the family name but it was a long time ago.

[ILUVSWTAS]

Wow. Thanks Azz!!
So many lives lost on our mountains, it's a morbid thought, but still would be interesting to know exactly how many and where they have all happened.

[Azza]

Actually got it a bit wrong. It was Cluan Tier opposite Dry's Bluff two farmers were on a hunting trip one of which was a distant relative. Anyway charging ahead apparently he lost his footing and fell over a cliff.
Apparently there was an inquest into the death and the whole thing being a bit of a controversey my mother was told a different story by her aunty when she was young.

Things that happen in the bush...

[whiskeylover]

This is an old thread I know but the mystery remains regarding the cross? A couple of friends and I went up there today and also wondered about the cross. We were exploring looking for some of the other old tracks that reached the peak from other sides of Quamby years ago - it appears they may all be so overgrown as to be impossible to find and I suspect some of the cairns have been removed as we did find odd cairns here and there that made no sense and had no pads leading to them. Anyway back to the cross - I don't remember any deaths up there that this may be a memorial for. But, I have heard a rumor regarding a very very old story about local aboriginal people being driven off this cliff - is this possibly a more modern memorial of that event? There is sort of, an old pad leading to the cross but it is also overgrown and not obvious. Anybody know or have recently used any of the other old tracks - pm me if that is sensitive info. I know some of them cross private land.

[north-north-west]

Never mind the cross, I want to know whether she said yes or no:

[Chris]

Good to hear we wernt the only ones who missed the track proper and went up the scree.

Is it actually possible to do it without any scree?
Did an acceptable amount of scree going up a year or so ago but got it wrong on the way down and did twice as much (thanks Alan)
Wouldn't mind taking a scree-hating friend up if it really can be avoided.

[slparker]

This is an old thread I know but the mystery remains regarding the cross? A couple of friends and I went up there today and also wondered about the cross. We were exploring looking for some of the other old tracks that reached the peak from other sides of Quamby years ago - it appears they may all be so overgrown as to be impossible to find and I suspect some of the cairns have been removed as we did find odd cairns here and there that made no sense and had no pads leading to them. Anyway back to the cross - I don't remember any deaths up there that this may be a memorial for. But, I have heard a rumor regarding a very very old story about local aboriginal people being driven off this cliff - is this possibly a more modern memorial of that event? There is sort of, an old pad leading to the cross but it is also overgrown and not obvious. Anybody know or have recently used any of the other old tracks - pm me if that is sensitive info. I know some of them cross private land.

There is a documented case of members of an aboriginal band being thrown off a cliff on the NW coast ('Victory Hill') but I htink they were already dead.

http://books.publishing.monash.edu/apps ... PS/c09.htm

There's a few documented reports of conflict between local aborigines and settlers around the meander valley but I've never heard of people driven off the bluff...not that that means it didn't happen.

[whiskeylover]

Thanks for that - makes interesting reading. Yes, historical records of the time are hard to find and even harder to interpret. There is certainly archeological evidence of aboriginal people living in many of the overhangs and caves around Quamby and records show that there was a well established track leading to the highland lakes which passed by Quamby around the same route of the current Lake Hwy. I haven't found any evidence of recent (i.e. last 30 years) deaths at Quamby so I am still left wondering, unless some else has more info?

[slparker]

Of relevance to the recent posts, the map of aboriginal sites is interesting... next time I'm in the area I'm taking a squizz

http://www.tasmaniantimes.com/index.php ... amby-linzo

[Simon_Tassie]

My understanding is that Quamby is/was the local aboriginal word for "mercy". At some stage a bunch of aboriginals were being rounded up, they ended up on the cliff edge, calling for mercy, but were pushed off. Not a nice story. I have no idea if the cross is there for that event, or for something else, or even if it is in the location of that event.
Simon

[north-north-west]

There is at least one other place in Tasmania where this is known to have happened (up near Cape Grim), so it wouldn't surprise me, although I doubt that is what the cross is for.

[bluewombat]

The 'mercy' story is only one of several possible sources of the name, and quite possibly the least likely
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quamby_Bluff
BW