The Pentecost River with the Cockburn Range as a backdrop

This was taken from the car as we crossed the Pentecost River

I am so far behind that if I don’t start combining days I will never catch up. Just a sign of how busy it is up here. I thought I would have all this time for rest and relaxation!!!!!

The magnificent Cockburn Range

The Gibb River Road is one of Australia’s great road trips. Around 700km of dirt that goes from near Wyndham to Derby, on the west coast. It is notorious for shredding tyres and damaging suspension. Along it though are many of the most significant delights of the Kimberley: Emma Gorge, El Questro Wilderness Park, Cockburn Ranges and the tun off to Mitchell Plateau and Kamlumbaru. The Gibb River Road is only open for about 6 months of the year as it is completely impassable for the remainder. Even though we had not had rain since February, as we crossed the Pentecost River, the water came up to the doors of our 4WD.

     Mike looks over the Pentecost River and contemplates the vastness.

 Having said that, those grey nomads touring Australia turn this place into a highway. The camping ground at El Questro was bursting at the seams, so much so that I wished we had stayed at the much newer and well appointed Home Valley Station.

Juliette making jewellery from the long grass.

The people who live on these stations during the wet are isolated for up to 6 months of the year. When you speak to them, that is their favourite time, the land is the most beautiful, the rivers and waterfalls are awesome and there are no tourists. It just always strikes me how we who live in cities forget that their are people living such completely different lives. I think it would be an awesome experience.

       The beautiful Emma Gorge

Zebedee thermal springs in El Questro.

 This morning Urda and Juliette had a horse ride. It was Urda’s first time on a horse and she headed out with a group for a ride for a couple of hours. Juliette was led around the paddocks close to home for about half and hour. She was beside herself with excitement as she had only ridden little ponies at fairs and corrected me every time I called this one a pony.

It was an extremely hot day (so much for the 2 days of winter) and Urda did not let go of her reins as she was scared she would fall off, hence she did not drink enough water and began to feel the effects of heat exhaustion.

We went up to the Five Rivers lookout at Wyndham to show Lizzy. It was great to see it so far into the Dry as the estuaries were much drier, and the land looked even more unforgiving. It is a shame that the tourist season misses the Wet, as that is when this whole landscape is at its most spectacular.                                                                                                                                                                                                               

 We called in onfriend Tim who teaches in Wyndham and his wife Stef. They are expecting their first child in December. Since she has had back surgery she is unable to deliver her baby at Kununurra as they only deliver low risk mums. She will be returning to Melbourne for the delivery as the next option here was Darwin. By this time Urda was feeling very unwell and had to lie down on their floor. We got her back to Lyn and Damian’s and tucked her in to bed. The rest of us had a big dinner cooked by Lizzy (who is great to take on holidays as she loves to cook) and settled in for a great night of good food and great company.

A little python had been spotted poking its head out from a gap in the tiles above the shower. Having a shower that night I was so nervous, constantly looking around, ready to deal with a snake that fell from the ceiling. The toilet at the farm is off the laundry and Lyn requests that a light here is left on all night so you can see any unwanted visitors. Someone had turned the light off and Damian’s niece Kim stepped on a python when she went to the toilet in the middle of the night. She did not scream as I would have but calmly went back to her room, got her camera and photographed it so she could show us in the morning. She is a braver girl than me!

Together at the farm over looking the Ord River

 We just love Lyn and Damian. Juliette adores them both and they are so generous with the time they spend with her. She is up early with her farm girl clothes on to go and help Lyn with the chores. Her favourite jobs are riding on the four wheeler and collecting the eggs. She is braver than me, for a large olive python lurks in the chook house and makes an occasional meal of one of the chooks.

We headed out to Digger’s rest, which is farm stay accommodation out from Wyndham. During the making of the movie of Australia the cast and crew were accommodated here in portable huts (except Nicole Kidman who was helicoptered in from Kununurra each day). Some of the scenes were filmed here, including where Nicole and Hugh danced under the boab tree.

Wyndham is the port town where the five East Kimberley rivers drain into the Cambridge Gulf. As it was now the Dry season, the water had receded considerably and rather than go the whole way along the bumpy road which is notorious for shredding tyres, we could speed along the mud flats left behind by the receding water. This was great fun as up here, most dirt roads have to be negotiated very cautiously, but being baked flat mud it was like a highway. A couple of months ago this was croc infested water, huge salties and beautiful water birds could be seen dotted along its surface.

We stopped for a photograph at the prison tree, which is an enormous boab that is hollow on the inside. In days gone by they were ideal places to secure prisoners whilst you camped for the night. These truly are remarkable trees as you wonder how something so hollow inside can survive for hundreds (possibly thousands) of years.

Juliette, Lizzy and Mike inside the prison tree-an enormous boab that is completely hollow in the centre

On we went to Diggers’ Rest and as we drove in, our first reaction was one of disappointment. This beautiful Kimberley landscape had been trampled to dust for some distance around the homestead. They keep goats for the live export trade and as they do not venture very far from home, the intensity of so many hard hooves on the fragile soil had removed any vegetation and it really was a dust bowl.

Rustic was how you would describe Diggers’ Rest! Having said that, the warmth of the hospitality made up for this. They have a number of volunteers including young girls from Europe, who work with the horses. They quickly had Juliette bottle feeding a baby goat called Slurpee. This was the kind of accommodation where the owner cooks the barbecue at night and all the station staff sit and eat with the guests (who numbered about 12 this night).  It was great conversation and around the fire after dinner two of the girls played the guitar and sang like angels. For the tired and exhausted group that we were from our exertions this term, this was the perfect antidote.

We had been watching a grass fire that was some distance from the homestead and had passed a number of these also on the way in to Digger’s. At this time of year fire in the Kimberley is very common. The Indigenous use them to encourage new growth or to hunt animals. Unfortunately though these days, many are just plain arson. There is a lot of education happening with the Indigenous about the long term effects of the fire. It is causing a loss of biodiversity in the native grasses as a non native grass seems to shoot more efficiently than the native grasses and so the Kimberley is slowly being covered by a grass that has far less nutritional value for the animals that inhabit the area.

Juliette needed a visit to the toilet around half past eleven. When we got out of the tent, the sky to the south east was ablaze and I was a little worried. I knew we would be safe where we were as the goats had destroyed every piece of vegetation for some distance around the homestead, but I was worried about getting home tomorrow, or if any animals needed to be moved. Damian was still up watching TV and we woke one of the guys who worked on the property. He assured us the fire had just reached a clump of trees along the river, hence its height and intensity, but it would die down as soon as I moved through this. Damian got some wonderful pictures which you can see here.

Fire at Digger’s Rest

Juliette had been counting the sleeps until the arrival of her “fairy godmother” Urda, and crazy Aunty Lizzy. These are both my really dear friends with whom we have shared many a great holiday over the years, including an unforgettable road trip to Broken Hill and Lake Mungo last year. We packed all the camping gear and headed to Kununurra to meet their plane and begin a 2 week Kimberley Odyssey.

We were staying the first night at the mango farm with Damian and Lyn. We knew that they would get on fabulously with our guests and Lizzy and Urda were blown away by their open hearted hospitality. We had a great camp fire and dinner under the big old tree (the same one that a few weeks ago the taipan had escaped up). Lots of Damian’s home brew was consumed and after an hour it felt like we had all known each other a lifetime. The girls were surprised that complete strangers made them so welcome. As we explained, up here in the Kimberley everyone is away from their near and dear and so that is just what you do. You become very close very quickly to people you meet.

Damian and Lyn also had Damian’s niece Kim staying with them. She had left Bunbury about a year and a half ago after she finished school, (she says to put off making a decision about what she wanted to do with her life) and had been on the road ever since. She drives a van and is a little thing with dreadlocks. I admired her courage and envied her experience. She lives very simply and works when she needs to. The life experience she has gathered will be with her forever. I hope when it comes time I have the will to encourage Juliette to do the same.

It was the last day of term today and I can certainly say we were all happy. Absolutely exhausted is the only way to describe how we all felt. We had an assembly to celebrate the last day. This was great fun with some fantasic performances. We had a volunteer music teacher, Judy Hill from Hamilton in Victoria come and work with the students for the last 2 weeks. She had small groups and so the students had a chance to play instruments such as the violin, recorder, guitar and various percussion.  Juliette’s class presented a musical item and the smile on her face was enormous, she was just so proud.

At the end of the assembly they give out awards for kids who have high attendance.  Juliette won the highest award, for 100% attendance. I suppose the poor kid has no chance with Mike and I there. The last 2 weeks she has been absolutely exhausted as she gives 110% to everything she does. She had cried in the mornings that she did not want to go. She was so excited with the award as she got a book, doll and bubble blowing potion. I was so proud of her as she already had a copy of the book and so gave it to her best friend Erin. It was beautiful to watch them sit in assembly together, their arms around each other.

Today we had parent/teacher interviews. To encourage more parents to come they put on a sausage sizzle. Unfortunately, a large number of our parents were absent due to attendance at a camp following the Drug and Alcohol seminars. They were out at Osmond Valley participating in numerous cultural, health and counseling experiences. The children were also with them and so our numbers for the last week of term were very low.

I had written 10 reports and four carers turned up to receive them. It is a little difficult to know which parents can read or not and so you go carefully through the report to make sure they understand what it says. Only 1 student had their actual parent turn up.  A grandmother, auntie and older sister (this girl is only seventeen herself and has been left to care for numerous younger children) were the others who collected the report. This just reflects not only the extended nature of kinship in this community, but also the level of dysfunction. Many parents are absent due to imprisonment, alcohol abuse, death or having now taken up with different partners.

Conducting the interviews was challenging as the women have the care of the children and so would sit down with about 5 smaller children in tow, none of whom were able to sit still very long. Mostly I sent the eldest sibling outside with the kids to give the carer some uninterrupted time with the student. This minimized the distractions.

When I think of all the hours I had put into writing these reports, it was disappointing that more were not collected. I will have to hand deliver these next term. I always remind myself that the chaos in the lives of these people is such that attending interviews comes well down on the list of priorities.

One of our sleeping beauties waking up.

Sleeping in a swag under a sky full of stars is such a beautiful experience that I found it hard to sleep. I watched the satellites as they orbited across the sky and enjoyed the absolute silence. Unless you have been a long way from roads, houses and any form of civilization, you never have experienced true silence. Not a single hum of an air conditioner, the whir of a water tank or drone of a passing truck. Quiet is something that so many of us long for but never get. I savoured every moment.

The other problem I have is that my brain seems to put my bladder into overdrive. The more difficult it is to go to the toilet in the middle of the night, the more often I have to go. In such silence, the sound of the zip undoing a swag seemed to reverberate off the hill side. I was so conscious of waking our sleeping beauties up. It was a good trudge up the sand bank to find a suitable place to go and although I took my head torch, I was a little fearful of what animal delights may have been lurking about.

I am a morning person and so as the dawn was breaking I was up to enjoy the experience in solitude. I took myself down to the river and bathed in the cool water. Mind you, on my own I was not going out too far as I didn’t feel like being croc brekky. It was so great to wash the dirt and exertion off from the day before, I am not a person who can camp and not wash. I love camping but I can make a cup of water do what is necessary to clean myself if water is limited. While in the water I was reminded of the people who had walked this land for thousands of years and had probably done the same. The indigenous women in particular talk about the cleansing properties of water- not only physical, but they also sit in the river when they are troubled. It helps them think more clearly. Here, water is such a life giving force as rain only falls for a very brief time, then everything bursts into life with renewed vigour, knowing that just around the corner is the unforgiving dry.

The girls began to stir and immediately they were back in the river, swimming and fishing. We had a camp brekky and began packing away all the bedding as the sun was beginning to become very hot, even at 8am and we did not fancy trudging up and down the bank in the hot sand any later. I took a collection of students under a tree for a session of painting. The older girls helped the younger ones with traditional art works. We had a great selection of different coloured ochres and they painted some interesting images, many already using the style of the traditional Warmun art.

We then headed home, the bigger girls walking up to the trailer along the river bank again, but luckily this time Rose the aboriginal teacher’s aide volunteered to walk with them. I was still really worn out from my exertions yesterday. We had to reload and repack at the trailer and it was very hot by this time. We wanted to get back to school early enough so the students could help us unpack , wash both vehicles, do all the washing of dishes and sleeping bags. Also, one of our water containers had leaked and as the day was so hot, we did not want to be caught out with limited water. The girls could drink the river water as they would be used to it, but it would be problematic for us and it would take a long time waiting for it to cool down enough to drink after boiling.

We spent about 2 hours doing the chores back at school and the kids were a great help. We had to wash some of the sleeping bags and air the others. We fed the girls the left over stew and gave them marshmallows as a reward for helping. It was important that they understood things do not just happen by magic. The welfare system gives them this idea and it is very hard to overcome. It was a good camp but Deb and I were absolutely exhausted and vowed, we would not do one like that again that involved packing and unpacking the cars so many times. The girls just laughed and said we just take too much. They are right, but we lack their bush skills.

Sorry I am so far behind but we have just had a fantastic holiday exploring the many delights of the Kimberley. I will endeavour to catch up soon.

Today we were heading off on our first class bush camp together.  It is a completely different experience rounding up indigenous kids for their school camp. No letters from mothers telling us all about Mary’s allergies and checking that we have the epi-pens in our first aid kits. First we go around to the homes and remind them that camp is today.  Most of my girls had arrived at school but we were joining Deb’s Year 1 and 2 class whose regular numbers were around 25, though 38 were listed on the roll. After an hour of driving she only managed to round up 8 girls, none of the boys came. Either they were not allowed or they did not want to. The fear of the dark is very strong among these kids, as from the cradle they are warned of a mythical (I think) big hairy man that lurks just beyond the shadows.

The other different thing about taking these girls away is that we were hair straightener and make up free. I don’t think any girl even took so much as a spare change of clothes. They swim in their clothes or just underpants so it gets washed. They walked out from home with either a single blanket under their arm or nothing at all. Survival in the bush is so second nature to these girls that they laugh at us and say we “gardiya” (white fellas) just take too much with us.

Luckily John Sparks, the retired teacher who was volunteering with us for 2 terms was coming with us as neither Deb nor I had ever towed a trailer before, let alone with a troupie packed with students. Because of report writing and how busy things had been, neither Deb nor I had been out to Crocodile Hole.  We had no idea how difficult the road would be. It had been the venue suggested to us as the easiest.

We eventually left, and headed down the highway on what was quickly becoming a very hot day. We called in to the small community (only 1 house is occupied) of Crocodile Hole to ask permission to travel upon their land. They were very welcoming. This community is about 20 km of dirt in from the highway, has no school, store or any other services beside electricity and water.

We were ahead of Deb and out of 2 way range. John the adjusted the hubs and put the car into 4 wheel drive. The remainder of the journey was tough going, with the last few kilometres so rugged we had to unhitch the trailer, load all the food and gear into it, and then the high school girls and I walked the rest of the way along the river. This terrain is absolutely second nature to these kids. I admired the toughness of their feet as they headed barefoot straight across the spinifex grass and rocks.

As they walked along the river they spotted a goanna hiding under the rocks. That poor animal did not stand a chance for the girls just saw dinner, as goanna is one of their favourite delicacies. Most teenage girls would stand back and squeal. Not this lot! They pounded that poor goanna, showing absolutely no mercy, then proudly carried it up river to where we were setting up camp on the dry river bank.

We unloaded the troupie, trekking up and down the bank in what turned out to be the state’s highest temperature of the day, 38 degrees. With the heat radiating and light reflecting off the sand it felt closer to 45 degrees.  I was beginning to become concerned about Deb. She was now within 2 way contact but heading in the wrong direction. John went out to find her and I expressed to him my concern that Deb may not have realized that she had to engage 4 wheel drive.

She finally arrived, very traumatized by the experience of driving a car full of kids in such conditions with no previous 4WD experience. As I guessed she did not realize she was to engage 4WD and so had driven over very rugged terrain in normal gears. Rose the teacher’s aide turned the vehicle around to unload, but got the car firmly bogged in the sand. John, Deb and I spent some time trying to dig it out, but in such hot conditions it was difficult to exert yourself for very long. We again thanked God that John was with us, as he knew what we had to do. We rounded all the kids up and they helped build rocks up behind the wheels and sticks in front. We then all pushed hard and eventually it moved. We teachers were exhausted from our exertions.

All the kids were immediately off into the water. This was not supposed to happen as none of the adults had the required Bronze medallion qualification. There is no way you can keep indigenous kids out of the water as they swim in rivers from a very young age and it is just such an integral part of family life. Crocodile Hole is named due to the large number of fresh water crocodiles that live in the river. You can imagine how Deb and I who come from city schools where you complete a risk assessment in which every i is dotted and t crossed were feeling. We wondered how we would complete a risk assessment if necessary, deciding there is absolutely no way this excursion would be allowed. For these kids, the bush is where they are in their element and you have the chance to see kids who struggle with conventional learning shine in their knowledge of bushcraft.

The kids were not a problem as they spent the whole afternoon playing in the water and fishing (very competent at this and very serious about it too). We took a group for a drive further along the river to where it forms what is called Crocodile Hole. This is a beautiful high bank, wide and deep part of the river, but about 30 pairs of beady eyes were watching us. Only fishing was allowed here.

We served big pots of stew for dinner and to our surprise, the kids settled under their blankets and were all fast asleep by 7 o’clock. Home is very noisy and most homes have lots of people in them. Often there is drinking or all night card games. These kids slept that deep sleep that comes from lots of physical activity and a feeling of great safety and a full tummy.

Settling down for the night                                      My high school girls teaching Deb’s 1 and 2 girls               under the stars.                                                      how to paint using ochres.

Today the high school students attended a basketball competition at Kununurra. Mike and I had enough of bad behaviour over the last few weeks and so had told the students we were only taking those students who knew how to behave. We took 8 students each and for the girls, even those who did not come to school much had made an effort they were so keen to be included.

I had organized with the students to meet us at school at 7.30 for breakfast as many of them are not fed at home. One boy was so worried that he would not wake up on time that he had to sleep outside so the sun would wake him. He had arrived at school at 6.30 for brekky.

We eventually got on the road after a quick prayer from Sister Mary. Soon after leaving we got stuck behind a 4 trailer road train on the part of the journey that curved around mountains. About 50 km passed before we could overtake and now we were racing against time. Our games had been pushed back so that our first game was not until 10am.

As we arrived we were immediately ushered onto the court and the girls proceeded to play 4 games in a row with little break in what was 38 degree heat. The temperature of the asphalt surface would have easily been 50 degrees and to our girls it was a badge of honour to play bare foot.  They won all four games and were immediately through to the grand final.

We stopped for a sausage sizzle and then after lunch the finals were played. The Warmun boys were divided into 2 teams as there were only 3 teams in the boys’ competition as the others had not come due to bad behaviour. The boys team came runners up but after a nail biting close game the girls took honours and remained undefeated. Their feet were covered in blisters.

As we returned to the community and I drove through to deliver each of the girls home, they hung out of the car with the medals and trophy, had me beep the horn and declared excitedly that they had won. In a town dominated by AFL it was really nice for the girls to have their time in the sun.

WA News

Cane toad inches further into WA

Ngalanagnapum School pupils Jacinta Clifton and Courtney Turner with the cane toad found at Warmun yesterday. Photo: Supplied

Today I received another email to let me know that the girls and the toad were the lead story on the West Australian newspaper online (copied above). The students were very excited and all kept coming into my room to see the famous toad.

This afternoon we went back to the Art Centre to work on our major projects. Maggie the new director was very disappointed as she had made the staff make up all our boards for us only for them to be taken by the older people for their artworks. She said that next time she knows she has to hide them under her bed. She had canvas for us to paint on and the girls did this however when it is stretched onto the frame, a good two inches is lost from each side. We did not realize this until after they had started painting. We were all greatly disappointed but I was thinking how we could work around this problem, bearing in mind that we wanted to enter some of the work into an art competition where it had to be mounted on board.

As I drove to the Art Centre I asked the girls’ to please not tell me to get f@#$%&^* today as I did not feel I could cope with being told this any more this week. They were champions, obviously very engaged with their project and gaining a great deal of satisfaction at watching their skills improve and their ideas develop. Their work was now truly the work of artists and stood well above the other children’s boards in quality.