While on a whitewater rafting trip to find out the truth about an ...

WHITEWATER R AF TING
Ian “Thommo” Thompson,
the hermit’s son
“Pop” Thompson, the
hermit himself
Ian Thompson displays
photos of his father
Pop Thompson’s
old paddlewheel
generator
Pop’s shack, left, with
modern addition
46
Thompson. It turns out that Ian’s dad, Pop,
moved down to this patch of bush in the
early ’70s. That’s when the story began.
Access then was extremely difficult.
Getting here required a trip down a rough
logging road followed by a lengthy hike.
It’s 44km from Corryong and you won’t
find it on Google Maps. Pop set up a simple
shelter and negotiated with the landowner
How to do it:
Linton Smith’s Rafting
Australia offers guided trips
through the Murray Gates. The
company can sort out your entire
adventure, including transport from
Melbourne and accommodation near
or on the river, but you’ll need to do
a less-intense paddle or two with
Rafting Australia first. tel: (0)2 6077
1164, www.raftingaustralia.com
to buy a few hectares, including a creek.
To supply needed power, he arranged for
a micro-scale hydro-electricity plant to be
built from a paddle wheel and bits of an old
washing machine. It was wired to an array
of lead-acid batteries.
Ian doesn’t know what year he was
born, but he reckons he’s about 75. Pop
died in 2000 when he was in his early 90s.
“Still a grumpy old bastard,” Julie says.
The property was passed down to Ian
and it’s now an extended-family holiday
spot. There’s Pop Thomson memorabilia
throughout the three-room hut, but no one
lives here permanently anymore.
Ian says his dad was a champion
rifleman but he never went to war and was
never even called up. He worked on the
railroads, where his labours and those of
others like him were vital to the war effort.
“Pop was basically a hermit,” Diane says.
“He had a couple of Shetland ponies, dogs
and he just loved living here on his own.
He knew how to ‘tickle’ the fish. In the dark
areas, you creep up, reach under and tickle
them and you’re able to pick them up.”
It’s not entirely clear why Pop became
a hermit. If the family knows the reason,
they’re not saying. They do tell me that
his marriage broke up and that he came
here to escape. Julie says it was “To repent
his sins.” Whatever Pop’s reasons, by the
time he had embroidered himself into the
fabric of local lore, he had already become
well plugged in to the untamed wilderness
here. It’s much the same for anyone who
likes to get out into the bush – including us.
We’re just four happy paddlers who made it
through the first run of the season, leaving
the Murray Gates swinging on their hinges.
Tiger Airways has multiple daily
flights to and from Melbourne.
Book flights at www.tigerairways.
com
photography Andrew Harris
tiger tales jul-aug