Keep away from my chicken

Some have commented my last post may have been a lil harsh , heres what my mate Mick reckons .........

Umina's Chook Nazi

I was hoping to leave this year on a light note , but after tonite my faith in the goodness of man has been tested once again.
I'm a single guy and have been rushing about all day doing my christmas shopping , I'm buggered and can't be arsed cooking tonite so I thought I'd pop into the Charcoal Chicken at Umina to pick up half a chicken and a loaf of fresh bread to make some chicken sangas for dinner , something light and easy.
At the shop there are 7 full chickens on the cutting tray waiting to be purchased , I ask for a half and the young guy goes " Um err " and whispers to an older employee hiding in the back of the shop... " No you can't have half a chicken , we don't want to cut one up "
Well fuck me dead Mrs Chook fucken nazi ! , is that the thanks I get for years of loyal patronage of your shop ?
How dare you put a pissy couple of dollars profit in front of the needs of a customer ?
I never even complained when you cunts sold me a dried out rubber chicken carcass from under the counter one night , but you have got me riled now .........
.

Xmas 2010

Some sort of bad accident on the Rip Bridge on Thursday , from what I heard a car went under a truck , this big chopper hovered over my house before landing at Ettalong Oval to pick up the unfortunate victim



The crazies are out this time of year , read on lol

Due to many emails landing in my box asking what has happened to Spike , we will have to list you M.I.A , search party has been dispatched

Fan Mail No.1

I have recieved in the last 24 hours 2 requests to write a book , if this keeps up I may consider !
This is one of the best emails I have ever had and had to share it wif yas , unedited , scuse caps.

STEVE, MAAAATE, YER GOTTA WRITE A BOOK! I HAVE SAT ON ME ARSE FOR 8 YRS WONDERING ABOUT THE WOY, GOSFORD, AND SURROUNDING AREAS. I SAT ON ME ARSE ON THE TRAIN AND WONDERED ABOUT THE CAVES UP THERE, AND THEIR HISTORY. I WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT THE ABORIGINAL HISTORY AROUND HERE, KNOWING WE MUST HAVE BUMPED THEM OFF_ SOMEHOW. SINCE I AM NO CHICKEN ANYMORE, AND THE THOUGHT OF SNAKES n SPIDERS OUT THERE IN BUSHLAND SCARES THE BE JESUS OUTTA ME, I JUST SAT ON ME ARSE AND WONDERED. FUCKED IF I KNOW HOW I FELL ACROSS YER PAGES, BUT I WANNA KNOW MORE. I WOULD BUY YER BOOK FOR SURE JUST TO BE ABLE TO SIT SOME MORE :) PLEASE CONSIDER.

LARD ARSE
MARREE

Thanks Maree or Lardy ?
Comments like yours are the only worthy payment for my efforts , I'll send you a shitload of links so you can begin the journey ....

Facebook shitfight

Deary me ........

Joanne XXXXXX 20 November at 08:50
Geez you're a touchy fella. Am deleted

Steve S 01 December at 16:52
Firstly " Geez you're a touchy fella " this might be calling the kettle black dont you think ? , you are still hurting over something I have been alleged to have done over 6 months ago and have left unsavoury comments on my public wall no less than 3 times.
Lets get this straight - I have never accused you of " being backward "and have not placed any terse comments on your wall have I now ? , I think this may go back to when I posted that LMGTFY link yes ? I thought you would enjoy that link and enjoy the small humor of it , but then again I have no sense of humor as you have accused me of before ......
So let me clear that up for you as well , I have been online since 1999 and have seen every bogan racist abo joke email ten times over , to me I got a slight chuckle the first time I saw these but to be honest this kind of humour is low brow and not my cup of tea - sorry !
Also , I belong to a local history research group that is currently researching the fate of the local Aborigine population , because this needs to be taught in local schools , shit we never learn't anything about our local area at school did we ?
You will be pleased to know that we first shot and killed the local Aborigines like dogs , and then introduced the first case of germ warfare being used in Australia and deliberately infected the Aborigine population with smallpox , those that weren't killed from this were massacred in a single night by a posse of soldiers who rode camp to camp and shot men . women and children while they lay asleep.
I have an account of over 200 Aboriginal skeletons being found at Pearl Beach in 1890 , the poor fuckers were so weak they couldn't bury their own dead , so forgive me if I am slightly passionate about this subject.
You might be interested to read about what I have researched so far or even print out a copy for your kids or even shove one in the face of the teachers at your local school http://home.iprimus.com.au/blazelands/woywoy/bungaree.htm
Anyway I hope you apreciate the fact I have taken the time to explain my actions clearly and if you feel that you may have been a little out of order and might want to offer the slightest apology then please re add me
Merry Christmas

Postcard from Woy Woy Part 2

Traditionally summer is my quiet time on the net , I slack off on my blogs and sites that I frequent , this year started a bit earlier as work has gone into overdrive and a lot of that has been in Sydney making the days long and short of free time.
Expect a burst of activity around Xmas when I go on hols.

Beiber Heads
A seen a flock of Beiber Heads in Umina last night as observed them while I was waiting for my burger to get cooked.
A group of young lads were seated outside of the takeaway shop , they all sported Justin Beiber-esque type hair cuts and every now and again they would jerk their heads to one side to adjust the hairline , one wonders if this habit will continue unintentionally into adulthood and eventually cause some kind of RSI type injury of neck muscles.

The Lanies
I am a member of a unique group of people who live in the dunny lanes of Woy Woy town , back in days of old when you had a backyard outdoor dunny , the dunnymen used to drive their trucks down the specially built lanes at the rear of everyones house at 4 a.m in the morning.
They would sneak in via your back gate and change the tin over in your dunny , then would take the full one out and load it onto the truck and dump it in the National Park in an approved dump that eventually leached into the local water table doh
Years later in the 80's a zoning change meant lot's of people with quarter acre blocks wacked a fence across the middle and turned their back garages / sheds into "studio apartments " and rented them out.
I am renting one of these studio apartments , it's rough and cheap but it's big , well big enough to park 3 cars in ....
Lot's of other folk live in my laneway , we are all single it seems , but that's not by choice , it's because our leases won't allow more than 1 person to live on the property.
We keep an eye out for each other and close unattended gates when we accidentally leave them open and block the laneway traffic , on Tuesday night we all wheel our bins down the lane to the end and back up the street to park them outside the front property of our respective units , I'm lucky I only live 6 houses from the end so I only have to wheel my bin for the distance of 12 houses.
A couple of weeks back some one was getting chased by the cops and he tried to take refuge in the lanes , a wrong turn led him into a dead end blocked by the council to stop people pissing off from the cops worked to well and he ended up going through a fence and into some guys swimming pool , the fence got rebuilt before I could get some pics - bugger !

Military Modelling
I have had to slow down on building models as my eyesight is completely shot , 10 years of pissing about on my computer every night , playing wargames and just old age I guess is to blame as well , time to get some glasses - bugger !

Woy Woy
Is sporting 2 rather large cranes that are being used on the new car park extensions at Deepwater Plaza , the view from them must be fantastic , I will try and do a run round the place and get some pics of all the new constructions and demolitions that have been going on

Alan Dash speaks about the Gosford Glyphs

Once again we are drawn back to the mysterious Gosford / Kariong / Woy Woy / Egyptian Hieroglyphs , due to new research being undertaken by retired geologist and fellow Elf John Byrnes I chanced upon a lead and was able to contact the first person documented to find the glyphs - Alan Dash
Alan worked as a surveyor for Gosford Council for many years and I spoke to him recently , here for the first time we have an account from someone who witnessed the creation of the glyphs site over a couple of years in the 1970's.

Alan first found the glyphs around 1975 ( he is unsure of exactly what year
but said " early 70's " ) , at the time he was surveying the water easement
for Gosford Council and had to make a line to Lyre Trig.
While working he noticed a chap emerge from a hole in the rock wall and walk
over to the old Gilford house , this old home long abandoned had become the
home of "derelicts" Alan said.
The Gilford home was built in the 1920's and was the home of EF Gilford.
Thinking that he may have been growing pot and curious , Alan went to have a
look in the hole and found the carvings on the western wall in the cleft , the
east wall was bare at this time.
Six months later he took a co worker into the cleft and found that the eastern
wall was now completely covered in carvings as well.
About a year late he brang a group to the site and found a second lot of
glyphs had been added some 50 metres from the cleft along the rock wall ,
these are much smaller and " rougher " Alan describes.
In 1979 the Gilford house was destroyed in the bush fires.

Alan was quite accurate with his descriptions of the sequence of carvings appearing at the site , this was important to my research and puts an end to any thought that these were created pre 1900's

Alan Dash now works as a guide for the NPWS

New Website - Enter here 

2GO away please

Sometimes while working on a building site you have to come to a compromise on what radio station everyone listens to.
I prefer 2JJJ which is has no ads and plays a variety of unheard of stuff usually , this doesn't gel with the average tradie and usually gets a response of "Whatsthisfuckenshitwearelisteningto"
This week we have been listening to the sad old local stalwart 2GO , what shits me about this radio station is that it seems to be stuck in some bad 80's shit music time warp , music from around the time all your school mates got married and had kids.
For them life ended and to relive those heady teenage years they listen to the last good music they were exposed to before the parenting life began.
2GO has Bon Jovi on high rotation and in the afternoon they play "What Bon Jovi song is that ?"
I need to remind 2GO of some facts.....
Bon Jovi has not toured here in years
Bon Jovi has not released an album in years
Bon Jovi is not currently rating in any music chart
No one from Bon Jovi has died
Please release the zombies from the time warp you are brainwashing them into for goodness sake !

Swimming season starts early

Some pics from an unfortunate local Facebooker who discovered there is a bit of a drop off at the end of the boat ramp at Empire Bay , a hazard of using local council owned ramps.



Yes that is a washing machine floating off to Davistown



At least it's clean now !

Baldrick comes to Woy Woy

I was contacted by the producers of an upcoming documentary this week , they are doing a short historical piece about Australia.
One of the subjects they wish to cover is the infamous Gosford Glyphs and after lenghty research the producer thought they would get in contact with me after reading my articles about the subject.
The series will be narrated by Tony Robinson who is famous for his role in Blackadder and more recently shows like Time Team which is a personal favourite of mine.
Hopefully I will get an invite up there on the day of filming , I spent a good half hour on the phone giving the producer a good background on the glyphs and have offered to guide them into the site.
I won't hold my breath though , recent dealings with media types like NBN 3 and the Central Coast Express Advocate have been a waste of time.

I'll be famous one day and get out of painting ........

Sorry about my lack of posting lately but I have been getting my other blog off the ground , funny it took a few years to get any sort of decent traffic to this one and yet in 2 weeks I have respectable readership and 2 followers on the other one

Funny Dat

p.s This post was originally titled Blackadder comes to Woy Woy - my mistake lol

Anzac Plastic

I have decided to blog about my military modelling stuff on a dedicated site - Anzac Plastic - another blog type arrangement , of course I will post updates here , but I can go into it all a bit more on the other ok ? cool !

Pilgrimage for Pop

Just a small follow up from the last post on the Ourimbah Pop Festival , as with most subjects I post on the Elvina mail group , Bob Pankhurst had something to add.
Bob has been an invaluable source of information for a lot of enquiries from myself since joining , quite simply the bugger seems to know everyone and has done everything !
I intend to post more snippets from him in future posts

Bobs memories on the Ourimbah Pop Festival

I was asked by the organisers of the concert, which was on land which
today is part of the Hidden Valley complex but in 1970 was part of Major
Mc Nicholls dairy, to be part of a security team of horsemen patrolling
the hills above the concert site to stop people gaining access from the
Somersby plateau. I was racing motorcycles then and was racing that
weekend at Taree so I could not do it for them. I wish now I had gone
down there and been a bush ranger at the concert.
The Nutwood Rug Band purchased a property at Ourimbah which belonged to a friend of mine, they bought it around 1965 -68 or so I think the place was called Sunnybank, it is about 400 m north of the University at Ourimbah on the crest of the hill. My friend’s name was Len Barlow and I first got to know him through the Pony Club. Len was an officer in the Pioneers during the war and he was a bomb disposal expert, he had worked all through the London Blitz and then during the Libya and Tobruk areas unscathed and came home in about 1943 after all this to be blown up while delousing a small rifle grenade which blew nearly all the fingers off one hand and blew his face to pieces completely taking out one eye. He was rebuilt by plastic surgeons and nursed back to health by his wife Dorothy. Len was an orchardist and also a brilliant engineer, one of his buildings still exists in Ourimbah in Glen Road, it was originally the picture theatre and is now owned by the University.



It is one of those ex army Quonset hut type buildings and was in use as a hall until a couple of years ago. Whilst working in his orchard he used to get bad rashes on his face due to the citric acid reacting with the explosive residue still in his system. He once had an abscess on his tooth which when x-rayed turned out to be a piece of shrapnel from the grenade. A truly marvellous gentleman.
I well remember the Nutwood Rug Band as until they came we in this district had never seen what is now described as hippies with their long hair and weird clothes, of course they were Americans and must have had plenty of money to buy Len’s orchard in the first place. They used to cause uproar when they walked down Gosford’s main street. Now of course they would not rate a second look
Bob

Ourimbah Pop Festival

A chance find of an old box of photos in a rubbish pile at Wyong has uncovered an important part of Australian music history and local history in general , the chap who found them recognised the slides as being taken at the Pilgrimage for Pop festival at Ourimbah in 1970.
This was Australia's first outdoor rock festival , Sunbury was not the first as often quoted , it took place on private property at Ourimbah on 24th and 25th January 1970.
The concert was organised by the Nutwood Rug Band and local promoters , the Nutwood Rug Band was a bunch of American acid rockers who left the USA in 1967 to dodge the Vietnam war draft.
This was to be Australia's answer to Woodstock and the organisers even sent off an invite to John Lennon and Yoko Ono , evidently they got the invite some time after the gig and never made it.
The bill featured a line up of Australian artists including:

Billy Thorpe and the Aztecs
Tamam Shudd
Jeff St John and Copperwine
Tully
Wendy Saddington
Doug Parkinson and Focus
Leo De Castro and Friends
Levo Smith Clefs
Stevie Wright and Rachette
Nutwood Rug Band

The first day attracted over 6000 concertgoers and this number swelled to around 10,000 by the Sunday , there were around 30 arrests for minor offences but all in all the media and Police commented on how well behaved the crowd had been


Tully


Stevie Wright


Wendy Saddington


Billy Thorpe

View all photos here at Facebook

Latest models

Return to days of old

You may have noticed me posting pics of the odd tank every now and then , I am collecting the Deagostini Combats Tanks Collection which consists of over 100 1/72 scale model armoured fighting vehicles dating from WW2 onwards.
I joined the collections'forum and have been amazed by some of the static models that the members build , back when I was a kid my favourite hobby was to save up $2.50 and go to Ettalong newsagents or the toy store at Woy Woy and buy a good old Airfix model.
I built models for years and some of the last ones I built in the 70's were Star Wars ones.
Then I discovered girls and surfing , a couple of weeks back I was in the toy store at Erina and decided to buy a few kits and have a crack at it again.
I had already been working on a large scale remote control tank , I have 2 of these and they are a large scale at 1/24.
This project is the conversion of a VS Tanks Abrams M1A2 to and Australian M1A1 AIM , I decided to build Australian armour as there are few if any ready to build examples on the market and I enjoy the research that goes with it.
The Abrams required removal of some pieces and addition of some sfter market accessories , I am still waiting on some red kangaroo decals for it before I finish painting the model , here's a pic of it so far



Next project was the making of a diorama for the 1/72 scale German " Maus " , I bought the Maus as a pre made model ( Easymodels ) and painted it up , as all my other small scale tanks are in plastic display cases I decided to whack this one in one as well , found some at the model shop for a reasonable price.
As the case was rather largish I decided to make a diorama and bought a packet of tiny German ( Italeri Anti Tank Crews ) soldiers to go on it as well.
The Maus was the largest tank built during WW2 and 2 of them were made , both broke down before they got into battle and were blown up by their crews , the Russians nicked one and it is on display at the Kubinka Tanks Museum



Back to the Aussie theme my next project was the Crusader Mk 11 , these tanks were used by the Aussies in WW2 in North Africa ,so it is painted up in desert colours , it is a 1/72 scale kit from Hasegawa and was fun to build , I had to modify the turret a bit as it was a Mk III.
I plan on doing another diorama for this and have ordered an Stuart Light Tank to accompany it as there is plenty room.



This weekends project was the Matilda Mk 11 ( 1/72 Italeri ) as used by the Aussies in New Guinea in WW2 , again I had to modify it a bit to represent the type we had and I am quite happy with the result , this one will go in a diorama as well and I have something cool in mind this time.



Next project will be the ASLAV-25 , this is a current vehicle and I think I will do the version that was used early on in Iraq and it is in a bigger scale of 1/35 which will give my poor old eyes a break



I was thinking of doing another blog just for the modelling , can I be arsed tho ?

While on tanks , my story called Grandads Tank helped out Mike from the USA who owns a shell casing similar to mine

Bambara Road Saga

Last Friday the Lands and Environment Court released it's decision on the current development application by Glenndining, Minto and Associates to build 7 dwellings along Bambara Road at Kariong - the DA was knocked back much to the delight of the 2000 + members of the Save the Sacred Lands at Kariong group on Facebook and other concerned folks.
A hint of the impending decision was the sudden appearance of 2 blocks of land for sale at Bambara Road a fortnight ago , some guessed it was the owner trying to cash up before the banks moved in or trying to catch someone out before the final verdict made the blocks virtually un buyable ( is that a new word ? spellchecker dun like it )
One must now ask how the owner got inside info on the decision before it was made public and was able to list some of the lots for sale .......
So now it is time for Gosford Council and the NPWS to make good and buy the lots , let's hope this time it actually happens.
In the meanwhile interest has not subsided on the nearby Glyphs site , I have had a couple of comments so far on my last update , mostly by what I call " believers " who have left rather terse comments and then not replied once challenged to present valid proof of their " theories "
I think this page will be entertaining for some time

Views from Home

A few of my favourite pics from over the years to celebrate my new blog layout



Woy Woy Bay



Church Blackwall Rd



Tesselated Rock Patonga



Wet young Lorikeet



Red Moon

Postcard from Woy Woy

I drive down the road at 6 P.M to get some takeaway , a young father with a can of Jim Beam in his hand steadies a shopping trolley with his other hand , in the shopping trolley is his daughter standing up as they wheel down the road into oncoming headlights.

An old guy with his small dog on a lead bends down to pick up a hubcap that has come off a passing car , he props it up against a telegraph pole so that the owner may find it on his next pass.

Four pre teen boys gather outside the BP servo and pool their money together to buy several cans of the energy drink called Speed

Several bewildered English tourists from the large resort stand on the footpath in Ettalong wondering where the hell they have landed and where is everyone

Teenage girls wearing hoodies walk down the main streets staring into the screens of their mobile phones.

The little takeaway I get smoko from went upmarket , I used to get a bacon and egg roll , a slice of banana cake and a Chocolate Oak for $9.80
Now I get a breakfast wrap , a Byron Bay cookie and a Chocolate Oak for $12.80

F**k it's cold

Woy Woy Tunnel demolition plan revealed

Back in 2008 I visited the top of Woy Woy tunnel to photograph a suspected war time ammunition dump , it was mentioned in a local bushwalking guide and I was unable to gain any further information.

An email to Pete Dunn at www.ozatwar.com set me on the trail when he tracked down mention of demolition plans for the Brooklyn area tunnels and bridges in National Archives records.
The area in question was a small tunnel directly above the main tunnel at the Newcastle end of Woy Woy tunnel , I have known about this tunnel since childhood and have been there a few times , we always thought it was just part of the tunnel construction or an old mine.
When I joined up with the Elvina group recently I was acquainted with a geologist by the name of John Byrnes who runs a site that I have visited on more than one occasion.
John has an interest in interesting rock formations and I sent him photos of what I suspected was a basalt seam in the roof of this little tunnel.
John set about researching this tunnel a bit more and came across some interesting information.
During WW2 with the threat of Japanese invasion quite real , a national defense plan was set into action
Part of this plan was to disable the railway system so the Japanese could not use it if they invaded along the coast.
The Americans were in charge of coastal defenses in 1942 and trialled demolishing railway tunnels with explosives at an old tunnel near Otford on the South Coast.
Explosives were lowered down an air shaft and detonated , successfully collapsing the tunnel roof , it was proposed to repeat this plan at several other tunnels along the coast including Woy Woy tunnel.
Small tunnels about 6 foot high and 30 feet long were dug above the main entrances to the tunnels , explosives would be placed at the end of each tunnel and the following explosion would collapse the main tunnel mouth rendering it useless.
The tunnel could be repaired later by this method , the trial at Otford collapsed the middle of the tunnel making it extremely hard to repair afterwards.
The demolition tunnels were dug by Railway workers and the Army was billed for this work in 1943.
2,400 pounds of A.N 60 Gelignite was stored in a magazine nearby to be used for the demolition of Woy Woy tunnel in 1942 , as the war in the Pacific turned the plan was abandoned and the tunnels were fitted with strong wooden doors and padlocked.

Secret documents reveal wartime plans

Google Models Feedback

My Google models seem to be quite popular , it's getting into the hundreds of downloads , I got a comment on one of them a while back that I have been meaning to post

Woy Woy Theatre

Lovely to see you attempting this. My family owned the theatre for a considerable time until its demolition. I spent virtually every Friday and Saturday night there unti I was 16. I helped clean it; I worked in the biobox. While much of the sketch is correct, it misses some important points--at least from the time when I was there. Most important was that there was a small lolly shop to the left(as you face the building) of the long line of front doors as you have depicted them. On the right the wall was used for posters of coming attractions--there was no window into the lobby. You would be interested to know that there was an upstairs "smoking lounge" for the customers who afforded to sit in the upstairs Circle. Also upstairs but at the rear of the building was a reasonable size meeting hall given over to meetings of the Rotary. The windows of that room overlooked the Woy Woy sports field--and the rather smelly loos against the back fence.
Lee Shipley.

The theatre model was my first attempt at modelling on Google Sketchup , so it's a bit plain looking , I made a few other models soon after , you can find them here , if you have Google Earth you can view them in 3D

More Tanks !

Latest additions to the armoury , I've been meaning to post them as I get them , but time slips by .........

M2 Bradley (USA 1991)


Cromwell Mk. IV (UK 1944)



Flakpanzer Gepard



M13/40 1942


M26 Pershing (USA 1945)


Full collection here

Real old stones

After all ths fuss about rock engravings lately , I took time out to visit some bona fide olden carvings done by early settlers to the area.
Having visited this spot on numerous occasions over the span of my life I have never noticed these , first I heard of them was via a member of the Elvina group which I joined recently.
They are located on the site of the old Ettalong Hall and are possibly the marks of James Webb and another unkown person.



The James Webb initials are portrayed like a cattle branding iron ( backwards ) , there may have been a 3rd letter that has fallen off over time.
The James Webb theory is just that , to me it looks like a definate T with a decorative curl , I have seen similar styles in lower case but never in upper case.



No one seems to know who PWS was , but you can see that the elaborate carving style is definately 1800's , James Webbs property was called Mullbong Farm and was about 40 acres taking up half of Blackwall Mtn and part of what is today Orange Grove.
He settled there in 1823 and set up a farm , in fact James Webb was the first land owner in Woy Woy.

Myth Busting

Freshly cut east wall 1983

Some more information about the Gosford Glyphs has become available since my last post , after observing my discussions at Save the Sacred Land at Kariong , a concerned citizen sent me a zip file containing some interesting photos.
These are copies of the original photos taken by the NPWS in 1983 when they conducted a full scientific evaluation of the site.
From the photos you can see the entire east wall has been recently cut and more importantly you can see that the ears on the Anubis glyph are not quite finished , some time afterwards the artist returned to finish up.

Anubis 1983

Anubis 2007 - note ears now finished , this is a detail only the original artist would have returned to do

The freshly cut glyphs show spalling chips around the outline of each figure , this is unavoidable when carving sandstone unless you have proper tools and running water.
I now have a timeline of pics of this Anubis fella from 1983 to 2010 and there is no evidence of it being entirely re carved since then.
Another part of the myth is the several set of stairs carved into the rock around the site , a quick email to the boffins at Elvina confirmed that these stairs were carved by E.F Gilford back in the 1930's.

Stairs carved by E.F Gilford 1930's

As mentioned in my earlier post , Mr Gilford was quite in awe of the local Aboriginal carving around his property and carved the stairs for the many visitors he took on tours around the bush from his farm near the site.

New Website - Enter here 

Gosford Glyphs 2010 Update

New Website - Enter here 

The discussion about the Egyptian Heiroglyphs have surfaced once again as the developers try to move into Bambara Road at Kariong in 2010
Many are happy to dismiss them as fakes and just as many believe they are real and many people believe those people...
Of course if they were real our history would have been re-written long ago , but rumours and people's beliefs cloud our judgement some times ( not all of us though ! )
Once the story of the glyphs reached the web it also garnered a new following of "new agers" and self declared experts and theorists , for which the carvings validated their beliefs in nice colour photographs.

Despite being presented with valid scientific proof and reports from a variety of experts , it seems some will reject all and continue with the myth.
Most of this seems to stem from a man named Ray Johnson who supposedly translated the glyphs and sent the results to a few experts overseas and the local authorities in Australia.
While we have copies of the letters he sent , we do not have any of the replies , so the translations have never been verified or acted upon.
Ray Johnson claimed he had written 4 volumes about Egyptian heiroglyphs and language and that it was accepted by the Musuem of Antiquities in Cairo.
In the letters I have Ray never states his qualifications other than the fact he is a researcher.
This all happened nearly 15 years after the NPSW , Gosford Council and Sydney University carried out studies and declared the work fake.

All the experts agree that the symbols are badly done and are probably carved by someone who was studying Egypt or was copying what he saw in a book.
So it is true some of the symbols actually are real and spell out words , this must not be confused as them being translated into the story as told by Ray Johnson
It also doesn't mean that they were carved by the Egyptians either , nearby dated Aboriginal carvings are around 250 years old and are much more eroded.

A property located within 60 metres of the glyph site existed from around 1929 , the owner was E.F Gilford who was so fascinated with the local Aboriginal carvings , that he wrote an article for the local newspaper in 1931.
E.F Gilford scoured the land around his home and recorded many sites unknown to anyone at the time , later in 1960 he was aided by a local researcher B. Pankhurst and they mapped and photographed every Aboriginal site in the Kariong area.
Remember Mr Gilfords property boundary ( in red ) was only 60 metres away from the glyphs site and he lived there for over 25 years.
2 other private holdings were in the area owned by Follan who had a pig farm and the Camerons who had a house and farm.
By that time the area had been extensively surveyed for roads , power lines , mineral and scientific explorations , the army in both wars and Lyre Trig was built just 120 metres away from the carvings.
With all that activity not one person or valid report exists of the glyphs prior to 1975
Parish maps of the area note the locations of Aboriginal sites but not the glyphs in every edition.

As the popularity of internet forums grew the topic of the glyphs arose on several sites , this brought the attention of Egyptologists like Dr Meltzer who was actually paid to examine the glphs via correspondence , while he agreed that the symbols spelt out names and words he never offered a full translation.
Later on as people informed him about the local history of the area and prevoius reports he began his own research into the background.
I note in his final posts he pleas for valid information on the status of the glyphs pre 1980's , but never gets a reply.
He is also sent a confusing letter from Ray Johnson offering to send him his translations , he remarks later on that he cannot agree with Ray Johnsons " archaic theory "

Private website owner A. Keating made a website based on the report on Ray Johnson findings by a Dr Gilbert.
Dr Gilbert also called the glyphs forgeries.
After that report was published online , Paul White who had help place Ray Johnsons story online and had a written an article , distanced himself from the whole affair.

On the Ancient Lost Treasures forum in 2004 a member ( Tom Walter ) contacted the Gosford History group and was told the carvings were done by a schoolboy in the 60's , the Elvina group has recently contacted members of that group who verified the story again in 2010.

Since 2007 all discussions involving Dr Meltzer have ceased , many sites have stories on the glphs and all use parts of the story from different parts of the web , no new reaseach has taken place since.

In October 2010 I personally contacted the first person documented to find the glyphs and spoke to him on the phone at length , Alan Dash worked as a surveyor for Gosford Council and discovered them in 1975 , he also witnessed them being created.
Read the full account here

To get a better picture of the story I've made a timeline with all relevant links included:


1825
- First land surveys carried out in Brisbane Waters

1923
- Woy Woy Road built

1929
- Gilford , Follan and Cameron purchase blocks at Bambara Rd
- Parish map of blocks here

1931
- Gilford writes article on nearby Aboriginal carvings
- Article here

1955
- Bob Cummins visits site and notes carvings are present but faint - rumour not confirmed ( see letter from R Johnson to Gosford Council 1997 )

1960's
- Students from Gosford High School carve/re carve/ add to glyphs - rumour confirmed by Tom Walter* in 2004 and Elvina group* in 2010 after contact with members of the Gosford Historical Group
1964
- University students visit site and carve/re carve/ add to walls - rumour not confirmed ( see letter from R Johnson to Gosford Council 1997 )

1975
- Council surveyor Alan Dash notes site
- Alan Dash notes site being added to - Read interview here

1983
- Article in Central Coast Express
- Mr David Lambert Rock Art Conservator of the Cultural Heritage Division of the NPWS visits site
- Pictures taken in 1983/1984 by the NPWS
- Photographs of the hieroglyphs were sent to Prof. NageebKanawati, head of the Department of Egyptology at Macquarie University, Sydney.
- Prof. Nageeb Kanawati replies and declares the carvings as fake

1984
- Ranger Neil Martin catches old Yugoslavian man carving at site
- Ranger Neil Martin notes additional carvings being added afterwards

1994
- Ray Johnson visits site with Dr Whitehouse and Yahn
- Ray Johnson sends letter to Dr Abou - Gazi Director of the Museum of Antiquities Cairo
- Copy of letter here

1996
- Paul White writes article for Exposure magazine Vol 2 No.6
- Copy of article here

1997
- Ray Johnson writes to Gosford Council
- Copy of letter here

1998
- A. Keating establishes contact with Dr Gilbert and creates website here
- Dr Gilbert denounces carvings as fakes
- Article here
- Paul White rejects his own story and agrees with the forgery theory
- Bambara site under threat from developers - letters of support from local Mp's

2001
- Hans-Dieter von Senff writes to Carmel Tebutt assisting the Ministerfor National Parks and Wildlife [Refschauge]
- Carmel Tebutt confirms carvings are fake based on NPWS study
- Carmel Tebutt confirms air shaft / underground chamber not present in 1983 inspection
- See post at Ancient Lost Treasures

2003
- Article written by David Coltheart in Archaeological Diggings Vol 10 No 5 Oct/Nov 2003 Issue No 58
- Article here

2004
- Tom Walters contacts Philippe Tabuteau of the Gosford Historical Group
- Philippe Tabuteau confirms carvings were done by persons known to him
- Dr Meltzer is contracted by John Anthony West to decipher the glyphs
- Dr Meltzer's post at Ancient Lost Treasures

2005
- Don Hitchcock maps writes article here

2007
- Dr Meltzer discusses the glyphs online at the Glyph Doctors
- Dr Meltzer receives information from Ray Johnson
- Dr Meltzer dimisses Ray Johnsons "archaic theory"
- Last post from Dr Meltzer here
2008
- Glenndining, Minto and Associates apply to build at Bambara Rd
- DA rejected by Gosford Council

2009
- Developers launch appeal in Lands and Environment court

2010
- Court hearing April - decision reserved to a later date
- Elvina group contacts Tabuteau family member
- Tabuteau family member suspects carvings were done by a pupil/s from Gosford High School in the 60's
- June - Land and Environment court rejects current DA by Glenndining, Minto and Associates
- Alan Dash confirms carvings done between 1975 and 1983 - Report here
- Blocks in the area are offered for sale again , Council does not buy them
- I am sent the original NPWS site photos taken in 1983 , after examination I found evidence of the glyphs being added to after the photos were taken - see article here

2011
- Single block sold to private purchaser
- Local protest group camps on site for 90 days in action against development proposals
- I contact the NPWS for information on the glyphs - letter here
- I contact Prof. NageebKanawati, head of the Department of Egyptology at Macquarie University, Sydney. - email reply here
- Glyphs featured on History channel documentary , Tony Robinson visits site. - video here
- Gosford Council appoints mediator to negotiate purchase of blocks along Bambara Rd
- Steven Strong and Dr Hans Dieter Von Senff enter Brisbane Waters National Park to conduct illegal archaeological studies and excavations at the glyphs site and illegally remove artifacts

2012
- Unemployed school teacher Steven Strong writes articles for New Dawn magazine and Indigenous Times
- Retired bus driver Hans Dieter Von Senff releases " Ancient Egyptians in Australia " 
- Gosford Council agrees to buy one of the blocks on Bambara Road for inclusion into the BWNP
- Fringe website Wake up World publishes Steven Strongs Kariong theories
- News article from Steven Strong about his Kariong theories is pulled down from the ABC website
 within hours of it's release

2013
- Glyphs site suffers from increased traffic , underground cavity which theorists claim is a " tomb "
is continually interfered with , NPWS fill in the cavity and post warning signs
- Steven Strong claims to find UFO carving close to the glyphs site , it turns out to be an Aboriginal
carving of a whale

2014
- New website created http://karionghieroglyphs.blogspot.com.au/


My videos at YouTube








TO THIS DATE NO ONE HAS BEEN ABLE TO PROVIDE SOLID SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE THAT THE EGYPTIANS OR ANY OTHER CULTURE VISITED KARIONG OVER 4000 YEARS AGO

Busy lad

The No Ship at Avoca mob managed to stall the scuttling of the HMAS Adelaide last Saturday at the last moment just 2 days before it was due to be towed up from Sydney and sunk.
They were unable to lodge an appeal until Minister Garrett approved the order to sink , which he seakily done on the Wednesday afternoon.
The No Ship group lodged an appeal next morning on the Thursday and were granted a 1 month stay until the whole proposal can be looked at properly this time.
Supporters of the sinking met last Sunday at Terrigal Skillion and they numbered about the same as the anti - ship mob did a couple of weeks back.
Due to an all out flamewar on Facebook the No Ship mob shut down it's page leaving bewildered trolls nowhere to go for the evening.
Whatever happens it looks like the ship won't be sunk for over a year now until it all goes through court.
We await Round 2

I joined this group at Facebook " Save the Sacred land at Kariong " , these guys are helping stop the proposed development along Bambara Rd at Kariong and I thought I'd lend them a hand.
The developers have been trying to get at this land for decades and Gosford Council has usually opposed any propsals , the NPWS has tried to buy back the land but the owners want more than they can afford.
This time the developers have enlisted a consulting mob who know the game so things look a bit of a worry , this land is still recovering from farming activities in the early 1900's and should be left as it lies near Aboriginal sacred land and carving sites.
As well as that there are hundreds of native species of flora and fauna living in this area and it is in a bushfire danger zone.
Just outside of this area are the infamous Kariong Heiroglyphs
We await Round 1



Finally I have laid my hands on a copy of King Bungarees Pyalla , a small book with stories told to the author by the local Aborigine legend Bungaree who was from the Woy Woy tribe.
A local researcher , Kay Williams was kind enough to photocopy the entire book for me and I've been reading it the last couple of days.
Like Kay , I was hoping this may give an insight into the life and history of the local Woy Woy tribes , but was semi disapointed when it only contains stories relating to animals and some folklore like the Bunyip , later in the book there are stories told by the author about the Aborigines of the time.
The names and places mentioned are unknown to me , they sound like they could be out west near Parramtta at the time.
One of Bungaree's traits does show out though and that is they way he modified some of his tales to suit the white man by giving the characters English names and comparing things to English customs and way of life , he was a great interpreter and could change his persona to suit whatever company he was in at the time.
The last 2 stories are told by the author and tries to portray the kind side of the Aborigines who on a couple of occasions used their tracking skills to find lost white children.
The author also knew of the impending doom of the Aborigines and writes this in the first pages of the book ...

" the legends I have chosen , from the Pyalla , are only a few of the many I heard in childhood , but they may serve to give some sort of idea of the style of stories existing among a people , who , with their legends and romances , will have soon passed away forever ""
Mary A Fitzgerald Sydney December 1 , 1891

Kay also put me onto John Byrne , a geologist who owns this fascinating site - Geological Sites around Sydney , I've been to this site quite a bit while searching for info on various things , well worth a look

John turned out to be a nice bloke and we have been exchanging bits of info all weekend , and he invited me to join the Elvina group , there are some great pics on this site as well
Funnily enough the bloke who runs the Elvina group knows my mum from the old scouting days back in the 70's ( six degrees of separation ? )
John has an interest in the things called "snames" , you cand find out about em here

Another member is Anthony Dunk who has this bushwalking page which is another "add to bookmarks"

All those links should keep ya busy til next time !

Random Things

No real subject to this weeks post , just a couple of tidbits
In the forums there has been minor activity as 2 members have been visiting some sites I've written about and reporting back.
I feel somewhat chuffed at inspiring people to get out and have a walk in the sun , get fit and gain knowledge , a few have remarked that over the years they have downloaded my maps and instructions and headed off into the scrub - good stuff !

2 emails this week on the same subject - Bungaree the Aboriginal legend who was born locally and went on to become one of the most famous Aboriginal figures of our early history.
Not that Gosford Council will be of any help in telling his story , they are flat out denying any knowledge of the Brisbane Waters Aborigines and denounce the existence of the coastal Guringai clan which are the traditional land owners of this area , the Darkingjung Land Council are currently claiming to be the owners and with enough white washing and passing of time they hope the real story will be forgotten.
But it won't be as the last remaining Guringai descendants record their story for prosperity , this week I spoke to Kay Williams from Pearl Beach who is currently writing a piece about Bungaree although she spells it the correct way which is Boongaree , a very knowledgeable lady who took the time out to contact me with an offer to have a look at a copy of King Bungaree's Pyalla a book published in 1891 with stories translated from the man himself.
When I get copies of this I'll post some bits here , Kay also thanked me for placing the real story online for the public to see and is frustrated by the lack of recognition Bungaree has been shown by the local council ( Mr Holstein hang your head in shame ) and by the fact that local school kids don't know anything about this great man.
Hopefully one day this will change and with help from people like Anne Jones who emailed from Bribie Island this week as well it looks it will eventually.
Anne is preparing a display for the Seaside Museum in the suburb of Bongaree , Bribie Island , I gave her some tips on acquiring a decent photo of Bungaree for the upcoming display which will tell his story

I've added the Peninsula Womens Health Centre to the links page on woy-woy.com as per requested by email enquiry - your links can be added for free just email me

Found a new shop at West Gosford that sells radio controlled models etc and had to buy myself a 1/24 scale Abrams M1A2 tank - quite a nice looking beastie straight out of the box , later on I'm going to modify it to look like the Aussie M1A1 AIM version we have



Made a video to show the lads on the tank forum



and while I was testing the focus on my webcam for the video I captured rare footage of the Chewy looking a bit worried ( he doesn't like the tanks especially the one that shoots plastic BB'S at him lol )

No Ship !

As final preparations are being made to sink the HMAS Adelaide off the coast here , a group of Avoca locals have rallied at the last moment to stop the sinking.
The HMAS Adelaide ferried Australian troops to the first Gulf War in 1991, to peacekeeping operations in East Timor and back to the Gulf in 2001.
The Adelaide was to be sunk off Terrigal for recreational divers to visit , as there was no environmental impact statement undertaken the public was kept in the dark on the project for some years.
Two weeks ago a large yellow buoy was placed in the water marking the spot where the ship is to be scuttled , the location was no where near Terrigal , but instead it is to be sunk 1.7 km's off the centre of Avoca Beach.
The whole time the public was told it was to be sunk " a couple of kilometres out to sea " but when you see the yellow buoy you suddenly realise that this is alarmingly close to shore , the locals are worried about possible leaching of toxic chemicals from the ship , the effect on sand movements on the beach , increase of sharks closer to the beach and the effect on the world class surf break itself.
With the 140 metre long vessel due to be sunk on the 27 th of March , the No Ship action group has little time on their hands but the ball is rolling , 600 concerned residents met on the beach on Saturday to formulate a plan of attack.
Drag it another couple of k 's out to sea and no one will give a shit , personally I think there are enough real wrecks along the coast to dive on , this is a bit of a worry

Visit the No Ship at Avoca site
Article in the Sydney Morning Herald
Article in the Central Coast Express Advocate

Tanks mate

Coupla more tanks for the collection up to 22 now

Leopard I A2


StuG. III Ausf. G (Germany 1944)


Rest of the collection here