The High Plains of south-eastern Australia are a sub-region, or more strictly a string of adjacent areas, in and adjacent to the
Australian Alps
The Australian Alps is a mountain range in southeast Australia. It comprises an interim Australian bioregion, , part of the
Great Dividing Range
The Great Dividing Range, also known as the East Australian Cordillera or the Eastern Highlands, is a cordillera system in eastern Australia consisting of an expansive collection of mountain ranges, plateaus and rolling hills, that runs rough ...
. They were long used for summer
grazing
In agriculture, grazing is a method of animal husbandry whereby domestic livestock are allowed outdoors to roam around and consume wild vegetations in order to convert the otherwise indigestible (by human gut) cellulose within grass and other ...
, in some cases since the 1830s. Much of the sub-region are now
national park
A national park is a nature park, natural park in use for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state dec ...
s.
Location and features
Consisting of a weathered
plateau
In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; ), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. Often one or more sides ha ...
divided by deep gorges, the High Plains region provided natural paddocks. The higher areas were natural grassed pastures, and lower areas were cleared of the native forest by settlers, some of whom had grazing licenses while others were merely squatters. Fences were necessary only for stockyards, as during summer the cattle had no incentive to wander into the forests or down the steep gorges. However it was essential to muster the cattle in autumn before colder weather, and even snowfalls, drove them down into the gorges. If this happened because of unseasonably early snow, or other factors, the cattle might be lost or might go
feral
A feral () animal or plant is one that lives in the wild but is descended from domesticated individuals. As with an introduced species, the introduction of feral animals or plants to non-native regions may disrupt ecosystems and has, in some ...
.
European history
Droving
Droving is the practice of walking livestock over long distances. It is a type of herding. Droving stock to market—usually on foot and often with the aid of dogs—has a very long history in the Old World. An owner might entrust an agent to deli ...
cattle to and from these summer pastures (a practice known as ''
yaylag
Yaylak (russian: яйлаг) is a summer highland pasture associated with transhumance pastoralism in several Central and Western Asian communities. There are different variants of yaylak pastoralism forms of alpine transhumance, some of which ar ...
pastoralism'') presented enormous challenges of horsemanship. In this part of the world, the easiest trails normally follow the ridges, not the valleys. Attempts by early explorers to follow the valleys ended in sheer cliffs. However, persuading cattle to climb a narrow spur in order to follow a ridge route required skill and courage. Such routes were also unsuitable for all but the strongest wheeled vehicles, and slow and risky even for
bullock drays, so pack horses were the more common way of transporting freight.
Some of Australia's favourite stories and poems originated in this area, notably "
The Man from Snowy River The Man from Snowy River may refer to:
* "The Man from Snowy River" (poem), an 1890 Australian poem by Banjo Paterson.
* '' The Man from Snowy River and Other Verses'' an 1895 poetry collection by Banjo Paterson (including the above)
* ''The Man ...
" by
Banjo Paterson
Andrew Barton "Banjo" Paterson, (17 February 18645 February 1941) was an Australian bush poet, journalist and author. He wrote many ballads and poems about Australian life, focusing particularly on the rural and outback areas, including the ...
.
References
Further reading
*
{{coord missing, Victoria (Australia)
Victorian Alps
Plains of Australia
Great Dividing Range