WHERE IT ALL BEGAN |
Brindabella Valley is located 60km South-West of Canberra in the High Country where the Goodradigbee River carries snow melts to the mighty Murrumbidgee. The Valley was settled in the late 1800's as reliable grazing land for sheep and cattle in summer and winter. "Brindy
brindy" was a local term meaning water running over rocks and
bella was presumably added by the Europeans as in "bella vista".
John spent much of his childhood there at his great uncle Leslie
Franklin's home (cousin of Stella Miles Franklin of literary fame).
Here he saw the harshness of remote rural life; and the tragedies
and the triumphs that there were. |
Click on pictures to enlargen