We got to the bushland property without sight of it. Having done a traditional walkabout, we moved east over to Glen Innes and the festival - sporting my Douglas kilt of course. To expand our knowledge of the Glen Innes attractions, we visited the information centre.  On the wall was a large scale pictorial map, and there, 20 miles or so to the south was a red marker dot, and the name - Maybole.  Discussion with Dorothy in the centre provided road directions, and Barrie aided and abetted my quest by heading down the following day.  Sure enough, the sign on the main highway had disappeared, but we kept going up the hilly dirt roads.  Perseverance brought us to a direction sign pointing rewardingly to......... Maybole!  So, on we travelled, with Barrie's little car raising lots of dust in rolling hills of the high dividing range.

Bumping along, I kept looking out for the elusive Maybole.  Then came another sign, this time pointing back the way we had come!  All we had passed were a couple of remote farms.  So, where was Maybole?   We stopped at the entrance to one of the farms, and I went to the buildings to seek information.  No luck - the farm house was derelict.  Meanwhile Barrie who had stayed with the car managed to get the attention of a rare passing driver who turned out to be the district postman.  From this source of local knowledge came confirmation that we had been as close as it gets to Maybole.   It was a lovely rural area, and we had enjoyed the run, but Glen Innes called again for another event

Next day, we visited the Glen Innes community museum, contained in a former hospital building.  It was well set out and maintained.  We had been told about a couple of historic farm tractors at the museum, but saw no trace of them.  A word with the curators led to a very helpful archivist coming out of her office and taking us to a locked shed to see our tractors.  I took the opportunity to quiz her about the elusive Maybole, and she responded by confirming my fears that Maybole community was no more.  

That was not the end of the quest, as our museum friend confirmed that Maybole had once boasted a recognisable population and even a primary school.  The school was recorded as having existed from 1887 to 1925.  A card was produced and photocopied for me. (See below)  It also transpired that Dorothy from the information centre actually lived up in the very area, in the adjoining 'parish' of Ben Lomond.  Does that make sense?  Directions were given on how to reach Dorothy's place through the surviving village of Ben Lomond.

Maybole school and area historical notes	School in Maybole 1887-1925	Former site of Maybole school

On the following day, when finally departing from Glen Innes, we diverted up through Ben Lomond, and beyond to seek out Dorothy.  Eventually we found her and husband John at their lonely home, aptly named ‘Silent Grove’.  We were made welcome and out came more facts about Maybole.  The school had been removed and partly used in the construction of a farm building, but we could find its site next to two tall pine trees.  Dorothy copied a document relating to local schools for me. (above)  In the area were the remains of a private cemetery.  Apparently only the name 'Wright' could be discerned on the graves

With our further information, we drove back to our previous scene of exploration.  Eventually we saw the two tall pines, but no trace of the former school.  We did not attempt to find the graves as time was pressing to continue our journey back south.  The scenery was beautiful in the remote and silent range of hills.  One of our contacts had confirmed that the range was formerly volcanic.  There was also a tale that there was a distinct "bowl" shape at Maybole, and even a hint that some had confused the derivation of Maybole through the phonetics.

Back in Sydney, I did what I should have done before the journey north. On Googling ‘Maybole Australia’, there was the map location and a couple of photos of the area and sign. There was a comment from Ann Williams (see story below) confirming that she too had found the site but "there wasn't much there".