29 October 2017

Donald Trump’s “draining the swamp” metaphor reminded me that I had typed up the 1923 account of “The Great Kooweerup Swamp: Bygone Days” by ‘Tarago’ (Joseph Kennedy) on my old Amstrad 6128 computer in 1987.

My dad, Jim Kavanagh, had Bill Parish’s 1979 re-serialised 15 episodes from the Bunyip newspaper. I was so taken by the manner in which ‘Tarago’ recounts the story that I bothered to two-finger ‘hunt and peck’ the story out as my first serious attempt at word processing.

I’ve scanned my printed copy in, changed the font, and added four pictures from Denise M Nest’s excellent “Call of the Bunyip” (1990).

I’ve not seen it on the web, so I publish it for those who are interested to read a really great story: the valiant undertaking  of draining and settling West Gippsland’s Kooweerup Swamp during the 1890s depression.

Here ’tis:  The Great Kooweerup Swamp