Lorraine Smith
 - formerly of Kybeyan Station & Baroonga - Biography

I was born in 1948 and as such lived my first years with Mum and Dad (Doug & Ruby Smith) at Kybeyan Station. Dad was discharged from the British Navy after World War 2 in Brisbane and he came to work for the Moulds in early1946. Dad had met the love of his life in Gosford when on R & R leave during the war and mum and he married and settled down to life at Kybeyan Station. In 1951 Mum & Dad purchased Baroonga from Tom Bodycott and the hard but enjoyable life began for the Smiths at Baroonga. My two sisters, Christine & Irene subsequently came into the family to make it complete. Mum passed away in 1996 after a 12 year battle with Cancer – for those who knew mum this is an example of what a fighter she was. Dad now lives at Forster.

I do not remember my life at Kybeyan Station due to my age but I certainly recall it from when we moved to Baroonga. It has extremely fond memories – so much so that my business’ name is Ky-Bar (no not that Pass in India) but a combination of Kybeyan and Baroonga. My house is also called Ky-Bar.

Life was hard at Baroonga and my parents did it tough but never seemed to complain or show it to us kids. They always managed at Birthdays and Christmas but as I subsequently found out, mum was a whizz at the sewing machine and crafts, and managed to make many of our presents that we treasured so much – the simple things, but we never really knew and it didn’t matter. It is only upon reflection in adulthood and conversations with them that I realised just what they did sacrifice for us. At Christmas they always seemed to fill our "pillow case" stockings to overflowing with trinkets etc. I remember asking mum later in life, just how did they do it. She replied that she used to make most of the presents – she said that she would buy one good article eg a tennis racquet, toy truck, or a doll maybe, but the remainder were fillers such as some sweets, lots of clothing, rag toys etc. Christmas was always a special time at the Smiths, something us kids used to countdown to for months. Dad always made sure that we saw "Santa" each year – it was many years before I realised that the man who used to flit past the bedroom window dressed in red was none other than dad with mum’s red dressing gown on etc. Memories such as this are what makes a kids life special. I was 10 years old before I realised the truth about Santa mainly because we were so isolated that I did not have much contact with kids who could spoil the dream. Kids these days don’t have this pleasure.

Being so isolated leads to the next lot of memories, which are both good and bad. Because I was isolated and did my early years of schooling via Blackfriars Correspondence School I did not have the opportunity to mix much – this had a terrible impact on my life up until I was in my late 30’s. I remember my first few months at Nimmitabel Primary were horrid and I hated it – in fact I hated schooling full stop. It was very easy to loose myself in the isolation of Baroonga and I was happy there with my own company and that of my family. I was not and am still not a small person and I also spoke pure "Yorkshire" when I first went to school. These two factors led Mr Duffy, the 2^nd class teacher at the time, to think that it was OK to stand this extremely shy pupil in front of the class everyday to say "Whon" until I could say "One", and, to also write in my exercise books such snide remarks as "sausage" etc. It had such an impact on me that I was walked over in every aspect of schooling, though I can say with pride that I did end up as Dux of Nimmitabel Primary School, which can be said to be revenge of sorts. I was so shy that when I was living in Canberra during the late 70’s I decided I wanted to be an Accountant. I did not have the courage to enroll at the TAFE for a year because there was going to be other people there, and, I may have to mix and talk to them. Such shyness is a terrible infliction but I did enroll eventually and did my Associate Diploma in Accounting at nighttime. I discovered that this course did not offer me what I wanted and so then enrolled to do a Degree at the Charles Sturt University at Bathurst by correspondence once again whilst holding down a full time job. I graduated as a fully qualified Accountant in 1989 with a Bachelor of Business Degree (Accounting Major) - a late bloomer you could say. This was a huge step for me – I learnt a lot about myself, and the self-disipline I had within me. I credit this to my life at Baroonga. I also decided to do something about my shyness as it was also hindering me in my adult life – I studied many personal development books and tried to put into practice many of the principles learnt in those books. Today I consider myself a far better person for having done this and a not so shy person. I subsequently purchased a practice in 1993 and have been assisting small business’ with their finances every since – quite a change from the shy person of an earlier life and, for most of my life I might add.

One of the fond memories I have of Baroonga and Kybeyan life is the trapping of rabbits during school holidays. At 5 shillings a pair this was extremely good money to a kid and to end up with 148 pound in one’s bank after a trapping session during school holidays was wonderful. For whatever reason I could trap rabbits but dad could not – they must have smelt him or something so I become "chief" trapper at Baroonga. I didn’t mind catching the rabbits but hated it when there was a cat or an eagle caught. Dad had to help in these cases – foxes also were an issue, not only in the trap but they also ate the trapped rabbit and that was 2 and 6 pence I did not get – hated those foxes! There was the occasional dog also but not very often. To this day I love to eat rabbit. Mum used to make a mean rabbit pie and an occasional baked rabbit dinner – the kidneys were a delicacy in my mind.

Another fond memory or I should probably say memories involved the Moulds and the Station. I remember the many garden parties at the station and the decorated saucer competitions – somehow I could never win that one – always it seemed the Mould girls got that prize. I do remember one year there was a competition for the best bunch of wildflowers – this competition probably instilled in me the beauty of the Australian Bush. I vividly remember the huge number of wildflowers that were gathered – the Australian Bush is beautiful if you care to take note. Also to do with the Mould’s garden was the plum tree – they were the best plums I ever tasted I reckon especially in a jam or preserved. Then there was the Cherry Tree that you went through Doolondondoo to get to on Hain’s property. I think there was also another Cherry tree in the Kirkland paddock but it’s fruit was dependent upon whether the stock had "helped" themselves prior. AI think there was a pear tree somewhere but I am not too sure on this one. We had our own fruits such as gooseberry, Quince, Apple, Boysenberry, Nectarines etc but nothing like the good old damsen plum at Kybeyan. Blackberry picking was another "pastime" of the Smiths – we found that the best and most prolific blackberries were on the top of the Brown Mountain. This was a day excursion for us (and included a picnic) and we would come back loaded with many, many containers of blackberries which we may have enjoyed eating etc one hundred and one ways, but poor Mum probably had other thoughts. She did a lot of preserving and jam making as probably did most families in that time. One of the perils of blackberry picking was always the snakes and there was certainly plenty of them at the top of the Brown Mountain.

Of course there was Mabel & Frosty, the resident "community" horses at the station – we were allowed to "borrow" them every now and then but were only allowed to ride them to our gate. I never really fell in love with horses and riding but did think it a privilege to "borrow" these two.

Life at Baroonga also instilled a good work ethic in us all. We used to help mum and dad in all aspects of farm life, (well I remember it as helping – they may have thought otherwise) from milking, mustering, stick picking, rabbit trapping, crutching, ear marking, tailing, dipping, fencing (mainly wire pulling), helping in the shearing shed, feeding the chooks, geese, pig/s, poddy calves/sheep etc. Somehow it was just done and didn’t seem to be work (except for stick picking – hated that one) but otherwise I enjoyed it, to be honest. Maybe it was because mum and dad always "gave" us an animal as our own – we had a cow, a lamb etc to care for – when they went to market the sale was ours into our bank account. This gave us a reason to look after these animals. We never really had dogs or cats as pets. The cats had a job in life to keep vermin at bay and the dogs were working dogs so there was not the real "pet" aspect with them. We did however have a rabbit and some mud gudgeons (fish) of which Pattrick Mould has memories also. I cannot say I remember Pattrick coming and catching mud gudgeons but he does. Ah memories – they are so precious!

One of the reasons we moved away from Kybeyan was to give us girls a better education. Unlike Christine & Irene I had to board away all my school life (except for Primary) due to the isolation. It was the Cooma Hostel when I was at Monaro High School and in Bega (after we moved to Bermagui) it was private accommodation with 2 ladies who made money from putting up kids during the week. These were not happy times but were accepted and I got an education, which was Mum & Dad’s goal. I realise now that they sacrificed a lot for us kids as I guess most parents at Kybeyan did. From talking to those at the mini reunion in September it seemed to be the major reason for families leaving the area – a need to educate the kids. I remember some of the trips on the Kybeyan school bus and in particular the day we had the "accident" – only minor but it was big news when it happened. The advent of the bus meant that I then had to go to school in Nimmitabel and the correspondence lessons ceased.

I remember the floods on the "rivers" between Kybeyan and Nimmitabel and having to stay with John Byrnes (headmaster at Nimmitabel Primary) for 3 days. I know Irene said she had to stay with the Greens but I think it was worse for a kid to stay with the Headmaster! (well, that’s my opinion anyway). The Smith family became friendly with the Byrnes and kept in touch as they moved around from Nimmitabel, to Stockton, to Heron’s Creek etc. I remember visiting them at Heron’s Creek. We lost contact soon after that but I assume that Judith and Anthony (their children) are still around somewhere.

I also remember Kybeyan and Baroonga for the cold weather. I can remember the snow falls and the games in the snow (crude attempts at tobogganing, snowboarding of sorts etc), the building of the obligatory snowman etc. Snow was not popular with us kids as it was bad enough having to ride our bikes to catch the bus under normal circumstances, but in the snow? Yuk! I can remember that one year just on Christmas we had an out of season blizzard and we lost the majority of our sheep because the stupid animals just lay down and died – no matter how many times you picked them up they just flopped down again and died. This was a dreadful time in the Smith’s lives as this was mum and dad’s livelihood and it all disappeared in a day and what’s more there was no money to replace them. This is a very vivid image for me as I was old enough to help in trying to save them and the futility of it all – there was no way that they wanted to live. Dumb stupid sheep! I can still feel the anguish this sent through our family but we managed and stuck together. We were a resilient lot in those days – I wonder what would happen today in the same circumstances – maybe the same – maybe that is the character of a country person verses a city person.

Another vivid memory belongs to the Kybeyan Hall. What fun was had there on many occasions. I remember it being built but not how or by whom. I remember the many "picture" nights, CWA events, cricket matches, picnics and the occasional dance evening. What sticks in my mind here is the evenings playing with all the local kids on the flat just below the hall and before the river, somehow this time of the day seemed to be the most peaceful and beautiful part of the day.

There were also the Redex Trials that used to come through the area – and through our bottom paddocks from Countageny. Oh how dad used to dislike it because they never shut the gate and if it was particularly wet then they tore up the paddock in trying to get through (and I really don’t think they cared – to them it was FUN). Many of you may have heard of the legendary Gelignite Jack, well this is one of his exploits through the area. I remember also the tree with the initials of the local bushranger carved in them just at our boundary before going into Myocum.

Shearing time was an exciting time at Baroonga – John Comans used to come from Bemboka to shear our flock – it was one of the jobs to help prepare the morning tea and take it up to the shed, and also to help put the sheep into the various pens for the shearers. I must admit that I did become a bit of a dab hand at classing the wool and throwing a shorn fleece onto the classing table for cleaning and classing before putting it in the respective press or bin. I guess I became a bit of a roustabout. It was the job of us kids to stamp down the fleece in the press before the press was actually used. We also got the job of black staining the bales with the station name and the wool class. Shearing was an exciting time for a kid – we had jobs to do but it also allowed us contact with other people. Mind you some of the shearers did not always appreciate us kids but who cared – it was fun and we were the bosses’ kids. The shearers also sort of shared our house as well – we had quarters for them but they did not have a bathroom nor cooking facilities so they shared our house for that. I remember one of the staple diets mum used to provide the shearers with at morning tea was Sao Biscuits plastered with Cheese Whizz and grilled – sometimes all of these did not make their way to the shed from the house. Yum! Such simple things I remember. As an aside, John Comans has gone on to be one of Australia’s top dingo experts and is quite often on TV when a story is done on the dingo menace.

Nimmitabel Show Day was also an annual highlight – it was a must attend event and you also "must" enter something in one of the Show competitions. I usually entered a cooking or sewing competition but Mum always entered the Carnations section of the show and usually took out Grand Champion – she did so for many years - (I still have one of her trophies). Dad used to catch up with the blokes and the livestock exhibitions. We would also get a ride on one of the sideshow alley attractions.

Another fond memory is of the weekly jaunt down Brown Mountain to Wallagoot Lake in summer. Mum and Dad bought a wooden caravan and rather than tow it each time up and down Brown Mountain we parked it on private property at Wallagoot Lake (on the Woods place) in exchange for meat. We would share our "kill" with them each week. They were a big family and so we had lots of playmates. We probably all learnt to swim here and dad enjoyed the row out on the lake to catch a fish or two. Wallagoot Lake also hosted many Water carnivals and so we saw a lot of speed boat racing and water skiing.

Another piece of life at Kybeyan was the Kangaroo drives. Kangaroos were a real menace to Kybeyan as they would come out of the wooded areas in search of the nice tender young grass shoots we all had so obligingly planted (they thought just for them). These drives netted many Kangaroos but regardless of the numbers shot, the "roo" numbers did not seem to diminish. We did get to have some Kangaroo tail soup though.

What I really remember about Kybeyan with fondness is the community comraderie. You could call in on anyone it seemed, and you were always given a cup of tea etc and the men and ladies always seemed to find time for a good old "chin wag". The kids got to play with someone other than their own siblings. I remember dad "calling" in on the Roses, Moulds, Battens, Hains, Herberts, Keevers, Greens etc and that’s only who I can remember. Here we got to play with John Rose, Tom, Ruth, Mary & Bill Green, Rick Hains, Peter Keevers, Len & Peter Batten to name but a few. There were also the Gatehouses and Schaeffers.

There were also the Bonfires that were organised for Empire Day or Commonwealth Day as it also became known. I remember one year we had one and somehow the firecrackers ignited and we were all ducking for cover with skyrockets, roman candles, bungers etc all going everywhere – luckily no-one was hurt but we were fortunate I guess. What was also a treat at the bonfires were the potatoes cooked in their jackets in the coals – Yum – can still taste them to this day. Today these bonfires would be illegal for the very example given here, ie how easy it is for accidents to happen and people to get hurt.

Another treat we used to have as a family at Baroonga was a picnic at the waterfall. We had a waterfall of sorts on Baroonga and every now and then we would pack a picnic and go down there. We would light a fire on the rocks of the waterfall, boil a billy, heat up some Tom Piper braised stew and vegetables, toast some bread (using a green two pronged stick which we would find) and have the stew on the toast. Just a family treat but it’s these simple things that you remember with fondness – maybe it was the family bonding, maybe it was the break from the work of farm life etc but, whatever it was, the picnics at the waterfall hold fond memories. I was even talking to dad about them the other day when we were reminiscing about the good old days.

What have I been doing with my ex Kybeyan life? When we sold Baroonga in 1963 we moved to Bermagui where mum and dad had built the town’s first motel. I worked with them for many years before wanting to have a change of pace. I moved to Sydney for two years and worked as an Accounting Machine Operator for Repco. I briefly went back to Bermagui but mum and dad sold the motel and bought a farm at Tilba Tilba (adjoining Wallaga Lake). This was paradise especially for mum – I think she found her Garden of Eden here and fell in love with bird watching. Today her ashes are scattered on the beach at this property, which we fondly called "Baroongatoo". I lived in Canberra in this time and managed Motels and worked as an office manager for a major car dealership. I had a complete change of work direction when I went to work for the Australian Industry Development Corporation (AIDC) (a merchant bank). In 1986 I was transferred to the new Sydney Office of AIDC and after 14 years with AIDC I ended up as Manager of the Domestic/Foreign Exchange Operations area. In the early nineties, like all banks, AIDC went through the retrenchment/redundancy era and I was made redundant. This gave me a reason to change direction again and this is when I went out on my own and have not worked for anyone else since.

One of my enjoyment’s has been the many overseas trips I have made, this love of travel started in 1968 with a trip to New Zealand. I have subsequently visited this country 3 times. In 1974 I made my first really big trip and did the proverbial whistle stop tour of Europe. I did make time to catch up with many of dad’s family (there had not been any physical contact since dad left England in the early 1940’s). When you can visit a country and stay with locals this gives you a real insight to what it is really like. I think I have visited the UK 5 times now. Also my whistle stop tour of Europe showed me what countries I would like to revisit and as such I have revisited the Alpine region 3 more times. I have also been to South Africa but can’t say as I enjoyed this one as it was a business trip of sorts and was a bit scary for a woman on her own, driving around in a strange, but unstable land. I have also made several trips to the USA as I have friends in Denver. I have seen Denver in mid winter and mid summer and also many of the National Parks in both seasons.

The highlight though has to be my 1990 trip when I took Long Service Leave and bought an Around the World ticket and went to the top half of the world. I flew to Copenhagen, travelled around Denmark, Sweden, Norway and then onto Iceland and Greenland (what fabulous scenery), down to the UK via Scotland to the relatives in Yorkshire for a couple of weeks (after all, I had to brush up on my "Yorkshire" again didn’t I). I then flew to New York and onto Miami. I saw all the fabulous sights of Florida including Disneyworld and Cape Kennedy Space Centre (NASA), then across to Denver and onto Hawaii before returning home to reality. I would recommend to anyone to do something like this at least once in their life.

My life at the moment is a bit displaced as I have recently totally demolished my home in Eastwood – Sydney (I had lived there since 1986) and am in the process of rebuilding a new home. Hopefully I will be back in the new home approx April or May. In one way this is exciting but in another way it is traumatic, as I really have no home at the moment – just a building site. Seems I never do things that are the easy way out – most people probably would have sold up and let someone else do the development but I decided that I wanted something new for myself and why should someone else benefit from my block etc. I look on this as my superannuation for when I sell my business and hopefully leave Sydney for my retirement. I hope to live my retirement years in the Kiama/Berri area all being well as I reckon this is the best area in Australia that I have discovered to date. Kybeyan was good but it was also cold and isolated – not somewhere you want to be in your later years.

There are probably many more memories still to be recalled but I have to call a halt to this preamble somewhere. If I have mis-represented some things I apologise but put it down to a distant memory of youth and the longevity of time diminishing many memories. Kybeyan was truly a great time in my life and will always hold fond memories.

Lorraine