“On misty winter mornings when all was damp and dripping, and fragrant as imagination with the sharp sweet tang of the dead leaves, when other creatures were still, then the lyre-bird’s notes rang full and clear through the eucalypt aisles.”
FROM ALL THAT SWAGGER, BY MILES FRANKLIN
THE BIG, BOLD and beautiful Brindabella Range – known affectionately and simply as “the Brindabellas” – forms the western boundary between the Australian Capital Territory and New South Wales. Just beyond it, in NSW, lies the picturesque Brindabella Valley. I’ve roamed this area’s moist eucalypt forests, lush creekbeds and rugged escarpments for more than three decades, revelling in its beautiful imagery, which is often so vividly recalled in the writings of famed author Miles Franklin.
Miles spent part of her childhood at Brindabella, and the area’s imposing landscapes and distinctively Australian wildlife feature extensively in her fiction, particularly in the novel All That Swagger.
The Brindabella Range is a major feature of the Australian Alps National Parks and Reserves. On its ACT side, to the east, is Namadgi National Park; north, in NSW, is Brindabella National Park, while to the west are Bimberi Nature Reserve and Kosciuszko National Park. At 1913m, Bimberi Peak is the highest point, although the most distinctive mountain visible from Canberra is Mt Gingera, whose flat-top summit
