This is my search for the past. My passion for the pioneers, their lives, their homes and their struggle against the elements. We all have history, our lives today will be tomorrows history as we forge forward ever evolving. Life is getting faster and we seem to lack the time to sit with our predecessors and get their stories. I was fortunate to have had the privilege to sit with my Great Grandfather and hear his story first hand.
As a teenager I was amazed by his stories of his treck from Muddy Creek south of Hamilton, through Horsham, Dimboola, and Nhill. He then turned north crossing the netting fence and camping where the town of Rainbow now stands looking for a selection, then moving on to Nullawil where he selected the block north of the town with the Calder Highway on its east and Burgins Road on the south Boundary. Granddad was John Burgin. For this reason I have had an interest in the Mallee all of my life and today I research it for my own pleasure.
I hope you find the information and pictures on these pages interesting as you discover what it took to tame this land and the men and women that achieved it.
