Friday, December 09, 2011

Malcolm Naden & New England's fugitive country

Even though I have completed the short three part series that began with So you want to be a writer part 1, I find the issues still niggling away at my mind. However, my focus has now shifted more towards making extra income from my own writing as compared to writing done for others. However, I won't bore you you with this beyond noting a link provided by kvd, Would You Pay Dymocks $499 To Publish Your Book?

Here in NSW, the exploits of Malcolm Nadentext are attracting great media interest. The photo shows armed police at Nowendoc in the search for 38 year old Naden who has been on the run since 2005. If you read through these stories, you will get a feel for the case. 

The map shows just where Nowendoc is in broad terms.
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I know this country reasonably well in the sense that I often drive through it on my way to and from Armidale. I have actually spoken to a local CWA group at the community hall where the police have made their headquarters, while we used to stop there so that the kids could use the adjoining bush toilets.

Nowendoc itself lies at the southern end of the New England Tablelands. To the east, the rugged escarpment runs from the Barrington Tops in the south north. A number of major rivers have their headwaters in the country around Nowendoc. It's beautiful country, but quite rough.

This is fugitive country. The road up from the coast past Nowendoc is named Thunderbolt's Way after bushranger Captain Thunderbolt. The Aboriginal bushrangers Jimmy and Joe Governor were hunted across this country. Their story was immortalised in Thomas Keneally's book, the Chant of Jimmy Blacksmith and in the subsequent Fred Schepisi film based on the book.

Malcolm Naden is obviously a very skilled bushman to have survived in the way he has. I must say, though, that I never gave him a thought  when driving through or stopping in the area. It's a slightly odd thought.   

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