Welcome to Kangaroo Country
- Hepburn Springs in the Wombat State Forest, Victoria, Australia
Moving on from Judy’s Biodiversity garden in Bittern, I landed in Hepburn Springs to care for one Lagoto and her home. If you’ve not heard of the Lagoto breed of dog, they were originally bred as waterfowl retrievers, working the marshlands of Ravenna. When the hunting stopped in the 1800s their acute sniffing ability entrusted them to a new role of sniffing out truffles. However, this post is not so much about Lady Luna (the dog) and is more about what I am experiencing while here.
Before the owners set off for their travel adventure they introduced me to a local history buff who shared with me a stack of books about Hepburn and its Springs and surrounding areas. I couldn’t wait to read a few after my initial walk around the neighbourhood found part of a stone bridge with signage relating to mining shafts from the days of the gold rush.
I was surprised to read in Divining Experiences by William E. Liversidge that he believed it was the great water courses underground that ‘caused’ volcanoes - to erupt or to be created, he does not stipulate. He writes about an ancient river bed more than a thousand feet below the coal mine in Yallourn and how all the old rivers passed under the bay (Mornington Peninsula) and out to sea, south of Rosebud under the Continental Shelf. I appreciated how he could also use his Divining Rod to discern sound waves at a great distance.
Curiously, when I later walked past a huge culvert with a trickle of a creek running on the far side, my new friend and I followed a path down onto flat ground to investigate. As soon as I stepped beyond the first old gum I felt it… my body was William’s divining rod picking up on… What, exactly?
Was it home to a once ancient river bed?
My body said as much, yet its mystery would remain until more of my dreaming revealed itself.
Hepburn with its numerous Springs is my home for the next month. I am excited to explore and share more from this wonderland that feels a little like Ashland, Oregon… you may recall I wrote about a storybook place of dreaming in ‘Visiting a Story Book Town’ in 2024.
I love the colour of this huge fungi growing from protruding roots from what would once have been an ancient tree… gold, in a different form.
There is a lot to love about this location… its ruggedness, rich, raw and pristine beauty that weaves through a sordid past of miners lured to dig for gold. I feel its curious paradox of mixed energies in an ever changing process, that, like the rivers of old find a way into new form. Mother Earth’s regeneration may be slow, though the more I spend time on her pathways, stopping to breathe and appreciate her hues, the more I merge with her rhythm and song to see more of me in my multidimensionality.
In this next history book I read about those who committed suicide because they were in financial difficulty due to their unsuccessful search for gold… One man left a letter saying that “Gold and miserable money had brought him nothing but misery.”
What about the kangaroos?
Well, they graze in the front and backyards of houses and are equally curious of humans as we may be of them… I love how they blend into the countryside, only hopping forwards in life while remaining beautifully balanced at all times.
Lady Luna won’t go anywhere near them…. Wise dog!
I hope you are feeling the boundless energy available to you, and if not, whatever stands in the way, may it leave swiftly so you can live more freely in all that you be and do… while loving you.
In next week’s post Lady Luna and I go walkabout, discover remnants of mine shafts from the gold rush days and enjoy long hikes through the Australian bush.
Love’s Harmonies,
Leanda Michelle ✍🏼📚
EarthAum’s previous post:
Gardens to Explore, Nature to Appreciate
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Lovely
Diaries of a free- spirited Sagittarian Moon! A beautiful post Leanda xx