Roebourne and Point Sampson: Staircase to the moon, petroglyphs, very big trains, ships and wildflowers.

We might have to add to the name of this blog. Maybe it should be called TJ’s Sunday blog that seems to be the day that most of them get published.

As I touched on in my last blog, we have settled in this area for a couple of weeks, firstly in Roebourne and now in Point Sampson, enjoying the warm weather (28 to 30 degrees each day) and the cool nights. It’s absolutely not the Gold Coast or Noosa or Broome and that’s what we like – a relaxed lifestyle in an excellent caravan park, nice neighbours, good weather, and plenty of great natural attractions to explore.

The Cove Caravan Park at Point Sampson is one of the best we’ve stayed in; we first stayed here three years ago. It’s architect designed with spacious sites, excellent landscaping, nice green lawns, a great camp kitchen, a rec room, a barbecue get-together area and well above-average facilities. It’s thankfully not like a Big 4 park with stuff we don’t use like a swimming pool, spa, jumping pillow etc. it’s just a nice comfortable park.  We don’t make a practice of booking ahead but we do for this park. We like it here.

The staircase to the moon expedition was a laugh. I set up near the Cossack lookout, sitting in the prickly spinifex well away from a gaggle of young and old spectators who somehow thought they could take photos of the event on their fancy smart phones and on their digital cameras…..wrong.  The only effect they had on my efforts was that their flashes kept going off as I was trying to do my time exposures. At least I managed to get a couple of reasonable shots between their flashes!

WARNING, the next section is a bit of a lecture on petroglyphs, with some editorial comment!

Karratha is about 40Km down the road from Roebourne and Dampier is another 20 Km or so further.

Just down the road from Karratha heading towards Dampier there is a turnoff to the Burrup Peninsular and then another turnoff to the right to Hearson Cove. Just before Hearson Cove there is a nondescript dirt track leading off the gravel. About 150 metres along the dirt track there are some small, old and faded signs indicating that there are some aboriginal engravings in the area. This is a slight understatement; experts believe there could be up to 1,000,000 engravings in the general area. The signs have been placed by the “Department of Aboriginal Sites”, more of them later.

I have done a little reading on these engravings, called petroglyphs and it makes an interesting story. The following stuff is largely plagiarised from “Making Their Mark: Pilbara rock art” by Roz Hagan taken from “Landscope” a publication by CALM WA from 2006

The big piles of large irregularly shaped red rocks that hold the engravings are granophyre.  According to Geoscience Australia, granophyre is defined thus “Granophyre, commonly porphyritic; remelted granite. Formerly referred to as "Dampier Granophyre". Intrudes along the basal unconformity of the Fortescue Group; intrudes the Hearson Monzogranite outcrops along the Burrup Peninsula and Dampier Archipelago islands.

The areas of granophyre rock on which the local indigenous peoples, the Yaburara and possibly their close relations the Ngarluma engraved these petroglyphs look just like rubble piles left over from mining activity, but the stacks / piles are all naturally formed and similar piles exist right throughout the Pilbara.

The site was originally Dampier Island, part of the Dampier archipelago, named by the Yaburara peoples “Marujuga” meaning “hip bone sticking out”. It was not convenient to those developing the area for it to remain an island so, in the 1960’s, a causeway was built to give access to the area so an ore loading facility  and a new town (Dampier) could be built.  

The following are my thoughts only

I get the impression that the powers that be in this area are a little embarrassed at their past poor protection of the area and the removal of many of these petroglyphs; perhaps that’s why their presentation is still fairly low key these days. Here is my theory. The Department of Aboriginal Sites was probably put into place to ensure that Conservation and Land Management (CALM) or their predecessors were not able to protect the site from disturbance and development, so the ore loading facility and gas hub could be built, well, that’s my theory!

There are up to 1,000,000 (yes, that’s one million) petroglyphs and some are thought to be up to 18,000 years old. Many, of course, are very faded. Some engravings were noticed by those looking at the site as an ore loading facility in the 1960’s but luckily it was decided to build the facility at Dampier, a little further down the road.

 The petroglyphs were also noticed by those charged with building the nearby North West Shelf gas processing facility in the 1980s but this time they  actually moved some 1,800 of the engraved boulders and placed them in a compound near Hearson Cove, thus removing them from their historical context and restricting access to them. I guess that’s progress!!  Clearly the area was not adequately be protected by the Department of Aboriginal Sites. End of my theory.

That was a pretty big call, considering the rocks themselves were probably formed between 2,500 and 3,600 million years ago when the earth’s crust was still very young.  I understand that this area represents one of the world’s best preserved fragments of ancient continental crust – one of the earth’s earliest continents.

The petroglyphs served a variety of purposes for the Yaburara people. Some are believed part of “increase” sites for particular species or events. The indigenous people though that depicting animal and plant species in this way ensured their survival for the future and the continuity of the seasons. Other petroglyphs relate to ancestral creation beings, spirit figures, ceremonies and rites of passage.

It is true that the area had little significance to the local indigenous people after about 1868 but once again we see the hand of the whites involved. Around that time at least 60 of the Yaburara people were murdered on the islands in a series of raids over some days, raids that became known as the Flying Foam Massacre (the Flying Foam again!). Incidentally, the CALM document quoted extensively in this blog says that 26 Yaburara were massacred.

The ABC’s Four Corners said on 20^th March 2000:

Title: SECRET WHITE MEN'S BUSINESS.
Stephen McDonnell (presenter)
This is a story with a deep history. It begins back in 1868 at this windswept place in the Pilbara. These standing stones were erected by Aborigines as a memorial to a massacre. Here two teams of white men slaughtered almost an entire tribe of Aborigines.

In a planned attack, at least 60 men, women and children from the Yaburara tribe were murdered in one day. The skulls of children with bullet holes in them were left behind. 
The massacre is part of a colonial history in the West that saw thousands of Aborigines killed in a controlled and organised fashion.

These killings at the Burrup Peninsula became known as the Flying Foam Massacre: An act which completely destroyed a language, a culture, a people EXCERPT FROM 4 CORNERS CONCLUDES

Just Google ”The Flying Foam Massacre” for a number of different points of view.

The incident is known to have caused enormous losses to the Yaburara people and in the following period, the area containing the petroglyphs lay practically abandoned until the 1960’s when development began, as described above. It’s a sad story.

That’s enough history and serious stuff for one blog !!!

We took a trip to Harding Dam, the local water supply. It also has piles of rock similar to that described above and they also look like something left over from mining. There is no mention of petroglyphs there, well not so far anyway!

The name of the game in this area is, of course mining and the transport of the iron ore to an endless number of bulk carriers that assemble off the coast on a daily basis. The Pilbara railway is an impressive and very busy line carrying iron ore from the mine to the ship loading facilities, in this case Port Lambert, near Point Sampson and Dampier. The track to Harding Dam runs beside large sections of the railway and the huge ore trains are a wonderful sight, I love trains nearly as much as birds. One train heading back to the mine was hauling more than 320 empty trucks, marvellous to watch.

Parts of the railway we saw are dual track, no doubt a siding allowing trains to pass one another on their trips to and from the loader. Another train hauling ore to the loader was pulling 163 loaded trucks, no doubt quite a few dollars’ worth of ore for the ships to take away to China or Japan. As I write this, three or maybe four huge ships are being loaded at the nearby Port Lambert while six others are anchored a little out to sea awaiting their turn. 

There’s no doubt that WA has the best displays of wildflowers. Even now, when the wildflower season is yet to start, there are masses of Sturt Desert Pea and large displays of Mulla Mulla in the areas surrounding Point Sampson. This year’s wildflower season is tipped to be one of the best for some time and we look forward to following some of the wildflower trails towards the south…. But not just yet, we’ll wait till it warms up a bit!

Next Stop Onslow and then we are going bush for a week.

 

    

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Roebourne and Point Sampson: Staircase to the moon, petroglyphs, very big trains, ships and wildflowers.

We might have to add to the name of this blog. Maybe it should be called TJ’s Sunday blog that seems to be the day that most of them get published.

As I touched on in my last blog, we have settled in this area for a couple of weeks, firstly in Roebourne and now in Point Sampson, enjoying the warm weather (28 to 30 degrees each day) and the cool nights. It’s absolutely not the Gold Coast or Noosa or Broome and that’s what we like – a relaxed lifestyle in an excellent caravan park, nice neighbours, good weather, and plenty of great natural attractions to explore.

The Cove Caravan Park at Point Sampson is one of the best we’ve stayed in; we first stayed here three years ago. It’s architect designed with spacious sites, excellent landscaping, nice green lawns, a great camp kitchen, a rec room, a barbecue get-together area and well above-average facilities. It’s thankfully not like a Big 4 park with stuff we don’t use like a swimming pool, spa, jumping pillow etc. it’s just a nice comfortable park.  We don’t make a practice of booking ahead but we do for this park. We like it here.

The staircase to the moon expedition was a laugh. I set up near the Cossack lookout, sitting in the prickly spinifex well away from a gaggle of young and old spectators who somehow thought they could take photos of the event on their fancy smart phones and on their digital cameras…..wrong.  The only effect they had on my efforts was that their flashes kept going off as I was trying to do my time exposures. At least I managed to get a couple of reasonable shots between their flashes!

WARNING, the next section is a bit of a lecture on petroglyphs, with some editorial comment!

Karratha is about 40Km down the road from Roebourne and Dampier is another 20 Km or so further.

Just down the road from Karratha heading towards Dampier there is a turnoff to the Burrup Peninsular and then another turnoff to the right to Hearson Cove. Just before Hearson Cove there is a nondescript dirt track leading off the gravel. About 150 metres along the dirt track there are some small, old and faded signs indicating that there are some aboriginal engravings in the area. This is a slight understatement; experts believe there could be up to 1,000,000 engravings in the general area. The signs have been placed by the “Department of Aboriginal Sites”, more of them later.

I have done a little reading on these engravings, called petroglyphs and it makes an interesting story. The following stuff is largely plagiarised from “Making Their Mark: Pilbara rock art” by Roz Hagan taken from “Landscope” a publication by CALM WA from 2006

The big piles of large irregularly shaped red rocks that hold the engravings are granophyre.  According to Geoscience Australia, granophyre is defined thus “Granophyre, commonly porphyritic; remelted granite. Formerly referred to as "Dampier Granophyre". Intrudes along the basal unconformity of the Fortescue Group; intrudes the Hearson Monzogranite outcrops along the Burrup Peninsula and Dampier Archipelago islands.

The areas of granophyre rock on which the local indigenous peoples, the Yaburara and possibly their close relations the Ngarluma engraved these petroglyphs look just like rubble piles left over from mining activity, but the stacks / piles are all naturally formed and similar piles exist right throughout the Pilbara.

The site was originally Dampier Island, part of the Dampier archipelago, named by the Yaburara peoples “Marujuga” meaning “hip bone sticking out”. It was not convenient to those developing the area for it to remain an island so, in the 1960’s, a causeway was built to give access to the area so an ore loading facility  and a new town (Dampier) could be built.  

The following are my thoughts only

I get the impression that the powers that be in this area are a little embarrassed at their past poor protection of the area and the removal of many of these petroglyphs; perhaps that’s why their presentation is still fairly low key these days. Here is my theory. The Department of Aboriginal Sites was probably put into place to ensure that Conservation and Land Management (CALM) or their predecessors were not able to protect the site from disturbance and development, so the ore loading facility and gas hub could be built, well, that’s my theory!

There are up to 1,000,000 (yes, that’s one million) petroglyphs and some are thought to be up to 18,000 years old. Many, of course, are very faded. Some engravings were noticed by those looking at the site as an ore loading facility in the 1960’s but luckily it was decided to build the facility at Dampier, a little further down the road.

 The petroglyphs were also noticed by those charged with building the nearby North West Shelf gas processing facility in the 1980s but this time they  actually moved some 1,800 of the engraved boulders and placed them in a compound near Hearson Cove, thus removing them from their historical context and restricting access to them. I guess that’s progress!!  Clearly the area was not adequately be protected by the Department of Aboriginal Sites. End of my theory.

That was a pretty big call, considering the rocks themselves were probably formed between 2,500 and 3,600 million years ago when the earth’s crust was still very young.  I understand that this area represents one of the world’s best preserved fragments of ancient continental crust – one of the earth’s earliest continents.

The petroglyphs served a variety of purposes for the Yaburara people. Some are believed part of “increase” sites for particular species or events. The indigenous people though that depicting animal and plant species in this way ensured their survival for the future and the continuity of the seasons. Other petroglyphs relate to ancestral creation beings, spirit figures, ceremonies and rites of passage. 

It is true that the area had little significance to the local indigenous people after about 1868 but once again we see the hand of the whites involved. Around that time at least 60 of the Yaburara people were murdered on the islands in a series of raids over some days, raids that became known as the Flying Foam Massacre (the Flying Foam again!). Incidentally, the CALM document quoted extensively in this blog says that 26 Yaburara were massacred. 

The ABC’s Four Corners said on 20^th March 2000:

Title: SECRET WHITE MEN'S BUSINESS.
Stephen McDonnell (presenter)
This is a story with a deep history. It begins back in 1868 at this windswept place in the Pilbara. These standing stones were erected by Aborigines as a memorial to a massacre. Here two teams of white men slaughtered almost an entire tribe of Aborigines.

In a planned attack, at least 60 men, women and children from the Yaburara tribe were murdered in one day. The skulls of children with bullet holes in them were left behind. 
The massacre is part of a colonial history in the West that saw thousands of Aborigines killed in a controlled and organised fashion.

These killings at the Burrup Peninsula became known as the Flying Foam Massacre: An act which completely destroyed a language, a culture, a people EXCERPT FROM 4 CORNERS CONCLUDES

Just Google ”The Flying Foam Massacre” for a number of different points of view.

The incident is known to have caused enormous losses to the Yaburara people and in the following period, the area containing the petroglyphs lay practically abandoned until the 1960’s when development began, as described above. It’s a sad story.

That’s enough history and serious stuff for one blog !!!

We took a trip to Harding Dam, the local water supply. It also has piles of rock similar to that described above and they also look like something left over from mining. There is no mention of petroglyphs there, well not so far anyway!

The name of the game in this area is, of course mining and the transport of the iron ore to an endless number of bulk carriers that assemble off the coast on a daily basis. The Pilbara railway is an impressive and very busy line carrying iron ore from the mine to the ship loading facilities, in this case Port Lambert, near Point Sampson and Dampier. The track to Harding Dam runs beside large sections of the railway and the huge ore trains are a wonderful sight, I love trains nearly as much as birds. One train heading back to the mine was hauling more than 320 empty trucks, marvellous to watch.

Parts of the railway we saw are dual track, no doubt a siding allowing trains to pass one another on their trips to and from the loader. Another train hauling ore to the loader was pulling 163 loaded trucks, no doubt quite a few dollars’ worth of ore for the ships to take away to China or Japan. As I write this, three or maybe four huge ships are being loaded at the nearby Port Lambert while six others are anchored a little out to sea awaiting their turn. 

There’s no doubt that WA has the best displays of wildflowers. Even now, when the wildflower season is yet to start, there are masses of Sturt Desert Pea and large displays of Mulla Mulla in the areas surrounding Point Sampson. This year’s wildflower season is tipped to be one of the best for some time and we look forward to following some of the wildflower trails towards the south…. But not just yet, we’ll wait till it warms up a bit!

Next Stop Onslow and then we are going bush for a week.

 

    

Roebourne and Cossack, time to slow down in the warm.

We are now in Roebourne and it’s time for us to slow down for a while to enjoy the warm weather and relaxed lifestyle of this part of the Pilbara.

Roebourne WA (population about 1,400 is about level with Mackay Qld on the Oz map.

The hotter weather in Darwin, Adelaide River, Katherine Kununurra, Broome etc. has been nice, but on reflection it has often been a little too hot. Roebourne’s daytime temps are around 30 or sometimes a little higher and the nights are cool and very pleasant and we plan is to stay in this general area for a few weeks.

Roebourne is south of Port Hedland and a little north of Dampier and Karratha. It is the second oldest town on the NW coast (the oldest is Cossack) and was once regarded as the capital of the north west. It has some interesting buildings, many constructed from local stone and quite a high indigenous population.

The Roebourne area was first settled in 1864 when Emma and John Withnell disembarked from a three masted schooner, travelled a way up the Harding River and selected some land. It is reported that the Withnells got on well with the local Ngarluma people.

The local Yindjibarndi people are currently locked in negotiations with Fortescue Metals’ Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest for access to their lands at Soloman Hub, about 200 Km south of Roebourne. He is offering them $500,000 to sign, $4 million a year and up to $6.5 million per year in staff housing, indigenous jobs, training and business opportunities. Negotiations have been going on for three or four years. Seeing Fortescue will be removing 2.4 billion tonnes over the next 40 years, worth $280 billion at today’s prices it’s not really a surprise that the Yindjibarndi haven’t yet signed.

Today Roebourne is still considered the gateway to the Pilbara region with its multi-million dollar iron ore deposits and a huge pastoral industry, but as far as size and infrastructure is concerned, it has been well and truly surpassed by the modern towns of Karratha and Dampier.

The prosperity in those towns is well and truly indicated by the cost of real estate and the “toys” evident in many of the new houses – fancy 4wds, a nice car for the other half, a huge boat and, more often than not a big off road caravan or a fancy camper trailer. Life seems good in these towns and the wages for many seem very good, but I don’t think I could survive the summer temps in the high 40’s.

There is plenty of evidence of the fly in / fly out work culture here, with plenty of “villages” of basic accommodation (modern “dongas” for those in the know) some independently owned and run and some clearly operated by the mining companies. I was told that FIFO stands “for fly in fly out” but it can also stand for “fit in or f off” ....amusing!  

The nearby town of Cossack was one of the first settled after the Withnells arrived at the mouth of the Harding River in 1863. Cossack is now virtually a ghost town.

Cossack was originally called Tien Tsin Harbour and by 1866 it had developed into a thriving pearling and maritime community centralised around the port. By 1869 the port was the premier shipping depot for the emerging pastoral industry.

Cyclones were just as big a problem in early days and there is a poignant reminder of that in the old Cossack cemetery. In 1894 the schooner Ann was sheltering from bad weather in a local area known as The Foam Passage. A small lugger skippered by Joe Green had been tied off to the back of the Ann. Evidently, insufficient chain had been passed out and both vessels and all aboard including the “coloured crew” except one man were lost.

The skipper ZB Erikson, his wife Minnie and child Pearl are all buried together, having been recovered by Cossack locals. The whereabouts of Joe Green are or the “coloured crew” are unknown.

There are also a number of Japanese graves in the small Cossack cemetery as well as a commemorative monument in the centre of the Japanese section, built to commemorate those that have no marked graves.  It was then often the practice for those that died in pearl diving accidents or died at sea from other causes to be buried at sea or taken ashore and buried on the nearest stretch of beach, either on the mainland or on a nearby island.

The government of the day strongly supported the prosperity of Cossack with the construction of some very impressive buildings, many of which survive today.  Those surviving include the bond store (it was before federation and state taxes applied), a courthouse and the police barracks.

Cossack was home to the north west’s first pearling industry, but over-fishing soon forced the fleet to head further north and Broome was established. The silting of the harbour was the final blow to the area. These days the major mining focus of the area is at Point Sampson and at Dampier both established in the 1960’s.

Our arrival in Roebourne coincided with a local phenomenon called “staircase to the moon”. It happens over a two or three day  period a few times a year when a full moon rises from the ocean after dark and, during a very low tide, causes reflections on the mud flats that resemble a stair case leading to the moon. Photography of this event is a little tricky, but I was able to shoot a couple of reasonable shots after sitting in the spinifex on a nearby hill in the dark, hoping that there were not too many spiders and other assorted things crawling about.

We took a trip to along the Roebourne – Wittenoom road / track and took some interesting pics of an area that looks more like parts of Arizona that Australia. Very impressive scenery.

We also visited parts of the Millstream Chichester National Park some more very spectacular country.

You know by now my quest to photograph as many Aussie birds as I can. Some of the hardest to photograph are the little birds, they are mostly very shy and flit around very quickly. I was really pleased to finally get some reasonable shots of zebra finches and a pair of nesting budgies, a couple more to cross off the list!

There will be more posts from Roebourne and surrounding areas as we explore further..

Barn Hill Station Stay, Port Hedland (briefly) then Peawah River

Having escaped from Broome relatively unscathed, we travelled a short distance through to Barn Hill Station Stay prepared to spend a week, but I booked for three days for a start. Past experiences suggest it is not a really good idea to commit for a week in an unfamiliar place and Barn Hill Station Stay proved the worth of that philosophy.

Barn Hill Station Stay is a great place but not fun for little doggies. The burrs and prickles are terrible and it only took about 10 minutes for Maestro to have lots of very sharp burrs in his coat and, worst of all, in his feet and they are very difficult to remove. Poor Maestro spent hours trying to pull them out of his feet with his teeth and in the end we had to cut a lot of them out of his coat.

Barn Hill Station Stay is on Thangoo Station, a 43,000 acre working cattle station that stretches about 85 Km along the coast between Broome and Port Hedland. It’s a pleasant place to stay with non-powered campsites (with water) along the low cliffs adjacent to the beach and sites with a limited amount of power in a more conventional area near the beach. It’s a 9 Km drive along a sandy but not too dusty track that is a little rough in places. The amenities are reasonable with flush toilets and clean showers, although the amenities I used has no roof (it is designed that way) and the walls don’t go all the way to the floor.

From our spot along the low cliff line there is a slightly precarious track leading down to a broad expanse of beach with some interesting rock formations. It is possible to walk for quite a long way along the beach.

Generators are allowed in the non-powered areas but we only needed our trusty Honda generator for a short period one day to catch up on a couple of loads of washing – our solar panels and house battery provide plenty of power for lighting and overnight TV / video if needed..

There was the usual gathering of the Sundowners cult on the cliff tops with their drinks and nibbles  and this time I joined some of them hoping to shoot a couple of pics with the sunset and a pod of dolphins that had been chasing bait fish just off the beach. The dolphins did perform but I was not able to get dolphin and sunset in the same photo (although my shot of the sunset has got a dolphin fin just visible if you look really closely).

One dolphin posed nicely, leaping out of the water a couple of times.

Some of the rock formations are describes as “mini pinnacles” but that’s a bit of a stretch. There is also a sphinx-like formation that on close inspection looks like some sort of mad cat. Does it look familiar Mustang??

The name Barn Hill comes from a barn-like hill (funny about that) adjacent to the entry road to the station. There is a cairn on the barn-like hill that is a historical landmark left by Alexander Forrest during his exploration of the Kimberley in 1879.

We decided to give Maestro a break from the tortuous prickles and left Barn Hill after two days and headed down towards Port Hedland, about 300 odd Km away.

We called in to Sandfire Roadhouse for fuel and a check of their caravan park area and decided to continue on another 100 Km or so to Pardoo Roadhouse where we had stayed once before. The caravan area was fine with good grass for a change but the food was really rank, the worst chicken schnitzel ever and I do mean ever!!. I suggest that anyone overnighting there should definitely cook their own!  

Back on the road and Camps Australia Wide 6 suggested that the rest stop at De Grey River is a good place to stop but it was a little muddy from recent rain so we continued through to Port Hedland

We didn’t stay in Port Hedland last time, thinking that it had little to offer, and we couldn’t stay there this time because both caravan parks were full. I suspect that a lot of the local workers occupy a lot of the space in the two caravan parks, and there’s nothing wrong with that. From what I was told, to rent a 3 bedroom house in the area costs upwards of $1,500 per week!

We were offered a spot in “the overflow” that is evidently the parking area of the local golf club, for $25 a night no power, no water but we declined politely and drove on. Port Hedland is a thriving city, it’s just not that interested in tourists, particularly those with caravans.

Camps Australia Wide 6 once again proved its worth by suggesting that the Peawah River West area would be a good place to overnight and it proved a good choice. We found a spot adjacent to the rest area where we could camp and have a fire and generally relax, very nice. It’s great to spend some time chatting with others on the road, sharing tips on good places to stay and sharing warnings of places to avoid because of high fuel prices or just plain bad service   

NEXT STOP; Roebourne and Point Sampson.

  

Out of Derby and off to Broome

Before leaving Derby we visited the Mowanjum Gallery, a little way down the Gibb River Road, home of some of the wandjina art, in fact the main building of the gallery is in the shape of a wandjina.

  

I understand that the Derby and surrounding area aboriginal groups are the Worrara, Wunambul and Ngarinyin people and I think that it is the Worrara that have the gallery.

Kimberley area aboriginal people credit the wandjina with the creation of the dreaming and believe they made the world and all that it contains. Wandjina are generally shown full length, standing upright or lying horizontally. They have large mouthless faces, usually with large black eyes with their head surrounded by a band with radiating lines. I was told that if they also had mouths they would be far too powerful.  The lines represent the feathers that they wore and / or the lightning they control.

I would have liked to add to my small aboriginal art collection with a wandjina painting but they were all out of my price range at $150 to$300 and upwards for quite small prints and $500 to thousands for originals.

The Worrora aboriginal people also sell decorated boab nuts and I was fortunate to meet Madeline / Maddie. Maddie welcomed me to her country and offered me a nicely decorated nut that she had done and I bought it.  The nut, coincidentally, has a small wandjina head.

During our last evening in Derby we once again visited the jetty at sunset. This time I came across a group of white breasted woodswallows  clustering on the local power lines as woodswallows love to do. One posed very nicely on the power lines for me.

Some people I spoke to have been slightly amazed that we stayed in Derby for more than a week, but we really enjoyed it, very relaxing with plenty to see.

On the way to Broome we stopped at Willare Bridge Roadhouse  for a cuppa and, lo and behold right next to where we parked was a lone red tailed black cockatoo feeding. I had been trying for weeks to find one, ever since we crossed into WA.  On our last trip 3 years ago they were very plentiful, but not this time, so it was nice to finally get a reasonable pic.

The rest of the trip through to Broome was uneventful, well, we didn’t stay right in Broome itself, (Broome being the most dog / pet unfriendly place in the known and unknown universe),  we stayed at Roebuck Plains Roadhouse about 30 Km outside of Broome. We have visited Broome before and have seen most of the sights. In my humble opinion, Broome is one of those places like Ayers Rock that you should visit once, cross off the list and then forget.

We did  a lot of food shopping , wandered through the streets at Chinatown, looked at some very expensive pearls and made the obligatory trip to Cable Beach at sunset where, surrounded by large numbers of sundowners and some quite smelly camels we watched the sun fall into the ocean. Maestro was a bit mystified by the camels.

In the end we only stayed two nights in Roebuck Plains / Broome. All Broome caravan parks were full and many caravanners were directed to ‘overflow areas”, like the Broome Pistol Club or the PCYC. We had a look at the pistol club down near the port and it was a very dry and dusty area with vans all over the place. I don’t think that Broome really likes caravan people and maybe prefer their tourists to fly in!!

WARNING, RANT AHEAD….

When we arrive in a city or town, it is normal to call into the tourist information centre. These centres used to be operated by friendly people, often by part timers or enthusiastic volunteers. These days, the centres seem to be operated by local council staff whose aim in life seems to be to sell as many tickets as they can on local flights or tickets on local cruises or attractions. I guess councils are addicted to the commissions that these attractions pay.

If you ask about local maps or information on local free attractions you may be given a crummy black and white photocopied map if you’re lucky.  Not really good enough people !!

NEXT STOP BARN HILL STATION

Next stop Barn Hill Station and on to Port Hedland

Out of Derby and off to Broome

Before leaving Derby we visited the Mowanjum Gallery, a little way down the Gibb River Road, home of some of the wandjina art, in fact the main building of the gallery is in the shape of a wandjina. 

 

I understand that the Derby and surrounding area aboriginal groups are the Worrara, Wunambul and Ngarinyin people and I think that it is the Worrorra that have the gallery.

Kimberley area aborigines credit the wandjina with the creation of the dreaming and believe they made the world and all that it contains. Wandjina are generally shown full length, standing upright or lying horizontally. They have large mouthless faces, usually with large black eyes with their head surrounded by a band with radiating lines. I was told that if they also had mouths they would be far too powerful.  The lines represent the feathers that they wore and / or the lightning they control.

I would have liked to add to my small aboriginal art collection with a wandjina painting but they were all out of my price range at $150 to$300 and upwards for quite small prints and $500 to thousands for originals.

The Worrorra aboriginal people also sell decorated boab nuts and I was fortunate to meet Madeline / Maddie one afternoon. Maddie welcomed me to her country and offered me a nicely decorated nut that she had done and I bought it.  The nut, coincidentally, has a small wandjina head.

During our last evening in Derby we once again visited the jetty at sunset. This time I came across a group of white breasted woodswallows  clustering on the local power lines as woodswallows love to do. One posed very nicely on the power lines for me.

Some people I spoke to have been more than slightly amazed that we stayed in Derby for more than a week, but we really enjoyed it, very relaxing with plenty to see.

On the way to Broome we stopped at the Willare Bridge Roadhouse  for a cuppa and, lo and behold right next to where we parked was a lone red tailed black cockatoo feeding. I had been trying for weeks to find one, ever since we crossed into WA.  On our last trip 3 years ago they were very plentiful, but not this time, so it was nice to finally get a reasonable pic.

The rest of the trip through to Broome was uneventful, well, we didn’t go to Broome itself, Broome being the most dog / pet unfriendly place in the known and unknown universe, so we stayed at Roebuck Plains Roadhouse about 30 Km outside of Broome. 

We have visited Broome before and have seen most of the sights. In my humble opinion, Broome is one of those places like Ayers Rock that you should probably visit once, cross off your list and then forget.

We did make the obligatory trip to Cable Beach at sunset and, surrounded by large numbers of sundowners and some very smelly camels, we watched the sun fall into the ocean. Maestro was a bit mystified by the camels.

In the end we only stayed two nights in Roebuck Plains / Broome. All Broome caravan parks were full and many caravanners were directed to ‘overflow areas”, like the Broome Pistol Club or the PCYC. We had a look at the pistol club down near the port and it was a very dry and dusty area with vans all over the place. I don’t think that Broome people really like caravan people and maybe prefer their tourists to fly in!!

WARNING, RANT AHEAD….

When we arrive in a city or town, it is normal to call into the tourist information centre. These centres used to be operated by friendly people, often by part timers or enthusiastic volunteers. These days, the centres seem to be operated by local council staff whose aim in life seems to be to sell as many tickets as they can on local flights or tickets on local cruises or attractions. I guess councils are addicted to the commissions that these attractions pay.

If you ask about local maps or information on local free attractions you may be given a crummy black and white photocopied map if you’re lucky.  Not really good enough people !!

Next stop Barn Hill Station

Next stop Barn Hill Station and on to Port Hedland

A couple of days in Halls Creek then through to Derby.

I did say in my last blog that I had something to say relating to our indigenous brothers and sisters. I wrote a lot of stuff and then deleted it.

Halls Creek and Derby are interesting places, the bird watching has been good, a couple of cafes (at Derby at least) serve near excellent coffee and there is a good amount of commercial activity around the place.

Halls Creek has some interesting history, it sits on the northern edge of the Great Sandy Desert and is famous for having Australia’s first gold discovery in 1885. It’s hard to believe that some 15,000 prospectors came from all over the world to try and make their fortunes. The country is wild and unforgiving and it is no surprise to learn that many people perished for lack of water. It was the logical gathering place for drovers commencing the long cattle drive along the legendary Canning Stock Route. Halls Creek was relocated to its present site in 1955.

Old Halls Creek still exists (just) along the dusty, corrugated Duncan Highway, but apart from a couple of ruins and empty streets, a very old and overgrown cemetery and a struggling caravan park / mining equipment dump, there’s not much to see.

China Wall, part of an old quartzite reef just outside of town is worth a look and Caroline Pool is a little further along the dusty Duncan Highway is a nice change from the dust and the heat and it offers crocodile-free swimming and a pleasant camp site.

Derby’s claim to fame is that it is the first town settled in the Kimberley. Situated on King Sound, Derby experiences really high tides reaching up to 12 metres and it really rushes in and a visit to Derby Wharf during high and low tide is a popular pastime.

The Derby wharf is one of the few that allow mere mortals like us to drive around on it stickybeaking at the commerce in progress. A huge mine truck was brought back to town the other day , disrupting traffic for some time ad it was carried through town in company with a couple of workers  to lift the power lines clear.

The Mary Island mine and, no doubt, other mines in the area seems to require an amazing variety of stuff to keep them going, all sent out to the island by barges.

The barges operating around Derby (like enormous  landing craft with a ramp at the front) are able to take the equivalent of a couple of double road train trailers, with all sorts of general logistics, mine chemicals, sundries and, of course, fuel. We watched the other day as one barge took on 100,000 plus litres of diesel from a triple road train that drove on to the wharf, the diesel was in addition to a number of loaded trailers.

We have once again been confronted by a display of a mysterious WA cult. Adherents to this cult gather just before sunset at any number of vantage points and, while drinking beer or wine or other alcoholic beverages, sometimes with other comestibles (look it up) watch the sun go down, often into the water. We guess it’s a Western Australian thing, but many people from the eastern states seem to be joining the cult as well! We’ll keep an eye on this phenomenon!

Quite late one night while taking Maestro for a walk I noticed a Tawny Frogmouth sitting on my HF aerial, just feet away from where I was standing. It made a nice photo and the brief flash didn’t seem to bother him. He used the aerial for some time as a base for his feeding activities around the nearby street light.

There have also been a number of encounters with whistling kites in the area and I was able to shoot a couple of photos of a kite as well.

Next blog will be Broome, but we could be out of range for a few days and may not be able to post.

A couple of days in Halls Creek then through to Derby.

I did say in my last blog that I had something to say relating to our indigenous brothers and sisters. I wrote a lot of stuff and then deleted it.

Halls Creek and Derby are interesting places, the bird watching has been good, a couple of cafes (at Derby at least) serve near excellent coffee and there is a good amount of commercial activity around the place.

Halls Creek has some interesting history, it sits on the northern edge of the Great Sandy Desert and is famous for having Australia’s first gold discovery in 1885. It’s hard to believe that some 15,000 prospectors came from all over the world to try and make their fortunes. The country is wild and unforgiving and it is no surprise to learn that many people perished for lack of water. It was the logical gathering place for drovers commencing the long cattle drive along the legendary Canning Stock Route. Halls Creek was relocated to its present site in 1955

Old Halls Creek still exists (just) along the dusty, corrugated Duncan Highway, but apart from a couple of ruins and empty streets, a very old and overgrown cemetery and a struggling caravan park / mining equipment dump, there’s not much to see.

China Wall, part of an old quartzite reef just outside of town is worth a look and Caroline Pool is a little further along the dusty Duncan Highway is a nice change from the dust and the heat and it offers crocodile-free swimming and a pleasant camp site.

Derby’s claim to fame is that it is the first town settled in the Kimberley. Situated on King Sound, Derby experiences really high tides reaching up to 12 metres and a visit to Derby Wharf during high and low tide is a popular pastime.

The Derby wharf is one of the few that allow mere mortals like us to drive around on it stickybeaking at the commerce in progress. A huge mine truck was brought back to town the other day , disrupting traffic for some time ad it was carried through town in company with a couple of workers  to lift the power lines clear.

The Mary Island mine and, no doubt, other mines in the area seems to require an amazing variety of stuff to keep them going, all sent out to the island by barges.

The barges operating around Derby (like enormous  landing craft with a ramp at the front) are able to take the equivalent of a couple of double road train trailers, with all sorts of general logistics, mine chemicals, sundries and, of course, fuel. We watched the other day as one barge took on 100,000 plus litres of diesel from a triple road train that drove on to the wharf, the diesel was in addition to a number of loaded trailers.

We have once again been confronted by a display of a mysterious WA cult. Adherents to this cult gather just before sunset at any number of vantage points and, while drinking beer or wine or other alcoholic beverages, sometimes with other comestibles (look it up) watch the sun go down, often into the water. We guess it’s a Western Australian thing, but many people from the eastern states seem to be joining the cult as well! We’ll keep an eye on this phenomenon!

Quite late one night while taking Maestro for a walk I noticed a Tawny Frogmouth sitting on my HF aerial, just feet away from where I was standing. It made a nice photo and the brief flash didn’t seem to bother him. He used the aerial for some time as a base for his feeding activities around the nearby street light.

There have also been a number of encounters with whistling kites in the area and I was able to shoot a couple of photos of a kite as well.

Next Stop will be Broome.