The Petticoat Safari - Have you ever seen anything so wonderful?

News from a more enlightened era: Have you ever seen anything so wonderful?
This is what they are taking away.

The Petticoat Safari - Woman's Weekly Wed 23 Oct 1957
(Higher definition images available via the Link)

"Of course I climbed the Rock," said Mrs. Kelty, five times a grandmother. "That' what I came for. And I've taken a pebble back for each of the grandchildren."

First girl to climb the mountainside was Evelyn Camm, former dressmaker, now a Melbourne tram conductress, who said balancing on trams could have helped her balance on the Rock.
And first "safari" girls to write names on paper, enclosing them in jam-tins or bottles at the stone cairn, were Colleen Lewin, of Tasmania, and Victorians Esma Davis, Jean Mason, and Nancie Reed. Lying around, sucking mandarins and admiring the view and the soaring eagles above, we were all feeling pretty smug about our achievement, when over the rise came grandmother Mrs. Sarah Esnouf, of Melbourne, helped by Peter Watts and Ian Lovegrove. Mrs. Esnouf, one of the oldest in the party, joined us, crying, "How exhilarating. Have you ever seen anything so wonderful? And look at the beautiful wildflower I picked on the way."

"I'll always remember the view, the curve, and the distance looking down, and the most wonderful sight of all the boys bringing Sarah to the top."

Courageous Grandmother Mrs Sarah Esnouf owning the climb is inspirational! It's particularly empowering as according to the "owners" the climb is supposed to be for males only. It also makes a joke of the over the top health and safety warnings that National Parks use to deter climbers these days.

No chain ... no worries!

Comments

Mount Warning: Aboriginal claims about summit climb are contested

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Mt Warning - Summit signing, time capsule

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Chain and post removed at Mount Warning Summit Walk

The current situation is a disgrace and an insult to Park users and all Australians. The Minister must instigate an independent audit and review of NSW NPWS management of the Park and develop a brighter vision of the Park's future. The walk to the summit of Mt Warning in northern NSW is an iconic experience of the natural world. Views from the summit on a clear day provide an unrivaled vista over the Tweed River Valley, lush rainforests, eroded volcanic landscape and beaches on the coast. They fill visitors with a sense of awe and wonder. From a geological perspective, it is arguably the best-preserved erosion caldera in the world. The 4.4km (8.8km return) track was completed in 1909 but the hike was firmly established as a popular tourist attraction in 1929 with the declaration of the area around the mountain as a National Park. The opening ceremony was attended at the summit by 200 people, some rode horses up the trail. The standard of the early track construction is extreme

Right to Climb

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