Above Pic - Soft & hard coral growing on the beach

17th -24th June 2009

Walking on beaches, exploring Broome, visiting the Broome market (a great little market) & getting the bus serviced & the new alternator fitted. This is a pretty relaxed sort of a place & it's nice to be stationary for a while. We have made ourselves at home at the bottom of Collyn & Maarit's bush block. The uncleared land is covered in scrub & trees up to about 5 metres in height so everywhere is 'private', very nice. We feel like 'neighbours' rather than 'visitors'. I wish we were, this part of the world really appeals as a future place to live, but like just about anywhere else we've looked at in Australia, property prices are higher than we can afford. It really does seem that we must live in the cheapest part of the country,  proceeds from sale of our house on 76 acres wouldn't even get us a 'first time buyers property in need of TLC' in Broome or most other places we've looked at.

The secondhand alternator from Sydney arrived in Broome a day before we did & I asked the auto electrician to check it out prior to us taking the bus in. Just as well I did, he found it to be full of oil, meaning it's oil seal had failed. The worn seal was replaced with a new double lipped seal, & new bearings &  brushes were fitted. Fitting it was no problem & all now seems to be good again, including an intermittent warning light fault which with hindsight I now know was an indicator of a failing alternator. The labour bill was still higher than it would have been back east, but far more reasonable than back in Port Hedland, & significantly less time charged for. This was a far more professional operation. Overall our alternator has cost us more than $2000, all for the sake of a small plastic brush holder! There is a cost to being 'on the road' & not knowing who will look after you & who will take you for a ride. Given more time these issues can be overcome, but with only around 4 months of our trip left we are sometimes feeling like we are 'on a schedule'.

We spent a bit of time exploring rental 4wd packages to allow us to explore the Dampier Peninsular, north of Broome. The cost of our west coast mechanical repairs has had a significant impact on our budget & we have had to compromise on the 'tours' we have long planned to do. In this instance we chose between an overnight visit, by seaplane, to the Horizontal Waterfalls on the Buccaneer Archipelago or a weeks camping & exploring on the Dampier Peninsular. We chose the latter.

There were significant differences between the various hire company costs around Broome, phoning around was worthwhile after finding many of their websites out of date. We arranged to pick up a Nissan Navara 4wd dual cab ute on the 25th.

25th June 2009

We picked up the 4wd, headed back 'home', loaded our camping gear & supplies & headed into the unknown. Not quite true, I had vague recollections of a Tv documentary featuring the mission settlement at Lombadina, near the tip of the peninsular, maybe 20 years ago. I recalled it being a well functioning, pretty community, unlike the depressing alcohol affected indigenous communities often shown as 'representative'. The Broome area was made a exception to past government's White Australia policy, the only exception nationwide, to allow for the needs of the pearling companies to employ a variety of nationalities as divers. This has allowed Broome & it's environs to develop without the damaging racism so prevalent in much of Australian society, quite unique.

The bitumen soon ran out & we were on to a sandy & very corrugated track. No 4wd selection needed, but care was needed when oncoming cars passed in the 'concave' creek-like road. After a little over 90kms of shaking, rattling & rolling we were astonished to suddenly find ourselves back onto a high quality sealed road. Apparently sealed last year to give all the peninsular communities access to the all weather airstrip so they can access the Royal Flying Doctor Service, the road goes all the way to Ardyloon (One Arm Point) at the tip. This road goes up the middle of the peninsular with sandy tracks leading off both east & west to various communities & outstations (family settlements), some of which are closed to visitors & many that are open & some that provide camping options. The best known spot to visit is Cape Leveque, a 'resort style' caravan park which caters for 'fly in fly out' tourists who want a 'wilderness experience' at high cost. There are however many other spots up & down the peninsular available to those who want to get away from the hoards of people 'getting away from it all' & at far more reasonable cost, if prepared to accept slightly 'rougher' conditions. 4wd is however essential, as most of the side tracks have sections of soft deep sand. 95% of the time 2wd was sufficient though, sufficient ground clearance was more important. The track into 'Middle Lagoon' was one of the better ones, although more corrugated than many. Middle Lagoon has a pleasant beach with quite an extensive basic campground. We arrived late arvo, put up the tent in a shady spot & stayed just one night. Would have stayed a second, but our 'site' had been pre-booked, & none of the other sites seemed as appealing. We were in search of 'Paradise'. After an early morning beachwalk we moved on, uncertain of where we would find ourselves that night.

26th - 29th June 2009

We found ourselves at Bully's Camp (Djoodoon) where we thought we might stay a couple of nights. We ended up basing ourselves there for 4 nights & consider that we did indeed find a small slice of 'Paradise'. This is virtually pristine coastline brimming with birds & wildlife. Within minutes of our arrival we were watching a a pair of rare Gouldian Finches drinking, alongside numerous double barred finches, a Great Bower Bird & various other winged associates. Walking the beaches in knee deep water we saw a variety of fish, including orange coloured rays with bright blue spots on there back. A sea snake passed inches from my feet. MrsTea disturbed a 4' long basking shark. Not sure who got the biggest fright! Beach Stone curlews & a pair of Jabiru's made several appearances. At low tide rocks & coral communities are exposed, making it possible to walk amongst colonies of hard & soft coral, some with bright colours, reds, purples, greens, blues & oranges. Octopus' slither away from our threatening high shadows. We spent many hours exploring.  Sitting watching across Cygnet Bay of an evening regularly saw us gasping as large shoals of small fish jumped out of the water en masse, followed closely by huge Tuna. Ospreys were common, watching them (& other birds) fishing was mesmerising. Green frogs inhabit the working but in need of maintenance toilets. (Clean but the building is a bit ricketty).

Hot showers were available once I fired up the 'donkey boiler' (made from an old LPG cylinder) fuelled by wood collected from the bush. Sitting by our camp on the first night, I suddenly became aware of a brief bright light behind me. MrsTea, sat facing me, looked awestruck. She described seeing a meteor with an orange & purple tail flare & then disappear.

Geoff, the caretaker manager of the campground, was knowledgeable & opinionated. His two dogs, Sparky a Jack Russell/ Chihuahua cross & her daughter Lucy kept us company much of the time. For three nights there were 2 other couples & Bob camped on the 15 acre site, on our last night we had the place to ourselves.

Stripey red & white rocks featured as we strolled along the high tide beach, keeping a wary eye for any crocs hiding in the mangroves, one was spotted recently, but not by us. Walking right around the small peninsular between two bays, took us over huge blocks of shellfish encrusted slabs of rock, hard going & took us several hours. We ate fish several times - Estuary Cod & Trevally. :-)

On our second day at Bully's, we took the 4wd out to suss out other camp spots around the northern end of the Peninsular, & returned confident that we were in the best spot. Many of the camp spots that communities provide can be some distance from the water, & some had less than basivc facilities. At One arm point we watched the crystal blue water flowing between the mainland & the islands of the Buccaneer archipelago. 11 metre tides result in very fast flows. At the boat ramp we observed a number of bones laying around, peculiarly shaped so we could not recognise them. Shortly after this we came across the large empty turtle shell, it's contents having been recently butchered. We visited Lombadina which was indeed a pretty little community, but empty. No-one was around. It turns out that a big funeral was happening elsewhere on the Peninsular. After a quick look around, we left returning to Bully's camp. On the track into the camp we came across a Ford Falcon (2wd car) bogged in deep sand. Others, both in 4wd's had tried to get past the bogged car to pull him out. Both 4wd's had also become bogged. We tried to pull them out, but their rope broke, Luckily one of the 4wd's had an electric winch. He winched himself free of the sand, & then winched the others out. We were there for a while, not sure if they got to the funeral in time.

It had been some time since we lit ourselves a camp fire, & we enjoyed cooking & sitting around a fire each night we were here.

30th June 2009

After walking the beach at dawn & a further several hours of prevaricating, yakking with Geoff,  we finally got our camp packed back into the ute & headed south regretfully. After over another 100kms of sandy tracks searching for out of the way idyllic spots & visiting the small communities at La Djadarrara beach & Mardan we ended up on the west side of the Peninsular at the 'Whalesong Cafe'Munget community. This truly is another idyllic slice of paradise, run by a really tuned in couple Jacinta & Lenny. They have the most amazing stretch of coast with white beach & red Pindan cliffs, but it is all the little touches around the property that the couple have created that make this place special. I predict that it will become very popular & that Jacinta & Lenny will need to be carefulnot to destroy the place's intimate feel. Talking with Jacinta left me feeling that she is well able to find the right balance. Whalesong Cafe is without doubt one of Australia's best kept secrets at the moment. Our camp was right on top of the cliffs giving extensive coastal views.  Another dog, Jimbo, adopted us for the duration of our stay.We so wished we didn't have to leave the next day, but the hire company would want their car back.

1st July 2009

We were slow to leave, eventually saying goodbye to Jacinta after mid day & driving back to Collyn & Maarit's, arriving late afternoon. Unpacked ready to return the hire car in the morning. Nice to be back in our own bed.

2nd July 2009

Returned the hire car, did some shopping & obtained some parts from a plumbing supplier to replace the leaking hose tail (hot water) on our mixer tap. Our thoughts are now turning, with excitement, to what we expect to be the highlight of our whole trip. On Saturday (4th) we will be among the numbers of a privileged few to walk the Lurrujarri Trail with the traditional owners of that country north of Broome. We had been hoping to make this happen since before we left home last June, & it has now panned out successfully. Quite what we are letting ourselves in for exactly is still a little unclear but we are relishing the prospect. The following gives an idea of what is ahead of us as we walk the 80 - 100 kms over 10 days. It also raises the issue of this region, one of the worlds last wilderness areas & it's cultural history, being under imminent threat of destruction for ever. For more info, & to lend your support to prevent this travesty occurring please check out the following websites.

http://www.savethekimberley.com/

http://savethekimberley.com/blog/

http://handsoffcountry.blogspot.com/

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF COUNTRY TO CULTURE –

WALMADAN (JAMES PRICE POINT) IN GOOLARABOOLOO (SUNSET) COUNTRY.

One of the major responsibilities of the Kimberley Law Bosses (the

Elders) is to ensure that Traditional Culture (the Law) is passed down

to succeeding generations, in order to keep the Country and its people

safe. Our Elders are Custodians of a living history - traditional

stories and skills that derive from centuries of accumulated

experience in the place.

This body of cultural heritage knowledge that the old people hold and

pass on, is preserved and kept alive within the Song Cycle that

connects to specific sites (Law Grounds) in a continuous linear system

up the coast of the Dampier Peninsula. It comprises a collection of

songs that hold a living memory, specific to particular places, trees,

animals, and other landmarks – be they on land, in sea, air or water.

The old people talk about the Song Men being given the songs by the

Country itself. This Song Cycle in turn links to others that cross the

Country. The Song Cycle system serves as an oral heritage map of the

Country, as it was called up by the Creator beings in the beginning,

in the Dreamtime, or ‘Bugarigaara’.

Within this Country, the creator being is traditionally perceived as

the Emu man ‘Marella’, whose ancient footprints and other feather

traces remain in the reef that stretches between Minyirr (Broome) and

Quandong. It has been recently learned, that archaeologists’

discoveries of these three-toed prints elsewhere, correlate site–wise

with those in Marella’s journey as narrated in the Song Cycle. The

scientists speak of a Dinosaur - an upright walking lizard.

For the sake of mapping and legal protection, archaeologists compiling

the Terrex Mining Report some 25 years ago, asked Custodian Paddy Roe

(now passed away) to identify the extremities of the boundaries of

particular cultural sites along the coast. Old Paddy shook his head

and said that this couldn’t be done: The whole stretch of coast

between Bidyadanga and Swan Point to which the Song Cycle directly

relates, is part of a continuous linked system. Thus, it was

officially classified as one site.

The lay of this land and its history, as known via these songs for

place, has been sung for centuries at ceremony time, by lawmen in

places as far distant as Uluru and Byron Bay, even though the singers

may never have actually made the physical journey across the

continent.

Country needs to be sung regularly to revive and replenish. There are

sites and songs for increasing and decreasing abundance of resources:

for rain, lightning strikes, even for mosquitos. The place must be

burnt regularly in cool time, to be more easily travelled through and

made abundant in green shoots for the animals traditionally hunted.

Water holes need to be kept open.

This is a dynamic, on-going relationship. One must look after the

Country, treat it with respect,

stay in relationship with it through songs and action, for the

Country’s well-being and for your own.

It is the Mother. It cannot be bought or sold. It is not a commodity.

The conviction is held, that cultural history is the base of ones’

true sense of identity, spiritual and physical health and self-esteem.

Without this foundation, one will never be strong enough or clever

enough to look after Country well into the future, or to cope as an

individual within the present day wider western world. People are rich

if they are living on their Country, since it sustains them on every

level.

Alternatively, in the western world, the more secluded idea of

pristine, natural wilderness untouched by human footprint, is judged

as paradise. Treasured areas tend to be protected from access, to keep

them ‘unspoiled’. From an indigenous perspective though, Country

unacknowledged by people and left unmanaged, becomes dangerous and

wild.

This LNG Gas Precinct Proposal, with exclusion and buffer zones

surrounding an area encompassing 3600 hectares, to be utilized for

between 30 and 100 years, is a dangerous and frightening prospect for

the Traditional Owners and Custodians. Without Country, there can be

no Culture. Law cannot be practised. Nor can the Country be ‘kept

quiet’. The site-specific cultural heritage as it has arisen directly

from this coastline, cannot be relocated or put on hold while Country

is destroyed for Industry. Any amount of money in compensation cannot

substitute for it.

No amount of rehabilitation can replace the living systems that are

foundational to a culture older than those of both the Romans and the

Egyptians. The spiritual significance of any of these sites, are no

less revered by local inhabitants, than are Lourdes and the Vatican by

those of Catholic faith or Jerusalem and Mt Sinai for the Jewish and

Arab communities.

While a substantial part of Law and Culture training is conducted by

Elders during ceremonial times, a great deal of customary knowledge is

also conveyed as part of the day-to-day life, directly in response to

being in the place, hands on. When you are born, a significant tree or

animal that has some relationship to your first heartbeat becomes your

totem, or your ‘rai’. Often birthmarks bear witness – a scar on the

shoulder recalls the mark of a spear on the flank of a stingray, or

the flowering of a particular tree marks the time.

Strangers to Country need to be introduced by someone from that place

- a person who know its songs, the places to be wary of. This means

someone who can facilitate your safe passing, so that the Country will

become familiar with your smell, and subsequently treat you well.

As with other indigenous clans across Australia, the Goolarabooloo

identify distinct territorial boundaries. Living within a domain of

finite resources over countless generations demands that Country be

managed in a sustainable way. A time-honed ability to read the seasons

reflects fine-tuning to place, for example, recognising when is the

best time to hunt different species or knowing where you will find

water late in the Dry season.

In the Kimberley, six seasons are perceived, as distinct from the

introduced four-seasonal European calendar. Each is characterised by:

•       the flowering, fruiting and seeding cycles of local plants,

•       the changes in weather, temperature and wind direction,

•       the presence of insects,

•       the breeding cycles of fauna on land and in the sea,

•       the presence of certain constellations in the night sky,

•       the fatness and skinniness of species,

•       the magnitude of tides.

Certain indicator events have become recognised as signals that one

season is changing over to the next, for example: the arrival of the

Barn Swallow heralds the Wet season, as the flowering of the

Long-fruited Bloodwood signals its end.

Since seasonal knowledge of food and water sources has been passed on

as oral tradition - never written down - links as memory aids are

commonly observed between phenomena:

•       The dappled shadows cast by clouds over the ocean and the beach

occur at ‘married turtle time’, the prelude to the Wet season. They

offer camouflage for the female turtles that crawl up the beach at

that time to lay and bury their eggs.

•       The Black Kite, who shares the wedge-shaped tail shape of the

Salmon, is seen hovering over the dunes when the fish are running.

•       The flowering of the Medicine Tree and the Freshwater Paperbark

signal that the stingrays are fat and ready for hunting; at the same

time, the eyes of the March-flies are green.

•       The Sea Perch takes the fat of the Frill-necked lizard (when one is

fat, the other is lean).

The people of this Country have also accumulated centuries of

knowledge of the functional uses of trees and plants as resources for

food, water, medicines and healing, in providing the best timbers for

firewood (be it for light or for heat and also as insect repellent) or

for the carving of implements.

A specific and very important collection of local tree species are

functionally essential for ceremony, for various purposes, and are

perceived as having a very distinct character.

“He somebody,” Paddy Roe was known to say.

Joseph Roe is Law-keeper for the Northern Tradition, for this country

that runs between Minyirr (Broome) and Bindiangoon (Yelllow River), 80

kms north, in the Kimberley region of North Western Australia. As the

Custodian of this Songline, the role of Care-taker and Keeper of

Culture is his inherited and inherent responsibility. As such, he has

a determination to keep Culture alive, and pass it on, through

teaching in the place. Twenty years ago, Joseph’s grandfather, Paddy

Roe, with the support of his Goolarabooloo community, established the

Lurujarri Heritage Trail – a nine day cultural walking journey that

involves leading visitors throughout this 80kms stretch of saltwater

coastal terrain, travelling as a group and sharing their heritage.

The Lurujarri Heritage Trail follows the path of the traditional Song

Cycle that maintains the living memory of people who have been in the

country for thousands of years. The same camping places are used as

have been used for millennia, the same reefs fished. The middens in

the dunes are thick with shards of past feeds, spear heads, charcoal

flints and grinding stones, and testify how long this Law has been

going on here.  Stories for places throughout are shared at

significant points during the day and around the fires at night.

Paddy Roe had been concerned that their young people were increasingly

drawn into town, television, alcohol and other dimensions of western

culture. They were not spending enough time ‘out bush’ to maintain

either their skills or their relationship with Country. The Trail was

initiated,

on one hand, to encourage the members of the Goolarabooloo community

to conserve, renew and stay connected with their heritage and

traditional skills; to keep the same alive for generations to come. On

the other, it was established to foster trust, friendship and empathy,

building bridges between their indigenous community and the wider

Australian and International communities, to promote the transfer of

understanding in relation to looking after Country.

Paddy was never so happy as when witnessing the myriad of fire-lit

camps at night, of family with new friends out on the Trail.

It is in the heart of the Lurujarri Heritage Trail, on the magnificent

red cliffs of Walmadan, that the Western Australian State Government

and Proponents including Woodside, Chevron, BP, Shell, Total, BHP

Billiton and Conoco Phillips hope to gain final permission to build

their 3600 hectare LNG Gas Precinct. The West Australian State

government will not rule out multiple uses of this site. The

continuity of the Northern Tradition Song Cycle is at most imminent

risk, at the hand of these industrial plans to interrupt the linkage

of these ancient ceremonial grounds, wreaking untold and irreversible

damage on this unique environment in the process.

Culture cannot exist without Country nor Country without Culture.

Please Click HERE for more photos

Please also consider supporting campaigns to save the Kimberley.