The Patch Smiths Creek

“The Patch” as coined by the owners - is a 7 acre rural subdivision of a previously larger cattle grazing property. It is likely that the evolution and composition of the land at The Patch followed the typical course of much of the rural land in the region. 

23 Million years ago Wollumbin / Mt Warning erupted, sending lava flows from the summit to the coast, creating rugged and mountainous terrain, rich soils and some world-famous surf breaks as sand deposited in the northern side of rocky headlands. In the intervening tens of thousands of millennia since then, primordial rainforest reestablished and eventually created a dense and contiguous blanket over the rich, rugged and gradually eroding terrain. The biodiversity became some of the most diverse on earth. 

Today, the relatively small amount of remnant rainforest that remains intact is referred to as Gondwana Rainforest, indicating that it persisted through the most recent ice age and the species found there are direct descendants of the land at the time of Gondwana landmass, between 1 billion and 542 million years ago. By comparison, that makes the Volcano a relatively new feature on the horizon. 

Aboriginal people arrived to the region at least 22 000 thousand years ago. The combined favourable elements for life; high and consistent rainfall, permanent water, rich fishing and hunting grounds and a comparably hospitable climate being mayor draw-cards for this early civilisation. 

The first Europeans drifted up the nearby coastline only 250 years ago, around the same time that North America gained its independence from England and so ending a long period of access to that immense and much-needed land of natural resources.

The first European land-based incursion beyond exploration was ostensibly to survey the land, followed closely by a period of high-value timber extraction. Red Cedar or Toona ciliata was the prized timber of the region, and while relatively rare and sparse in density, it had the locally uncommon and unfortunate trait of deciduous leaves. These would change colour at a certain time of year, and so give it’s location away when spotted from hilltops. Once it was mostly gone, other species of similarly valuable characteristics were also sought after, exploited, and reduced in range, number and genomic diversity. 

The land was divided up, and sold cheaply or given away to pioneering farmers, mostly in the nascent dairy industry. It usually came with the obligation to completely denude the land of the almost impenetrable native vegetation. This led to severe erosion and degradation of the soil and so the eventual reduced productivity of the farmland. The death knell to the dairy industry was a legislative change in England, the primary customer, causing the industry to collapse and condemning the expansive and still relatively fertile cleared grazing country to an uncertain future.  Much of the farmland was abandoned or grazing pressure reduced to a point where it was allowed to spontaneously revegetate with a mix of fast-growng, short-lived pioneering native species and the recently introduced exotics. The introduced Cinnamomum camphora (Camphor Laurel) was quick to establish and become the dominant tree, find its way on water and wings to the fields and fencelines of the far-flung corners of the region. 

To combat the reduced fertility of the pastures, a variety of introduced pasture grasses were introduced and have made their way into a majority of the open grazing country, establishing quickly and with the suppression of fire and alteration of preexisting conditions, often out-competing the native grasses. These have either been selectively preferences by set-stocked livestock and grazed out, or aren’t sufficiently tenacious in character to compete with the exotic grasses, forbs and woody weeds. 

This mix of camphor, exotic pasture, a few struggling natives, lawns, a house garden of unkempt and uncomplimentary diversity and a handful of neglected but still remarkably productive fruit trees is the state of the property as it was taken on by the new owners.