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Italien / Piemont - Nationalpark Val Grande
On the way from the Capella Fina to the Rifugio Pian Cavallone.
Auf dem Weg von der Capella Fina zum Rifugio Pian Cavallone.
Val Grande National Park (Italian: Parco Nazionale della Val Grande) is a protected area located in Piedmont, in the north of Italy, at the border with Switzerland. It is most notable for landscapes of the High Alps.
Geography
The park is located in Province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola and is shared between ten municipalities: Aurano, Beura-Cardezza, Caprezzo, Cossogno, Valle Cannobina, Intragna, Malesco, Miazzina, Premosello-Chiovenda, San Bernardino Verbano, Santa Maria Maggiore, Trontano, and Vogogna.
The park lies entirely in the drainage basin of the Po River. It is located between the valley of Vigezzo in the north, the Cannobina valley in the northwest, the valley of Ossola in the southwest, and Lake Maggiore in the southeast. The park is not populated and is often described as "the largest wilderness in the Alps"
Val Grande and Val Pogallo, two principal valleys inside the park, with the former running southeast and the latter running south, feed the two major rivers in the park. These valleys join into Torrente San Bernardino, a tributary of Lake Maggiore. The majority of the area of the park is forested.
History
Shepherds populated Val Grande since at least the 13th century, and the timber production was active since the 15th century. However, at the end of World War II all population left the area, following the actions of German troops against the Italian resistance in the area in June 1944. The idea to create a national park in Val Grande dates back to 1953. In 1967, the area was designated a Strict Nature Reserve and became the first conservation area with this status in the Italian Alps. In 1974, the Association Italia Nostra developed a detailed plan to establish a national park, and, in the 1980s, the preparation started. The park was established on March 2, 1992. On June 24, 1998 the area of the park was extended.
Tourism
As of 2012, the park had three visitor centers (located in Santa Maria Maggiore, Cossogno, and Premosello-Chiovenda), two museums, and a number of nature itineraries, which should be followed accompanied by a guide.
(Wikipedia)
Der Nationalpark Val Grande (italienisch Parco nazionale della Val Grande) ist ein Nationalpark in den norditalienischen Alpen, nahe der Schweiz. Er liegt zwischen dem Lago Maggiore und dem Val d’Ossola in der piemontesischen Provinz Verbano-Cusio-Ossola und ist 146 km² groß.
Im westlichen Teil des Parks liegt seine namengebende Kernzone, das schwer zugängliche Val Grande. Der östliche Teil besteht aus dem offeneren Val Pogallo und einigen angrenzenden Gebieten.
Das Gebiet des Felsenmassivs Pedum wurde 1967 zur Riserva naturale integrale (Totalreservat) erklärt. Nach mehreren Initiativen lokaler Gruppen und des Umweltministers in den 1980er Jahren wurde schließlich 1992 der Parco Nazionale della Valgrande geschaffen.
Die einzigen Ortschaften im Nationalpark sind Cicogna im Val Pogallo und Colloro am südwestlichen Rand des Parks. Der größte Teil des Nationalparks war nie ganzjährig bewohnt. Es wurde jedoch intensive Almwirtschaft betrieben, bis in die 1950er Jahre auch Waldwirtschaft. Nach dem Zweiten Weltkrieg wurden bis in die 1970er Jahre sämtliche Almen aufgegeben, im Val Grande selbst bis 1969. Nachdem der Verbiss durch die Weidetiere fehlt, wandeln sich die ehemaligen Almen allmählich zur Wildnis.
Erst nach Gründung des Nationalparks begann ein bescheidener Tourismus. Abgesehen von etlichen frei zugänglichen Steinhäusern ist kaum touristische Infrastruktur vorhanden. Außer den Zufahrten nach Cicogna und Colloro existieren keine ausgebauten Straßen.
Geographie
Val Grande
Das Val Grande ist etwa 25 Kilometer lang, der größte Teil davon ist unbewohnt und liegt im Nationalpark Val Grande (Parco Nazionale della Valgrande). Der Hauptfluss des Val Grande ist der Torrente San Bernardino, er entspringt am Monte Togano (2301 m s.l.m.) und fließt in Intra/Verbania in den Lago Maggiore (193 m s.l.m.). Sieben stark bewaldete und ursprüngliche Seitentäler bilden den oberen Teil des Val Grande. Mancherorts finden sich noch Überreste der einstigen Alpwirtschaft.
Im Zentrum des oberen Val Grande steht der Pizzo Mottac (1802 m s.l.m.). An dessen Fuß liegen die Alpen In La Piana und Gabbio. Der mittlere Bereich ist eine wilde Schlucht ohne Wanderweg. Steile Wälder und Felsbänder prägen diesen Abschnitt. Der unterste Teil des Val Grande ist ab Ponte Casletto mit einer schmalen Straße, die nach Cicogna führt, erschlossen. Darin liegen die Ortschaften Rovegro, Cossogno, Santino, Unchio und Trobaso.
Das Val Grande gilt als das größte Wildnisgebiet im Alpenraum.
Die Vegetation besteht in den Tälern aus Kastanien- und Buchenwäldern. Bis 1800 m s.l.m. reicht dichter Bewuchs. Darüber findet sich Grasheide mit Erlensträuchern in geschützten Lagen.
Die Seitentäler des oberen Val Grande heißen Val Gabbio, Val Serena, Valle Rossa, Val Ragozzale, Val Portaiola, Val Biordo und Vallone di Loc. Im mittleren Val Grande heißen die Seitentäler Val Fredda, Val Piana und Val Cauri.
Val Pogallo
Beim Ponte Casletto treffen sich Val Pogallo und Val Grande. Das Val Pogallo ist bewohnt und besser erschlossen. Zur Blütezeit der Holzwirtschaft wurde ein teils mit großen Steinplatten sehr gut ausgebauter Weg von Cicogna aus erbaut. Dieser Weg wurde später nach dem Gründer der Holzgesellschaft und vielseitigen Industriellen Carlo Sutermeister benannt und wird als Strada Sutermeister bezeichnet. Gerne nutzen ihn als einen der schönsten leichten Wege Wanderer von Cicogna aus. Das einstige Holzfällerdorf Pogallo war zwischenzeitlich komplett verfallen. Nach und nach wurden viele der Steinhäuser wieder instand gesetzt. Mitglieder des Vereines Associazzione Amici di Pogallo pflegen das Dorf, das von Cicogna aus über eine 1,5 Stunden lange Wanderung erreichbar ist. Der Weg ist ein Sentiero Natura mit Infotafeln des Nationalparkes und führt auch an einer Badestelle vorbei.
Geschichte
Zur Römerzeit scheint das Val Grande besiedelt gewesen zu sein. Ab dem 13. Jahrhundert begannen die Bewohner der umliegenden Täler die Alpwirtschaft auf das Val Grande auszudehnen.
Mit der Industrialisierung ergab sich eine Abwanderung aus den Bergtälern und die Alpwirtschaft wurde bereits stellenweise aufgegeben. Im Val Grande wurde 1969 die letzte Alp der Natur überlassen.
Im mittleren und unteren Val Grande hinterließ die Holzwirtschaft in der ersten Hälfte des 20. Jahrhunderts ihre Spuren, als ein verzweigtes Netz von Seilbahnen errichtet wurde. In dieser Zeit wurden in Pogallo, Orfalecchio, Arca und an anderen Orten Wohn- und Wirtschaftsgebäude errichtet.
Während des Zweiten Weltkriegs gründeten antifaschistische Partisanen die Repubblica dell’Ossola. Nachdem alliierte Truppen bereits Rom eingenommen hatten, wurden die Partisanen von Soldaten Mussolinis und der deutschen Wehrmacht vertrieben und zogen sich ins Gebiet des Val Grande zurück. Im Juli 1944 unternahm die deutsche SS mit Einheiten der faschistischen Repubblica Sociale Italiana eine Durchkämmung (Rastrellamento), um gegen Kämpfer der Resistenza in den Bergen vorzugehen. Dabei wurden ca. 500 Menschen getötet. Darunter wurden viele Opfer grausamer Hinrichtungen der Faschisten.
Wie die Zeitzeugin Antonietta Chiovini berichtete, wurden auf dem kargen Gipfel bei der Kapelle von Marona von der Waffen-SS zwölf Partisanen gestellt, die den Feind von der eigenen Brigade ablenken wollten. Um Munition zu sparen, wurden die jungen Männer halbtot geschlagen, bevor sie den Abhang hinunter gestoßen wurden.
Beim Beschuss der Bergsiedlungen wurden viele Gebäude und die zum Abtransport gefällter Bäume dienenden Seilbahnen zerstört. Der Verlust der Infrastruktur trug zum Rückzug des Menschen aus dem Gebiet um das Val Grande bei.
Wanderrouten
Im oberen Teil existiert ein gut ausgebauter und markierter Weg von Malesco über die Alpe Scaredi, In La Piana, Gabbio und Alpe della Colma nach Premosello (in diesen erwähnten Alpen stehen kostenlose und sehr einfach eingerichtete Hütten zur Verfügung). Abseits dieser Route gibt es nur wenige und schlechter erkennbare markierte Wege. Die meisten alten Pfade sind verschwunden. Mobilfunkempfang gibt es fast im gesamten oberen Val Grande nicht.
(Wikipedia)
Training is quite intensive. It comes divided into 4 preliminary phases: running, shadow boxing, rope jumping and body weight resistance exercises. The fighting session which follows includes training with a coach on Thai pads, focus mitts, heavy bags and sparring.
« Flat Sri Klong Toey » is one of the most interesting camps I have visited in Thailand. The Nak-Muay who train there all live in the camp. They are aged 14 to 16 and practice 5 to 6 hours a day, early in the morning and at the end of the afternoon, attending school in between.
Most camps in BKK are located in peaceful areas surrounded by grass and shady trees whereas Flat Sri is right in the middle of a crowded street, under a multi-level roadway which is used as a roof for the ring (!). A city within the city, Klong Toey is BKK largest slum ; its inhabitants suffer from many diseases : drug traffic, prostitution and one of the highest HIV positive / AIDS rates in town. And yet, whenever I visited Klong-Toey I would be greeted with such a genuine warmth by the people living there
Nail technicians and skin-care specialists (the salon workers who do the most waxing) earn a mean annual pre-tax wage of $22,150 to $31,990. This figure doesn't include tips, which can total another $4,430 to $6,398—a clear financial incentive to befriend your clients in this service-based, nonreciprocal way.
And yet. When it came to 38, I wanted the cash, not the compliment, to show the value of my abilities. And maybe, to compensate for how she got to leave feeling so clean and sexy—but I could still smell her body on me, ever so faintly, even after I threw away the gloves and washed my hands.
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I’m not sure what the phrase “owning your sexuality” means to you, but for me, one thing it entails is responsibility: doing my best to make sexual choices that are sound for me and a partner. (That’s also part of doing consent well.)
If I am offering something sexually light and fun but anticipate that it will be emotionally or interpersonally complex–or if I’m feeling stressed, confused and worried about it–then I can know that easy-breezy is neither what I can expect nor earnestly offer.
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You are here: Home / Health / Can Sex “Just for Fun” Be Emotionally Healthy?
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Can Sex “Just for Fun” Be Emotionally Healthy?
October 11, 2011 by Heather Corinna
msmagazine.com/blog/blog/2011/10/11/can-sex-just-for-fun-...
This week’s installment of Heather Corinna‘s sex-and-relationships advice column tackles the issue of casual sex.
...Q: So excited for this new blog spot! Can you discuss whether it’s emotionally healthy to have sex outside of relationships? I want to own my sexuality, but all of the advice around me seems to be no-sex-outside-of-relationships-or-marriage. I know this depends on the individual, but any insight would be great! I’ve been toying with asking an ex–whom I am friends with–to have sex just for fun. I’m 98 percent sure he’ll agree, but I am worried about emotional health consequences. He has always wanted a much closer relationship than I do. I’m worried I’ll feel guilty for possibly leading him (or myself) into wanting more.
You’re right: this is a very individual and situational decision. To give some context, a recent study found that, on average, for 20-year-olds, casual sex and committed relationships led to the same level of psychological health. But individuals aren’t averages. Not everyone wants or is comfortable with sex in the same kinds of relationships or scenarios (including committed relationships). Context and interpersonal dynamics factor in, too.
There are some guidelines, however, that everyone can apply. When a sexual situation is likely to be sound, we usually feel good heading into it, as does anyone else involved. If we feel uncertain or predict negative feelings on anyone’s part, those are strong cues not to proceed.
I’m not sure what the phrase “owning your sexuality” means to you, but for me, one thing it entails is responsibility: doing my best to make sexual choices that are sound for me and a partner. (That’s also part of doing consent well.) If I am offering something sexually light and fun but anticipate that it will be emotionally or interpersonally complex–or if I’m feeling stressed, confused and worried about it–then I can know that easy-breezy is neither what I can expect nor earnestly offer.
Even when I’m having sex-for-sex’s-sake–which I would define as sex that takes place outside of a larger intimate relationship, without any agreed-upon, intended or implied commitment–that doesn’t mean I have zero responsibility for my emotional health or that of others. My partner (or wanna-be partner) and I still owe one another respect, care and consideration, which includes considering possible outcomes, even if we don’t intend to be there with each other for them.
It sounds like you’re on board with that, and you’ve already voiced your own sense that this specific situation probably isn’t sound for you or your ex. While he’d likely agree to sex, clearly some of this wouldn’t be fun for him or you, and could be an emotional landmine. While your romantic relationship may be over, you two are in a relationship: you have a history and a friendship, and it sounds like you have strong feelings for and about one another that are not only or primarily sexual. If what you want is just a roll in the proverbial hay, this isn’t likely to be it.
It also sounds like you’ve been curious about sex outside of romantic relationships, but you haven’t felt supported in or exposed to alternatives. So you might also want to give yourself more time to take a bit more stock of what you want and to find people to talk with who aren’t all saying the same things. If that’s not currently available to you, Sex & Single Girls is a great anthology with a diverse array of women writing about various sexual experiences. I also think Jaclyn Friedman’s new book, What You Really Really Want, could be just the thing for you.
My best advice is that you hold out for an opportunity to explore casual sex if and when you feel a lot better about it. That will also likely entail a partner or scenario you don’t feel so conflicted about; that feels more likely to be explosive in the ways you want, rather than the ways you don’t.
Check out last week’s advice about lube blues.
Have a sex, sexual-health or relationships question you want answered? Email it to Heather at sexandrelationships@msmagazine.com. By sending a question to that address, you acknowledge you give permission for your question to be published. Your email address and any other personally identifying information will remain private. Not all questions will receive answers.
Photo from Flickr user skampy under Creative Commons 2.0.
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.....item 2).... Ms. Magazine blog ... msmagazine.com/blog ...
You are here: Home / Life / When the Sweet Spot Becomes a Sore Spot
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When the Sweet Spot Becomes a Sore Spot
October 31, 2011 by Heather Corinna
msmagazine.com/blog/blog/2011/10/31/when-the-sweet-spot-b...
Q: I’m a 21-year-old lesbian. A problem has popped up in me and my girlfriend’s sex life. When we practice tribadism with just skin, after a while a very small raw spot will show up, bringing with it a sharp pain. Both of us have this problem. Neither of us is clean-shaven, but we do trim–would shaving help? Is there anything else we can do?
A: Ah, friction. Sometimes it feels so awesome. Other times it hurts. Part of what makes genitals so sensitive is that genital tissue is far more delicate than other kinds of skin on our bodies. With genital friction, there’s a tipping point after which a wowie can turn into an owie.
To avoid being rubbed raw, first make sure you and your partner are always very well-lubricated. Lube from a bottle tends to do the job better than our bodies’ lubricant when it comes to friction-intensive sex.
Apply lube before you start and add more as needed throughout. Be generous and don’t skimp.
I checked in with Searah Deysach, the fantastic owner of Early to Bed, to see if she had any specific lube suggestions; she keeps up with brands and types like nobody’s business. She suggested a high-quality silicone lube, such as Uberlube or Sliquid Silver–they tend to be longer-lasting and slicker than water-based lubricants. But if you prefer water-based, she suggests glycerin-free brands such as Sliquid Sea or Liquid Silk (my fave), which are kinder to vulvas and vaginas than those with glycerin.
Searah and I are of one mind about hairy issues. She says, “Hair that is growing back after shaving can be especially irritating, as stubble can be vicious on delicate tissues. “ I agree. Stubble from hair removal is more likely to irritate than the softer pubic hair we tend to have when we don’t shave. If all you do is trim, chances are hair isn’t the problem.
Consider positioning. I’d suggest experimenting with an eye for reducing how much weight is being put on each of your genitals. Try finding ways you can scissor without anyone really being “on top” at all, like lying on your backs toe to head. Searah suggested straddling your lover’s thigh as an alternative. Similar feeling, less pain. If you do like a missionary-style V-on-V position, whoever’s on top can try to balance so less weight rests on the other person’s tender bits–e.g., by bracing their hands on a headboard. Mixing up positions often helps, too. And if and when either of you start feeling raw, don’t keep going with the activity that got you there–take a break from genital sex or at least consider that spot done for the day. If it remains raw the next day, lay off the intense pressure for as long as it takes to heal.
Now and then this still might happen, especially because, when we’re very aroused, pleasure can cause us to space out on signals of pain. But with these adjustments, you can probably make it a rarity instead of a norm.
Check out last week’s advice to a woman whose fiancé monitored her vagina’s size.
Have a sex, sexual-health or relationships question you want answered? Email it to Heather at sexandrelationships@msmagazine.com. By sending a question to that address, you acknowledge you give permission for your question to be published. Your email address and any other personally identifying information will remain private. Not all questions will receive answers.
Photo from Flickr user Gray Marchiori-Simpson under license from Creative Commons 2.0
Line drawing from Wikimedia Commons.
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......item 3).... Slate ... www.slate.com ... HOME / DOUBLEX : WHAT WOMEN REALLY THINK ABOUT NEWS, POLITICS, AND CULTURE.
My Year in Waxing School
Naked people don't tip well, and more tricks of the trade.
By Virginia Sole-Smith|Posted Friday, Nov. 19, 2010, at 12:08 PM ET
www.slate.com/articles/double_x/doublex/2010/11/my_year_i...
The 38th client I worked on at Beauty U. was my first full Brazilian wax—the kind where you remove all (or almost all) of your hair below the belt. I'd waxed many bikini lines and other body parts. I'd also assisted on Brazilians, handing my teachers wax-dipped Popsicle sticks the way nurses hand over scalpels. But now, it was my turn to wield the wax, solo. "I know—I'm a hairy beast!" Client 38 apologized, hopping onto the waxing table, clad in disposable thong. "You have to fix me. I'm going on vacation with my boyfriend."
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She spread her legs. I put on some vinyl gloves and worked down and across her pelvis, twirling clumps of hair and trimming them free. You have to trim any hair longer than eyebrow-length to prevent "locking" with the wax. You also have to act like this is normal, even though a part of your brain is thinking, "Pubic hair, pubic hair, oh my God, pubic hair." But I was getting better at trimming, and also at acting. And so clouds of hair piled up on the paper-covered table while 38 chatted about her vacation plans (the Poconos; if she was lucky, a proposal), her C-section scar, and how she liked my red glasses.
The $1.8 billion business of superfluous hair removal is our most intimate and uncomfortable kind of beauty labor. When I enrolled in a 600-hour aesthetics program at my local strip mall beauty school, I knew the standard feminist rhetoric against hair removal: Women wax because we've been culturally indoctrinated to hate our bodies in their natural state. I also knew the women's magazine defense, that removing excess hair celebrates our femininity and increases sexual pleasure. And I'd been in 38's position enough to know that waxing can make you feel vulnerable in ways feminists haven't even considered and hurts more than women's magazines (or at least, their beauty advertisers) let you believe.
But being on the other side of the waxing table turns out to feel simultaneously more exploitative and more empowering than I ever expected. There is, for example, the moment when your client shuts off from you, closing her eyes to "relax." Your client is in charge, having commissioned you to perform this service. And yet they are also terribly vulnerable, half naked, exposed and—eyes closed—hoping for the best.
After I trimmed, I tested the temperature of the hot wax on the inside of my wrist and painted a stripe along 38's inner thigh, quickly covering it with a muslin strip. She tensed before I ripped, then relaxed even as her brown skin tinted pink: "That hurt so much less than last time!" I watched some spots of blood well up. "I'm going to have you do my eyebrows, too," she added. And as I waxed my way along the crevice of her inner thigh to some very sensitive parts, 38 closed her eyes, drifting into that blissful state we enter whenever a spa service goes well.
With most Beauty U. clients, I liked offering this respite from their harried lives and from the even more harried relationship they had with their bodies. Before beauty school began, I hoped this body shame part wouldn't be so true. Instead, I saw women hating their bodies—in subtle ways, like 38's matter-of-fact "I'm a hairy beast!"—with every spa service I performed. So I saw my role as providing a kind of safe haven of acceptance, where a client could feel comfortable enough to drift away
Two hours into 38's appointment, I was the one who could not relax. I had waxed right through my dinner break and my back ached from hunching over the table. I removed all the hair 38 had asked me to (all but a delicate landing strip) and cleaned up her brows. I held a hand mirror between her legs, angling it so she could decide if she was satisfied. I'd snipped off her paper thong, so we looked together like those consciousness-raising women's groups from the 1970s. Only with me still wearing my vinyl gloves, now sticky with a layer of wax.
By that time, I knew that 38 had two kids, was divorced, and was going back to college. I liked 38. I wanted her to enjoy vacation and get engaged and have a good life. But we weren't friends. There was nothing reciprocal in our conversation. We were taught to avoid sharing personal information about ourselves whenever possible. "Customers don't care about your life," teachers told us. "They're buying your full attention." And that seemed to work. Once clients relaxed, they told us all sorts of personal things, like when they next expected to have sex and why their mothers made them crazy. And we learned that letting clients share these intimate details was good for business. "Remember to mention something about them or their life that they've talked about previously. Keep notes about each customer on file if you need to," advised one handout. It was much like being a therapist, serving soul and body.
In April, the New York Post reported that "NYC Women are Strangely Bonded to the Beauticians who Wax Their Brazilians," quoting smitten spa-goers who viewed their waxers as surrogate moms. But the story didn't explain how this one-sided friendship is made all the more awkward by socioeconomic differences. No matter how friendly their relationship, the client still pays and the waxer still needs that money. Nail technicians and skin-care specialists (the salon workers who do the most waxing) earn a mean annual pre-tax wage of $22,150 to $31,990. This figure doesn't include tips, which can total another $4,430 to $6,398—a clear financial incentive to befriend your clients in this service-based, nonreciprocal way.
Before starting, I assumed that most clients tip the industry's expected standard of 20 percent. They don't. I wasn't surprised, for example, when 38 tipped me just $5 (under 15 percent) because we never got big tips when clients got naked. Like johns who mistake their hooker's acrobatics for true love, clients can put such emphasis on the girlfriend-bonding time that slipping us a wad of cash would destroy the fantasy.
If her tip had been bigger, I would have been more delighted that 38 had taken time to write a "Client Kudos!" card about me: "She was professional and friendly at the same time. … Thanks so much!" She even drew a star on top next to my name. "That makes up for the bad tip," said my classmate Campbell about my Client Kudos. "Look how happy you made her!" Most salon workers say making clients feel good is their biggest source of job satisfaction. But I'm not convinced it's enough to balance out the often exhausting, difficult, and underpaid labor. No matter how much we liked our clients, we still had to brush stray pubic hairs off our sleeves, pick seaweed-stained disposable thongs out of the shower, and work around the occasional menstruating bikini wax client.
But it's also true that many waxers find this work empowering because the services require such skill and our clients are so thrilled with the results. Even if we don't totally return our clients' affections, we feel a kind of sisterhood with them and our fellow salon workers, because we're all toiling away together to meet some impossible beauty standard. When Campbell and I practiced our first Brazilian together, she rubbed the back of our "client" (another classmate), singing songs to distract her from the pain. We all traded stories about waxing and then, childbirth—that other time when a woman spreads her legs in pain and the support of other women gets her through.
And yet. When it came to 38, I wanted the cash, not the compliment, to show the value of my abilities. And maybe, to compensate for how she got to leave feeling so clean and sexy—but I could still smell her body on me, ever so faintly, even after I threw away the gloves and washed my hands.
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Snapshots from our five week Summer Intensive at both White Lodge and Upper School.
©2022 The Royal Ballet School. Photographed by Rachel Cherry.
Introduction to Echuca and its history. Population Echuca-Moama 20,500. When captains Cadell of Goolwa and Randell of Gumeracha had a South Australian government sponsored race to reach the Darling River and prove the River Murray was navigable in 1853 they probably did not foresee the huge development of the river boat trade. The River Murray was to be a transportation conduit to the outback and inland areas like the Mississippi River in America. Paddle steamer river boats with shallow drafts were first used in the 1820s along the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. They were adapted from rear wheel vessels to side wheel vessels in Australia. A few centres grew into major river ports- Morgan, Milang, Wentworth and Echuca. But Echuca outstripped them all as it was developed shortly after the Victorian gold rushes and it was the closest point on the River Murray to booming Melbourne. Some say Echuca was built upon the entrepreneurship of one man Henry Hopwood who arrived in the area in 1849. He was an ex-convict with big ideas. He began a ferry service across the Murray and later built a pontoon bridge. A government surveyor laid out a town in 1854 which he named Echuca from a local Aboriginal word meaning “meeting of the waters” as Echuca is at the confluence of the Campaspe and Murray rivers and the mighty Goulburn River also enters the Murray just a short distance away. In 1824 the explorer Hamilton Hume named the Murray the Hume River after his father. But in 1830 Charles Sturt after leaving the Murrumbidgee thought he had discovered a new river and he named it the Murray River after his friend in the British Colonial Office, Sir George Murray, Secretary of the Colonies. The Goulburn River was named in 1835/36 by Major Thomas Mitchell on his explorations. He named it after the Frederick Goulburn who was then Colonial Secretary of NSW and he also named the Campaspe River which rises near Mt Macedon. He was obviously thinking of his classical education when he named the Campaspe. Alexander the Great (356 BC to 323BC) of Greece had a famous artist paint one of his concubines and when the artist fell in love with the beautiful Campaspe, Alexander the Great “gave” Campaspe to the artist. Campaspe in the nude or only partially clothed was a popular painting subject in the early 1800s in Britain. Mitchell named Mount Macedon after an ancient Greek King Phillip II of Macedon (359 BC to 336 BC). Because three major rivers meet in the locality of Echuca lakes large flood plains with billabongs abound. One water channel from this area flows north to the Murrumbidgee River and is known as the Edward River. These flood plains along the Murray are now mainly national parks and reserves called the Barmah Lakes and Forests with the first area being declared as such in 1908. Early pastoralists were attracted to this country and many of the River Red gums were felled by woodsmen for railway sleepers across Victoria and NSW. The cycle of flood and drought favoured the River Red gums. The major floods of the River Murray were in 1867, 1870 – the biggest highest flood of the white era – 1916, 1931, 1956 and 1975.
The town grew quickly and in 1858 Henry Hopwood built the Bridge Hotel which he claimed was the best outside of Melbourne. The locals referred to him as King Hopwood although he was transported to Van Diemans Land as a convict charged with theft in 1834. He reached this Victorian part of NSW in 1850. At that time he established the first River Murray ferry service followed by a pontoon bridge in 1857. The ferry fees he charged with his monopoly soon made him a rich man. Because of the commercially strategic location the railway reached Echuca from the gold mining centre of Bendigo in 1864 so that Victoria could capture the Riverina trade through Moama on the NSW side of the Murray. Everything favoured Echuca’s development. Until Federation in 1901 all the independent colonies levied port duties on goods coming into or out of their colonies and Echuca was an important customs town. By the 1870s when more than two hundred paddle steamers regularly traversed the rivers here Echuca expanded with a multi-tiered wooden wharf so that steamers could dock regardless of the river level. The first small wharf was built in 1865 with extensions in the 1870s and this wharf eventually reached over one kilometre long when extended in 1884! As business boomed the town grew with 60 licensed hotels by 1876. The river trade not only transported wool from the pastoralists and supplies but it required extensive supplies of wood for fuel for the steamers, labour, ropes and equipment etc. Echuca was the second port of Victoria after Port Melbourne for tonnage handled in the 1870s. It was the largest inland port in Australia and it vied with Morgan as the main port to handle wool bought down the Darling River by paddle steamer. There were also paddle steamer services from Echuca to Shepparton on the Goulburn River. But the town eventually declined as railways which began Echuca’s boom also ended the importance of the river boat trade in Victoria. The boom was over by 1890 but by then Echuca was an established town with substantial and impressive buildings. The river boat trade persisted into the 1930s but on a much reduced scale. The next boom for Echuca was after World War Two when surrounding land was irrigated for horticulture, viticulture and intensive agriculture.
Henry Hopwood’s Bridge Hotel still stands as does the original Town Hall built in 1868 and designed by architect W.C Vahland from Bendigo. Along the waterfront you can still see the Steam Packet Hotel, the Customs House, the Bond Store (where goods were stored by the government until the duties were paid) and a small part of the great wharf. The fine brick Customs House was built in 1884 with a thin strip of sandstone around the windows and across the brickwork. The Bond Store was also built in red brick with pilasters across the front and a pediment to hide the roof line. The “King of Echuca” Hopwood also built a fine house which he named Apsley House facing Connelly Street. Part of it still remains at the Catholic College. When he died in 1869 the “King of Echuca” was buried in the town cemetery and he was remembered by a memorial pew in the Anglican Church. He became a wealthy man because he negotiated a monopoly of the ferry service across the river with the Victorian government. His contract included his heirs also retaining the monopoly. They eventually sold out to the Victorian government but the days of ferry services ended anyway with the construction of the mighty iron bridge across the Murray. A bridge between two colonies required both to agree and the conflict that the bridge engendered was really a part of the Australian federation story. Both colonies agree in 1864 to pay part of the bridge cost but disagreement emerged over tariffs and import/export duties. The agreement was reactivated after the great Murray floods of 1867 and 1870. Work finally started on the iron bridge in 1875. Heavy iron posts from England were carted by rail from Port Melbourne as there were no NSW railways near the river at that time. In April 1877 a disaster occurred when a crane crashed and collapsed iron and stone pillars. Six men were killed. The bridge opened in December 1878 but it only caused mayhem. NSW had not inspected and signed off on the bridge and travellers were charged a fee for using the “free” bridge. Angry mobs assembled near the bridge and protested several times and the Victorian government considered prosecuting rioters. Finally the bridge opened in April 1879 with no official opening ceremony by either government! Once the bridge was open competition between Moama in NSW and Victorian Echuca intensified. The railway from Deniliquin reached Moama in 1876 adding to the inter-colonial trade rivalry. Echuca reached a population of 5,000 by 1878.
Support for Australian federation came especially from the Riverina/Murray districts like Echuca as they were the most effected by trade tariffs between Victoria and NSW. The Riverina was settled as the main NSW grain producing region in the late 19th century but it was much closer to Melbourne than Sydney. Grain was carted across the border at Echuca. NSW was a free trade colony but Victoria was a protectionist colony. Thus towns developed each side of the river at crossing points – Wodonga and Albury; Wahgunyah and Corowa; Echuca and Moama. The railways were pushed up much sooner from Melbourne than from Sydney and grain was transported by rail from Echuca by the mid-1870s. NSW railway lines only reached Riverina towns in the 1890s and even later. So the Echuca district was directly interested in the benefits of federation especially the abolition of tariffs and customs but the other great issue was the control of the Murray River and its waters. In NSW Sir Henry Parkes pushed for federation and the other colonies waited to see if NSW would push ahead with the idea as their approval was always going to be crucial. Parkes began the push for federation in speeches in 1881 and again more seriously in 1889. The first national constitution convention was held in 1891 in Sydney. In the next couple of years the localised Australian Natives Association formed many more branches and became a national movement. Along the River Murray the Border Federation League was formed in Corowa and soon spread to Echuca/Moama and other regional towns. It was at a meeting of the Border Federation League in 1893 that Dr John Quick of Bendigo moved a motion to provide a process to achieve federation. This was something the arguing statesmen and politicians could not achieve. He moved that colonial parliaments should pass enabling legislation to send delegates to a national convention to adopt a constitution. From this point on the federation movement gained great impetus especially with support from the Riverina and river towns like Echuca. The movement culminated in the inauguration of the Commonwealth on January 1st 1901.
Apart from the River Murray providing a smooth navigable surface for transportation the river flats near Echuca led to the development of the major industry of the town- timber milling. River red gum timer was railed from Echuca all over Victoria for its railways. River red gum railway sleepers were transported down the Murray from Echuca to Morgan to build the Kapunda to Morgan railway in 1878. By 1869 one of several the timber mills in Echuca covered six acres. Logs were taken from the Barham forests and the Goulburn River valley and transported downstream to Echuca. But the Murray provided more for the town. The supply of timber made Echuca one of the major paddle steamer building sites along the Murray. Red gums provided wood for the boats and wood for their boilers. A slipway was soon erected in Echuca and the first steamer rolled into the river in 1864 but one earlier boat, without the assistance of a slipway, was constructed in 1858. Echuca had constructed 48 paddle steamers and 54 barges by 1895. Eighteen of the 48 paddle steamers were built between 1874 and 1878. The boat building stopped in the 1920s. Several foundries in the town produced ship bells and other equipment. The river trade led to wool scouring or fellmongering, boiling down works and tanneries. All these hard manual workers required alcohol and Echuca had several major breweries in the 19th century. The growth of the town surrounded by farmers or selectors led to conflict between the big squatter ad sheep shearers and other labourers. This resulted in the famous burning of the paddle steamer PS Rodney in 1894. Australia suffered a major depression in 1890, banks collapsed as did the price for wool. When pastoralist’s tried to reduce shearer wages conflict and strikes emerged. Shearers unison were first formed in 1891. In Queensland this resulted in violent conflict between unionists and pastoralists and Banjo Paterson’s song Waltzing Mathilda covers this issue. The original lyrics were written in 1895 by Banjo Paterson and it was first published as sheet music in 1903. Paterson wrote the poem in 1894 while staying at the Dagworth Homestead (near Winton), where in September of that year some shearers went on strike before violence erupted.
Up came the jumbuck( sheep) to drink at the waterhole,Up came the squatter a-riding his thoroughbred;
Up jumped the swagman and grabbed him in glee; And he sang as he put him away in his tucker-bag,
'You'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me.' CHORUS'You'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me.' CHORUS
Up came policemen - one, two and three. Up sprang the swagman and jumped in the waterhole,
'Whose is the jumbuck you've got in the tucker bag? Drowning himself by the Coolibah tree;
You'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me.' CHORUSAnd his voice can be heard as it sings in the billabongs,'Who'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me?'
Near Echuca shearers went on strike in 1894 and camped along the river. One camp had 220 men in it by July 1894. They tried to block use of the bridge to Moama and the unloading of trains in Echuca with non-union shearers. In August 1894 trouble flared up. But it was near Pooncarie on the Darling River that a crew of boatmen from Echuca were moored on the banks of the Darling in the PS Rodney with non –union labour for an upstream station. The Rodney was built in Echuca in 1875. The non-unionists on board were thrown overboard and the crew allowed to leave and then the Rodney was set on fire. The news was not appreciated in the workers home town of Echuca. Only half a dozen of the arsonists were arrested, but then acquitted when tried by the Court in Broken Hill. Eventually one was convicted in a second trial in Sydney. By then the trouble had calmed down.
Some Echuca buildings to take note of starting at the entrance to the port of Echuca at Hopwood Place.
•The Bridge Hotel built by Henry Hopwood in 1858. Slate roof, round columns supporting the veranda and French doors which were so popular in the mid 1850s. Upper floor added circa 1875. Closed 1916 and became a residence then owned by the City of Echuca since 1970. Now a café.
•Across Hopwood Park is the Shire Hall/ Courthouse. Facade on Dickson St. Red brick and cement rendered quoins. Open ‘lacework” style balustrade along roof line. Triangular pediment above the door. It has simple Doric columns and porticos. Built in 1870. Architect W Vahland.
•The Star Hotel. Four sets of French windows in the upper floor. Built 1866-70 as offices for Permewan Wright who were carting agents. Sub leased to shipping agents etc. Now a hotel.
•William McCulloch and Co. Classical symmetry and arched doorway and windows and magnificent fan light above door. McCullochs early saw millers and later boat builders. Built in 1859 as a bond store for alcohol and tobacco. Kept by agents until bond tax paid. Used by McCullochs from 1889.
•589 High St. The Shamrock Hotel. One of the 86 colonial hotels in Echuca! Licensed 1870, as single storey hotel. Upper floor added around 1895 with classical small pediment and spire behind it. Note shamrocks in the wooden Edwardian veranda posts.
•The Echuca Hotel. Opened in 1858. The current building erected 1873. Symmetry, pilasters, classical rounded windows. Not a typical Australian pub building.
•In side street on left Leslie St. Former Customs House. Built in 1884 but earlier customs houses. Good brick work and slate roof. Part for the wharf river front buildings.
•Opposite the Customs House is the Steampacket Hotel. Claimed they were dedicated to the eradication of thirst! Built in 1864 as a single storey hotel. Rebuilt in the 1870s. Closed in 1900 and became a boarding house. Architect William Vahland. Return to High Street.
•645 High St. Bank of New South Wales. Erected 1877. Architects Reed & Barnes. Two level loggia with projecting ends and arcaded on lower level. A Greek classical revival style of bank.
•Colonial Bank of Australasia. Built in the classical style in the 1870s. Greek keystones above widows and ground floor doors. Lower windows rounded, upper window rectangular.
•Millewa Chambers. Built as a bond store in 1878. Beautifully restored and painted. Highly decorative with three classical urns on the central roof pediment. Arched symmetry and pilasters beside doors.
•On left is the combined Echuca Town Hall and Petty Sessions Courthouse. Built in 1869. Architects William Vahland and Robert Getzschmann of Bendigo. High St façade dominated by triangular pediment. Central section flanked by side wings. Used as a Courthouse until 1924. In 1954 became the town library only. Turn left here into Heygarth St before returning to High Street. The first section contains the Palace Hotel and the American Hotel. The first building opposite the old Courthouse is the former London Chartered Bank. Perfect symmetry with triangular pediment above central entrance. Architect Vahland. Built in 1882. Later an English Scottish & Australian Bank. Beside it is Dr Crosson’s Private Hospital and residence. Architect was William Vahland. Built 1875 with a cast iron balcony. Return to High St.
•Next is the modern Christ Church Anglican Church entrance but behind it is the original church built in 1865. It has a stained glass memorial window to Henry Hopwood. Architect William Vahland.
•Next left is Anstruther St. Turn left here. On the next corners another hotel built in 1895.On the opposite corner is a classical 19th century bank now the ANZ.
•In front is the Post Office with a three storey clock tower built in 1877. Government architects led by William Wardell designed this Italianate style Post office. An asymmetrical façade with a colonnaded loggia. Similar to Post Offices in Maryborough, Castlemaine, Warrnambool, Hamilton etc. Painted rendered brick. Turn right into Hare St.
•To the right on next corner is the former Presbyterian Church. St Andrews was built in 1901. Architect a local man E Castles. An impressive church with some unusual features – rose window, spire and black and white tiled sections in the gable and turreted tower. Worth the walk. Beyond the church is the Echuca state school no 208. Gothic in style with large windows for lighting. Gables facing street and arched entrance and tower. Built 1874. Some section rebuilt 1890 after a fire. Now return to the Post Office and continue along Hare St.
•Next is St Mary’s Catholic Church. Built in 1875 in red brick with freestone dressings. The tower is unusual with a spire which is almost too narrow, a brick balcony and turrets. Added in 1890.
• The five storey red brick flourmill is located at 2 Nish Street. Built in 1881 for Lawrence Kickham.
•The magnificent railway station one of the best in Victoria is at 104 Sturt St but there is a pedestrian overpass to give access from just beyond the flourmill in Nish Street. The huge locomotive shed was built when the railway opened in 1864. The station was built in 1865 in red brick with granite window sills and cornerstones. Welsh slate imported for the roof slates. The locomotive shed was partly used by the private railway company the Moama and Deniliquin railway which covered the 80 kms to Deniliquin.
•Corner Dickson and Connelly streets. Apsley House built around 1860 as the residence of Henry Hopwood. He died there in 1869. Sold to nuns of St Brigid in 1886 for a convent school.
Snapshots from our five week Summer Intensive at both White Lodge and Upper School.
©2022 The Royal Ballet School. Photographed by Rachel Cherry.
Photo of students at White Lodge Spring Intensive
©2019 The Royal Ballet School. Photographed by Rachel Cherry
Snapshots from our five week Summer Intensive at both White Lodge and Upper School.
©2022 The Royal Ballet School. Photographed by Rachel Cherry.
Tastes and smells like a boom.
#balloon #pop #looner #rubber #latex
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Copyright © 2017 by BOOM.lights Photography alias FixKnips - Baron zu Knallhausen: All rights reserved - please do not steal my photos and do not use them without my written permission.
Snapshots from our five week Summer Intensive at both White Lodge and Upper School.
©2022 The Royal Ballet School. Photographed by Rachel Cherry.
Snapshots from our five week Summer Intensive at both White Lodge and Upper School.
©2022 The Royal Ballet School. Photographed by Rachel Cherry.
San Jose Airport in Costa Rica has a relatively small international terminal, but an intensive domestic terminal nearby serving the many small air strips which provide essential communications across this rugged mountainous country. The Essential Air Services are mostly operated by SANSA using Cessna Caravans, although Costa Rica Green Airways has BN Islanders as well. Asset utilization is exceptionally high, with 20 minute turnaround (unless refuelling) or less being the norm.
SJO has an Exec ramp too and off the north-western end of the runway, a dump of withdrawn airframes from ATSA and SANSA.
Also included here are shots of SANSA operations at the remote TTQ - Tortoguero airstrip and LIM - Limon Airport, both on the Caribbean coast.
Snapshots from our five week Summer Intensive at both White Lodge and Upper School.
©2022 The Royal Ballet School. Photographed by Rachel Cherry.