Boys' day out - Lake Lyell

It was a pleasant and relaxing day out at the lake with my sons Inigo and Jaz, the recent rain had cleared but good cloud cover remained, we caught some nice fish both browns and rainbows in the upper reaches, the water level was up to around 50% capacity; we sighted pelicans, cormorants, ducks; enjoyed a fry up for lunch, shared a few home brews, went for bit of a paddle, stayed into the night for moonrise and arrived home at a late hour.

 

The lake is also the site of an important convict stockade dating from the 1830s. The young convict Thomas Cook was transported for forgery in 1831 and recorded his experiences in a chain gang stationed there in winter:
 

The dismal and dilapidated state of the habitation which exposed its inmates to the inclemency of the weather, the wretched and haggard countenances of the men, the severity of the cold, and the want of a second or even one good blanket to save the half frozen men from perishing, the idea of bedding with a second or third man as was the custom so as to create warmth, appeared to me altogether objectionable and many a tear did I shed when contemplating upon my hard fare. I was yet in the dark of the horrible propensities which the coarse and brutish language of my gang mates in calamity, coupled with their assignations one towards he other, shortly told me the greater number of them had imbibed. In referring to this horrid contagion I feel I should reserve its nauseous details out of respect for the delicacy of my readers.
Experiences of a Convict, 1840.

 

It is hardly surprising that things were just a bit too cosy for young Thomas, because the three pillars of convict society from 1788 to at least 1840 when transportation ceased, have been described as rum, sodomy and the lash (not that there is anything wrong with that!).

Although a little warmer now than it was in the 1830s, the lake's location on the Lithgow plateau produces water temperatures that are cool enough year round for salmonid stocking and it's the nearest trout fishery to Sydney, which makes it popular with locals as well as visiting anglers. Fishing link

Fishing therapy - on the water, Lake Lyell

`Nice? It's the only thing,' said the Water Rat solemnly, as he leant forward for his stroke. `Believe me, my young friend, there is nothing -- absolute nothing -- half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats. Simply messing,' he went on dreamily: `messing -- about -- in -- boats; messing -- -- '
`Look ahead, Rat!' cried the Mole suddenly.
It was too late. The boat struck the bank full tilt. The dreamer, the joyous oarsman, lay on his back at the bottom of the boat, his heels in the air.
` -- about in boats -- or with boats,' the Rat went on composedly, picking himself up with a pleasant laugh. `In or out of 'em, it doesn't matter. Nothing seems really to matter, that's the charm of it. Whether you get away, or whether you don't; whether you arrive at your destination or whether you reach somewhere else, or whether you never get anywhere at all, you're always busy, and you never do anything in particular; and when you've done it there's always something else to do, and you can do it if you like, but you'd much better not. Look here! If you've really nothing else on hand this morning, supposing we drop down the river together, and have a long day of it?'

from The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame, 1908