Joel Smoker

Shark Bay trip

noreply@blogger.com (Joel Smoker) — Sun, 17 Aug 2014 02:10:00 -0700

SHARK BAY TRIP JOURNAL - JULY 2014

Saturday 19th July

Most of the packing for this trip was done yesterday but we still didn’t get away until around 10.30 am. We seemed to have remembered most things but I forgot to pack the Ukulele. I don’t remember until we are turning on to the Great Northern Highway by which time there is no turning back. We need to get to the Batavia Coast Caravan Park in Geraldton by 5.00 pm or pick up the keys from the letter box and find our own way to our camping spot. It rains most of the way. We listen to the new Salvation Jane CD we bought called Something Old, Something New to lift our spirits. They do a great version of Dylan’s Ring Them Bells St Peter. I call ahead and change our camping spot so that we don’t have to unhitch. We get in by 5.10 pm. It’s still raining.

Sunday 20th July

The trip to Shark Bay is uneventful except for a short stop at Billabong Roadhouse where I buy some great vegie wraps for lunch and leave a sample set of my Shark Bay postcards and a sample copy of my new The Human Condition CD.

Entry Statement to Shark Bay World Heritage Area

There is a new entry statement to the Shark Bay World Heritage Area which pictorially tells us what we’re in for. After setting up camp we go for a walk up to Stella Rowley Drive to look at some blocks on Sellenger Heights that Lexie is keen to see. They sure do give a great view across Shark Bay.

The view across Shark Bay.

Monday 21st July

The main street of Denham

I start the day with a bike ride and come across a woman walking to the school with her lunch and figure that she must be a teacher. I mention that I am on long service leave and inquire about the number of staff at the school. She tells me that there are five staff; three in the primary School and two in the High School. Most of the High School classes are run by SIDE so it is a fairly small school.

After breakfast we book two tickets for the Shotover Sail Tour for Friday. That should be a good day. I then buy a new set of board shorts for the tour. I’ve had my old board shorts for about thirty years and they are starting to look worse for wear. We then drive around the town to look at the kind of houses being built on the new blocks. Most of the new hoses are two story houses built in corrugated iron. They look great. We stop in and visit a German couple who have built a transportable house which we were informed about back in Perth. The house is also clad in corrugated iron and is pleasant, with a good view across the bay.

After dinner we visit the local Art Space where there is an advertised art class from 6.30 to 9.00 pm. We want to get an application form for the Shark Bay Art Awards and met three very pleasant ladies who are getting started on a coloured ink activity. They graciously stop what they are doing and chat with us giving advice on good places to go to do some plein air painting. Sally Capewell is the convener of the S.B. Art Awards and fills us in on what we need to know. We plan to meet up with them again next Monday night if we’ve got something worth showing to them.

Tuesday 22nd July

There is business to do in town. I meet Adam, the manager of the Shark Bay Discovery Centre, and we discuss my Way Out West drawing reproductions and postcards.

Inlet looking towards Little Lagoon

Little Lagoon

After lunch we go on a reconnoiter drive to check out possible sites for painting from the recommendations made by the ladies at the Art Space. The first stop is the Observation Shelter at the inlet to Little Lagoon. The shelter provides protection from the wind and offers some colourful opportunities for painting so we agree to make it the first stop tomorrow. A drive around the Little Lagoon shoreline doesn’t yield anything of significance so we drive out towards Monkey Mia and take the left turn into Red Cliffs on the track that Sally drew on her mud map. Nothing beats local knowledge. This is indeed a good find as Pindan red cliffs give way to red rocks lining the white beach with a curved blue bay in the background. This will be the place to come back and do one of my large pastel drawings.

Red Cliffs, near Monkey Mia

That’s enough for one day so it’s time to go back to camp and relax.

Wednesday 23rd July

Today is the day that I am going to try out my new painting workbench. I say new, but I’ve had it a year but haven’t had time to unpack it. After breakfast we load up the Pajero and drive to the shelter at the inlet to Little Lagoon. We unpack the painting workbench and put it together. When completed it looks quite good. I then unpack my gouache painting kit which I haven’t used before and get started. I’m painting the view up the creek towards the coast and it offers the opportunity for the viewer’s eye to travel up the creek and around a bend to the left. It’s around 10.00 am if not a bit before.

Joel painting the view up the Little Lagoon inlet

I haven’t used gouache before so it’s all a trial and error experience. What I learn is that being a largely opaque medium you can paint lines and blocks of colour and then paint over the top with further layers until you are happy with the result. It suits me a lot. The stool I have is too low so I spend the whole time standing crouched over the workbench. Aside from a pause for a cup of coffee and a banana I stay at the job until 3.00 pm. Lexie is starting to get toey although she has also done a particularly good water colour pencil and pastel drawing of the same view in portrait format. I suggest she should use it as the basis for a textile wall hanging to submit to the Shark Bay Art Awards exhibition. I finish covering the paper with paint and call it a day. The painting is so-so but I’ve learnt a lot. We don’t get to have lunch until 4.00 pm which is a bit late. I’ll have to work faster in future.

Thursday 24th July

This is the day that I want to do one of my big pastel drawings and the place I want to do it is at Red Cliff just back from Monkey Mia. It offers the red cliffs as a complimentary to the turquoise blue water of the bay just back from Monkey Mia, plus a lot of rocks to give the drawing content. We get out there by 10.00 am and I set up my seat and drawing board in the position that gives me the best composition.

Lexie drawing at Red Cliff

Time stands still as I draw my way through the composition using a red brown pencil. I stop and join Lexie for a coffee and banana break around 1.00 pm. Lexie is working on a coloured texta drawing of the bay. I complete the composition by 3.15 pm and after another coffee we drive back into Denham. I will now need to complete the drawing in pastels back in my studio using a photograph as a reference. It takes at least three days to complete a drawing.

Joel drawing at Red Cliff

Friday 25th July

Today is our Monkey Mia experience. We get there around 11.00 pm and first have a look at the Department of Parks and Wildlife Monkey Mia Dolphin Experience Centre where we pay our entry fees and look at photographs and tourist souvenirs. I leave a set of my postcards in the hope that they will add these to their product range.

Parks and Wildlife Officer giving the dolphin talk at Monkey Mia

The feeding the dolphins activity is just beginning and we are advised to go down and watch. Three dolphins have conveniently decided to come in and be fed and a number of people have lined the foreshore to watch. An officer from DPW is giving instructions on how the dolphins should be treated which takes a substantial amount of time. Other DPW staff then bring down tin buckets with fish in them and the dolphins are fed. Everyone gets to take photos and by all accounts everyone is happy including the dolphins.

Feeding the dolphins at Monkey Mia

Lexie and I then go and have lunch at the restaurant siting on the verandah looking out on the turquoise blue sea. A little touch of paradise.

View across to the Shotover catamaran

See how the main sail sets

After lunch I go and get our hats and a jumper. It’s hot but I think I might need it. We go and board the Shotover catamaran for our three hour dolphin cruise along Monkey Mia Bay. We get a seat up the front and are treated to various sitings of dolphins cruising in front of the boat as we make our way up the bay. We pass Red Cliffs and get to the end of the bay where we crisscross the sea grass area looking for turtles and dugong. There is a siting of a turtle down below but mainly we get dolphins. Unfortunately my camera battery runs flat and I don’t get any dolphin pictures. Probably just as well as well as they move fairly fast and they tend to all look the same after a while. By the time we turn back I have my jumper on and Lexie has borrowed a yellow rain jacket and looks like she’s in the North Atlantic somewhere. We’re glad to get back to land and out of the cold wind.

The view across to Red Cliffs

Saturday 26th July

Mary G performing with audience guest at Yadgalah

It’s a rest day until we make our way to the Yadgalah Aboriginal Club where Mary G is performing in the evening. We arrive at 6.00 pm and for $25.00 each we get a meal where we join a line of folks and serve our selves from the bountiful amount of food provided plus are treated to night of hilarity from Mary G. All this takes place in a large tented building lined with rows of tables and chairs. We sit next to Adda, a local Aboriginal woman in her eighties. She laughs and tut tuts in turn at Mary G’s risqué comments. Mary G is from Broome and is Mark Bin Baker’s alter ego. His modis operandi is to select audience members to come up on stage and join him as he performs his songs. Each song can take a while to complete as he interrupts his singing to lambast his accomplices or someone in the audience. It is all in good fun and the rest of us are left in stitches. In between all the hilarity Mary G has some serious things to say about Aboriginality which comes across in Mark’s original songs and in the stories she tells. Mark is a master comedian and a good guitarist and a night spent in his company is memorable and thought provoking.

Sunday 26th July

Joel outside St Andrews-by-the-sea

It’s Sunday and we decide to go to church. St Andrews-by-the-sea is an Anglican church built out of shell blocks cut from deposits of cockle shell at the shell block quarry at Hamelin Pool. It’s a charming building and so is the 9.00 am service led by the Minister, Philip Knife, and his wife, Kathy. Music is played on a church organ and we sing songs from past centuries as well as a couple of contemporary songs. The large shell font is particularly interesting. The people are friendly and we join them for morning tea under the rectory, another building made out of shell block. We discover that we know one of the couple, Terry and Cheryl Cowell. They are friends of my sister, Keren, and her husband, Geoff, and used to live in Kununurra. Lexie taught one of their children. Keren and Geoff have one of Terry’s fine paintings in their art collection. We have much to talk about but must eventually leave so that the minister can get on with his day.

Monday 27th July

St Andrews-by-the-Sea

I’ve been starting most days with a bike ride around the town and this time I decide to take my camera with me to get some memorable Denham photos. I stop by St Andrews-by-the-sea and then make my way down to the foreshore to see what the boats in the bay look like in the early morning sun. They look great.

Denham foreshore

Denham foreshore with boats

After breakfast we drive out to the Little Lagoon inlet for another day’s painting. I set up my gouache painting table by around 10.30 am and don’t stop until 4.00 pm. I’m still getting the hang of using gouache but have to learn to work faster. Whilst I’m painting a traveler from N.S.W. goes snorkeling and I take a photo of him to see if I might incorporate him in to my picture at a later date. Lexie returns to help me pack up and return to camp.

Tuesday 28th July

Today we visit the new Shark Bay Marine Park venue 10 kilometres back down the main road from Denham. It is an oceanariam with lots of fish, big and small, including sharks and is a delightful place to spend a day.

View at lunch, Ocean Park

We start with lunch and a view across Shark Bay which is stunning. Then we pay our $20.00 fee and join a tour through the oceanariam with a male guide who likes to eat fish. Much of his commentary is about how the various fish taste. I like how they look. His talk does also give us a lot of facts about marine life in Shark Bay as we go from fish tank to fish tank.

Blue fish

Sting ray

Outside we are treated to the larger fish, including two species of shark, located in big saltwater ponds.

Male staff member with fish

Female staff guide with fish

Towards the end of the tour the male staff guide is replaced by a female staff guide who is very enthusiastic about her job and obviously loves what she is doing. Her commentary is informed and interesting.

Clown fish and sea anemones

Wednesday 29th July

Monkey Mia Bay with pontoon and sailboat

We are going back to Red Cliff today to do some painting and drawing. We get there around 10.00 pm and I set my painting table up with a view across the bay to Monkey Mia. Luckily a sail boat is moored at the pearl fishing pontoon in the bay giving me extra subject matter for my composition which has a spindly tree in the foreground on red dirt leading down to the turquoise water of the bay and the boat and pontoon in the background. It takes me most of the day to complete the painting as I get bogged down in the detail. I’ll have to work more quickly in future.

Joel painting at Monkey Mia Bay

Thursday 30th July

Boarding catamarans at Monkey Mia for Sunset Cruise

This is out last full day in Shark Bay and the main event is the Sunset Cruise with Shotover tours out of Monkey Mia. This leaves most of the day to get clothes washed and business done. I make an appointment with Adam at the Shark Bay Discovery Centre and we set dates for next year for an exhibition of my Way Out West series of drawings, my The Kimberley Series of photographs and my ceramics, in the Rose Freycinet Gallery, all of which I am very excited about.

Winching the main sail

Afternoon comes and we drive out to Monkey Mia to board the Shotover catamaran for the Sunset Cruise at 4.30 pm. Some turtles swim around us as we board the boat but disappear before I can get a good photograph of them. A poor show I say. Participants are invited to help man the pulleys to get the sail up and soon we are tacking down Monkey Mia Bay. Although overcast, the evening is serene and we enjoy a quiet sail through the dark blue waters. We do see some dolphins, but by and large the main event is to watch the sun as it endeavors to peek out from behind the clouds. We take the time to talk to the skipper and he tells us of his life in Monkey Mia. It is a charmed life even though it is lived out of a caravan.

Lexie on board the Shotover

The old man of the sea

We get to the furthest point of the cruise and turn back leaving a back view of the sun setting over the sea. It is indeed a beautiful scene and we quietly take it in as we sail back to shore. It is a fitting way to end our holiday in Shark Bay.

Sunset on the Sunset Cruise

Friday 31st July

Leaving statement Shark Bay World Heritage Area

All good things must pass they say so we pack the caravan and Pajero, link up and drive out of town passing the exit statement on our way to the North West Coastal Highway. We’ll be back, that’s for sure.

The Toodyay trip June 2014

noreply@blogger.com (Joel Smoker) — Sun, 13 Jul 2014 16:27:00 -0700

The Toodyay trip June 2014

On the morning of Sunday 22 June I received a telephone call from our friend, Nick Couanis, inviting us to come to Toodyay to see the final stages of the creation of the mandala by the Tibetan Buddhist monks which was being staged in the Toodyay Hall. There was to be a ceremony to celebrate the occasion and to see the final destruction of the mandala. We agreed to meet at 2.00 pm and met Nick outside the entrance to the hall. The monks had been in Toodyay for nine days and the mandala was complete.

Lexie and Nick looking at the mandala

The finished mandala

We went inside to see the mandala and it was magnificent. It had been painstakingly made by pouring coloured sand in the intricate circular design of the mandala on to a white table top. After viewing the mandala we joined the rest of the visitors for a talk by the lama or head man of the group, which was translated by another Tibetan man in blue jeans. The lama took questions and his answers were eminently sensible. He reminded us that things happen which we don’t have any control over and we just have to simply come to terms with them.

The lama giving his talk

The lama with the rest of the monks

After his talk, the lama was joined by the rest of his monks and he then led them to the mandala. The monks then proceeded to destroy the mandala by wiping the coloured patterns into a mound in the middle. The collected dust was then poured into a traditional urn. The point being made was the impermanence of life and the importance of savouring the moment.

The monks destroying the mandala

The monks taking the urn with the mandala dust outside

Having collected the dust the monks made their way outside and were led down the main street to the Avon River by the Shire President, who had just made a speech before we left, thanking the monks.

The monks marching down the main street

The Shire President leading the monks towards the river

The monks down by the river preparing to pour the mandala dust into the water

Down by the river the monks lined themselves up by the riverbank and one of them poured the dust into the river. They then chanted and played the horn.

Pouring the mandala dust into the river

Chanting after pouring the mandala dust into the river

We followed the monks back to the hall where they proceeded to pour the left over dust into little paper packets which they gave out to the visitors as a memento of the event. All in all it was beautiful occasion which was conducted with grace and charm. We really enjoyed our afternoon at Toodyay and will most likely go back next year to participate in the meditation lessons should the monks return to Toodyay as has been mooted.

Back in the hall the monks collect leftover mandala dust

The monks giving visitors packets of ther mandala dust as a memento of the event

We didn’t stay for the extra talks after the event, instead following Nick out to his house and property past the caravan park. His house is beautiful and we enjoyed a cup of tea and chat with him before driving back to Stoneville. We plan to go back in spring and I will most likely take my camera along and come back with photos of the trees and kangaroos on his block.

Pilbara & Kimberley trip July 2013

noreply@blogger.com (Joel Smoker) — Mon, 12 Aug 2013 07:14:00 -0700

PILBARA & KIMBERLEY TRIP JOURNAL - JULY 2013

Sunday 30 June

Most of the packing for this trip has been done the previously including yesterday installing the metal roof rack on top of the Pajero and filling it with the second spare tyre, three metal jerry cans, a plastic jerry can and the kangaroo jack. The trip to the Kimberley will be easy but we are also planning to drive up the Gibb River Road so extra gear is called for, including a box of emergency gear like a tyre repair kit, tow rope and tools. The weekend before, we packed the Engel fridge, an esky, a box of cooking utensils, a hot pot, a two burner gas stove but no gas bottle, a tent, two camp stretchers and a water bottle. Today we packed two suit cases, two shoe bags, two pillows, two iPads, my drawing folder and pastel pencils, a box of sample postcards, books and CDs, my camera, a video camera, our personal bags and last, but not least, my laptop. We don’t travel light!

We’re running late as we have to leave Sox, the half breed Corgi/Sheep dog cross, with Prideland Kennels at Muchea, so I ring and explain that we won’t be there by the designated latest time of 11.00 pm. We get there around 11.30 and book Sox in. The next stop is the Muchea Service Station where we fuel up and Lexie buys sandwiches that are heat sealed and come from Queensland. Don’t we make sandwiches here anymore?

Great Northern Highway north of Wubin

We turn back and reach the Great Northern Highway and turn left, headed north and hopefully into warmer weather. It’s an uneventful run to our lunch stop at Dallwallinu. By the time we reach Mt Magnet the sky is darkening and we ring ahead to the Auski Motel in Meekathara to say that we should be there by 7.30 in time to place an order for stir fry and rice as that is the latest the chef will take orders. This ensures a swift drive through the night when not getting stuck behind road trains at various intervals. We make it by a bit over 7.30 pm and the order is sent through to the kitchen. Dinner is good and we retire to our unit tired and ready to sleep.

Monday 1 July

After breakfast I drop a copy of my new The Human Condition CD off at the Shire Office to be passed on to the community radio station which is currently in recess until they organise a new committee. I hope they get to play it. We then drive out on the road north competing with numerous road trains with oversize loads and scout vehicles. The mining boom stills seems to be still in progress if the number of prefab buildings headed for the Pilbara is any indication.

Big truck passing trucks with buildings G N Highway

We change drivers regularly until we get to Newman where our first stop is the Visitor Centre. I drop off a sample of one of my drawing reproductions from the Way Out West Series book and another one of my The Human Condition CDs for the local radio station as Tracey, the manager, knows the guy who runs it. We then drive to the Hardware store and purchase a small gas bottle and get it filled as we forgot to pack one before we left. The guy who does this reckons the waterfall will be flowing well at Hamersley Gorge which is good news.

After fuelling up we are back on the road again and, after passing the big hill called The Governor, we take the Karijini National Park turnoff on the left. Driving past the Hamersley Range is exciting as we see the mountains change colour with the sun and clouds. As the sun sets we drive into Tom Price, the epitome of a mining company town. Everything’s big. The trucks are big. The miners are big. The hills are big. The trains are big. It’s a big town.

We book in at the Tom Price Caravan Park and in the fading light set up the tent and camper stretchers. By the time we’re organised it’s dark so we go in search of dinner and find it at the Moon Palace Chinese Restaurant. Washed down with a glass of white wine it is fitting end to the day. This is our first night in the tent on the new camp stretchers so it takes a bit to get organised but we’re soon tucked up and ready for sleep, notwithstanding the noisy campers in the caravan across the way.

Tuesday 2 July

Roadworks into Hamersley Gorge

The plan for today is to drive out to Hamersley Gorge to get photos of the water fall up the back of the gorge. My previous photos weren’t much good. I’d also like to do a drawing there. We drive up to the railway crossing and have to wait for one of the big iron ore trains. It seems to run forever. We stop at the Visitor Centre to make sure the road is open to the gorge, which it is. I also drop off a sample of one of my drawing reproductions. Our next stop is Gumala Radio at the Gumala Aboriginal Corporation where I leave a copy of my new CD. On my way back to the car an Aboriginal woman catches up with me and invites me back to the stations where I have a chat with Tadum Lockyer the radio announcer. We’ve met before and he is happy to tee up an interview for the next day.

Hamersley Gorge

We take the Roebourne Road out of town and after 65 km get to Hamersley Gorge. The last part of the road is bitumen and the carpark and entrance to the gorge have been upgraded substantially since our last visit. There is a viewing platform and extra steps joining the previous steps down the side of the cliff to the gorge below. It is a beautiful setting with water cascading down to a main waterhole that flows on through a narrow series of gorge walls and out down the river’s watercourse. After taking photos there I make my way up past the waterfall though a series of pools to a place where water flows down through picturesque rock walls. It’s a dangerous climb to get to this spot but well worth it. Once I’ve taken the photos I came to take I clamber back to where Lexie has been resting next to the main waterhole.

Hamersley Gorge waterfall

It’s time for lunch so I climb back up the steep steps and swap the cameras for our lunch and make my way back down again. It’s good to have rest. We then both climb back up the steps and I leave Lexie at the car while I climb back down again, this time with my drawing gear and stool. It’s a bit of a struggle climbing back to the far waterfall with the gear but eventually I get there and set up to draw the scene. There are a couple of girls swimming at the waterfall but it‘s fine by me. It takes me an hour to sketch in the main details and then I clamber back up the gorge. At one point I slip and my stool tumbles down into the water and my drawing gear isn’t too far. I manage to retrieve my stool and take it more carefully, eventually getting back to the main pool. There our neighbors at the caravan park tell me off and that I drove off leaving my thermos of coffee behind.

Lexie waiting at Hamersley Gorge

I get back up to the carpark and we drive back to town calling in at the Visitor Centre to get a pass to go down the train line road to Roebourne. We have to watch a 20 minute Reo Tinto video about the road to get the pass, which isn’t such a bad idea. They point out the possible problems that may arise and let us know that the speed limit is 80 Km per hour. We buy some more things that we forgot to pack and then head back to our camp for dinner and sleep.

Hamersley Range

Wednesday 3 July

We wake to the sound of rain spattering on our tent and overcast skies. This calls for a change of plan. The main reason for taking the railway road to Roebourne was to take photos though the Chichester Range. With the chance of rain and cloud the chances of getting good photos is limited, so we decide to save a day and drive directly to Port Hedland via the Great Northern Highway. This involves driving back past Karijini with the opportunity to drop into the Karijini Visitor Centre.

Iron ore train Tom Price

After packing up and checking with Tadum Lockyer, who isn’t ready for an interview, we decide to have breakfast at the Karijini Café. The café is run by Chinese women and there is a steady stream of miners lining up for breakfast, not unlike what it must have been like on the goldfields all those years ago. Breakfast is good and we head out of town for Karijini. Ten kilometres out of town there is a sign pointing left to Karijini and because I want to go in at the second turn we drive on.

Mt Bruce, Karijini National Park

The scenery changes and I find it very picturesque but I have an uneasy feeling that something is wrong. I see creek names I don’t remember and when I see a sign which says PB 20 I ask Lexie to check the map. She does so and says the only place it can be is Paraburdoo. I say it can’t be as we are on the road to the Great Northern Highway. By the time we reach Paraburdoo it is obvious that I am completely wrong. I turn around, wondering at my abject failure and we drive back to the Karijini turnoff and pass a sign that says Port Hedland. There wasn’t a sign that indicated this before the turnoff but I should have known. Eventually we get to the second Karijini turnoff and we drive to the Karijini Visitor Centre. This is a brilliant, architecturally designed building that features slabs of iron used in minimalist style. Inside, the same high level of taste is used in the interactive museum and retail shop. Included amongst the books on sale are my Way Out West Books and I leave a sample of one of my drawing reproductions for the manager to consider. We drive back out of the park and turn left on to the Tom Price/Newman Road.

Munjina Roadhouse

Turning left on to the Great Northern Highway we drive till we get to the Munjina Gorge and are treated to a spectacular drive through red rock valley. Further on we stop at the Munjina Roadhouse for fuel and lunch. On the drive through to the North West Coastal Highway we jockey for position with huge trucks with two or more dogs, passing outcrops of red rocks that stand out in the sun. If we had more time I would have loved to stop and take photos but we have to get to Port Hedland by 6.00 pm at the latest.

Lollipop man Port Hedland bridge

As we drive in to Port Hedland we stopped by a lollipop man at a high bridge and have to wait until a bunch of trucks come over the bridge. On the other side are substantial earthworks which appear to be part of a major upgrade of the road into Port Hedland. We drive into town following the iron ore railway and substantial traffic. Port Hedland is another big town. There are big tanks, big machines, big buildings and lots more big trucks. The visitor centre closes at 4.30 pm so we are too late to see them but I check out the development around the building that they told me about and it looks good. At the Big 4 Caravan Park we move in to the bunk house where we get a bedroom and shared kitchen and ablution facilities for $142 a night. It doesn’t take long for me to rustle up dinner and we settle in for an evening of TV viewing.

Miners disembarking at Port Hedland jetty

Thursday July 4

Today is the big drive to Broome, all 600 kilometres of it. Lexie cooks dinner in the Magic Pot and we pack it along with everything else. By the time we purchase the gas we need from the shopping centre it is 10.00 am and time to fuel up. To get gas for the car we have to eventually go to South Hedland as no service station in Port Hedland sells gas.

Broome road sign

Soon we are on the open road heading north. I stop at the De Grey River, which is flowing, and take some photos. We change drivers every 100 km and by lunch reach Sandfire Roadhouse where we fuel up and eat. We watch a Japanese motor bike driver adjust the camera on his helmet and then kit up. He looks like a Samurai warrior as he mounts his bike and drives off.

Degrey River

Fueling up Sandfire Roadhouse

We call ahead for accommodation and are told by the lady at Broome Caravan park that we can’t book ahead but that there will be powered sites available. As the afternoon comes to a close we turn down Broome Road and find our way to the caravan park. Our site is under a Tamarind Tree with pindan floor. We are grateful of the site and set up camp. Lexie adds coconut milk to the dinner and we enjoy a vegetable green curry and rice. Not bad for camp cooking. We’re both tired so go to bed as soon as we can.

Friday July 5

Downtown Broome

How has Broome changed since we were last here twenty years ago? We’re about to find out. The big bend on the approach to town is still there but so is a big roundabout with a sign pointing to Cable Beach. We pass the Aboriginal community with a big sign on its fence saying “No grog for our mob” and “Jesus loves you” which sounds fine to me. At the next roundabout we take the left turn to Chinatown, which is not the Chinatown I used to know. It’s now shopping town. Tang’s Chinese Restaurant is now a hairdresser. No more short soup from Tang’s. Maybe you can get short back and sides. Chinatown has easily doubled in size but something of the old corrugated iron look of the past has been retained. Streeter and Males is still there selling hardware but the old Streeter’s Jetty doesn’t have room for luggers to tie up there any more. My postcard of Streeter’s Jetty has luggers tied up to it so I guess you could call it historical.

The Roey

We make the rounds of the pearl emporiums and art and photography galleries. There is an Aboriginal Art gallery selling art from Utopia, but Short Street Gallery has work from Kimberley people including works by Maryanne Downs, old David Down’s wife. We should make an effort to see Maryanne when we’re in Fitzroy. I want to buy a copy of Steve Hawk’s book on Fitzroy Crossing and Lexie points out the Kimberley Bookshop so we go and purchase the book. The owner now lives down south so I’ll have to contact him when we get back to convince him to purchase more of my The Kimberley Series books as they seem to have sold the ones he bought. We place orders for lunch at The Roebuck Hotel, the “Roey”, as it is affectionately known. It seems to have grown as well. We take our lunch in the Seaman’s Bar and wait a long time for it to arrive. The place has filled up with tourists as well as locals. They seem to be doing a roaring trade.

There are a few places I need to visit and the first is the ABC Radio Station. Vanessa Mills greets me and I give her a copy of my new The Human Condition album. She is very friendly and graciously agrees to interview me on her radio programmer to talk about the new CD. We settle on a Wednesday morning on our way back south. The next stop is Goolari Media where I check that they have my new CD (I did send them one). The girl at the counter assures me that it is on their playlist. I ask to have a look at the Gimme Gimme Club. This is a corrugated iron building on the premises that is set up for concerts with sound system and bar. I am planning to apply for an arts grant to tour my new music through the Kimberley next year and this seems like a possible venue we could use. It fits the bill and the officer in charge agrees to send me the information that I need to book it. The next place we visit is Magabala Books to talk about a possible book publishing deal. The officer responsible for such matters is away but I leave my contact details. By this time Lexie is tired of visiting buildings and I take her back to the caravan park for a rest.

Cable Beach

I want to get some photos at Cable Beach and Gantheaum Point so I drive back into town. My first stop is Cable Beach, which hasn’t changed all that much thank goodness. It is well patronised and I get some Ken Done type photographs. Gantheaum Point is a different story. It is late afternoon and the setting sun lights up the orange and white rocks providing good photographic possibilities. It’s a pity all those other pesky tourists think the same. I stay to watch the sun set over the Indian Ocean and it is a serene scene as we all sit and watch the yellow sun disappear.

Gantheum Point

On the way back I drop in to the Cable Beach Club and leave a copy of my The Kimberly Series book and some sample postcards at the souvenir shop inside. The entrance to the Club is visually stunning with tall red logs holding up the Bali style verandah. The building is a testament to the good taste and distinctive style that Alistair McAlpine brought to Broome. It was his vision that put Broome on the map.

Sunset Gantheum Point

It is dark when I get back. I wake Lexie and prepare dinner. The wine that I bought on the way back, though Kimberley cool, is still appreciated. Another busy day calls for a good night’s rest.

Saturday July 6

We have arranged to meet Jeremiah, my nephew, at Matso’s for breakfast at 9.00 am so we rise early and pack. We get to Matso’s just before 9.00 and take a table on the side verandah. The view is of the aqua blue water of Roebuck Bay and I sit and drink it in along with a freshly squeezed glass of orange juice. After a few minutes I call Jeremiah on the mobile and tell him where we are and that we’ll go ahead and order breakfast. We order Eggs Florentine and it is delicious. Jeremiah doesn’t turn up. He did say that he was going to a party on Friday night so that probably accounts for his no show.

Matso's Store

We go in search of a refrigeration expert in the industrial section of town to get some advice on our Engel but no one is at the place of business. I drive on out to the Port to take some photos and then we drive to Cable Beach for Lexie to have a look. We also check out the cable Beach Resort to get details on the off season charges. It would be nice to take a green season package to Broome some time, particularly as I want to do a drawing at Gantheaum Point. That done we fuel up on the way out and are soon headed for Derby some 200 Km north. We change drivers half way and I get some cream anthill photos. At Wilare Roadhouse on the Fitzroy River I get out and leave some of my merchandise to be passed on to the manager.

Wilare Bridge

We ring ahead and book a powered camping site at the Kimberley Entrance Caravan Park which is sited opposite the marsh. It’s a good location so we get the gear out and set the tent up. After lunch Lexie rings the Horizontal Falls Seaplane Adventures tour to see if there are any seats for tomorrow and what the cost is. She is told that the tours are booked up for the next two and a half weeks and cost $700 each. That rules us out on both counts. There is, however, the opening of the Kimberley Art Prize 2013 tonight at 6.30 pm so that is something we resolve to get to.

After showering and dressing for the art opening I go and stick our dirty clothes in the coin operated washing machines. When done I hang the clothes over the washing line, sans pegs, as we also forgot to pack pegs. It’s a still night so I see no problem. We walk across to the Civic Centre where the Kimberley Art Prize exhibition is and join the crowd looking at the artworks. It is good show with lots of variety including a good number of Aboriginal artworks. While looking around we catch up Mary and Mark Norval, both local artists, and arrange to go and visit their gallery tomorrow. We also bump into Denis Jokovich, a teacher at the state high school, who reminds me that he bought one of my CDs a long while ago. It’s nice to talk to him and he recounts how much he likes living in Derby, which is great. We stand and listen to the MC read out all the prize winners. The prizes are substantial and donated by local and international business associated with the area. The Overall Winner Prize goes to an Aboriginal woman, Jean Rangi, from Fitzroy Crossing titled, “This the Desert”. The prize is worth $10,000.00 and is an acquisitive prize donated by the Shire of Derby West Kimberley. The woman isn’t there to collect the prize and it is likely to be controversial. The judges are Lee Kinsella from the Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery at UWA and the local state school art teacher, Joel Wilson. I imagine there will be some comment in the local paper. It’s a good work but there are lots of other equally good works in the show. That’s the nature of judging. I would have picked the Benjamin Loaring painting, “Entrance Point-Broken Shells”. I didn’t go much on his description of the work but I liked what he did. One of the Aboriginal youth awards winners turns up in her basketball uniform having just come from a basketball competition which is in full swing down the road.

Outside an Aboriginal man approaches us and asks if we would like to buy one of his carved boab nuts. We quietly decline his offer as we already have a number of carved boab nuts at home but I like his entrepreneurial approach. We ask a lady seated on the steps if she is local and can tell us where the Windmill Café is. She’s from Broome and introduces us to a local called Mark. It turns out the he has a café called the Jila Gallery Café and we follow him across to his cafe. It’s a combined gallery and café, as the name implies, and the food is great. We have lucked in. It also turns out that Mark is an artist and the art crowd from the exhibition opening are there. We enjoy our meal and as we leave the restaurant the same Aboriginal man approaches us with his carved boab nuts and again we decline his offer. It is a short walk back to our tent.

Sunday 7 July

Derby Jetty

We begin the day with a drive out to the Derby Jetty. The tide is out and the high posts that hold up the jetty are exposed. I take a few photographs to add to my collection of Derby Jetty photographs then we walk around the jetty. I stop to point out the inlet where the Orlader Lugger was brought in to tie up. There are a few derelict posts sticking out of the mud that held up the landing where we would embark on to the boat for the trips out to Sunday Island when we were kids. There was a mission at Sunday Island and, as my father was the Superintendent of the United Aborigines Mission at the time, it was part of his work to visit the mission and sometimes the whole family would go. I remember these as fascinating times. Lenny Lenard, an Aboriginal man from Sunday Island, was the captain of the Orlader. My strongest memories of Sunday Island are of the aqua blue water and the green mangroves at the Sunday Island jetty.

Warfingher House

I drive to the Derby Visitor Centre where I drop off some of my merchandise for the manager, Jenny Kloss, to look at when she comes in to work next day. We also ask questions about the Gibb River Road where we are headed next and then ask how to see inside Wharfinger House, a museum on the way to the jetty. We are given a key and spend a while looking at the various photographs and collections of memorabilia about Derby’s past. There is a painting of Sammy Lovell which takes my eye. He was a lovely Aboriginal man who was the first to run outback tours out of Derby. There is also a telephone exchange that was used to connect callers around the Kimberley to each other.

We return the key and drive back to camp to get our clothes off the line. Our next stop is Mark and Mary Norval’s Gallery on the way out of town. Mary graciously brings me a cup of coffee and we sit and talk to them and Mark’s offsider, Denis, while they are having a break from printing Mark’s etchings. Other folks start to arrive and Mary is kept busy bringing them coffees and answering questions. We take time to look around the gallery which is mostly filled with Mark’s paintings and prints but also a good number of Aboriginal works by artists Mark has worked extensively with. Mark and Mary are something of an institution In Derby and the display contains works from many years practice. It is fascinating to see such an extensive body of work. I pick out a small, delicate painting by Mark of Camden Sound and ask the price which he says is $100.00. It is an exquisite work and we agree to buy it so Mary wraps it up for us and I put it in the car. Before leaving we go and check out Mark and Denis in the print room where they are rubbing ink into metal plates. They remind me of the time when they we were both students of mine at Secondary Teacher’s College when Mark gave Denis a hand to complete his ceramics portfolio. They’re still helping each other out. Some things never change.

Mowanjum Arts Centre

Our next stop is the Mowanjum Art Gallery located on the outskirts of Mowanjum Aboriginal Community about 10 kilometres out of town. This is a large, purpose built structure designed to look like a Wandjina spirit figure from above. Wandjinas feature predominately in the paintings on display and the 10 minute video that we sit and view in the spacious viewing area. There is a merchandising section that includes Wandjina T Shirts and books associated with the area. It is a thoroughly entertaining experience but I think the paintings are way too expensive and I wonder how many of them sell on a regular basis. European Australian artists would struggle to get these prices and that is who the competition is.

Derby boab tree & Joel

We then drive back down the Gibb River Road and turn left instead of right at the Derby road in order to go and see the Boab Prison Tree. This is a hollowed out Boab tree with a split that a man can get in though which was purportedly used as a holding pen for Aboriginal prisoners being brought in to Derby in days gone by. I have been selling a postcard of this tree for many years so I am interested to see how it has fared. When we get there we find that a pine log fence has been erected around the tree so that visitors can’t get in to it. My postcard shows a pine log fence leading you in to the Boab Tree’s entrance so it has now become historic. I take a photograph for documentary purposes and also take photographs of the nearby Miles Bore windmill and long cement trough where drovers used to water their cattle when bringing them in to Derby for transport from the Derby Jetty. Another relic from a bygone time.

Miles Bore Trough

On the way back we stop and view another relic. This one is sadder. It is the derelict house of Doctor Holman which was moved out of town from near the hospital. Why it was moved out here I don’t know as it has now deteriorated into a decaying old building that was built in that distinctive Derby style of wide verandahs and shutters. It has particular poignancy for me as Doctor Holman was the doctor who delivered me when I was born in Derby Hospital on September 7 1952.

R Holman's house

Back in town we visit the new Basketball courts where a basketball competition has been running for the last day or so. This competition is part of the Derby Boab Festival, which happens to have started as we arrived in town. The teams have all come in from communities around the West Kimberley and there aren’t any European faces in the teams or amongst the spectators as far as I can see. Basketball has always been very big in Derby and this is strictly an Aboriginal affair. I wander in with my camera and take some photos of the players. The mood of the event is upbeat and everyone seems to be having a good time. I guess this event isn’t for the tourists but, if they did go, I’m sure they would find it interesting.

Derby basketball competition

We go back to camp and have a late lunch. Later on in the afternoon we venture out again for another trip to the Derby Jetty to view the sunset. There are a heck of a lot of cars and four wheels drives out there so we have difficulty finding a parking spot. We make our way to the jetty and I manage to take what I think will be some good photographs of the sun setting behind the jetty. It is a pleasant evening and we join the crowd watching the last vestiges of sunlight disappear over the muddy waters.

Derby Jetty at sunset

After parking back at camp we walk around to the new Spinifex Hotel for dinner. The old corrugated hotel that had been there for at least a hundred years has been bulldozed and it has been replace with a gleaming new building made out of grey corrugated iron. The old Spinifex Hotel is where Ian Idriess spent a summer collecting stories which became his fascinating account of frontier life, titled One Wet Season. The new building houses a TAB, a television viewing room where the footy is showing, a bar, a restaurant and an outdoor area with tables. Our meal is seafood and towards the end of it we are joined by Lee Kinsella and we talk about the previous night’s art exhibition where she says that she saw us but missed catching up. We last met her at the 2013 Churchlands Senior High School art exhibition which she opened and where I was the feature artist. We discuss the perils of judging art. She says that some have already indicated disapproval of the judging decisions that were made but that as a judge you have to make a decision and then stick with it, which is fair enough. We all agree that the standard of work was high and it was a good show. Lee is staying at the Spinny and goes to join some friends for dinner. We make our way back to our tent and take it easy for the rest of the night.

Monday 8 July

Our first task today after packing is to get the Engel sorted out. It seems it isn’t working when plugged into the cigarette lighter connection in the car. The three point power connection works. After talking to a helpful man at an electrical goods shop we discover that the fuse on the Engel has blown and we purchase new fuses from an auto electrician. That solves the Engel problem but the additional Engel battery has stopped charging making it useless when we go to a non- powered site. This is a worry, but there’s nothing we can do about it so after speaking to Stella at the Visitor Centre about my The Kimberley Series book, the newsagent about my postcards and the local record shop proprietor about my CDs we fuel up and head out of town. On the way out we stop at the local Aboriginal Radio station, 6DBY, and I introduce myself. We arrange for a radio telephone interview for the following Monday when we should be in Halls Creek.

Queen Victoria's Head

Our destination is Silent Grove where there is a Department of Environment and Conservation camping spot that gives easy access to Bells Gorge. The turn off is 200 kilometres out of Derby on the Gibb River road and then there is a drive in of 20 kilometres. There is bitumen for the first 100 km with intermittent sections of gravel, then it's gravel all the way from there. After the Windjina Gorge turnoff we stop to take a photo of what the roadside sign says is Queen Victoria’s head. This is a cliff feature where the road passes through the Napier Range that has a striking resemblance to a human profile. Why it should be Queen Victoria’s profile I am at a loss to know. We stop at the Lennard River crossing for lunch and sit by the river. It’s a pleasant stop. Further along we make further stops for photographs as we drive through the King Leopold Ranges. There is a sign indicating the turn off to the Lennard River Gorge but we figure it will have to wait for another trip as we need get to our camp in time to set up before night falls. The road runs through valleys with red rock walls on either side and pandanus palms start appearing. It is a pretty drive. We stop for a break at March Fly Creek where some people have set up camp. Don’t they know about march flies?

King Leopold Range

We take the turn to Silent Grove and although the track is bumpy we make it in good time. We pay our entrance fee to the volunteer couple who are running the place and find a spot under a tree to pitch our tent. The place is crowded and more people arrive as we set up. Darkness falls by 6.00 pm as we eat dinner with not much option but to clean up and go to bed as the insects are out and crowd the light that we have.

Silent Grove campsite

Tuesday 9 July

Bell Gorge is our destination and one of the main reasons for coming on this trip. I have never been to Bell Gorge but have heard lots of good reports about it. Before leaving for the gorge the volunteer manager brings me my camera battery and charger, which he has been kindly charging all night for me. We ask where the old Silent Grove homestead was located but he isn’t sure except that it was somewhere nearby but was pulled down in the 1970s. I’m interested to know as my father told us about the couple who lived there in the early 1960s when he visited as part of his travelling padre role with the U.A.M. According to him things were fairly primitive then. For example they didn’t have a shower room but simply washed in the nearby creek each night so Dad had to do the same.

Bell Gorge upper river

The 10 kilometre drive into Bells Gorge is stony but safe if you drive slowly. At the carpark area number of four wheel drive vehicles, some with caravans. We shoulder our cameras and water bottles and take the 1 Kilometre walk into the gorge across boulders and along the side of a creek. Pandanus palms line the side of the creek and as we emerge into the main part of the gorge we view of a wide body of water that is flowing over a rocky ledge to the left. We follow the path right around the large pool and climb over the top of the gorge where we are treated to the stunning view of the water flowing over smooth rocks and cascading down into a deep pool below. People are swimming in the pool and we figure we should be doing the same. It is a steep climb down to the large pool below where the river flows on through the gorge. I endeavor to take some photo while trying to exclude people from the shot. Hopefully there will be some good shots there.

Bell Gorge Falls

Lexie has already jumped into the water fully clothed and I take of my shirt and sneakers and do the same. The water is cold to begin with but very refreshing. We swim over to where the water is tumbling down and feel it fall on our heads. The water is great and we spend a good amount of time swimming around the pool. Eventually we get out and after drying off make the long climb back up around the top of the gorge.

Bell Gorge Falls

I want to do some drawing so I take the cameras back to the car and collect our drawing gear and lunch and return to the gorge. We eat lunch enjoying the view across the top pool. I then select a spot to draw from looking across the top pool with the water falling to my left. It takes me about two hours to draft in the view by which time I am fairly whacked. In the meantime Lexie has been doing some drawing of her own from the top of the gorge looking into the main pool. After resting awhile we pack and take the long walk back up to the carpark passing many people making their way down to the gorge in the late afternoon. I wonder do they know how long it takes to get to the main pool.

Back at camp we both avail ourselves of the solar powered showers that have been put there by the Department of Environment and Conservation. The men’s showers are still warm but unluckily not so for Lexie. Seems a lot more ladies are using the showers than the men. We get dinner cooked but eat it in the fading dark to avoid having flying insects join us for dinner. It is the end of a very active day and we retire to our tent.

Silent Grove Pool

Wednesday 10 July

Before leaving Silent Grove we pack and then go looking for the pool that Dad mentioned. We follow a track at the end of the campground that runs along the side of the creek and into a small gorge. Part way along the track we find a small pool with water running over a rock into it. We figure that this must have been the pool that Dad bathed in all those years ago.

Gibb River Road

Soon we are back on the Gibb River Road as it winds its way along the side of the King Leopold Ranges until we reach the Imintji Roadhouse and Store which services the nearby Imintji Aboriginal Community as well as tourists. This shop sells my postcards but I stop anyway to leave some of my merchandise. There are queue of people waiting to be served so I drop my gear off at the counter and we head off.

As we drive through open savanna country we come to the Adcock Gorge turnoff and take the track in. We come to a fork in the road with stones across it and figure we shouldn’t go any further and turn around. The tour guide says that we should contact the Mt House Station if we want to visit this gorge so we leave it to another time.

Galvans Gorge

The next stop is Galvan’s Gorge, which is a much better prospect. We park in the designated parking lot by the side of the road and walk the 1 kilometre in following a track that winds its way along the creek that leads to the gorge. There are some folk already there swimming in the pool at the bottom of the waterfall. It is a beautiful pool of water with orange white cliff walls surrounding it and pandanus palms around the edge of the water. At the top of the waterfall is a boab tree, which looks like it is standing guard over the scene. We both jump into the water, me in my jocks, and swim to the waterfall. The water is cool but refreshing. When the swimmers get out of the pool I swim back and take some photographs of the gorge minus people, then get back in the water for another swim. We have to get going so reluctantly clamber out of the pool and walk back to the car, drying out as we go.

Barnett River Roadhouse

We stop for lunch at Barnett River Roadhouse and fuel up. I leave some sample postcards with the manager and we're soon on our way. Further along we come to the turn off to Barnett River Gorge where the sign says 3 kilometres. The track is rough and Lexie finds it difficult. We decide to turn around and I take over driving again. It will have to wait for another time. Eventually we get to the Kalumburu turnoff and head north. Our destination is Drysdale River Station where we plan to camp for two nights. We stop for a photo at the Gibb River crossing and then drive the 60 kilometres along a well graded road to the station. My plan is to spend the next day driving up to Mitchell Falls for the day but the man at the shop tells us that it is 4 hour drive there and a 4 hour drive back, after the 2 hour walk in to the gorge. We do have the option of catching a helicopter ride back from the gorge to the car park. His suggestion is that we take the fixed wing flight that goes from Drysdale River Station to Mitchell Falls and then around the Prince Regent and Mount Trafalgar area. He says that the Mitchel Falls drive is something you shouldn’t do in a day but rather camp there and do it properly. I have driven in to the Mitchell Falls carpark before so I know how rough the road can be. We only got to the Merten Falls on that trip so I am keen to get in to the main falls this time. Lexie favors the fixed wing flight.

Gibb River Crossing

We set up camp and while Lexie is cooking I go to the bar and buy some beers. The shop is closed so I go back to the bar and meet the chef who is dressed smartly in cowboy clothes and I ask his advice. He says that the trip to Mitchell Falls shouldn’t be attempted in one day and calls the barmaid over to enquire about seats on the fixed wing flight for the next day. There are two seats available so I book them. The flight leaves at 10.00 am and she says to check in at the shop before 9.00 am. That settled I go back and tell Lexie the good news. The drive to the Mitchell Falls will have to wait until another trip.

Thursday 11 July

Drysdale River Station

Having made the decision to take the Drysdale River Station Air Safari we pay our fee of $399.00 per person and get out to the station airstrip by 9.40 pm where I show Lexie how to use the video camera. The pilot arrives followed by the other two couples who are joining us on the flight. After Tom, the pilot, gives us the lowdown on flying with Slingair, we board the flight in a process that is based on weight. I get the back two seats which is great as I will be able to shoot out both sides with my camera. I fit my 55 to 210 zoom lens as we taxi down the gravel runway. We are soon in the air with the station disappearing below us.

Mt Hann

We head due west and pass the first major landmark of Mt Hann. Soon we are flying over the Prince Regent River looking down on rugged hills and tributaries flowing into the river. We pass over King Cascades and the pilot circles so that we can get good photos. The cascades are where a major waterfall drops into a pool below that then flows into the Prince Regent River. The pilot recounts the tragic story of how Ginger Meadows was taken by a crocodile and we see the ledge that she could have got to safely if she hadn’t panicked. We cross the St George Basin and then fly around Mt Waterloo and Mt Trafalgar, both obviously named after famous British battles with the French. All the while I am taking lots of photographs and it will be interesting how many of them turn out level.

Kings Cascades, Prince Regent River

Prince Frederick Harbour

We next fly north-east across the Prince Frederick Harbor, with islands popping out and grey mudflats and mangroves along the edges. The pilot circles around the Hunter River and the Donkin Hills Falls, reportedly the highest falls in the North West, and we take more photos. Continuing our north-east flight we come to the Mitchell River and follow it to the spectacular Merten and Mitchell Falls. By circling the falls a few times we are able to get the photos we want and see the location of the camping area in relation to the falls. I did previously get to the parking area on a run through to Kalumburu in the mid 1980s but the other advisory teacher and I were only able to walk to the Little Merten Falls. From there the track petered out and we were concerned about getting lost so we turned back and continued on our way to Kalumburu. There were no guide books then on where to go. The next time we attempt to get to Mitchel falls we’ll allow a day to get there and camp, a full day to walk into the falls, and another day to drive back out.

Mitchell Falls

The flight back is uneventful as we fly south east the vast flat terrain that makes up the cattle country of Drysdale River Station. The flight has taken around 2 hours and has been quite draining so we thank the pilot and head back to camp for lunch and a rest.

Miners Pool

Later in the afternoon we drive the 5 kilometres to Miners Pool, a body of water on the Drysdale River. There is camping allowed here for a reduced fee but the only facilities offered are pit toilets. However, a hardy number of campers have set up camp. We take a track down to the water’s edge where there is a large pool of clear water lined with Pandanus Palms. The water is so inviting that I go back to the car, put my swimming togs on and go swimming. Lexie sits by the side of the pool and waits.

The track back is corrugated to the main road, which thankfully has been recently graded. Back at camp we cook and eat dinner and then walk to the outdoor bar for a quiet ale. The night is pleasant. It is the sort of winter temperature that we like. By 8.00 pm we’re asleep.

Friday 12 July

Cockburn Ranges

Today sees us on the final leg of the Gibb River Road run. The road is rough and corrugated and we are tired of being bounced around. It’s 60 kilometres back to Gibb River Road and then we turn left. The first place of interest is Ellenbrae homestead, which has tourist accommodation. A sign at the turnoff indicates that they offer fresh scones and teas as well but we are not tempted and keep driving. The Durack River which can be raging torrent in the wet season has only pools either side of the crossing. We come to a lookout that faces the Cockburn Range and we stop to take photos. We also get a mobile phone call from my brother John to say that Dad has been taken to hospital as a result of a fall but is OK. I send him a “selfie” message of thanks with the Cockburn range in the background for keeping us informed.

The Home Valley Station turnoff comes up and we take the 2 kilometre drive in. We buy drinks and iceceam and eat lunch in the pleasant gardens outside the bar and restaurant. There is a stage and PA gear setup ina corner of the outdoor bar so I leave a copy of my new CD and associated material and say that we plan to come back again next year and I would be up for a gig if they were interested. The girl at the counter sounds interested and indicates that she will pass the material on to the bar manager. It would be a nice place to perform. The main service area is surrounded by palms and lawn, there is a swimming pool and the camping area is grassed and looks good. It will be a pleasant place to camp should we make the trip again.

Pentecost River Crossing

Back on the road again and we come to the Pentecost River crossing, which is stony, but only has a minimum amount of water to drive through. I take the crossing photo that has been taken countless time before and we drive on to a spot that has a great view of the Cockburn Range glowing in the afternoon sun. This calls for more photos of course. As we drive on we come to a large road crew who are working on upgrading the road. By the time we get to the El Questro turnoff the bitumen begins and continues all the way to the Wyndham/ Kununurra Road.

Road to Wyndham

We decide to drive in to Wyndham to see what if anything has changed since we were last there over 20 years ago. The main part of town, known as the three mile, looks pleasant enough but a number of the shops are closed and derelict. There are a number of Aboriginal people who seem to be just hanging around. One Aboriginal man walks off from Vaggs Liquor store with a slab of beer on his shoulder and, it appears, willing friends to accompany him. We drive on to the port where I take a photo of the Bastion with the afternoon sun lighting up the west side. At the port we stop again and I take a photo of the jetty. A woman pulls up in a four wheel drive and tells us we are trespassing and liable for a $2,000 fine so we quickly leave the scene of the crime. We stop to buy drinks at an old corrugated iron shop which advertises postcards and art. I show the lady my postcards of Wyndham but she declines them because they can’t fit in her postcard rack. A number of the old shops in this part of town are closed and the place looks like some old wild west town gone to seed. Back at the three mile things don’t look much better. To top it off big Hapmton Mining Trucks with three dogs each rumble through town on the way to the port to offload their cargo of ore. It almost seems like a Mad Max movie set. I manage to leave some postcard samples at a couple of shops and then we drive out on the Great Northern Highway. Wyndham is definitely the end of the road.

Wyndham Mudflats

The drive to Kununurra is picturesque and I’d like to stop to take photos but we are running out of time. As we approach Kununurra we see what features along the road we can remember and, as we drive over the Diversion Dam Bridge, it is a bit like coming home. We find the turnoff to the Discovery Caravan Park (known by us as Kona Caravan Park) and drive up to the gate. We can’t get in as we have arrived after the 5.00 pm closing time so I wander around until I find the grounds man who gets our keys from a letter box outside the office and shows us to our camping spot. It is great site that looks on to Lake Kununurra. After setting up our tent in the dark, we shower and then drive in to town to find somewhere to eat. The place has grown of course but we find our way to the Kununurra Hotel and have a tasty vegetarian meal in what was known to us as the Cama Pesci Bar. It will be interesting tomorrow to see how much the town has changed.

Saturday 13 July

This is the day where we catch up on our memories. Lexie was in Kununurra for 10 years and I was here for 9 years so there is a lot of catching up to do. Firstly we drive down river from our campsite to The Pumphouse Restaurant where a sophisticated restaurant has been set up at the pumphouse that pumps water up the irrigation channel. Lexie has a cold drink and I have a coffee and we’re ready to face the day.

Water skiing, Lake Argyle

Our first stop is the Kununurra Visitors Centre where I have chat with Cam Smithers, the Purchasing Officer, who agrees to take some of my The Kimberley Series books for their shop. I also leave sample postcards, which I hope he will order. We load up with brochures for the myriad activities that are available to us and then go for walk around town. We drop in at the Kimberley Fine Diamonds shop and have a chat with Frauke Bolton Boshamer the owner. The display is sophisticated and includes diamond jewellery, of course, fine art and high end kitchen ware. It's nice to see Frauke again and we tell her how the rest of our family are going.

We walk on to the building with the big sign that says Aboriginal Art. This building was the Regional Office where Lexie and I worked as Advisory teachers in the mid 1980s. We go inside and wander around looking at the wide range of Aboriginal art on display. Aside from some local works there are paintings in regional groups including Tiwi Island works, Arnhem Land works, Central Australian works and Warmun Community works. All are of a high standard. We meet the proprietor, Kirstie Linklater who tells us something of how she came to be running the art gallery. She says that they come from Melbourne and her mother, who is now deceased, started the gallery. It is a family affair and she has now been running it for seven years. It is a passion for her and they run it in a businesslike manner. I give her some background information on my involvement with Waringarri Aboriginal Arts and we talk for some time. She has work to do so before leaving I mention my The Kimberley Series book and the reference I make to the Warmun artists in the book. The outcome is that she places an order for 20 books which is great.

Waringarri Aboriginal arts

Our next major stop is the Waringarri Aboriginal Art Centre. I was involved in setting up this art centre in the 1980s and spent six years of my life on the project. It has increased in size and sophistication since then. I ask Lexie to take a photo of me outside the gallery for old times’ sake. The building that we built in the 1980s is still the gallery and office, though enlarged and redesigned. There is also the workshop that we built, which is now the kitchen. There is a new two-story building that houses the art workshop on the ground floor and an interpretative gallery on the top floor with paintings that are part of their permanent collection. We are shown over this building by Kathy Cummins, the current Manager of the art centre. She tells us that there are seven Aboriginal people employed by the art centre and two of the men make the pine stretchers and stretch the canvases as well as packing the paintings. I consider this a major achievement and am proud to have been associated with this project. Kathy has been the manager for quite a number of years and has done a magnificent job of taking the art centre to the successful stage that it is now. One of the things that we have noted on this trip has been the absence of Aboriginal people involved in the tourism and hospitality industry so it is great to see Waringarri bucking the trend.

We leave the art centre just before 2.00 pm and drive out to the Hoochery distillery to have lunch and a drink of Spike Desert’s rum. The restaurant building is a large corrugated iron structure which has a distinctive outback flavor to the style and decoration of the place. We are in time to order Barramundi and chips, which we wash down with rum, ice and soda water; a very refreshing drink. I’d recommend the Hoochery to anyone. It’s a drive out of town along Weber Plains Road, past Jim OKenny’s place, but well worth the effort.

Kununurra from Kellys Knob

We want to check out the Zebra Rock Galley out on Packsaddle Road and stop to bring our clothes in off the line on the way. The gallery has been bought from the original people who set it up, the Hackett’s, and is now run by an English couple. They have come up with a multitude of ways to make jewellery and nick-nacks from Zebra rock, which is fair enough. The works are beautifully presented in a small neat gallery. Why they need a Zebra as their logo I don’t know. The gallery and house is located on the banks of the Ord River and the view across to Elephant Rock is splendid.

Although it isn’t 5.00 pm yet, the light is fading as we drive out along River Farm Road to see if we can find Dan Read’s farm. Eventually we find it and motor up the drive, past the other Zebra Rock Gallery and the mango plantation to his place up the back. Euros (a kind of wallaroo, which is a kind of kangaroo) jump out in front of us and I have to be careful not to hit them. I wander around the workshop but no one is home. As we are about to leave, John and Nancy, Dan’s parents arrive. We weren’t expecting them but we should have known as they had told us that they were driving up north to attend the 30th anniversary celebration of the start of the school at Yilili Aboriginal Community, located between Fitzroy Crossing and Halls Creek. Dan turns up soon after and Nancy makes a cup of tea for us all. It is good to chat and catch up on the latest news from around Kununurra.

On the way back into town we stop of at the Asian Cuisine Restaurant, next to the Visitor Centre, that Dan has recommended to us and enjoy an excellent vegetarian meal. The place is run by Chinese people who are friendly and take the time too chat. One of the waitresses tells us that she is from Taiwan and is on a two year working Visa. She seems to like what she is doing. It’s been a very social day so we head back to camp. There are fireworks going on at the Agricultural Show being held on the town oval but we leave it for another time.

Sunday 14 July

Diversion Dam Crossing

Today begins the journey back south. We’re only going as far as Halls Creek but I do want to catch up with a special friend at Warmun Community, Rusty Peters. He was the man I employed to stretch up and pack the canvases at the Waringarri Arts Centre. He has since become a well recognized artist in his own right. Before leaving we go have a look at the Leisure Centre as I am interested in getting a quote on hiring the venue for a concert performance. The officer in charge, Frederike, a newly arrived Frenchman, kindly opens up and shows us around. The multi-function area has now become a gym, the café has gone but other than that nothing much has changed since we used it for exhibitions and concerts in the 1980s. On the way out of town we have a closer look at the Artopia Gallery which unfortunately is closed on a Sunday. It’s an excellent building and just the sort of place that I’d like to have as a gallery. Of such are dreams made.

The drive through the Carr Boyd Ranges is magnificent with red rock walls on either side of the road. We pass further mountain ranges in what is a visually interesting drive. We stop at Doon Doon Roadhouse and buy some drinks. The roadhouse is the main store for the Doon Doon Aboriginal Community and is a well designed, airy building that has an extensive range of consumer goods, souvenirs and books, so I leave copies of my postcards and order forms for the manager to look at later on. The Turkey Creek Roadhouse at Warmun is much older and hasn’t had the benefit of being architecturally designed. It was built in the late 1970s by the Wainright family and grew like the house that Jack built. The workers inside are going flat out keeping up with demand, but the manager graciously takes my sample postcards and says that he will have a look at them in the evening. I buy a drink and we sit and eat lunch at a park bench. A couple of young hitchhikers are sitting in the sun trying to flag a ride. They don’t have hats. One of them comes over to the bin to look for food. A bit of a worry. On the way out we give them an apple each but have no room to give them a lift.

Warmun Art

We go to have a look at the Warmun Aboriginal Art Gallery but it is closed on weekends. It is a large well designed building clad in red corrugated iron. Hopefully we’ll pass again during the week. We go in search of Rusty Peters and find him sitting on the verandah of a friend’s house. We walk up to him and he says 'Joel,' which is nice. It is good to sit and talk with him for a while. I get Lexie to take a photo of us sitting on the verandah. I am pleased that we got to meet.

Rusty Peters, Joel Smoker and friend, Warmun Community

Back on the road and I stop to take some photos of the red anthills and gum trees. There are photos all the way along but we don’t have time to stop any more. Finally at Halls Creek we drive around town and book in at the Halls Creek Hotel. The main building is larger than we remember but the room that we get hasn’t changed. We are appreciative of a bed and bathroom.

Old Town, Halls Creek

We drive out to the old town site of Halls Creek, some 20 kilometres east of the current town. The creek is dry except for a small stagnant pond. The old antbed post office now has a metal roof over it and it is fenced off. There are some cairns around indicating where buildings were and up on a rise is a homestead and caravan park with about five campers set up. Out the back is the old cemetery with a stone fence around it. We stop and read the tombstones for a bit.

Caroline Pool

Heading back into town we turn left and drive down to Caroline Pool, a spot that we used to visit often when we were kids. There are about seven groups of campers set up in the river bed. I climb up around the side of the pool and take photos as the sun lights up the rock walls above it.

Children's activities, People's Church

As we drive back into town I divert into the Garden area and find the People Church and house where we used to live. There are a number of Aboriginal people camped here. We want to catch up with Jonathon Bates, the mission worker who lives there, so ask where he is. In the process we meet some women that I know and they tell us that the annual Christian Convention is on, which accounts for all the people. We find Jonathon and he invites us back to the evening service. After showering and having dinner at the hotel we return and join the people sitting around and outdoor meting area. A New Guinean pastor is preaching and he covers topics as wide ranging as hell and heaven, gay marriage and kangaroo marriage. After his long address various groups from communities around the Kimberley get up and present musical items in a slow moving, somewhat shambolic, but endearing fashion. I stand up to take a photo and Nita, my foster sister, sees me and calls out my name. We move our chairs over to her and she introduces us to people who I recognise but whose names I have forgotten. It is great to catch up with so many people from the past. I walk around the back of the makeshift stage and catch up with two of the backing musicians that I know, Peter Brandy and Kevin Gunn, which is nice. As the night wears on it gets cold and we decide to pack up our chairs and leave. It takes a while to leave as I meet more people who know me but eventually we say goodbye to Jonathon and drive back to our room and bed. It’s been a big day.

Kimberley Christian Convention singers

Monday 15 July

Before leaving town there are a number of things to do. First up I have a radio interview to do with Keith Hudson, the manager of the Derby Aboriginal Radio station, which I do on my mobile phone, sitting outside our hotel room. Then we visit the local Aboriginal radio station and get to meet Daniel, a tall African man who is the manager of the station. He is a gentle man and indicates that he can arrange a radio interview about my new CD for tomorrow at 9.25 am. I agree to phone them at this time from Fitzroy Crossing. The next stop is Taylors Store where I would like to sell my CDs. The shop has changed hands since I sold my cassettes there and the current owner is Stephen Barnes. Stephen mentions that he saw us at the meeting last night and fills me in on a lot of stuff about Halls Creek. We talk for a while and then I go and let Lexie know what’s happening. She wants to buy some skirts so she comes in and becomes a part of the continuing conversation. Stephen agrees to purchase some of my CDs and writes out a cheque for them. He isn’t interested in waiting for an invoice. Stephen gives me some of his business cards and I agree to follow up with a journalist at the West Australian on the things he has been telling us about Halls Creek. It’s been an exhausting discussion and we have to get going.

We join the queue at the Shell Service Station waiting to fill up with unleaded fuel. It isn’t available anywhere else at present. After fueling up we drive over to the Halls Creek Visitor Centre and have a chat with Chris Tennant, the Manager, who has been kindly purchasing some of my products for a while. I show him a sample of my drawing reproductions and he indicates that he will want to purchase some of the Kimberley drawings which is great. His advice is to concentrate on producing drawings and suggests I do a drawing of China Wall. To that end we drive the couple of kilometres out of town to the China Wall, a wall of white basalt rock, and I take some photographs which may become the basis of a drawing. I generally do the sketches out on location and then work from photographs at home, but today there isn’t the time to do a sketch. We do have to get to Fitzroy Crossing by the end of the day.

Eventually we get out on the road and about 40 kilometres out of town we get a call from Siena Buckle at the Derby radio station saying she is still keen to do the interview that she had arranged. We pull over to the side of the road and, after waiting for her to finish a segment, we conduct the interview by mobile phone. She plays two of the songs from my new CD whilst I remain connected and then interviews me about them. The call is bound to be very expensive, but, as the program goes nationwide to Aboriginal radio stations, I figure it’s worth the cost.

Mary River Crossing

Back on the road again and we get to the Mary River crossing for lunch. We count around 30 caravans with cars parked on the banks of the river. The Department of Environment and Conservation or the Shire have provided bins, flushing toilets but no showers. However, this hasn’t seemed to diminish the demand. The number of caravaners visiting this part of the country is enormous.

Joel with Norman Cox

Over half way to Fitzroy Crossing we take the right turn to Yiyili Community in order to visit the art gallery that was signposted on the road. It is only 5 kilometres in so won’t take too long. We find the art gallery but no one is in attendance. We look in the windows and recognise some of Norman Cox’s work. I acted as an agent for Norman for half a dozen years so it is good to see that he is still working. We want to catch up with him so I stop at a house and ask his whereabouts. A European women in her sixties gives me directions to Norman’s house. Her name is Margaret and she and her husband work for the community. She says she is currently working on an art project with the women. We find our way to Norman’s house and find him sitting out the front with his daughter, Marjorie, and Marjorie’s daughter Lisa. They are pleased to see us and we talk about what they have been doing with their art. I show them a copy of my Way Out West book of drawings and they slowly look through the book. Lisa reminds us of the weekend visit that she had with us when she was down in Perth for high school. It is good to rekindle these memories. We do have to get to our destination before nightfall so we say goodbye and drive back to the highway.

Numbun Cliffs

At Numbun Cliffs we pull into a camp ground where new shelters and toilets have been erected. There are a number of cars and caravans there and they have a good view overlooking Numbun Cliffs. It is all very civilised. Back on the road I find myself heading directly into the sun for the remainder of the drive. We pull into the Kimberley Lodge camp grounds, just before the Fitzroy River crossing, as the light fades. We have booked a dongar for $140 for the night and that is what we get. There are at least 30 dongars with bedroom and shower/toilet facilities in a small dongar city around the side of the campground. There are a range of accommodation options at the Lodge including safari tents, unpowered camp sites, powered caravan sites and the luxury rooms at the homestead. After showering we have dinner in the Lounge Bar. Afterwards I phone Jeff Davies, a friend who lives here, to see if we can catch up. We arrange a time for the tomorrow morning and then retire to our cramped dongar luxury.

Tuesday 16 July

People's Church, Junjuwa, FX

Before leaving for Broome we decide to have a look around Fitzroy Crossing to see what has changed. The main part of the town is now located around the roadhouse and main highway. We take the drive out to the old mission site where I spent the first six years of my life. The Superintendent’s house (our house) is gone but the tank and cement base of the old store is still there. So is what was the girl’s dormitory and the boy’s dormitory. We stop a driver to ask where Jimmy Andrews might be. He introduces himself as Isaac Hale and tells us where we might find him. On the way out we stop and talk to Joe Ross and June Oscar who are both standing outside their office. Joe explains some of the issues he is dealing with as one of the main spokesman for the Bunuba people and we meet a lawyer from Darwin they have contracted. On the way back in to town we stop at the Junjuwa Village and meet and talk with Nancy Brown who I know from mission days.

Old Crossing, Fitzroy River

We take the Geikie Gorge Road and try to drive over the old crossing but it is crowded with a number of big trucks for some reason. We drive back out and take the road down to the Crossing Inn. The place has changed significantly. It is still a hotel but it doesn’t have a multitude of cans outside it like it used to. The grounds are clean and the garden is well kept. I take a seat at one of the outside tables and phone the Halls Creek Radio Station. Daniel tells me that the announcer who was going to interview me hasn’t turned up so the interview will need to be postponed until he arrives.

We drive back past the Kimberley Lodge and take the road that follows the river bank down to the old crossing and find Jeff Davies’ place. The house is up on stilts to be out of flood reach and there are a number of trees and banana plants around it offering shade. Jeff offers us a cup of tea and we meet his partner Mammaji, their son and Mammaji’s father, Scotty. We enjoy talking for half an hour or so and catch up on all the news at Fitzroy Crossing.

Mangkaja Art Gallery & Studio

After fuelling up, where we are served by Chinese people, and buying lunch from the new shopping center, we stop in at Mungkatja Art Gallery. Essentially the gallery is a workshop where people paint and paintings are hanging on the walls of the studio. The building is air conditioned and three European staff are in attendance. An Aboriginal woman is sitting on the floor painting and I introduce myself. It turns out that she is one of Alec Roger’s daughters and remembers me, which is nice. Outside one of Hughie and Jinny Bent’s daughters introduces herself and we chat for a while. I acted as an artist’s agent for Hughie and Jinny for ten years after going back to Perth in 1991. I curated a number of exhibitions of their work, the last being Hughie’s show in Melbourne in 2010.

Our last stop is the tourist bureau. We are pleased to see that there is an Aboriginal woman serving at the counter. I introduce myself as I purchase a Fitzroy Crossing polo shirt and she says her name is Raelene Pindan and that she is Jinny Pindan’s daughter. Her father was old Limmerick, a blind man who worked closely with my father in the mission days. Raelene tells us that she recently visited my father at the aged care facility where he lives and although he didn’t recognise them because of his Alzheimer’s condition, he was able to sing along with them when they sang the Walmatjari hymns to him. I ask to speak to the manager and Raelene brings her out from a meeting to take my merchandise samples.

Erskine Range

The visit done, we drive out on to the Great Northern Highway for our trip to Broome. At the halfway spot where the road passes through the Erskine Range we change drivers and then drive on to the Boabs near the Derby turnoff where we stop for lunch. The drive into Broome is uneventful except for the two waits where they are working on widening the road. We turn down the Cape Leveque Road and then further on take the road into Coconut Wells where our accommodation for the night, Coco Eco, is located. There are three units situated in a beautiful garden and after unpacking we go down to the pool and sit with our feet in the water while we look out on the aqua blue water of the sea in the near distance.

EcoRetreat, Broome

I make mobile phone contact with my nephew, Jeremiah, and we arrange to meet him for dinner in town. Jeremiah has selected Aarli Restaurant which, although crowded, is a nice choice as the food is really good. It’s great to catch up with Jeremiah and hear how his job at the Kimberley Land Council is going. Of the lawyers employed there he is the only indigenous lawyer. He finds the work interesting and, at times, taxing. We say goodnight to Jeremiah and drive back out the 20 kilometres to our unit near the sea and go to bed with the sound of the waves in our ears.

Wednesday 17 July

We have to get to Port Hedland by 6.00 pm so we can’t spend too much time leaving Broome, however there are some things I must do. The first is an interview with Vanessa Mills at Broome ABC Radio, which goes well. Vanessa interviewed me in 1996 when I released my Outback CD and she goes back over that before asking questions about the new CD. She says she will put the interview to air on the following Monday. I appreciate the opportunity she has given me to promote the new CD. In the interview one of the songs I choose is Hannah and Daniel, a song about Jeremiah’s sister and brother in law, which I dedicate to Jeremiah. I hope he hears the interview.

Town Beach, Broome

We drive down to town beach to see how it may have changed. There are pleasant garden areas, a café and a children’s playground but the beach is the same as it has always been. The tide is out and people are walking out to where the receding tide starts. I remember as a kid camping at Town beach with my parents on a holiday that we took from Halls Creek in the early 1960s. China Town was a proper Chinese town in those days. Now it is a conglomerate of shops.

I stop off at the Visitor Centre and leave a sample postcard and Postcard order form with the manager. She is receptive to my point that my postcards which were produced in the 1980s showing images of Broome that you can’t get now, such as luggers tied up to Streeter’s Jetty. I hope they place an order. I then call in at Boab Souvenirs and the lady behind the counter recognises me. She used to run Macs Art Shoppe, which has now closed, so is receptive to purchasing my merchandise. I promise to send her a sample copy of my The Kimberley Series book.

It is time to leave Broome, so we fuel up, purchase some lunch and head out on the road. We are sad to be leaving the Kimberley but figure we’ll come back again next year and allow more time to get to places we missed. The road is pretty straight across flat desert country and we get to Sandfire Roadhouse for lunch by 2.00 pm. Driving on we cross the De Grey River where a multitude of car and caravans are camped. It would not be an exaggeration to say that we saw 100 caravans there. The number of people making the trek north at this time of the year is phenomenal.

Driving into the sun is a pain and as we get to Port Hedland we encounter more roadworks which makes the going even harder. We manage to get to the Cook Point Holiday Park by 5.30 pm and check in. We don’t have any fresh vegetables left except for one lone capsicum so we go in search of dinner and find a restaurant at the Ibis Hotel. We have to wait in queue for what seems like half an hour before our order is taken and we can take our seats. The Pilbara has a way to go to it can match the efficiency of the hospitality industry in the Kimberley.

Thursday 18 July

Iron ore boats, Port Hedland

We have a long drive to Carnarvon today, close to 900 Kilometres, but I want to check out the Port Hedland Visitor Centre before we leave. It has had a makeover by Form since I was last there and I am interested to see what it looks like. Before dropping in we stop at the park that looks over the port and I take photos of the large ore ships that are in the harbor. I hope one of these may become a postcard image that represents the town. The Visitor Centre is indeed different. The décor is very smart and upmarket. There are no souvenir T Shirts or standard souvenir products. Instead there are a lot of books; in fact it is more of a bookshop than a visitor centre. There are products for sale but again these are very different: things such as smart scrubbing brushes, up market hats and metal Tonka toys of mining machinery and bulldozers. You have to wonder what grey nomads would want with Tonka toys. There is a new set of postcards of Port Hedland images which seem to have been commissioned by the visitor centre. I show the woman behind the counter one of my sample drawings and after this one of the visitors in the centre expresses a strong interest in the drawing. It is of Chinderwariner Pool at Millstream and she says that they visited the place on their trip. The manager is away on leave so I leave some order forms and say I will make further contact when I get home.

We stop by the IGA shopping centre on our way out and buy lunch and drinks. I also get to speak to the proprietor of the record shop and he says he will discuss purchasing my new CD with his wife. They have sold my CDs before over the years. It is nice to make personal contact.

Whim Creek Hotel

We fuel up at the Caltex service Station and are on our way out of town. The going is slow because of roadworks and a very long train of iron ore trailers but eventually we are on the open road. We stop at the Whim Creek Pub to change drivers but unfortunately it is closed and access to the building is blocked by a mound of sand. This is a pity as the Whim Creek Pub was something of an icon in these parts.

Roebourne Prison Visitor Centre

The next stop is Roebourne where I have a chat with the manager of the Roebourne Visitor Centre and leave a sample of one of my drawings. They have been selling my Way out West book so it is nice to make face to face contact. I wander around the old Roebourne Goal which is where the visitor centre is located and take photos from various angles. Maybe one of these shots will become a postcard.

We call into the visitor centre at Karratha and I leave a copy of my Way Out West book and sample drawing of Dampier for the manager to consider. He is currently away from the centre. Karratha now has five story buildings and looks like the on the go city that it is reported to be. We don’t have time to look around and are soon on the open road. We stop at the Travel Stop about 10 Kilometres down the road and, whilst filling up, get a call from Scotty. He has been looking after our house and mentions that it is very cold in Perth right now.

Fortesque River Roadhouse

It’s a long run to Carnarvon but the road is fairly straight and the landscape flat. Night falls at 6.00 pm and we still have two hours of driving to go. There are cows and kangaroos on the side of the road so I have to drive carefully to avoid knocking one of them over. It’s all a bit taxing and by the time we get to Carnarvon my eyes feel like they’re popping out of my head. We pull into the Big 4 Plantation Caravan Park where we have booked a chalet as a replacement for a camping site and find we have two envelopes with keys, one for the chalet and one for the tenting site, in the keys box. I knock on the door of the manager and he says we can sort it out in the morning. We are thankful of a good bed to sleep in and a kitchen in which to cook dinner.

Friday 19 July

After breakfast we pack and drop in to the park office to sort out the bill. The woman behind the counter says that they will be charging us for both sites, as she believes she wasn’t told that we wanted to exchange the chalet for the camping site. Lexie disputes this assertion but all she will offer us is a credit for the camping site which must be used in the next six months. It’s a pretty poor way to do business. I doubt if we will use the caravan park again ever.

We drop in to the Carnarvon Visitor Centre and I leave some of my Way Out West drawings order forms as the manager away from the office. As we drive slowly down the main street, we look out for a newsagent and see one on the other side of the road. I park and walk over to the shop where I leave a sample and some of my postcard order forms. On the way out the door hear someone call my name. Turning I see that it is my Uncle Len and we go over to where Aunty Barb is sitting on a bench. I call Lexie over and we chat for a while. It’s great to see them. They are in Carnarvon visiting my cousin, Graham. They have brought Graham’s kids up for a school holiday visit from Kalbarri, where they live with their mother. I am able to explain Dad’s current condition to Len and Barb.

The road to Geraldton is also fairly straight and the country flat. Before we pass the Overlander Roadhouse we see the 26th parallel sign, which tells us we are leaving the northwest, a fact which makes both of us fairly glum. We stop at Billabong Roadhouse for lunch and have to eat outside at benches where the wind blows cold as I have made my own cheese and salad roll, which they won’t let me eat indoors. I find this fairly unfriendly as I have bought a coffee from them and Lexie has bought a salad plate. It isn’t until we get near to Northampton that we see undulating hills and patchworks of green wheat and yellow canola, making for a more interesting view out the windscreen. Driving into Geraldton is like driving into any city; lots of commercial buildings along the highway and lots of traffic. We drive over the large interchange bridge, turn right and pull into the Best Western Motel where we are staying the night. It’s good to be in a nice room where we can rest. There is a cold wind blowing and we know we are back in the south. Later we go to the Thai Restaurant for dinner where we drink a toast to our big long trip.

Saturday 20 July

This is the last leg of the trip and we’re both very tired. We sleep in to 7.30 am and get to breakfast by 8.00 am. We go in to town before leaving to withdraw money to pay for Sox’s lodgings. I also drop off some info about my Way Out West book at the Lattitude Gallery. It would be a fine place to show my Way Out West drawings if they were interested. They sell very expensive pearl jewellery and local visual art. I also drop of some info about my new CD to the Geraldton CD shop. They have sold my CDs in the past so maybe they will do so again.

On the road again and we stop at Dongara for a coffee at the Coffee Tree Café. I have done a drawing of the large Morton Bay Fig tree outside the café so it’s good to go and sit in one of my drawings. We fuel up at the Caltex garage and purchase some sandwiches for lunch. “We’ve only got white bread,” says the woman who makes the sandwiches, so that’s what we get. We eventually eat our sandwiches at a park in Gin Gin, a little town 5 kilometres off the road. It is cold and the wind blows straight through us. Yes it’s winter in the south and we better get used to it.

At Muchea will pull into Prideland Kennels and pick up Sox. He appears to be pleased to see us and happily lets me lift him in to the front of the car. We get in to Stoneville around 4.00 pm and unpack. Scotty has gone down to his farm near Mt Barker and won’t be back until tomorrow. It’s good to be home but it is mighty cold. I chop up some wood and light the wood heater in order to warm up the house.

Albany Trip Easter March 2013

noreply@blogger.com (Joel Smoker) — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 23:06:00 -0700

Friday 29 March

It’s Good Friday and we’ve booked a Bed and Breakfast unit at Dunmmoylen House in Albany so don’t have to do too much packing for our Easter weekend away. I’m not planning to do any drawings and have promised Lexie that we’re going to have a proper holiday, nevertheless it still takes most of the morning to get ready and we drive the Pajero out the gate at 11.00 am. I have packed my camera just in case I see some photos that need taking.

Kojonup Military Barracks

It’s an uneventful journey to our first fuel stop and lunch stop at Williams except for that flashing light on the side of the road as I pull out to pass some cars as we drive up the Armadale hills. Oh well. Can’t help bad luck. Further on we change drivers at Kojonup and stop at a park where there is spring. On the other side of the creek there is an old building called the Kojonup Military Barracks which we haven’t seen before so we go and inspect. It’s an old whitewashed building that originally housed the soldiers that were needed to protect the townspeople in the late 19th century from the local Aborigines who were putting up spirited resistance to the settlers who were stealing their land. It is now a museum which is open by appointment. The things you see when you take a side road!

We get in to Albany around 6.00 pm and find our B & B which is in Frederick Street and has a commanding view of the harbour. There are two units in the old house and ours faces the road. The unit is excellent and so is the service provided by our host Mandy. After settling in we go and find dinner at the Indian Restaurant which is attached to a motel on Albany Highway. After a great meal we retire to our lodgings.

Dunmoylen House

Saturday 30 March

Lexie and Val at Art in the Park

Joel with the goanna

We have agreed to meet a friend at the annual Art in the Park exhibition at the Castle Rock carpark in the Porongurup Range, east of Mt Barker, at 11.00 am so after a hearty breakfast and a visit to the local IGA supermarket for supplies he drive down Chester Pass Road to the Porongurups. The Art in Park exhibition is a week long showing of outdoor sculptures set in the bush. We meet up with Val Saggers and walk around the display admiring the various creations. I particularly like the giant goanna that is caught sliding down a tree trunk.

Scotty, who now has a block and a house of sorts near the Porongurups, hasn’t fronted so we view the creations without his expert commentary. I would have liked to take a photo of him with the Spanner Man but settle for a photo of Val instead. The works are engaging and I’m tempted to buy the Born to be Wild sculpture but am daunted by the logistics of collecting it after the show is over. The exhibition is really worth seeing, however.

Val with the Spanner Man

Scotty turns up in time for lunch which we have seated at one of the tables near the carpark. I also catch up with my cousin, Brett, and his wife, who have driven in on their motor bikes. It’s great to talk and relax over lunch.

Lunch with Scotty

We then drive to the Porongurup hall where there is a display of local Art and Crafts which are always interesting to see. There bare a series of ceramic bowls and platters which have interesting graphic patterns on them and give me some ideas for my own work.

Scotty leaves us to go and clean up his place for his brother’s visit and we follow Val back to her new house out on their farm just outside of Kendanup. We meet up with Tim, Val’s husband, and they show us over the house. It isn’t quite finished but the walls are up, the roof is on and the electricity is connected so it’s just a case of finishing the tiling and getting the plumbing in. It’s a large open house with really wide verandahs, a bit like the sort of house you’d see up on a station in the Kimberley. We really like it and can’t wait to get back for the house opening party when ever it happens.

Val takes us for a drive around the farm showing us where she and Tim have planted lots of native plants to counter the effect of rising salt on the property. We are particularly taken by a paddock of salt bush plants which are growing well. Tim and Val have been harvesting the seeds form their crops of native plants and this is developing into an important source of income. This is an indicator of the potential for alternative ways of farming rural properties. The demand for native seed is there from mining companies which are required to regenerate land that they have mined plus aid in the rehabilitation of degraded land all over the state.

The Stirlings

We follow Val back to their place in Kendanup and stop off at the local skate park which Val has been instrumental in getting established. She is now working on a children’s playground that utilizes local materials including the large stump of a Mari Tree taken from a local’s property. It’s not the sort of park that gleams with shiny plastic climbing structures but is infinitely more interesting. There has been some resistance to the idea form the shire bureaucracy but that is to be expected when the main concern is risk evasion. Thankfully local opinion is on her side.

Salt bush crop

We enjoy dinner with Tim and Val and lots of conversation. They show us some of the artwork done by Tim’s sister, Heather, which features the local flora and fauna positioned in front of the backdrop of the Stirling range. It appears that people can’t get enough of it and it makes sense. People like art that actually tells them something. Eventually its time to leave and we drive back in to Albany via the Albany Highway. It’s been a great day.

Sunday 31 March

Albany foreshore

It’s a beautiful day and I get up early and go for a walk along the foreshore. My main goal is the Sculpture in the Sea exhibition located next to the Albany Entertainment Centre. What I discover is a series of sculptures embedded in the sea with identifying plaques on the walkway opposite. It is an interesting walk and I read the plaques with interest. I note that Stuart Elliot is his usual prophetic self with a metaphorical piece that references King Canute attempting to turn back the tide. Good on you Stuart!

Sculpture in the Sea

I then walk on around to photograph the Brig Amity the 1970’s built replica of the sailing ship that brought the first European settlers to Western Australia. I take the required photographs along with seagulls and walk back to pour B&B in time for breakfast.

Amity Brig

We have decided to spend the morning taking a drive to Torndirrup National Park which isn’t too far out of Albany. We drive around Princess Royal Harbour and stop in at the various sign-posted beaches and bays where I scramble out and take photos. My main destination is The Gap and the Natural Bridge. Lexie doesn’t want to join all the tourist so I head off and endeavor to get photographs without tourists in them but to no avail. Still these are fairly impressive features and worth stopping and looking at for awhile. The tourists are all over the rocks, some taking risks to get a good view or to sun themselves. Obviously they haven’t seen the signs.

The Gap

The Bridge

The next stop is the Blowholes and I go for another long walk to the stated site only to find a crack in the rock with a lot of hot air coming up through it. I imagined blowholes like the ones are past Carnarvon so I’m fairly disappointed. It’s not even worth a photograph!

Salmon Holes

Salmon Holes is the designated fishing spot and it looks like 500 fishermen have got the message. The drive in is stacked with vehicles and after a quick photo we get out of there. It’s a pretty spot but not on an Easter weekend.

We stop in a Whale World Museum for lunch but decline the opportunity to go and look at the collected items from Albany’s whaling past. It might be good for a social studies trip but not something that I’d want to enjoy. Fortunately we think differently these days.

After lunch we visit friends, Jim and Alison Shiner, who live in one of the suburbs where they have a good view of the bay. It’s a chance to talk and find out more of what they’ve been up to. We have mutual friends whose memorial service we attended a month or so ago and it is good to fill in more of the gaps of that story.

On the way back we drive up to the top of Mt Melville where if you’re prepared to climb the steps of the lookout you can get panoramic views of Albany. I think it’s worth it.

Albany from lookout – The Stirlings

Albany from lookout – bay

Taking the windy road back in to town we have dinner at one of the three or four Chinese Restaurants in the main street. It’s the end of another full day.

Sunday 31 March

Greens Pool

Middleton Beach walkway

After breakfast and goodbyes we drive around to Middleton beach to get some photographs and I take a pleasant walk on the wooden walk trail. Then we drive out to the Mt Romance factory and display area to look at their range of sandalwood products and see how the professionals do it. The presentation is excellent and Lexie buys two sets of soap dispensers, one for us and one for our friends who we are planning to see at their new house and block near Walpole. Robin has made the big move from Kalamunda to the south west and we’re keen to see what the place is like.

After stopping for a look at the Denmark Visitor Centre we turn off the South Coast Highway and take the William Bay Road in to Greens Pool and Elephant Rocks, important features of the William Bay National Park. I did one of my Way Out West pastel drawings at Elephant Rocks and in fact it was the image that I chose for the cover of my Way Out West book. I’m planning on getting some good digital photographs of both locations and this time, Lexie joins me for the walk to both destinations. Of course it’s Easter and every man and his dog have figured these are two places to be on a warm sunny day. Needless to say I find it difficult to get photographs without people in them and figure that we need to come back at a less busy time.

Elephant Rocks

I get my jeans soaking wet walking between the rocks to get to the beach at Elephant Rocks but it is still worth the view. The patina on the rock’s surface provides a range of yellow, orange and grey colours which lend themselves to photos and of course, drawings, however, there are kids everywhere so after a few photographs we decide this is not the place for us right now and I stumble back bare footed to the car and a change of trousers.

At Bow Bridge we turn off right on the road to the Tree Top Walk and use the iPhone to find our way to Robin’s place. The house is made of large earthen blocks and had a wide verandah around it. She has chosen well. We sit on the verandah and enjoy a view across the valley whilst we have lunch. There are boxes everywhere as Robin has only just arrived but she graciously takes the time to take us on a walk around the block, looking at the orchard, a lake and a couple of goats that came with the purchase. We are offered the opportunity to come back and stay over the June long weekend and jump at it.

Back on the road we stop off at the Walpole Visitor Centre and I leave a copy of my Way Out West book for them to consider stocking in their shop. The road from Walpole through the forest to Manjimup is very windy, but pretty and requires concentrated driving. Eventually we get to the main turn at Boyanup and take the South Western Highway north through Harvey on our way back to Perth. We stop at the Placid Ark Roadhouse outside of Waroona for dinner and then drive through the night until we get home.

Exmouth Trip October 6 to 13, 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Joel Smoker) — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 15:44:00 -0700

Saturday 6 October 2012

Most of the packing for our Exmouth trip was done on Friday, including loading the kayaks on top of the Pajero, hooking up the Pajero to the Caravan and loading the bikes on to the stand that Justin, my cousin, had attached to the caravan. We've got some serious recreation planned on this trip. With some minor packing to do we figure we should get away in good time, however it isn't until 9.30 am that we manage to drive out the gate and down the road on our next big adventure. We drop Mr Sox off at the Prideland Kennels in Muchea and our next stop is Cataby Roadhouse to fuel up.

We pass Geraldton around 4.00 pm where we call the Woramel Roadhouse to let them know where we are. We don't make Woramel until 8.30 pm and let ourselves in through the side gate and set up camp. It's been a straight run and we're glad to stop.

Sunday 7 October 2012

Carnarvon is 123 kilometers from Woromel and we pass by around 10.00 am, fueling up at the busy Caltex service station on the outskirts of town. We cross the Gascoyne River and it's another straight run north through flat country with the occasional goat eating by the side of the road. We've been listening to our new CDs and I read up on the Louvin Brothers and their Satan is Real CD and then we play it. Its a rerelease of an album they recorded in 1958. Now I know where Gram Parsons got the song, The Christian Life, for The Byrds' Sweetheart of the Rodeo album and Buddy Miller got the song, There is a Higher Power, for his Universal House of Prayer album. The two brothers, Ira and Charlie, produced Gospel harmonies on this album that have been used by artists like Emmylou Harris and Lucinda Williams. This album is must in any serious Gospel aficionado's collection. The story of Ira and Charlie Louvin reads like a morality play. Ira was the bent one who wrote the lyrics and sang the high harmonies and Charlie was the straight one who was the lead singer and provided the music. Ira died young in a fatal car accident and Charlie lived until 2011, dying from pancreatic cancer.

Another stop at Minilya Roadhouse to fill up the gas tank and we're on the road again. We take the turnoff to Exmouth and drive through flat, virtually treeless county except for some small scrubby shrubs, under which emancipated sheep bend over to hide, seeking shelter from the sun. Call this cruelty to animals. And where's the water? Cream coloured ant hills bob up like sentries across the flat slopes as we make our way past the low level Cape Range National Park and drive into Newman. It's Sunday and the Visitor Centre is closed so we drive out of town and around to our camp at the Yardie Homestead Caravan Park where I back the caravan into a sheltered parking bay, which we will need because the wind is starting to pick up. After setting up camp it is good to relax with a cup of tea and a late lunch.

Monday 8 October 2012

The morning sun is up in the sky as we drive into Exmouth and stock up on provisions. I find another client for my postcards at the newsagent, which is great. We follow the main road out of town and after about 10 kilometres we turn left to have a look at Pebble Beach. It derives its name from all the small rocks along the beach. We drive on past the Harold Holt Naval Communications Station and about 20 kilometres out of town turn left down Shothole Canyon Road, which takes us into the wild, hilly canyons of the Cape Range National Park. The name derives from the shot holes left by seismographic explosions during oil searches in the 1950s. It's a gravel track that follows the dry creek bed of the gorge for about 12 kilometres before reaching a turn around area. A short walk to the top of the summit reveals a view down the gorge of colourful rock layers and rugged hilltops.

The next access into the Cape Range National Park is via Charles Knife Road, a further 7 kilometres out of town. This time the road follows the top of the ridges of the range and you look down on to the gorges from above. There are pullover spots providing stunning downward views for photo opportunities. We take a side track to the Thomas Carter lookout which is pretty rough but doesn't deter a girl in a conventional car. The view isn't much different from what you can see elsewhere but it does provide the starting point for a 3 hour walk trail for those crazy enough to contemplate such a walk through extremely rugged terrain. At the end of the 11 kilometres drive we come to a capped oil drilling well head that Wapet attempted drilling in the 1950s to no avail. Not the most exciting discovery we've made.

Back in town I go in to the Exmouth Visitor Centre and have a very constructive conversation with the Beth Lawson, the Assistant Manager, regarding stocking my new Way Out West book in their store. Amongst other drawings from around the state it features two drawings from Exmouth, one of the Vlamingh Head lighthouse and another of Yardie Creek Gorge. I trust they will see fit to stock the book.

After a lunch break and rest we drive back towards Exmouth to see if we can see any turtles coming in to nest. It's something they do around sundown at this time of the year so we are a bit too early. We make our way up to the Vlamingh Head Lighthouse and join dozens of other four wheel drive vehicles parked and waiting to view the sunset across the sea. We've all been told to do this by the tourist brochures so we all duly follow suit. It's really no different to a sunset over any other beach but when in Rome, do as the Romans do. We get out before the sun has finally set so we're not caught in traffic jam.

It's nice to get back to camp for dinner and sleep.

Tuesday 9 October 2012

Today is the day that we plan to take the kayaks out on the water. They're not just for show. We turn left out of Yardie Homestead and drive into the Cape Range National Park paying the $11.00 daily fee at the entrance. Our first stop is the Milyering Visitor Centre where we buy tickets for the Yardie Creek Gorge boat tour for the next day. We then check out the Milyering Visitor Centre where I introduce myself to Suzie Lorraway, the Retail Shop Manager. I ask if she had received my complimentary copy of my Way Out West book and she hadn't so I go and get a copy from the car. She appears genuinely interested in stocking the book, which is great. We've forgotten some things so we drive back to camp and change for our kayak adventure.

We then drive to Mangrove Bay where we plan to put the kayaks in. As we begin to untie the kayaks some passing tourists suggest that we'll have a long walk if we are planning to kayak there right now. Taking their advice we go and have a look and find that the tide is out, something we hadn't thought about. I ask a guy with a boat about the tides and he suggests we come back at 2.00 pm when the tide is on its way back in.

So it's a change of plan and we drive to Turquoise Bay to do some coral reef swimming. The car park is almost full but we manage to score a parking bay. We find a spot amongst the crowd on the beach and I fit up for some snorkeling and underwater photography. The water is great and there are numerous fish swimming about so I enjoy myself following them and trying to take their photographs. It takes a while for me to get a hang on it all but I enjoy myself immensely. Unfortunately I realise when I get back to the beach that I have forgotten to put my rashie on and will probably have a very red back when I get back to camp.

It's about 12.30 so we decide to check out some more beaches before we put in at Mangrove Bay again. One of these beaches is Lakeside and it looks good for kayaks. The tide has started to come in and the beach isn't far from the parking area so we stop and get the kayaks off the top of the Pajero. After kitting up rashies, water bags, sunnies, sun hats and water shoes we are ready for the water. The sea is Turquoise blue. We paddle put past a reef and follow the coast for quite a way until I tire of it and suggest we turn around. Lexie would go on forever if she was given half a chance. Eventually we pull the kayaks up on to the beach and carry them back to the car. It's been fun but it is time to go back to camp for something to eat, Besides I'm starting to feel a bit burnt.

After a late lunch and a shower I ask the lady at the caravan park shop if she has any skin lotion for my burnt back. She doesn't but she does suggest I get some aloe vera and apply it to my back. She draws a mud map to show where I can pick some, which I do and take back to Lexie to apply to my red back. It's very sticky but does a surprisingly good job of relieving the sunburn. There's something to be said for old wives’ tales!

Late in the afternoon I drive back to the Vlamingh Head Lighthouse to have another go at photographing it at sunset. The reason for my change of heart is that when I was at the Milyering Visitor Centre I saw a sunset photograph of the lighthouse with the sun going down in the background that was really spectacular, mainly because the photo was taken when there was a lot of cloud which reflected the sunset colors. I find the likely location from where the photographer took the photograph and wait for the sun to set, taking a few shots every five minutes. Interestingly, as the suns starts to set it is divided by some cloud in front of it causing the sun to be split into two forms. Whether this produces an effective photograph remains to be seen. I follow the four wheel drive procession down the hill and back to camp in the gathering dark.

Wednesday 10 October 2012

The plan for today is to take the boat ride up the Yardie Creek Gorge. We're not up for much else as we're still dealing with the effects of sunburnt skin. We arrive just in time at 11.00 am and joint the waiting contingent on the flat bottomed boat. Our guide and boatman is Peter who has been living in Exmouth for long time. He gives us a rundown of the gorge and its animal inhabitants, which is informative and engaging. His comments and observations as we continue up the gorge continue thus and it is a most pleasant trip. The gorge itself is spectacular but we continue to compare it to Geikie Gorge, which is really spectacular. The trip is definitely worthwhile and we see much bird life, including cormorants, corellas, egrets and grey waders. We also see a couple of Black-footed Rock Wallabies, which are part of a colony that live at the gorge. The boat ride is a definite must on any visit to Exmouth.

We make enquiries at the Milyering Visitor Centre as to the best place to go snorkeling and when it is best to walk in to Mandu Mandu Gorge. Jamie, the man who speaks to us, is very helpful. It turns out he knows Scotty, our friend who guided us into Rudall River National Park on our last outback trip.

We return to camp for a late lunch and, after a rest, drive in to town to stock up on provisions. I buy a couple of newspapers and find that my Way Out West book has been reviewed favourably in the Tuesday edition of the Today section of the West Australian, which is great. I ring a couple of the local Visitor Centres to let them know. We stop by Bundegi Beach and find that it is a fishing beach and more for those folks who like to catch fish.

On our way back to camp we drive up the road to the Vlamingh Head Lighthouse where I wait to take some more photographs. This time there is some cloud in the sky, which offers a chance for some reflection of colour off the clouds. It often takes a number of visits to a site to get a successful shot. When the light fades we join the vehicles making their way back down the hill and drive back to the caravan park.

Thursday 11 October 2012

This is our last day in Exmouth so we've got to make the most of it. The first planned adventure is a hike up Mandu Mandu Gorge which is about half way into the Cape Range National Park and accessed from the west side. Jamie advised us to go in the morning so we wake at 6.00 am and leave camp by 6.30 am. We arrive at Mandu Mandu just after 7.00 am and head up the pebbled water course of the gorge. It is a visually pleasing walk. I've got my jeans and walkers on as I figure there may be some spinifex, and I am right. Along the way we meet a wallaby who appears to be in no hurry. The signposted trail follows the course of the river up the limestone gorge until the main cliffs run out and the dry creek bed winds its way through the range. The marked trail turns left and we follow it up the side of the gorge to the top. This is an arduous walk but we make it in good time and are served with a splendid view back down the gorge to the plain and the turquoise sea in the distance.

From this point the trail follows the top of the gorge and goes up and down a few ravines until leveling out and we can see the cars in the parking area. The sign at the start says that the walk is a 3 kilometre turnaround but it feels like a like lot more to us. The recommended time for the walk is an hour and a half and we make it back by 8.45 am, hot and ready for breakfast. A 6.00 am start would have been better. By 9.15 am we're back at camp for breakfast and a rest.

Sometime after 10.00 am we have changed and head off to do some snorkeling at Lakeside Beach, again another recommendation of Jamie's. Lexie sets up her new beach umbrella and I kit up for some snorkeling and under water photography with our small underwater camera. This time I am wearing my rashie. I swim out between the marked yellow markers and struggle to manage the snorkel, flippers and camera as the water is fairly choppy. It takes me a while to get the hang of it but eventually I get to take a number of photos of fish and coral, finally calling it a day after ingesting copious mouthfuls of salty water. I stagger back up the beach to where Lexie is relaxing under her umbrella and suggest it is time to go back to camp for lunch. We arrive back at 1.00 pm.

It's a pretty hot day so we shower, have lunch and rest for a few hours. At 4.30 pm we venture out, this time to go kayaking at Yardie Creek Gorge. We get there at 5.15 pm and get the kayaks down off the car. By 5.30 we are kayaking up the river to the gorge passing various water birds on the way. The gorge is quiet and the limestone cliffs reflect the evening sun making it a particularly pleasant journey. We row up the gorge and turn around at the point where you would have to carry your kayaks across rocks to get to the next stretch of water. It's a leisurely row back to the sandbar with the sun heading for the horizon. It's been a particularly pleasant row but we could have started an hour earlier to take advantage of the sun shining off the cliffs.

By the time we have secured the kayaks on the roof it is 6.30 pm and we begin a hazardous journey back in the fading light. I say hazardous because of the many kangaroos and wallabies that are on the road. It's about 70 kilometres from Yardie Creek to Yardie Homestead Caravan Park and we do it at between 50 and 60 km/hour. Even so a wallaby jumps into us. It doesn't appear to have any broken bones as it sits by the side of the road but it does have a bloodied nose. There's nothing we can do for it except hope that it will recover from the shock and continue where it was going. We arrive back at camp at 7.45 pm, tired and ready for a shower. It's been a big day.

Friday 12 October 2012

It's time to head back to Perth so we rise early and are packed and ready to leave by 8.00 am. On the way out I have a chat with Miffy, the park attendant and we discuss the possibility of me doing an acoustic caravan park concert the next time we are in Exmouth. I explain that I did this once in Marble Bar where the concert was organised by the Royal Flying Doctor committee as a BBQ fundraiser and was vey successful. She says that they do similar concerts at Yardie Creek Homestead for the Flying Doctor so we agree to follow up on it on our next visit.

On the way out I stop and take some photographs of the large emu contingent that is based around the water trough just outside the Homestead gates. Emus are a major feature of Cape Range so it's good to get a shot of so many together.

The trip to Carnarvon is uneventful and on the way in we stop at the Gwoonwardu Mia Gascoyne Aboriginal Heritage and Cultural Centre to have a look around.

This is a large dominating building that features Aboriginal design cut into steel sheet and is quite impressive. There is a range of local Aboriginal art on display for sale, from paintings and drawings to hand made crafts. We are invited by one of the Aboriginal women staff to view the permanent exhibition in an adjoining building where we are treated to an interactive display of images and objects about the local history of the Aboriginal people of the region. We find this particularly interesting, especially the recorded video interviews with Aboriginal people and the part about the local mission. On the way out we are introduced to the Centre Manager, Justine Lawler, and we talk about Aboriginal art and the possibility of doing arts workshops when we visit Carnarvon next year. Justine is very receptive to this idea so hopefully something will come of it.

We drive further in to town and park out the back of the Carnarvon Visitor Centre. I have an order of my Way Out West books to drop off and I get to meet two of the pleasant staff, Stephanie and Leah, whom I ply with questions about what visitors are looking for when they visit the Centre. It is a productive conversation and I come away with more ideas on how to use the photographic record that I have built up of the region.

After setting up the caravan, having lunch and taking a rest, we get the bikes off the rack and kit up for a bike ride in to town. There are major roadworks happening in the middle of town so we stick to the footpaths. On the Fascine there is also major development taking place. It looks like the shire is upgrading the whole look of the place in anticipation of more visitors coming and locals wanting a better looking town. The Fascine is the built waterfront where the town meets the estuary and is lined with palm trees that give it a tropical flavour. When the upgrade is completed I imagine it will give the town a real lift. Our bike ride is limited because of the earthworks but we enjoy the ride around the Fascine and then back to our camp.

Saturday 13 October

This is the last leg of our trip and we get away in good time by 7.45 am. It's a straight run to Billabong Roadhouse where we change drivers and Lexie takes over. The next stop is Northampton where it's the annual Airing of the Quilts. The North West Coast Highway runs through the centre of Northampton so there are road calming devices in place and quilts hang from shop windows on each side of the road. There are lots of people about so we take a wander up the street and have a look at the quilts. We stop outside the convent where there are a number of quilts on display and a fashion parade beginning. Local girls are modelling dresses from yesteryear, which is all very interesting. We wander back down the road looking for somewhere to eat but the eateries are all very crowded so we decide to move on.

We pass Geraldton and stop at Dongara to fuel up and order sandwiches, which are only available in white bread. We eat lunch on the road as we drive into grey clouds and wet weather, an indication if we needed one, that we're back in the south. We're running close to time so we give the people at the kennels an indication of where we are and keep them updated as we approach. We pick up Mr Sox at 6.15 pm and drive through dusk reaching home at 7.30 pm. Then it's just a case of unhooking the caravan and bringing the tucker inside. Home sweet home.

The Pilbara trip

noreply@blogger.com (Joel Smoker) — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 20:41:00 -0800

PILBARA TRIP JOURNAL - OCTOBER 2011

Friday 7 October

The morning is spent doing final packing. We’ve already installed a metal roof rack on top of the Pajero and I've filled it with the second spare tyre, two metal jerry cans, a half sized plastic jerry can, two water bottles and the kangaroo jack. This is all in readiness for our foray into the Rudal River National Park, a remote park 270 kilometres east of Newman in the central Pilbara. Inside the vehicle I pack a toolbox, a box of emergency gear like a tyre repair kit, an Engel fridge, an esky of veggies, a box of food stuff, a box of cooking utensils, a hot pot, a two burner gas stove and gas bottle, a tent, a blow up mattress, two more water bottles, two suit cases, a shoe bag, two pillows, two iPads, my drawing folder and pastel pencils, a box of sample postcards, my camera, our personal bags and last, but not least, an outdoor kitchen sink. Will there be any room for us?

Sox, the half breed Corgi/Sheep dog cross, has to sit on the passenger floor until we get to Muchea where we leave him at Prideland Kennels. The rest of the journey to Geraldton is uneventful except for a stop to take photos of roly poly hay bales that stand out like sentinels in the late afternoon sun. The Best Western Hospitality Inn is a welcome stop.

Roly poly hay bales, Greenough Flats

Saturday 8 October

After breakfast we walk over the road to look at The Hermitage, a small building built by Father Hawse which he used as his Geraldton residence. Father Hawse built many churches and priest houses in the Midwest in style that mixed European fairy tale with practical hands on construction. You can organise a Midwest trip just around looking at his buildings.

The Hermitage, residence of Monsignor Hawes

We have to go into town as Lexie has to buy some bathers. While she is shopping I drop off sample Midwest Postcards to likely buyers then its back on the road to Carnarvon.

Main street, Northampton

The road meanders through farming country until we get to Northampton where two big dog sculptures in the middle of town take my eye. They’re really for advertising but we like them just the same. After we leave farming country the rest of the journey is a long straight road through flat country decorated with wildflowers and stubbly trees.

Wildflowers, North West Coastal Highway

We stop at Billabong Roadhouse for fuel and lunch and it's very busy. The parking area is full of trucks.

Billabong Roadhouse, NW Coastal Highway

It's a relief to get to Carnarvon and after checking in at the Best Western Hospitality Inn, I take the drive out to the one mile long Carnarvon jetty. The jetty train has been packed away for the day but some folk make the 1 mile trek to the end on foot.

One Mile Jetty, Carnarvon

Back in town Lexie and I go for a walk around the fascine in the late afternoon sun. This is the palm fronded, walled part of the estuary that gives Carnarvon its distinct maritime focus. Boats are moored in the estuary. People fish off the wall. The place is a picture. By the time we get back to our room the sun has set.

The Fascine, Carnarvon

Sunday 9 October

Fueling up at Nanutarra Roadhouse

It’s a straight through run to Nanutarra Roadhouse, 370 kilometres down the track. On the way out we pass roadworks and rebuilding after the devastation caused by the floods earlier in the year. The only stop is at Minlya Roadhouse for gas and a cup of coffee. Nanutarra is crowded with trucks and four wheel drives vying for space. I wait my turn to fill up with gas. We take lunch indoors, which costs us an extra $2.00 each for the airconditioned convenience.

Red sand hills, NW Coastal Highway

The road cuts though red sand hills that run east/west, a feature of the western desert.

After Nanutarra we turn right off the North West Coastal Highway taking the Nanutarra Wittenoom Road with Tom Price as our destination. Fortunately the road is bitumen so it’s a pleasant drive. We pass hills with European names like Mt Edith, Mt McGrath and Mt De Courcy. We take a shorter gravel road instead of going through Paraburdoo and pass Mt Samson until we get to the Tom Price Caravan Park at the foot of Mt Nameless. Seems they ran out of people to name hills after.

Pilbara hills, Nanutarra Wittenoom Road

Our accommodation is a green, one room dongar with kitchen and bedroom in one. It has an ensuite, air conditioner and TV so we can’t complain.

Monday 10 October

The plan today is to go out to Hamersley Gorge where I want to revisit some photographic shots and produce a drawing, probably of the waterfall further up the gorge from the main water hole. The gorge is about 70 kilometres north of Tom Price so we leave around 9.00 am to get here in good time. Most of it is gravel so we drive slowly to avoid problems. When we get to the turn-off to the gorge we are confronted with a Road Closed sign which doesn’t impress us. It would have helped to have a sign on the road out of town.

Hamersley Range, Hamersley Mt Bruce Road

We turn back and take the next turn off the Nanutarra Road that takes us along the southern edge of the Hamersley Range, eventually meeting up with Karijini Drive. We take the next turn down Banjima Drive which gets us to the Karijini entry station where we pay $11.00 in the honor box and then drive 40 kilometres to the Oxer Lookout parking area. The lookout gives a view where the three gorges, Hancock Gorge, Red Gorge and Weano Gorge, meet. It’s a spectacular sight that calls for a photograph or two.

Where the three gorges meet, Oxer Lookout

Back at our car we load up with water bottles, hats and cameras, and take the climb down into Weano Gorge. The water level in the gorge is higher than the last time we were here and I find myself walking through chest deep water holding the camera above my head. Lexie chooses to swim as she is using the water-proof camera. It’s good to cool down but after two forays through water we decide to turn back as I don’t want to get the camera wet.

Lexie swimming in Weano Gorge

I select a spot further back in the gorge for a drawing where there is a lovely water hole and we go back to the car to get my drawing gear. Lexie decides to stay and read while I make the long climb back down into the gorge to do my drawing. I’ve suggested that it’ll take me around an hour to sketch the main details onto my A2 sized drawing paper so I settle in on my little stool and go to work. It takes longer than anticipated and an hour an a half later I arrive back at the car. I really needed three hours so I’ll have to work from photographs to complete the task.

Weano Gorge pool

On the way out we stop at the Savannah Camp Ground and Eco Retreat to see if it might be a good place to bring a caravan and are pleasantly surprised. It also has a dining room and bar so we might look into it on our next trip to Karijini. The drive back has the afternoon sun shining on the twisted, white gum trees that are a feature of the Pilbara so we stop for some photographs. We get into town around 4.00 pm and pick up some more provisions and a bottle of red wine.

Gum tree, Karijini National Park

Tuesday 11 October

On the way out in the morning I decide that I want to take a photograph of Mt Nameless for possible postcards so we turn down the Mt Nameless Walk Trail until I get to a place where I can take a photograph. The morning sun is shining on the west side and it looks great. The road is rugged but we make it back to the bitumen and head for the Shell service station to fuel up.

Mt Nameless, Tom Price

After fuelling up, an Aboriginal lady points out that our front tyre is flat. It must have happened on the off road drive. We call the local Tyre Company and they promise to come and fix it. I put CRC spray on the wheel nuts but can’t move one of the nuts. Two hours later I try again and this time it moves. The Tyre Company hasn’t arrived so I take the tyre to them and they fix it there. I also get the wheel nuts loosened so I won’t have the same problem out bush.

Fixing the flat tyre, Tom Price

This has put us way behind time and we get to the Karijini Visitor Centre around 2.00 pm to have a look. The display features the Aboriginal connection and the environment which is very interesting. There is also a shop selling local Pilbara material. We decide to have lunch at the Dales Gorge car park. After taking photos of Circular Pool we sit in the shade and eat our lunch. It will take at least two hours to get to Newman where we have agreed too meet up with Scotty, our friend and guide into Rudal River National Park. We need to be there in time to set up our tent and camp at the Kalgan Rest Tourist Park in Newman.

Dales Gorge, Karijini National Park

We get in by 5.30 pm and Scotty meets us and we set up camp. It takes a while and in time we’re able sit down and catch up on news with Scotty.

Wednesday 13 October

Breakfast at Newman

Today we drive into Rudall River National Park so before we leave Newman we stock up on provisions and visit the Newman Visitor Centre to get some maps of the park. They kindly photocopy a handmade map which does help to identify some landmarks and where they are situated. After fueling up at the Capricorn Roadhouse, 8 kilometres out of town, we head north up the road to Marble Bar. About 50 kilometres along the road we turn right on the Ethel Creek, Jigalong Road and are now on gravel that has been newly graded. It’s a good road cutting through sparse, flat country.

Smoko stop, Ethel Creek Jigalong Road

A left turn down Balfour Downs Road gets us to a right turn down the Talawana Track which will take you all the way to the Canning Stock Route. We have been following Scotty in his Toyota Hi Lux as he knows the way.

A bit further down the road Scotty pulls over near a windmill and tank and shows us the Len Beadell cairn and plaque. Beadell was the surveyor who surveyed the Tallawanna Track and other tracks in the western desert. I remember reading his books as a kid about his exploits in the desert and found them fascinating.

Len Beadell cairn, Talawana Track

After a lunch stop at the Oakover River, just a dry, sandy creek, we continue on until we get to the Rudall River turnoff, around 310 kilometres out of Newman. On the way we have counted 17 dead cars by the side of the road.

Desert oaks, Talawana Track

We pass two Park Ranger 4 wheel drive Toyotas filled with Aboriginal people who kindly get off the road to let us pass. It’s just a two wheel sandy track. The first stop in the Park is at the Handpump which has been installed by Rio Tinto Mines to give travelers a ready source of water. There is a grove of twisted, white gum trees and a camping area but we decide to press on.

The road is fairly rough but I stay in 2 wheel drive as we have two back tyres that are bigger than the two front tyres; an oversight by our garage. This means that too much use of the 4 Wheel Drive function could damage the transmission, or so the tyre man in Newman reckons. We get to a very sandy section and we start to drift so I stick it in 4 WD and manage to get out. All a bit hairy! We pass two more Ranger vehicles and when we get to the Rudall River Crossing we see that they have just apprehended two renegade Bush Turkeys as their feathers fill the sandy riverbed. There’s no water here so we press on to the Desert Queen Baths turnoff, with a couple of stops for photographs of the limestone cliffs that glow in the evening sun.

Limestone cliffs, Rudall River National Park

The road now gets really rough and we slow to a crawl. Scotty is looking for a good place to camp and finds one in a grove of trees off to the left near Compton’s Pinnacle, a distinctive, limestone hill that is featured on the hand drawn map. To get in we drive across spinifex and park under the trees. Scotty clears away some grass and we set up camp. Lexie is too tired to cook so I cook up some spuds, sweet potato and green beans, plus baked beans from a can and Scotty cooks his steak. We are a tired bunch of campers but the beer and glass of red make up for the full day.

Compton’s Pinnacle

Track into Desert Queen Baths

Thursday 15 October

Today we are going into the Desert Queen Baths. It’s only about 11 kilometres from our camp at Compton’s Pillar but the road is so rough that it takes a good hour to get there. A break in the sandstone range reveals our destination. We’re not alone as there are two 4 wheel drives parked under trees along with tents. We park and walk a kilometre into the first water hole which has an impressive red cliff backdrop. Folks are swimming in the pool and it looks inviting.

Entrance, Desert Queen Baths

Our destination is further up the boulder strewn watercourse so, shouldering our loads, we press on. Scotty has kindly agreed to carry my drawing board kit. I’m carrying my pencil kit, my folding seat, camera and waterbottle. Lexie is carrying her bag, camera and waterbottle. It’s an arduous trek. We pass waterholes where we take a break, but Scotty assures us that the main waterhole is worth the walk. At one point Lexie stops and says she can’t go forward and she can’t go back. What are we to do? After a rest we push on.

Rockpool, Desert Queen Baths

It takes abut an hour and a half of stumbling over rocks in the hot sun before we reach our destination but it is, indeed, worth it. There is a big pool that is surrounded by high red rock cliffs with white gum trees growing out of the crevasses. We strip to our bathers and jump in for a very refreshing swim. The water is great.

Top end pool, Desert Queen Baths

I take the underwater camera and swim across to the other side of the pool, clamber up and go exploring further up the gorge. There are a couple of smaller pools and then it’s just more rock so I make my way back trying not to hurt my tender feet too much. Back on the other side I set up to do my drawing and begin. It’s a fairly complicated scene and after an hour and a half I’ve had enough. I’ve got a good sketch and will need to finish it off at home.

Lexie cooling off, Desert Queen Baths

We have lunch and after, another swim, start the long walk back. It doesn’t seem so far this time but it is still hard scrambling over rocks. Back at the first pool we have another swim to cool off and then join Scotty for a coffee boiled on an open fire. It’s around 3.30 pm when we set off for camp and get back around 5.00 pm. After setting up camp I go for a walk to photograph Compton’s Pillar glowing in the late afternoon sun. It’s good to rest and chat over dinner.

Turn-off sign, Desert Queen Baths track

Friday 16 October

It's time to leave Rudall River National Park, so we pack and head out on the track to the Desert Baths turnoff. We take a photograph of the makeshift sign to help us remember where the turnoff is should we feel inclined to return. We stop to look at the cairn above the Rudall River crossing which tells us the Aboriginal name for the river, which is Watururra/Karlamilyi.

Southern hand pump, Rudall River National Park

I use the 4 wheel drive facility more and the drive to the hand pump is easier and seems quicker. We wash our faces in the water from the pump, fill our water containers and drive out to the Tallawanna track. The drive back is good as a grader driver is out grading the road. A fairly lonely job I imagine. We stop for lunch at the Opthalmia Dam on the Fortesque River which supplies Newman’s water needs. It’s a pleasant break before the drive to the Capricorn Roadhouse to fuel up.

Fueling up at Capricorn Roadhouse, Newman

We’ve made the decision to drive to Meekathara where we’ve booked a room for ourselves and one for Scotty. It’ll be nice to have a shower. We’re driving into the sun and find ourselves competing for space on the road with countless road trains carting dongas and machinery for the mining industry. The shear number of trucks on the road indicates just how enormous is the growth in mining in the northwest is. I give up trying to pass the trucks and settle in behind a truck with three dogs. It’s a long run through very flat country but we make it into Meeka by 6.40 pm in time to shower and order dinner. The receptionist tells us that orders close soon after 7.00 pm and last meals are served by 7.30 pm so there’s no time to lose. We’re seated by 7.15 pm when Scotty arrives and heads off for a shower. It’s a nice way to finish the trip even though the bottle of red costs $35.00.

Mulla Mulla, Great Northern Highway

Saturday 15 October

We pass on breakfast, except for a grapefruit and an orange, and after saying goodbye to Scotty, are on the road by 7.00 am. The Mulla Mulla wildflowers our out in strength adding colour to the roadside. The next town is Cue, a particularly interesting place full of old buildings from the glory days of gold. We detour to photograph the Cue Masonic Lodge which has been restored to its former glory. I think it’s probably the only Masonic Lodge I’d bother to photograph as they are generally appallingly morose buildings.

Cue Masonic Lodge

Payne’s Find Mine

A stop at the Mt Magnet Roadhouse yields us a hideous toasted egg sandwich and cold coffee. When will they learn? The Payne’s Find Roadhouse looks deserted and the Payne’s Find Tourist Centre is closed, another victim of changing times. The gold battery is still standing, a testament to another age.

Roadtrains taking mining gear north

Oversize trucks with escorts cause us to pull over often and at one of these stops we pull up at the Rabbit Proof Fence or what’s left of it and I take a photo of the newly erected plaque. The notion of building a fence across this vast country to keep out rabbits still amazes me.

The Rabbit Proof Fence

The wildflowers are out as we pass through Wubin. We try for lunch at Dallwallinu but they don’t have anything we can eat at the local cafe. We try again at New Norcia but the roadhouse doesn’t serve lunches after 2.00 pm. The next stop is Bindoon Bakery and we luck in here. It is now called Bindoon Bakehause and is in new premises. The range of food is wide and we are served at a counter with a touch screen that adds up all the ingredients that we will have in our wholemeal roll. This is city service in the country. Now all we have to do is pick up Sox from Prideland Kennels and then head for home.

Other blog travel articles
Sydney trip January 2011
Melbourne trip April 2011

Joel Smoker

www.joelsmoker.com

Melbourne Trip, April 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Joel Smoker) — Wed, 4 May 2011 17:54:00 -0700

By some reasoning only known to the higher thinkers in the Education Department it was decided that this year Term 1 should run for eleven weeks and two days. So having got to the end of this stint, Lexie and I were ready for break. A fortuitous meeting with Melbourne resident, Suzanne, earlier this year, ended with an offer to stay at their place in St Kilda and we decided to take them up on their generous offer and booked tickets to Melbourne for the first week of Term 1 break.

Tuesday 19 April 2011

I’ve made it to the end of Term 1 without punching anyone’s head in and it’s time to jump aboard JetStar for our flight to Melbourne. Lexie took Sox to the dog kennel at Muchea this morning and I ran around in the dark after work watering all the plants and the seedlings in the veggie garden so hopefully they’ll survive the eight days we’ll be away. I’ve packed more than I need as usual whereas Lexie has left space in her case for the results of her planned shopping expedition to Bridge Street. We drop off our luggage at the JetStar counter and buy coffee and hot chockalott. I say hello to a friend, Mark, another teacher who's flying east too. On the way to the 11.00 pm boarding check in I chat with another Mark and his partner Eva, teachers too, who are on their way to Brisbane.

There’s not much leg room on JetStar so we spend the night’s flight sitting bolt upright trying to get some sleep. It’s a good flight and the pilots get us into Melbourne around 4.00 am, Melbourne time.

Wednesday 20 April 2011

We collect our luggage from the luggage rack and make our way outside. Suzanne has suggested we catch the airport shuttle bus to Spencer Street Station in the city so we drive through the night checking out the big sculptures that are a distinctive part of the highway landscape on the way in to town.

Out on the street we try to figure how to catch the tram to St Kilda and with some advice from a local find a seat and wait for the No 96 tram. The street cleaners are out and kindly wipe down our seat before we sit down. Seems someone comes through in the early hours of the morning and hoses the city down. We throw our luggage on the tram. I’m carrying far too much gear; that includes a camera case, a laptop computer, my man bag and my suitcase. We figure how to work the ticket machine and settle in for the ride. Close to our destination, we panic and jump of the tram only to find we’re a few stops short. A kind man shines a light on the tram info map and advises us where we should get off, so we wait and catch the next tram.

Acland Street at daybreak

Walking through St Kilda Botanical Gardens

We breakfast at McDonalds as they seem to be the only people open at daybreak and then make our way up Acland Street to the St Kilda Botanical Gardens. Walking through the gardens in the misty morning we get to Mozart Street and ring Suzanne and Ian. They’re not expecting us so early but get up and graciously let us in. The house is an older Federation era house that takes up most of the inner city block. It’s full of art, a lot of it Aboriginal, collected from their decade or so in the Top End when Ian worked as a lawyer for the Northern Land Council and Suzanne established her reputation as a playwright. Suzanne is also an avid collector and bunches of interesting things fill the house including old suitcases, masks, dillybags, hats, baskets, books, ceramics, artefacts, Indonesian textiles and instruments. I could spend the whole week just looking at this stuff.

Luna park entrance

After settling in we take a walk back down Acland Street and check out the shops, stopping at a Mexican Restaurant for lunch. Acland Street is colourful and interesting. We’re taken by the large number of wine bars and restaurants where people hang out cheerfully. The ambiance of the place is infectious. Walking to the end of the street we get to Luna Park and join the mobs of kids having a great time. I try to photograph the Mad Mouse carriages as they fly past with screaming kids.

Mad Mouse, Luna Park

Across the road is the grand old Palais Theatre that looks like something out of an old Hollywood movie. We wanted to locate it as we have booked tickets to a Gospel show in the evening. The line-up includes the Blind Boys of Alabama, who we’ve seen before, along with Aaron Neville of the Neville Brothers, a band from New Orleans and Mavis Staples, from the famous Staples family gospel band.

Luna Park and Palais Theatre

Back at Mozart Street, we try to get some sleep before showering and changing for the concert. It’s raining by the time we leave, so Suzanne sets us up with raincoats and umbrellas and we head back down Acland Street. Entering the Palais Theatre is like entering another time period when ornate ceilings, marble columns and gold drapes were the order of the day. It takes until 8.00 pm for the auditorium to fill up and Mavis Staples and her three-piece band and three singers take the stage. They belt out Gospel numbers ranging from old Staples numbers to tracks off her new Grammy winning CD. The music is great and the singers are in fine voice. Mavis engages the audience with stories of patting kolas bears and kangaroos and as the concert progresses incorporates more audience participation with call and response similar to what must go in black churches back in the U.S. After a while this gets a bit repetitive. How many times can you say you’re having a good time? The singers leave the stage to the three musicians who give us extended solos that take an inordinate amount of time until Mavis and her singers return for a big finale number.

After interval the lights go down and the MC announces the Blind Boys of Alabama. On come four elderly black gentlemen in white suits, lead by a big black man in black, each with their hand on the shoulder of the man in front of them. These guys really are blind. One of the old men takes as seat at the drums and the other three take seats at the front of the stage. Other black guys in white suits make up the band and after saying hello the middle singer kicks off the show. For a bunch of old guys they have strong voices and turn in a very energetic performance. Having three singers helps as two take a rest on their chairs whilst the other one sings. When singing the songs straight the performance is exhilarating but eventually they resort to audience participation too and it all becomes very repetitive. The crowd seems to love this but we find it pretty boring.

The highlight of the night for me, and Lexie, is when Aaron Neville comes on. His high vibrato voice is magic and he sings with a sincerity that indicates he really believes in what he is singing, at least that’s how I read it. He stands to one side for his performance but fills the stage. The Blind Boys of Alabama provide harmonies and it is truly an uplifting experience. I could listen to him all night. The Blind Boys take over and the middle singer takes an extended walk through the crowd assisted by his minder. Although the crowd participate well I find this a bit boring, but they finish with a very rousing old Gospel number. Aaron Neville rejoins them for an encore, Hank William’s I Saw the Light, and it tops the night off well with each singer taking a different verse. It’s 11 O clock and we’re tired. I can only image how tired those old guys are.

Back out on the street, Acland precinct is full of people and they’re all having a good time, but it isn’t noisy and we feel completely safe.

Thursday 21 April 2011

Suzanne has arranged for me to do an interview with a friend of hers, Dr Jaqueline Healy, to hear my recollections of the start of the Aboriginal Art programme at Balgo Hills, an Aboriginal Community in the east Kimberley. I visited Balgo Hills a number of times in the early 1980’s when working as an Arts Advisory teacher for the Education Department of WA. When possible I shared the travel expenses with John Hutchinson, the TAFE officer for the east Kimberley, and it was he who liased with Sister Alice, the nun who ran the TAFE annex at Balgo Hills. Included in her Adult Education programme was an arts programme that was very popular with the locals. I was able to wander around the group and make suggestions on how they could improve on what they were doing.

Jacquie arrived promptly at 10.00am bringing hot cross buns with her which we ate with morning tea. I learnt as much from our interview as she did from me and it was good to go over my memories of those exciting times. Jacquie acquired her doctorate by researching the Aboriginal Art industry with particular reference to the Kimberley and now she was researching the first major exhibition by Balgo Hills artists which was why she wanted to interview me. Listening to her I realised that this was someone who knew a heck of a lot about the development of the Aboriginal Art industry in this country.

Boo Radley shop, Bridge Street

After our interview Jacky offered to drop us off where we wanted to go next. Lexie wanted to visit the Boo Radley clothing boutique on Bridge Road in Richmond and Jacquie was able to take us right there which saved us a lot of messing around. I left Lexie to try on clothes and went for a walk down Bridge Road, a location known for its clothing and shoe shops. Passing a shop with a big sales sign outside I saw a blue and grey checked, fleecy lined shirt that looked just the thing for a fashion conscious bloke and I went inside and tried it on. At $20.00 I couldn’t pass it up and emerged the proud owner of a Bridge Street fashion purchase.

Lexie was happy with her purchases so we picked a nice café to celebrate and have lunch. Walking back up Bridge Road to the city centre we passed a shoe shop that was having a sale and I saw some red Nike sneakers that I had eyed off in Sydney but couldn’t come at the $90.00 price tag. The sneakers had been reduced to $65.00 so I took the punt and tried them on. They looked good so I added them to my Bridge Street collection and we continued into town.

Downtown Melbourne

We made our way to Federation Square and watched a street artist juggle ping pong balls out of his mouth and then juggle batons which was all very impressive. He then got a man up out of the audience and set him up with a headset that altered his voice when he spoke, much to the merriment of everyone listening. After getting him to answer a number of questions the performer was then able to play back to him a recording of his funny answers and most likely gave him a CD to take away of his performance. The Melbourne Comedy festival was celebrating its 25th anniversary and this act appeared to be one of many taking place around the city.

Ping pong ball juggling

Catching a tram back to St Kilda we surprised Suzanne at how quickly we had been able to do our shopping run. I went back in to the Acland Street precinct, that’s what they call these shopping areas here, to buy some groceries and a couple of bottles of wine for dinner, which Suzanne was preparing. On return I found that I had forgotten to buy the Gugel Hopf cake from the Monarch Cake Shop. “Now how are you going to remember such a mouthful as that”, I ask? This time Lexie and I go back to buy the cake and I drop off a copy of my The Kimberley Series book at one of the bookshops for the owners to look at in the hope that they want to stock it in their bookshop.

Catching the tram to St Kilda

Dinner with Suzanne and Ian is a leisurely affair and I learn that Ian had spent some time in Halls Creek recently, mediating in a land dispute with people that I know. We talk about the Moola Bulla story and I show them a photograph of my father in the Moola Bulla story book. We also play the Aaron Neville gospel CD, I Know I’ve Been Changed, which we bought for them at the Palais Theatre concert. It’s a great CD. We then get on to the topic of Mary and Elizabeth Durack, both of whom I knew when they were alive and I learn more things I didn’t know. A very pleasant evening indeed.

Friday 22 April 2011

Suzanne and Ian are going to their other place on the Mornington Peninsular for a well-earned break. Lexie and I have decided to have a rest day today. Good Friday is the day in the Easter story where Christ was killed so it’s not a day for partying.

I decide to catch up on some reading including Jacquie’s PhD on Aboriginal Art Centres where I fill in the gaps in my knowledge since leaving Waringarri Aboriginal Arts in 1991.

Sometime in the late afternoon Lexie and I take a stroll down Acland Street and drop into an Asian Restaurant called Kotaraya where we are served with an excellent vegetarian meal.

Saturday 23 April 2011

National Gallery of Victoria

Today is the day that we have planned for our visit to the National Gallery of Victoria so we catch a tram down St Kilda Road and jump off outside the gallery. The two special exhibitions that we visit are the Man Style exhibit and the Deep Water exhibit. The Man Style exhibit features men’s fashions from the 18th century to now and is fascinating. I particularly like the Vivien Westwood and Jean Paul Gaultier pieces. The Deep Water exhibit features photographs from the collection which are divided into freshwater and saltwater images. There are the Ansell Adams images which should be in any collection and are of course, great. I particularly like the Frank Hurley images from the Antarctic expedition and there is an underwater image of surfers on their boards which is particularly good. This is an exquisite little show.

We have a look through the permanent collection and are impressed by the range of paintings from the Impressionist and Symbolist artists that the gallery owns, courtesy of the Feldman bequest. There is also a display of artworks by Australian artists purchased from this bequest including the Rover Thomas painting of the Willy Willy that we sold to the NGV from the exhibition that we held at the Deutscher Contemporary Art Gallery when I was working for Waringarri Aboriginal Arts. It’s a bit like meeting an old friend again. There is also an interesting 19th Century ceramics and glass collection on display from the Dr Robert Wilson Collection. The NGV collection rivals any international collection as a result of bequest such as these.

There is also a smart tea and coffee café which we visit and are treated to cakes that are presented as works of art, tasting as good as they look, with coffee and hot chockalott that matches.

The Yarra River

Next we walk over the bridge on the Yarra on our way to the other NGV gallery at the Ian Potter Centre in the Federation Square complex. We see a familiar face on the way there and identify Rod Quantock taking a bunch of people, all wearing funny noses, on one of his guided tours with a difference; all a part of the 25th anniversary of the Comedy Festival. In the Federation Square concourse the Comedy Festival has an open air stage so we stay and watch an act that involves two people spitting bits of banana into each other’s mouth. It’s all quite clever but a bit out there.

Rod Quantock tour

Banana spitting duo

The special exhibition that we have come to see at the NGV gallery is the Eugene von Guerard, Nature Revealed exhibition that features over 150 works by this important 19th Century Australian colonial painter. I particularly want to see this show as von Guerard is one of the artists that we study in our Year 11 Visual Arts course at school. The exhibition is exhaustive and features not only painting but his sketches which he kept in small sketchbooks and on larger sheets of a paper which he glued into manuals. Von Guerard accompanied explorers on their trips into the hinterland and made meticulous sketches of what he saw which he used a source material back in his studio when composing his paintings. It was great to see these actual drawings.

Federation Square

I was particularly pleased to see his “North-east view from the northern top of Mount Kosciusko” painting which he painted in 1863 after a perilous trip to the Kosciusko plateau as it is one of the paintings that we analyse in the school art course and I haven’t been able to identify all the details of the work because of the limitations of reproduction. I’ll be able to speak with more authority about the work having seen it in the flesh so to speak. 150 works is a lot of art to look at and by the end of this we are starting to tire. We have a quick look at the annual student exhibition and the contemporary works display and have seen all the art we can cope with for one day.

We meet Matt, the chaplain from my school, along with his wife, outside. They are here to catch some of the Comedy Festival acts. We chat and then head for the tram stop. It’s enough to catch the right tram and get back to Mozart Street before the light goes.

Sunday 24 April 2011

Suzanne has kindly left her car keys with us with the offer of using her car, so today we are going to drive to the outer north-eastern suburbs to visit the Heide Gallery, the previous home of John and Sunday Reed, famous benefactors who supported the artists of the Angry Penguins group; modernist Australian artists and writers from the mid 20th Century. To get there we are going to have to buy a Melbourne street directory and map so this necessitates another walk down Acland Street to Readings bookshop. We hang out a coffee shop until the bookshop opens and then make our way back to Mozart Street.

After plotting our journey we set out along St Kilda Road and make our way through city traffic, Lexie providing the directions and me making the turns as directed. We get there by 12.00 am midday, the stated opening time, only to find that there is no parking left, so we have to drive round and round through the parking area until someone leaves and creates a space for us to park. There are three galleries at Heide; Heide 1, the original weatherboard homestead that John and Sunday Reed lived in when they moved to the property in the Yarra Valley in 1935, Heide II, the new home they built on the property in 1963 and Heide III, the gallery that the State Government of Victoria built in 1993. The state government acquired the property in early 1981 from the Reeds. John and Sunday Reed moved back into the original home and lived there until their deaths in late 1981.

We visit Heide III first, pay $12.00 each and view an exhibition of works by Albert Tucker, one of the Angry Penguin artists. The show consists of paintings and works on paper from his Images of Modern Evil series (1943-48), developed in Melbourne during World War II. These works were prompted by Tucker’s revulsion at the antics of Australian girls who entertained the American GIs and Australian troops while on leave from active service. He famously used symbols such as a crescent mouth, eye on a stick and distorted figures to depict the characters in his compositions. The works remain suitably grotesque, with dark backgrounds and lascivious figures acting out their wartime narratives. Tucker managed to hang on to the works for more than thirty years until most were acquired by the National Gallery of Australia, ensuring that all locatable works could be displayed together in this exhibition. For my part I find the works interesting but not something I would want to view for an extended period of time.

Heart Garden, Heide I

Next we visit Heide I where there is an exhibition of mixed works by Mirka Mora, another well known Melbourne artist and personality who was befriended by John and Sunday Reed. Heide I is famously known as the place where Sydney Nolan painted his Ned Kelly series of paintings, using the dinning room table as his studio, so it is special to enter the dining room and view the table where this historic event took place. Unfortunately I’m not allowed to photograph the dinning room but I can take photographs of the outside of the building which I do with the intention of showing these to my students when I get back to Perth. It is intriguing to wander through the rooms of this beautiful building and imagine the discussions that must have taken place here amongst the artists and writers who lived here with John and Sunday Reed at various times in their lives; people that included Nolan, Albert Tucker, Joy Hester, Sam Atyeo, Moya Dyring, Charles Blackman, Mirka Mora and Max Harris. Nolan’s long-term affair with Sunday Reed only adds to the intrigue.

Veggie garden, Heide I

Heide II is different again. This is a modernist limestone block building which the Reeds originally built as their new dwelling but lends itself to being a gallery with its white walls and cubic forms. The exhibition on display is titled Born to Concrete and consists of works from the Heide Collection produced by the concrete poetry artists, an avant-garde Australian art movement from the 1960s. Included amongst these artists was Sweeny Reed, the son of Tucker and Hester, who was adopted by the Reeds. Basically the art is word art, with words arranged so that they illustrate the content of the words. These works were influenced by poets such as ee cummings and I find them interesting, whereas Lexie says they look like stuff that she has done with her primary school students over many years. Most works are on paper but others are three dimensional and made out of wood and Perspex. One series makes a play on the word horizon, which I quite like.

Montsalvat entrance

We try to book for lunch at the Cafe Vue but are told that we will have a 45 minute wait so we decide to take our chances for lunch at our next destination, Montsalvat, an artist’s colony further up the Yarra Valley. We luck in as Montsalvat has a café that serves high quality food and wine in an outdoor setting that is charming and pleasant. Montsalvat was established by Justus Jorgensen on 12 acres that he purchased in 1935 and consists of a series of mainly stone buildings constructed over an extended period of time. Jorgensen was an architect, writer and painter and famously studied under Max Meldrum, a well know teacher and artist from the early 1900’s. He had a vision to create a place where artists could live and work and expended much energy on realizing this vision. His goal has been achieved as artists and crafts people as diverse as painters, jewellers, musical instrument makers, a sculptor, a dress maker, a multi media artist and even a wine maker all work at Montsalvat.

Montsalvat village

The buildings look like something out of a European medieval village and include a Great Hall, a Barn Gallery, a Long Gallery, a decorative pond, a Chapel and Sacristy, a Stone House and a series of artists studios which would have originally been a dairy, a barn, stables, silos and storehouses when Montsalvat was a largely self sufficient farm. The colony is now managed by Jorgensen’s son, Sigmund Jorgensen, who reckons he’s been there for 71 years, so there’s a bit of history there. We meet him at the Main entrance in the Barn Gallery where we pay the $14.00 entrance fee per person and view a printmaking exhibition, which is currently showing. It is an exhibition of great diversity and high quality. We are able to wander around the property at will and all in all, it is a great experience and well worth the entry fee.

The Great Hall, Montsalvat

Inside the chapel, Montsalvat

Montsalvat artist's studio

It is late afternoon so we figure we’d better get going so that we can find our way back to St Kilda while it is still light. Lexie plots another route back and I follow her directions. She finds the journey stressful, especially when I divert back up the Esplanade to see if I can locate the Esplanade Hotel. I don’t actually see it, as I’m too busy negotiating the traffic, so eventually we make our way up Fitzroy Street and back down Carlisle Street to St Kilda. We’re happy to get home safely.

Monday 25 April 2011

Esplanade Hotel

Today I plan to take a walk along the St Kilda foreshore to see if I can get some good photographs of this seaside suburb. Lexie isn’t interested in a long walk so I leave her at the end of Acland Street and walk on up the Esplanade past Luna Park and The Palais Theatre. Many of the buildings that front the Esplanade are Art Deco in architectural style and give St Kilda its distinctive visual character; a bit like stepping back in time. I discover the Esplanade Hotel which is just waking up from another night of excess. The staff member I talk to says they won’t open until 12.00 am midday and will then remain open until 3.00 am. I check out the band list for Monday evening but don’t recognize any of the bands. We’ve got tickets booked to the Leon Russell and Little Feat concert at the Palais tonight and I thought we might chance a listen to some local bands at the Esplanade after that. We’ll see how the night pans out.

Fishermen, St Kilda Pier

I cross the Esplanade and walk down some steps that take me through the Catani Gardens to the water’s edge. Walking back towards St Kilda I come to the St Kilda Pier and walk out to the café at the end taking photos along the way. Fishermen have framed my walk along the pier and with their white plastic buckets they become part of the subject matter for my shots. The cityscape is shrouded in mist and makes a great backdrop to the sailing boats moored in the harbour. Beyond the café there is a boardwalk that takes you down to the water’s edge and acts as a barrier protecting the colony of Little Penguins that live there amongst the rocks. They remain well hidden at this time and only come out to eat in the early morning and late evening. Boats are moored here as well and I make a mental note of a scene I’d like to come back and draw sometime.

Yachts and city skyline

Back on the beach I walk along the boardwalk dodging bikes, joggers and rollerbladers, past cafes and restaurants, until I get to the St Kilda Marina. I walk up Blessington Street to Mozart Street and convince Lexie that she should come on the

seaside walk to the pier for lunch. We retrace my steps and back on the boulevard the sun is out and lots more people are out walking or just hanging out. There is a pleasant atmosphere about the place as folks make the best of the Monday holiday. We sit in a sunny spot for lunch at the end of the pier and enjoy the view across the bay to the folks on the beach. My brother John sends us a text about what he’s doing in Perth and we text him back, letting him know where we are and what we’re doing. He’s suitably impressed.

Fishermen, St Kilda Pier

On the way out we pass a fisherman just as he snares a seagull and the terrified creature starts screaming as it tries to raise itself out of the water. I offer to help so he gets me to hold the rod while he pulls in the seagull. Fortunately the hook isn’t lodged in the seagull but rather the line is tangled around its leg. We get the seagull down on the jetty and I hold its head with a cloth while he untangles its leg. Then it’s just a case of throwing it off the jetty and it flies away. By this time as small crowd has gathered so we make our way around them and back down the pier. A leisurely walk back down Acland Street, dropping into bookshops and clothing shops, completes the morning’s excursion. It’s a tiring business enjoying yourself; so we rest up for the afternoon reading books.

In the evening we make our way to the Palais Theatre and settle in to catch the first act, Little Feat. They’re a six piece, southern boogie band that used to be fronted by the brilliant, but erratic, Lowell George who wrote some of their most memorable songs such as Willin’, Dixie Chicken and Fat Man in a Bathtub. He’s been dead some thirty years but the band has been going strong since then. I’m expecting a run through all their hits. They come on quietly, dressed in jeans and checked shirts, and start playing without any announcement. The first song takes more than ten minutes and is mainly instrumental played to that southern boogie beat. The playing is virtuosic. This is no three minute pop song band; more an orchestral band. The songs really are there to provide a skeleton for the music. They do play Dixie Chicken but it takes about fifteen minutes and the lyrics come and go around the music. They play for an hour and fifteen minutes and we are treated to some of the most accomplished musical performances that I’ve heard in a real long time. They do this without any sheet music or a conductor. There’s some humour there too making it a very pleasurable experience all round.

After intermission a four-piece band come on stage and plug in. They’re followed by Leon Russel who is using a walking stick to get up to his piano. His long hair and beard are white. He’s wearing a billowing bright coloured shirt, a white cowboy hat and dark sunglasses. They get down to business straight away with Delta Lady, one of his early hits. Songs follow in quick succession and his voice is a strong as ever, though he doesn’t hold his notes for long. He may be old but he can rock. When he plays Back to the Island, I feel I’ve had my money’s worth, but that’s what it means to be a fan. Russell tells some stories in between songs that put him in to rock and roll history, with names like Gram Parsons and Bob Dylan in the stories. They vary the pace a bit with the lead guitarist playing a blues number by himself, followed by a solo performance by Russell on piano and vocals. The full band comes back on stage for a grand finale and the crowd cheers. Russell says that he can’t abide contrived encores and they play out a medley of rock and roll songs before leaving the stage for good. The lights go on and we realise that it’s probably the last time we’ll see him perform. It’s like witnessing the passing of a legend.

Tuesday 26 April 2011

Suzanne has recommended that we visit the Tarra Warra Museum of Art in the Yarra valley so that is our destination for today. To get there we decide to go via the Dandenong Ranges and this necessitates planning a route that takes us east up Toorak Road until it becomes Burwood Road and eventually we get to Ferntree Gully, a name I know from the von Guerard drawings. It’s a long run that takes us past the splendid mansions of Toorak and Kooyong.

We take the Mount Dandenong Tourist Drive that winds its way up the Dandenong Ranges passing forests of fern trees and Mountain Ash gums. I can see why von Guerard chose this place as a subject for his drawings and paintings. We pass small villages with names like Sassafras and Olinda and we realise that this is an area that deserves a more thorough visit at another time. We pull over to a parking area for the William Ricketts Sanctuary and decide to stretch our legs. I’ve seen photographs of the artworks from this sanctuary so I figure it will be worth a look.

William Rickett's Sanctuary

We cross the road and walk up to the entrance that is crowned with fern trees. The people at the counter are pleasant and explain the path of the map around the sanctuary. Surprisingly there is no fee. Ricketts was a sculptor who lived and worked at this property from 1934 until his death in 1993. It is now managed by Parks Victoria who maintain it as place to preserve Rickett’s vision. We follow the map around the property and find ceramic sculptures by Rickett of Aboriginal and European people, including Ricketts himself, which are attached to rocks and exposed to the elements. Ricketts was a skilful sculptor but some may find his portrayal of the Aboriginal and European subjects somewhat eccentric. The sanctuary is well maintained and judging by the number of people visiting, well patronised.

Aboriginal sculptures, W. Rickett's sanctuary

Female figure, W. Rickett's Sanctuary

After leaving the tourist drive we make our way through pretty vineyard country until we get to the Tarra Warra Museum of Art, a new purpose built gallery and restaurant outside of Healesville on the Healesville-Yarra Glen Road. The gallery was built by Eva and Marc Besen to house their art collection of post 1950’s Australian Art. It is a large modernist building designed by the architect Allan Powell and sits comfortably in its rural setting of vineyards and freshwater lake. The current exhibitions included a series of tapestries of Australian artworks and abstract paintings by Rosslynd Piggott as well a set of 70’s artworks from the TWMA collection. We have had to book a seat at the restaurant and have half an hour to wander around and view the three exhibitions. I particularly like the tapestries as each has been based on completely different artworks that have to conform to the technique of tapestry production. My favourite is the Wolseley piece as his work is generally so dependent on his sketches and collected objects. The tapestry makes his drawing/watercolour become something completely different. The originals are displayed with the tapestries so that the viewer can make the comparison.

Tarra Warra Museum of Art

Courtyard, Tarra Warra Museum of Art

Lunch isn’t prepared after 3.00 pm so we get back to the restaurant just before 3.00 to order lunch. The vegetarian meal is delicious but expensive. We figure that this is our last meal out for the trip and worth the cost. It’ll be back to work in a week’s time so we can afford to treat ourselves. We take a different route back to Melbourne by following the Maroondah Highway. Along the way we stop and watch two hot air balloons come to rest in a paddock. The drive is long and as we get into town it becomes very busy with people in football colours filling up the footpaths. It looks like Victoria’s favourite game is on tonight. We get back to St Kilda by 6.00 pm and are pleased to purchase some take-away vegetarian wraps from the Lebanese Restaurant down the road and a bottle of red wine and take it easy.

Wednesday 27 April 2011

This is our last day in Melbourne so we take one more walk down Acland Street to buy tram tickets and catch up on some last minute shopping. I purchase a Rockabilly 3 CD set from Readings and by chance get to meet the store proprietor who returns as I’m about to leave. I introduce myself and talk about the The Kimberley Series book that I have left for him to consider. He sounds interested so I hope he can stock it in his bookshop. Lexie buys a red Indian skirt that has been reduced to $49.00 so we’re both happy with our purchases.

Acland Street

The Acland Cake Shop

On the way back we read the plaque outside the house in Blessington Street where Albert Tucker lived before he died. The stables up the back were where he had his studio. We join Suzanne for lunch with the soup that she left for us to eat over the weekend, which we clear forgot about. It just got better with age. We gather up our bags which have got heavier with our Melbourne purchases and after saying goodbye to Suzanne we trundle off down the road to catch the tram to the city.

Spencer Street Station

It’s an uneventful trip to the airport and after checking in we have an hour to relax whilst waiting for our flight. On board I take out the book I bought at Heidi, The Heart Garden - Sunday Reed and Heide, a book about Sunday Reed written by Janine Burke and find out who Sunday Reed was. It’s an absorbing read and helps pass the time. At about an hour and forty minutes into our flight the Captain comes on the intercom to say that the aeroplane has experienced some difficulties with one of the hydraulics, necessitating a decision to turn around and fly back to Melbourne. He tells us that there are four hydraulics on the aeroplane and it would be possible to fly to Perth with three operational hydraulics but in the interest of passenger safety we are following the said course. There is a lot of chatter in the aeroplane but we have to accept the decision so we settle in for the return flight. Back in Melbourne we are all given a $10.00 food voucher and go and find something to eat. Lexie and I also purchase a $10.00 mini bottle of wine each. An hour later we board another flight to Perth and take our seats, hoping there are no problems this time.

JetStar, Melbourne Airport

We do encounter some turbulence on the way back which I find unsettling so I just keep my head down and read my book on Sunday Reed. I don’t like being bounced around in mid air. Arriving back in Perth at midnight, Melbourne time, we find it is raining which will be good for our veggie garden. After collecting the car from Airport Parking I pick up Lexie and all our baggage and we head for the hills. It’s great to go away but it’s sure nice to be home too.

Other blog travel articles

Sydney trip January 2011

Pilbara trip October 2011

Joel Smoker

www.joelsmoker.com

Trip to Sydney – The Jimmy Buffett Concert (24–28/1/2011)

noreply@blogger.com (Joel Smoker) — Fri, 4 Feb 2011 00:28:00 -0800

MONDAY 24/1/2011

A few weeks back I bought a copy of the Weekend Australian newspaper and printed across the bottom of the front page was an advertisement for a Jimmy Buffet concert scheduled for Australia Day, 26 January, in Sydney at the Horden Pavilion. Two prior concerts at the Sydney Opera house had sold out and this third concert had been moved to the Horden Pavilion as the Opera House was already booked for an Australia Day event. Tickets were going on sale on the 7th. "We’ll have to go," I said to my wife, Lexie, "As he probably won’t come again." She agreed, and after a morning’s walk on the 7th, she went on line to book, fortunately scoring two tickets, albeit up the back in the N section.

For the two weeks prior to the event I had been working every day on a series of ceramic pieces for an upcoming exhibition so it was up to Lexie to make all the booking arrangements. She found a B&B in Paddington, within walking distance from the Horden Pavilion, and so our holiday was set.

I was still working on the ceramic pieces on the Sunday night before our flight and didn’t finish until midnight. Exhausted, I fell in to bed and woke the next day in time for us to pack, drop the dogs off at the vet and get to the airport by 11.00 am for our flight. The four hours in the air gave me time to catch up on some rest.

We caught a taxi to Paddington and met our landlady, Katherine Hart, who showed us our room in her quaint two story house snuggled into a typically inner city Paddington street; a house full of New Guinea artefacts, old furniture and naive art. After unpacking we went for a walk down Oxford Street to find something vegetarian to eat and found it in a pleasant restaurant with tables and chairs out the back located under trellis and grapevines.

Our B & B

Sydney was 3 hours ahead of us but it was good to get to bed, their time not ours.

TUESDAY 25/1/2011

We had a big day planned for Tuesday and decided to walk into the city to see as much as we could; a walk of around 3 kilometres. Lexie was excited by all the 50% OFF sales signs in the clothing boutiques that line Oxford Street and planned to go back on Wednesday for some serious shopping.

Oxford Street

Oxford Street became Elizabeth Street and we threw a right at Liverpool Street, walking through Hyde Park on our way to the NSW Art Gallery, our main destination for the day. We were going to see The First Emperor, China’s Entombed Warriors exhibition. Preparations were being made in Hyde Park for the Australia Day celebrations with tents and PA systems being assembled.

Hyde Park

The entombed warriors exhibition was stunning, particularly as it started with artefacts and vessels from the archaeological dig before taking you into the room that featured seven different clay Warrior life-size figures along with a cavalry horse and a chariot horse. According to the script on the wall there are estimated to be 8,000 figures at the site with 1,900 excavated so far. The last room featured a bronze chariot and a wooden horse along with a clay figure complete with his crossbow and sword. This was an exquisitely made piece, less than life size, but powerful nevertheless.

Art Gallery of NSW

We then had lunch before viewing works from the permanent collection, including the major paintings from the Heidelberg school of artists, works that I had featured in my upper school Visual Art course such as Streeton’s Fire on Lapstone Tunnel, Robert’s Bailed Up and McCubbin’s On the Wallaby Track. It was great to see them for real. I also took in the featured Justin O'Brien exhibition but Lexie was all exhibitioned out by then and browsed in the bookshop.

Sydney Opera House

Back outside we walked through the beautiful Botanic Gardens admiring the various palms, ferns and plants, trying to avoid being shat on by squawking flying foxes overhead. Walking past Government House we rounded Bennelong Point and joined the tourists around the Sydney Opera House, many of them Japanese with colourful umbrellas to keep off the sun. A plastic inflatable village was situated at the base of the Opera House with the nameplate Mira Zozo, its pointed extremes parodying the Opera House sail points. Lots of folk were lined up in the heat with the intention of seeing themselves distorted in the mirror like surfaces within the plastic village. All kinds of fun for all kinds of people!

Mira Zozo

Walking back across Circular Quay we watched as a large freight ship inched its way underneath Sydney Harbour, being nudged along by a plucky little tug boat. I stopped to photograph some indigenous didgeridoo players, one in dark sun glasses, who were plying their trade on the waterfront. The other looked disapprovingly at my camera so I moved on. We made our way to George Street and the Rocks where I made a point of visiting the NSW Crafts Council gallery as I was looking for a suitable Sydney-side gallery to show my ceramics. Unfortunately they only show New South Welshmen crafts people.

Didgeridoo players

We crossed George Street and went into Ken Duncan’s Photography gallery where his wide angle photographs were well displayed. I thumbed through some of his books and found one tilted Life’s an Adventure, where he chronicles his own journey from camera salesman to professional photographer. I knew two of the people in the book and, as it had been reduced from $60 to $30, I bought it to read up on his take on photography.

We had coffee and cake at the French style Renaissance Cafe and Coffee shop that had been recommended by the salesperson at the NSW Art Gallery and they were right. The coffee and cake was great. Lexie had had enough of walking by this time so we made our way back to Circular Quay and caught the bus back to Paddington. Very crowded it was too. This time we decided to eat at the local Thai restaurant and weren’t disappointed. We stayed up late watching the TV benefit concert for the Queensland flood victims. Ross Wilson outshone everyone. Eagle Rock still rocks!

WEDNESDAY 26/1/2011

Australia Day festivities were all over the local newspaper so we figured we’d go into town and see what might be going down. We caught the bus into Elizabeth Street and got off at Park Street, making our way to the Galleries Victoria Station of the Sydney Monorail. Our thinking was to have a look at Sydney from above to see what we should do. We went around twice, staring down the grid like pattern of streets, and decided to get off at Paddy’s Market and have a look at Chinatown. This turned out to be a street of restaurants so we made our way down to Darling Harbour to have a look at the Chinese Garden of Friendship.

Sydney monorail

Visiting the Chinese Garden was a particularly pleasant experience, with pebble tracks winding around a waterfall, a central pool full of lotus plants and golden carp, grey rocks, green palms, bamboo, trees and assorted plants plus a range of different Chinese architectural pieces. It gave us a chance to slow down and relax amid the noise and bustle of the city. We ordered some Chinese tea and drank it sitting in the Teahouse Pavilion watching the carp swimming around in the Lotus pond. Tranquillity indeed! Well worth the $6 fee.

Chinese Gardens

By this stage midday had passed so we decided to go and find a vegetarian Chinese restaurant for lunch. It took a while of walking around China town before we found something that fitted the bill and it was the Silk Road Uygur Restaurant. The Uygurs are in conflict with the Han Chinese back in China so it was nice to see them all getting along in Sydney. Upstairs we were treated to the stir fry vegetables, an egg plant dish and rice that was the best meal we’d had in Sydney so far.

China Town

By this stage we decided that going down to the harbour and participating in the Australia Day shenanigans was not for us so we walked up to Elizabeth Street and caught the bus back to Paddington. I needed to take a copy of my The Kimberley Series book to the Ariel Bookshop in Oxford Street, so I left my camera behind and caught the bus back down to the bookshop while Lexie went off on her shopping spree. I walked back up Oxford Street poking my head into boutiques and clothes shops along the way but my heart wasn’t in it. I met Lexie on the way and she hadn’t bought much either. It appears the specials were all for young thin things. We spent the rest of the afternoon resting up while waiting for the Jimmy Buffet concert.

Australia Day revellers

At 6.00 pm I shower and dress for the concert. Lexie follows and we walk down to the Horden Pavilion joining the colourful mob waiting at the ticket gate. Lots of people are wearing island shirts and Jimmy Buffett shirts and board shorts. Some are wearing parrot caps. They’re a jolly lot. Inside the pavilion we join the mob at the merchandise counter and purchase a white Jimmy Buffett souvenir T Shirt each at a cost of $40 per shirt. It’s an expensive business being a fan.

The support act is a girl from Darwin and she comes on at 8 pm with a bass player and an instrumentalist. She has a good voice but we can’t understand what she is singing. Doesn’t she have a manager who can tell her these things?

Jimmy Buffet wanders on stage at 8.30 pm in board shorts, a colourful T shirt and bare feet, the classic beach comber, carrying a guitar. He starts with a song on his own and then the Coral Reefer Band joins him and they blast away. The crowd cheers. They go crazy when he does Volcano, banging away on the wooden floors with a rhythm to wake the dead. The stage is set with palms and two large South Sea Island Tiki faces on either side. There are at least nine band members including two female singers, one black, one white, who spend a lot of the night fanning each other as it's a hot night and pretty hot on stage. The songs build in the first hour to a cover version of Van the Man’s Brown Eyed Girl, and everyone sings along to "Sha la la la la la la la la" etc. Buffett leaves the stage and the black girl sings a soulful New Orleans style number.

Buffett comes back on stage for the second half playing all his hits and makes the point that this is not a short show. Beach balls bounce around the crowd and lights swirl on and off. The crowd are up and down like yoyos. By the time the band gets to Margaritaville the entire crowd are on their feet, including us, clapping and singing along to the music. He even adds a new verse about Sydney blokes in speedos. The song finally ends and the band leaves the stage waving goodbye. The crowd goes wild and eventually the band returns for an encore.

Buffett starts with a jazzy number and then gets the crowd to do the shark fin hand gestures above their heads. The band strikes up the Fin song off the Volcano album. The crowd sing along and do the fin signals as one in the chorus; “Fins to the left, Fins to the right, you’re the only bait in town.” The band leaves the stage but the crowd calls for more so Buffett picks up his guitar and finished alone with an acoustic number titled For You. It’s a poignant moment. The crowd cheer. He puts down his guitar and walks along the front of the stage waving goodbye and touching hands that reach out. Then he falls off the stage and into the crowd. The audience goes quiet. Nothing happens for a few seconds, and then the announcer comes on stage and asks everyone to leave the auditorium. The crowd are uncertain, but he persists. He says, “There’s been a nasty incident, so go away and pray.” Quietly, we all leave.

As we make our way out and around the back of the pavilion we hear the sound of an ambulance coming and it pulls in and stops at the back stage door. There is a tall metal fence that separates us from the scene. The ambulance officer gets out and takes a stretcher out of the back of the ambulance and goes inside. We wait to see what will happen. The security guards are silent. Some people move off and, eventually, we do the same. We don’t know what has happened to him so we make our way back to the B&B in a subdued manner. We can only hope that he will be all right. He seemed to give everything that he had and must have been pretty tired causing him to misjudge his step. Funny how things can change so dramatically. I hope he’s OK.

THURSDAY 27/1/2011

We wake at 6.20 am and Lexie checks for news stories on her iPhone. It seems that Jimmy Buffett has suffered a severe blow to the head when he hit a metal beam as he fell. He was unconscious for 10 minutes but will survive the ordeal. The hospital reckons he will be discharged in a couple of days. We are very relieved.

After another one of Katherine’s fabulous fruit breakfasts, with scrambled eggs as well for me, we set off to visit Sue Whillas and Mike Muir and their family at Palm Beach. They are friends of ours who I worked with in the Waringarri Aboriginal Corporation in Kununurra in the 1980’s. The trip involves catching a bus to Circular Quay, then the ferry to Manly, where Susie has agreed to collect us. The harbour is magnificence. As we pass the Sydney Opera House and head out to the Sydney heads I take lots of photographs.

Sydney Harbour

Susie collects us at Manly and we follow winding roads to Avalon on the northern beaches where we stock up on provisions for lunch before driving to Palm Beach. Mike has rebuilt the house since we were last there. It looks like a Japanese feudal house with a courtyard in the middle. Everything seems to be made of wood and it is simply beautiful. Mike is an architect of note whom we stopped and interrupted in his office nearby on our way in. His first comment is, “So Jimmy fell off the stage!”

We get to meet three of their four boys, Joey, Tom and Jim. Ben is away in Japan. They have all grown since we saw them last. After tea and croissants, served by Jim, we give Tom a hand with screen printing one of his wild skull designs on a T Shirt. He is a lovely boy, as they all are.

Pittwater

Mike joins us for lunch which Susie has ably prepared and we talk for ages. I show Mike the page in my The Kimberley Series book that we have given them, which features a story about him and Susie. After Mike leaves for work Susie takes us on a walk through the bush to view Pittwater and I take more photographs. It’s a long walk and when we finally get back we’re hot enough for a swim, so the girls collect something to swim in and we drive down to Palm Beach. I had my boardies in my camera bag. We change at the Pacific Club where Susie is a member and head for the beach. The water is wonderful. Good bodysurfing waves. After the swim we change at the club and Susie mixes gin and tonics, which we sip while sitting on the veranda. The view across the Palm Beach to Barrenjoey Point is magnificent. A little touch of heaven.

Barrenjoey Point

Mike and Susie have offered to drive us back to Paddington and they also have to return Joey’s friend, Kirk, home, so we are spared the public transport journey back in the dark. It has been a lovely day.

FRIDAY 28/1/2011

Time to go home. The alarm goes off at 5.45 am and we’re ready for the taxi by 6.30 am. The taxi driver is friendly and helpful, much like all the Sydneysiders that we have encountered on our visit t’otherside. After checking and having breakfast we buy a copy of the Daily Telegraph before boarding our plane, Virgin Blue again, and take our seats. We’re hoping for more word on Jimmy Buffett and are not disappointed. Either by coincidence or something deeper, a Daily Telegraph columnist, Dr Gordon Fulde, who just happened to be the director of emergency services at St Vincent’s Hospital, just happened to be sitting in the front row of the audience when Buffett walked off the stage. He was able to take control of the situation and accompany Buffett to St Vincent’s where he applied several stiches to the gash on Buffett’s scalp. Fulde left at 2.00 am as he had just worked an 11 hour shift before the concert. Whatever your take on this story, Jimmy Buffett sure was lucky to have Dr Fulde at his show.

Our trip to Perth is uneventful, except for the entertaining view of this big land below and we arrive to 37 degrees Celsius at 10 am, Perth time. What a great trip.

Other blog travel articles

Melbourne trip April 2011

Pilbara trip October 2011

Joel Smoker

Joel Smoker

Shark Bay trip

SHARK BAY TRIP JOURNAL - JULY 2014

Saturday 19th July

Sunday 20th July

Monday 21st July

Tuesday 22nd July

Wednesday 23rd July

Thursday 24th July

Friday 25th July

Saturday 26th July

Sunday 26th July

Monday 27th July

Tuesday 28th July

Wednesday 29th July

Thursday 30th July

Friday 31st July﻿﻿

The Toodyay trip June 2014

The Toodyay trip June 2014

Pilbara & Kimberley trip July 2013

PILBARA & KIMBERLEY TRIP JOURNAL - JULY 2013

Albany Trip Easter March 2013

Friday 29 March

Sunday 31 March

Sunday 31 March

Exmouth Trip October 6 to 13, 2012

The Pilbara trip

Melbourne Trip, April 2011

Trip to Sydney – The Jimmy Buffett Concert (24–28/1/2011)

Friday 31st July