The Prospector of Granite Creek - part 1

Wally was, by all accounts, a perfectly normal Wombat of the New South Wales High Country. He was built like a furry, four-legged safe, had a penchant for soft root vegetables, and slept roughly twenty-two hours a day. Yet, deep beneath the granite and thick-trunked snow gums of the Monaro Plains, Wally harboured a magnificent, secret obsession: gold.

Not just any gold, mind you. Wally was a connoisseur of nuggets—heavy, lumpy, river-polished chunks of pure ochre shine. He’d first stumbled upon his prize collection when expanding his burrow system near Granite Creek, where the icy waters flowed, and old prospectors occasionally set up camp, drawn by the same glittering promise.

Wally was not interested in the prospectors' tools or supplies; only their finds.

His mischief was subtle, yet infuriatingly effective. One day, a hopeful bearded man named Silas had spent six back-breaking hours panning a gravel bar. He finally spotted a bean-sized piece of gold shimmering in his tray. He left the pan on a stump to fetch a flask of tea. In that momentary lapse, Wally, utilizing his incredibly low profile and surprising speed, zipped out of a hidden side-tunnel. He deftly nudged the pan, sending Silas’s hard-won nugget—and three others—rolling into a waiting, dirt-crusted paw. He replaced them with four dull, river-smoothed pebbles before melting back into the undergrowth.

Silas returned, stared at the pathetic pebbles, and decided the high-country light must be playing tricks on his eyes, never suspecting the culprit was a creature who subsisted primarily on grass roots.

Wally’s primary method of acquisition, however, was geological. His deep-digging ability, combined with a wombat’s natural inclination to excavate rock and soil, made him the most efficient prospector the High Country had ever seen. While digging a new escape route from a particularly annoying patch of stinging nettle, his nose bumped against something impossibly dense. It was not a root.

pexels.com; free and unattributable

He dug around it with frenzied purpose, using his powerful shoulders to lever the dirt away. The object was the size of his own head, pocked and heavy, with a crystalline seam of quartz running through the brilliant yellow metal. A monster nugget.

Wally spent the rest of the week consolidating his assets. He dragged the monstrous nugget, along with his smaller, purloined treasures, into a newly hollowed chamber, lined with soft, dry grass and sealed off with a false ceiling of compacted clay.

Wally’s only worry was not human prospectors, but the sky-high menace of Kevin, a particularly loud and observant kookaburra. Kevin, Wally suspected, knew too much. Every time Wally emerged with a dusty paw or scooted back underground with unusual haste, Kevin would swoop down onto the nearest snow gum branch and let out an enormous, mocking, cackling laugh. It was a sound that seemed to hold both amusement and accusation, always pointed directly at the mouth of Wally’s burrow. Wally would glare up, his thick neck muscles twitching with annoyance, certain that Kevin was plotting to expose the location of his shiny, secret hoard.

Resting on his mountain of wealth, Wally did not think of the high market value or the history of his collection. He simply enjoyed the weight of it, the cold, smooth feel of the metal against his rough fur, and the deep satisfaction of knowing that, here, far beneath the chilly peaks and starry skies of the NSW High Country, he was the richest, and most mischievous, wombat in the world.

 

 

Part 2 of the story is linked

An ABC Radio interview with Silas is linked

The book dust cover is linked

Reviews are linked.

 

Shalom,

Ozhamada

The Prospector of Granite Creek - Early Reviews

Review 1: The Australian Bookworm

"A Sparkling Gem of a Bushland Caper!"

This short novel is an absolute delight. Wally the wombat is the most charmingly determined anti-hero I've encountered in years. The author perfectly captures the quiet, gritty beauty of the NSW High Country, making the town of Boomerang feel like a faded photograph come to life. The slow-burn rivalry between the gold-hoarding wombat, the weary prospector Silas, and the infuriatingly astute kookaburra Kevin is pure comedy gold. The climax, involving a perfect gold sovereign and a grudging exchange, is surprisingly moving. A witty, warm tale that proves the best treasures aren't always found with a pan, but sometimes with a paw and a bit of wildlife espionage. Perfect for all ages. Highly recommended!

pexels.com; free and unattributable

Review 2: Nature's Narratives Magazine

"The Ultimate Territorial Dispute"

The Prospector of Granite Creek is a surprisingly sophisticated study of resource allocation in the Australian bush. The book masterfully uses the natural traits of its animal characters—Wally’s incredible digging power, Kevin’s aerial vantage point, and Silas’s stubborn human persistence—to drive the narrative. The writing elevates the humble wombat from a simple grazer to a subterranean geological expert. More than just a whimsical story, this is a beautiful homage to the Monaro Plains, illustrating that even in the vast quiet of the high country, the pursuit of riches leads to extraordinary drama.

Review 3: A Reflection by King Charles IV

"A Delightful Nostalgic Echo from the Bush"

One rarely expects to find one’s own youthful memories stirred by the plight of a determined wombat, yet here we are. Having spent time in the Australian bush—which, I assure you, is an education unto itself—I can attest to the sheer, magnificent cheek of its wildlife. The descriptions of the granite, the snow gums, and the biting cold of the High Country brought me right back to my school days in Victoria.

The story of Wally, the gold-obsessed wombat, and his feud with Kevin, the kookaburra, is truly splendid. That signature, mocking cackle is a sound one never forgets. One can’t help but root for the tenacious Silas, whose weary dignity perfectly encapsulates the enduring spirit of the original prospectors. This book is a wonderful reminder that beneath the quiet surface of the Australian landscape, the most thrilling, and sometimes the most profitable, mischief is constantly afoot. A lovely, utterly Australian read.

The Prospector of Granite Creek - Book dust cover

The Prospector of Granite Creek

Wally is not your average wombat. Built like a furry tank, he should be content with a diet of roots and an impressive twenty-two hours of sleep. Instead, Wally harbors a magnificent, dirty secret: he is the richest, most mischievous gold-hoarder in the entire New South Wales High Country. Beneath the snow gums, his burrow hides a fortune of purloined nuggets, including one chunk the size of his own head.

Wally's subterranean empire is threatened by two rivals:

First, there is Silas, a persistent, weary prospector from the faded gold-rush town of Boomerang, whose dwindling pan Wally occasionally pilfers.

Second, and far more annoying, is Kevin, an impossibly observant kookaburra whose mocking, screeching laughter seems to know exactly where the gold is hidden.

pexels.com; free and unattributable

The rivalry comes to a head when Wally attempts a daring raid on a perfect gold sovereign coin displayed in Boomerang, only to be exposed by Kevin’s cruel sense of timing. But when Silas finally deduces the bizarre truth—that a wombat is a better prospector than he is—a fragile, silent agreement is struck.

Can an old prospector, a territorial wombat, and a cackling bird find a way to work together?

Dive into this charming Australian caper about greed, paranoia, and the unexpected alliance forged over a single, polished coin.

The Prospector of Granite Creek - ABC Radio interview

ABC High Country: "The Prospector and the Wombat"

Program: ABC Rural Hour Host: Eliza Byrne (EB) Guest: Silas, Prospector from Boomerang

(Sound of gentle stream running, distant kookaburra chuckle)

EB: Welcome back to Rural Hour. For generations, prospectors have searched the goldfields of the Monaro Plains. But our next guest, Silas from the almost-ghost town of Boomerang, recently made a discovery unlike any other—one involving a very stubborn, four-legged rival. Silas, welcome.

Silas: Good day, Eliza.

EB: Silas, you have been panning Granite Creek for decades. Can you describe the moment you realised your bad luck was not due to poor geology, but to a wombat?

Silas: (Chuckles, a dry sound) Well, it started with the missing nuggets. Just tiny ones, you know. You would leave your pan for a minute, and when you came back, all the colour was gone, replaced by little river pebbles. I thought I was losing my mind, or perhaps it was the light. But then, there was Kevin.

EB: The kookaburra. Wally’s aerial nemesis, as we have learned.

Silas: Exactly. Kevin sits in the same old snow gum, and every time I came near a certain burrow entrance, that bird would just laugh—not a happy laugh, mind you, but a mocking, judgmental sound. And the burrow? It was immaculate. No dirt kicked out, no tracks. But after that bird exposed my failure in Boomerang, it clicked: that wombat, Wally, was a master thief and, more importantly, a master digger.

EB: So, you went to the General Store and bought a gold sovereign—a coin Wally had failed to steal the night before—as a kind of ransom?

Silas: (Sighs) A ridiculous notion, isn’t it? But I was desperate. I felt he was holding the key to the creek. I held that coin out, right in front of his door, and I said, "You've been panning my claims and you're better at it. You want this? Give me a tip."

EB: And he responded?

Silas: He did. Slowly, he pushed out the dirt plug. He looked at me, looked at the coin, and then, while Kevin was watching like a beak-driven accountant, he shuffled forward, took the sovereign, and tucked it into his cheek—just like a little money bag! Then, he used his nose to nudge a tiny seam of milky quartz running towards a bend I’d always ignored.

pexels.com; free and unattributable

EB: And did you find gold there?

Silas: Enough. Not the monster nugget Wally’s sitting on, mind you, but enough to make the effort worthwhile. Enough to keep the heart in Boomerang for another year.

EB: So now you have a symbiotic relationship: The prospector and the wombat.

Silas: We have a truce. He has his perfect coin, I have a decent claim, and Kevin has a fascinating, lifelong secret to keep. We don’t chat much, but every now and then, I leave a particularly good pumpkin near the entrance. It's a professional courtesy, you might say.

EB: That truly is remarkable, Silas. Now, before we let you go, you mentioned Boomerang. For our listeners who might not be familiar with that part of the Monaro, can you tell us a bit about the town's past? It sounds like it’s certainly seen better days.

Silas: It has. Boomerang—well, she's an old girl. The name comes from how the gold was: fickle. Men would leave, convinced the lode was over the next ridge, but they’d always loop back. Our prime was between 1860 and 1890, when it was absolute chaos. Fifteen hotels, two banks! Now, it's quiet, but the bones are still there. The granite and the iron just won't let it fade completely.

EB: And speaking of the bones of the town, what about the General Store? That must be a relic in itself if it still has the display case with the sovereign. How long has that store been operating?

Silas: The store is a survivor, that’s for sure. It’s been standing since the mid-1870s, I reckon. It’s changed hands so many times, but it’s always been the heart of the place. It used to sell shovels and dynamite; now it sells milk and postage stamps. It even doubles as our library now. It’s one of the few things, aside from the Granite Creek Hotel, that has always kept the door open. You could say the store is just as stubborn as Wally, really.

EB: A town held together by stubbornness and a shared secret about a gold-hoarding wombat. What a picture. Silas, thank you for sharing this remarkable story from the High Country.

(Sound of gentle stream running fades)

 

Book Review: Leading on the Edge by Rachel Robertson

Rachel Robertson’s "Leading on the Edge" is far more than a memoir of managing a team through a long Antarctic winter; it is a clinical yet deeply human study in risk management under conditions of absolute isolation. While the book expertly covers the complexities of leadership and team dynamics, its most profound takeaway is the stark, inescapable reality of the single pre-Winter season shipment. This annual, make-or-break logistical moment encapsulates every conceivable organisational risk, transforming the Antarctic base into a pressurised crucible for months to come.

The successful arrival of that single ship—the last touchpoint with the outside world before the ice solidifies—determines the inherent risk for the entire overwintering period. If a critical piece of equipment fails to arrive, the team doesn’t simply wait for a replacement; they must engineer a solution with what they have, or the mission, and potentially lives, are jeopardised. This creates a cascade of financial, operational, and safety risks that are locked in the moment the ship departs. There is no “residual risk” to manage here, only the inability to mitigate.

The book forces the reader to confront the psychological toll of this non-negotiable isolation. If a team member develops a severe medical condition or suffers a mental health crisis, the infrastructure for rescue is simply gone. The medical risk shifts from treatable to potentially catastrophic, placing an immense burden on the station doctor, whose consequence rating on any given incident instantly jumps to 'Critical.' This absolute lack of a safety net means that minor interpersonal conflicts, which would be an annoyance elsewhere, morph into high-consequence Reputation and Operational risks, capable of undermining morale and mission success for the remaining ten months.

Robertson shines a light on how this logistics risk elevates the importance of every single control. Inventory management stops being a clerical task and becomes a survival imperative; every gasket, every spare part, and every food ration must be accounted for, as there is no opportunity for correction. "Leading on the Edge" is a compelling reminder that the true nature of risk is defined not just by what might go wrong, but by the options—or lack thereof—available when it does. It is essential reading not only for adventurers but for any leader who understands that effective management is fundamentally about anticipating and controlling the worst-case scenario.

Shalom,

Ozhamada

Note: this page links from my Goodreads account.

Urgent Penalty Notice

Someone close to me has slowly read a library book.

On the occasion of the third renewal of the borrowing period I arranged for them to get a surprise. This was delivered to them on library letterhead. 

There was shock and then laughter.

= = = = = =  

 

Subject: Urgent Penalty Notice: Mandatory Public Address - Re-borrowing of The Hiding Place

Dear [insert name]

This letter serves as a formal notification regarding your persistent and excessive re-borrowing of the book, The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom (940.53482.TEN).

While we appreciate your dedication to this inspiring work, your repeated renewals have prevented numerous other patrons from accessing it, disrupting the fundamental principle of shared community resources at the Randwick Library.

Therefore, as per the little-known but strictly enforced "Three-Strike Renewal Rule" (effective only for books on the Holocaust/WWII and books about cats), you are required to serve a mandatory penalty.

---

The Penalty: Mandatory Book Review and Public Talk

You are hereby required to attend, prepare, and conduct a public talk reviewing The Hiding Place.

• Date and Time: Wednesday, November 20^th 2025 at 9:30 AM sharp.
• Location: Randwick Library
• Address: 35 Anzac Pde, Maroubra, NSW 2033.
• Reporting: Upon arrival, you must report immediately to the Head Librarian, Mrs. Gertrude Reader, at the Information Desk. She will escort you to the auditorium.

---

Talk Requirements and Analysis

The talk is scheduled to be one hour in duration (inclusive of a 15-minute question and answer period) to an anticipated audience of 100 local high school students and members of the Senior Book Club.

You must rigorously analyse the text, addressing at least the following key thematic areas in your discussion:

1. The Resilience of Faith: Examine how Corrie's deep Calvinist faith sustained her, her family, and her fellow prisoners in the face of absolute evil. Discuss specific scriptural references used as coping mechanisms.
2. The Power of Forgiveness: Detail the famous post-war encounter between Corrie and one of her former prison guards, and analyse the theological and psychological complexity of her act of forgiveness.
3. Hiding in Plain Sight: Discuss the logistical brilliance and inevitable folly of hiding Jewish people in the Ten Boom home ("the Beje"). You must diagram the "secret room" from memory.
4. The Smallest Acts of Resistance: Go beyond the major acts and discuss the importance of tiny, morale-boosting gestures—like sharing a single vitamin or a smuggled deck of playing cards—within the concentration camp environment.
5. The Role of the Blue Sweater: Provide an in-depth literary analysis of Betsie Ten Boom's blue sweater as a symbol of hope, practicality, and ultimate surrender to the divine will. (Note: A poorly managed sweater discussion will be considered an immediate failure.)

Resources for Diagramming: To assist with the "secret room" diagram (Requirement #3), a large easel and a single, well-chewed piece of purple chalk will be provided. The Head Librarian insists on a vintage aesthetic.

 

Failure to attend or conduct a sufficiently engaging and scholarly presentation will result in a permanent, system-wide ban on all future book renewals and a mandatory assignment to re-catalogue all gardening books.

Be advised that the Senior Book Club is not for the faint of heart. Their members are voracious readers who meet weekly, not monthly, and approach every book with a forensic level of scrutiny. They have collectively read the entire Western Canon multiple times and will not tolerate superficial analysis, misplaced semicolons, or weak arguments about the function of secondary characters. They come prepared with indexed notes and are the primary reason the Q&A segment is usually extended.

 

We look forward to your illuminating presentation. Please confirm your receipt of this letter and your understanding of the penalty requirements by the end of this week.

Sincerely,

Collette Paige

Senior Circulation and Sanctions Officer

Randwick Library

 

Access and egress congestion

I keep a close eye on instances where a significant number of people are inconvenienced. Last Saturday, the public's attendance at a ticketed event in Sydney, NSW, was soured by poor transport planning. 

On Saturday attendees to the RAAF Richmond Airshow 2025 | Air Force found themselves on long traffic queues or stuck on trains. The organisers of the event possibly failed to consider the transport implications of bringing 40,000 people to a site that rarely handles such capacity.

 

Here is a summary of how the organisers may have thought through risk considerations:

The primary risk realised at the RAAF Richmond Airshow was Severe Access and Egress Congestion, leading to significant reputational damage and a degraded patron experience. This materialised as extensive traffic bottlenecks on approach roads (like Hawkesbury Valley Way) and critical failure of the public transport strategy. The specific hazards were inadequate road infrastructure capacity for the expected high volume of attendees, compounded by overwhelmed train services at Clarendon and ineffective on-site car park management, where patrons reported hour-long queues just to exit. Shuttle buses, intended as a key mitigation, also became stuck in the general gridlock.

Future mitigation must prioritise a holistic Transport Management Plan (TMP), developed in partnership with Transport for NSW. Key strategies include:

1. Integrated Capacity: Mandating integrated ticketing for free, high-frequency public transport (trains and dedicated express shuttles) to drastically reduce private vehicle dependency.
2. Infrastructure Coordination: Implementing temporary road closures and counter-flow systems on key arterial routes before 7:00 am and during the 4:00 pm egress peak.
3. Operational Control: Deploying dynamic traffic control with trained marshals to actively manage the car park exit flow and separating shuttle bus routes from private vehicle congestion.
4. Real-Time Communication: Utilising Live Traffic NSW and social media for immediate updates, guiding drivers toward less congested routes or advising them to use designated park-and-ride options.

Shalom,

Ozhamada