Gelantipy is a locality in the

Shire of East Gippsland The Shire of East Gippsland is a local government area in Gippsland, Victoria, Australia, located in the eastern part of the state. It covers an area of and as of the had a population of 48,715. It includes the towns of Bairnsdale, Benambra ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. Mount Gelantipy, notable for its old growth alpine ash forests is 12 km. east within the

Snowy River National Park The Snowy River National Park is a national park located in the Alpine and East Gippsland regions of Victoria, Australia. The national park is situated approximately northeast of Melbourne and southwest of Canberra, south of the Black-Allan ...

. The Karoonda Park hostel on Gelantipy Road includes a local bus stop and unstaffed fuel service (business hours). The Gelantipy Cemetery, Public Hall and Reserve are several kilometres south, alongside Butchers Creek.

History

The

traditional owners Native title is the set of rights, recognised by Australian law, held by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander groups or individuals to land that derive from their maintenance of their traditional laws and customs. These Aboriginal title rig ...

of the lands that are now called Gelantipy are the

Gunai people The Kurnai () people Aboriginal Australian nation of south-east Australia. They are the Traditional owners, Traditional Custodians of most of present-day Gippsland and much of the southern slopes of the Victorian Alps. The Kurnai nation is comp ...

. The Scot Edward Bayliss established the Gelantipy pastoral run in 1839 for his employer Edward Lord, a merchant. Gelantipy was a mining area in addition to timber milling and livestock production. The East Gippsland Shire Thematic Environmental History (2005) says: "Traces of silver and lead were found as early as 1857 in the Buchan district. Over the ensuing years, a number of companies mined in the area, around Back Creek, Murrindal, Mt Tara, Canni Creek, Gelantipy and Mt Deddick areas. The government provided a

battery Battery or batterie most often refers to: * Electric battery, a device that provides electrical power * Battery (crime), a crime involving unlawful physical contact Battery may also refer to: Energy source * Battery indicator, a device whic ...

but most mining ceased by 1907. Little remains to mark the sites of these mines. …At the Campbells Knob Mine near Gelantipy, where silver was mined in the 1890s, two mine adits are visible but no trace remains of the small settlement near the mine." The history also records that there was a sawmill at Gelantipy in the period after World War Two. This was operated by Gibbs Bright & Co.

Bushfires A wildfire, forest fire, or a bushfire is an unplanned and uncontrolled fire in an area of Combustibility and flammability, combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identified as a ...

affected the region in 1952, 2003 and 2014. In 2018 an upgraded CFA fire station was opened next to the district Bush Nursing Centre. Frank Moon, who developed the

Buchan Caves The Buchan Caves are a group of limestone caves that include the Royal Cave and the Fairy Cave, located south-west of , in the East Gippsland region of the Australian state of Victoria. They have a total length of between , and six entrances. ...

for tourism in the early 1900s, was born in Gelantipy.

Seldom Seen roadhouse

Seldom Seen is a remote locality in the Victorian high country, just north of Gelantipy and close to the Snowy River. The Seldom Seen Roadhouse was located near 5373 Gelantipy Road, Wulgulmerang East, about 30 km. from the NSW border. Between Buchan in Victoria and

Jindabyne Jindabyne () is a town in south-east New South Wales, Australia that overlooks Lake Jindabyne near the Snowy Mountains, in Snowy Monaro Regional Council. It is a popular holiday destination year round, especially in winter. This is due to its p ...

in New South Wales, the Seldom Seen Roadhouse was the only place for fuel along the Snowy. "Mobil" Dave Woodburn was the owner. The owner relied on the small tourist trade during the 1990s and 2000s. Before the alpine bushfires of 2003,"After the inferno, hope, kindness, and red tape"
''The Age'' 22 February 2003 Seldom Seen Roadhouse was a typical 1960s-era petrol station. By March 2005, the roadhouse was trading from a caravan, which was then replaced with a more permanent structure. Unfortunately that trade was steadily diminishing. A few tourist buses from Melbourne would make the trip through Seldom Seen daily. This bus route also stopped around 2010. Dave Woodburn died in 2012, and since then the area has been cleared; all that remains is a hut and a Telstra payphone.

Climate

Due to its south-facing location, it is often much cooler at Gelantipy during the daytime than at higher elevations further north (such as at

), particularly in the summer. Snowfalls are common throughout the year, sometimes falling in late spring to early summer.

References

{{authority control Towns in Victoria (state) Shire of East Gippsland