PICTURE: From the farm in Fairfax Road, looking up to Munibung Hill. From family album 1970’s. Supplied: Aurelia Nowak.
A place for flora and fauna to breathe
Playing in the creeks and water courses, spotting frogs, climbing trees and making cubby houses.These are just some of the many memories of living near Munibung Hill, as told here by Aurelia Nowak.
MY GRANDPARENTS moved to Fairfax road in the 1950’s starting a plum orchard. I spent the 70’s and 80’s tending the vegie patch with Nan and helping the family on the orchard. There were small orchards and market gardens all around us. It was a great place where kids in the neighbourhood would play and roam around on bicycles. Inevitably we would head up Winterlake Road, leave our bikes and climb Munibung Hill for some real adventures.
There were mulberry and blackberry fights and some impressive Tarzan swings; apart from falling into thickets of Lantana if you let go. I can still remember the sting of those cuts on my legs.
We would spend hours exploring in the bush, heading up to the top to see over to Speers Point and Boolaroo. There was so much wildlife: kangaroos, wallabies, birds, snakes and spiders, unfortunately, rabbits too. Our favourite spot on a hot summers day was sitting in the Cave looking over the farms and orchards below. Sadly, the farms and orchards are all gone now, swallowed up with roads and housing development.
Older kids would tell us stories of an old man that lived in the bush on the hill. Sometimes, we thought we could hear him, but I think that was just our imaginations.
We would grab large pieces of cardboard and toboggan down the grassy slopes. We loved playing in the creeks and water courses after rain, sliding down the mud, spotting frogs, climbing trees and making some fantastic cubby houses to shelter and play in.
My Mum and neighbourhood friends in the 1960’s would take sausages up the hill, make a fire in the cave, cook and eat them. They would also toboggan down, but used tin instead.
MMM … Issue 38, June – July 2023
