Advertisement
Published: September 20th 2009
An opportunity came up at my school for me to accompany a small group of students to the Dampier Peninsula. It was a ‘cultural exchange’ type thing where four of our year 9 boys & four of another schools year 9 girls were to visit a remote aboriginal school. The offer came from a teacher, Paul, at
Djarindjin-Lombadina who was anxious for his indigenous students to be exposed to similarly aged white kids.
A couple of months of planning and tweaking of the itinerary finally saw the Melbourne contingent of ten heading to north-west WA. The boys were; myself, Nick, Matt, Damien & James.
So on
Fri 31/Jul/09 we met the girls, Molly, Polly, Caitlin, Hannah and their teacher, Anna, for the first time at the airport. We had an early flight out of Melb; first to Perth & then to Broome. The group were able to get to know one another in-transit as this first flight had lots of spare seating that allowed us all to move around a bit. Both legs of the flight offered the same movie, “17 Again” again, but Matthew livened up the second leg to Broome by pulling the old ‘bug in my salad’
routine. He had flight staff fawning over him and he ultimately scored $60 worth of vouchers for airport spending.
We arrived at Broome at lunchtime and were collected and driven to our
Cable Beach resort by a CEO entourage organised by Paul. Broome has a population of about 15000 except at this time of year, when it swells to around 45000. We had three rooms at
Seashells; boy’s room, girl’s room & teacher’s room. We had a couple of hours to kill waiting for Paul to arrive so we were soon out at the pool, Anna & I looking on as the kids played around with a tennis ball.
Paul, and his wife Catherine, arrived late afternoon and had come via the Supermarket so were laden with food. We said our ‘Hello’s, distributed the food & had a bit of a briefing with Paul about the upcoming week. Paul showed us all a couple of slideshows & talked a bit of the white/black history of Australia. Told the group of some of the things they should expect and be ready for, things like, shyness (shame) of the indigenous, different standards of grooming, cleanliness, the difficulty of engaging them
in school work & the consequent need to have lots of activity & hands-on projects. We then set off to the nearby Cable Beach to catch the famous sunset & to then have a picnic dinner of pizza.
Next morning,
Sat 01/Aug/09, Paul & I were up early and walked & talked our way along the beach and returned to start the breakfast at the resort barbecue. A warm, bright, cloudless morning set the scene for a sumptuous repast of bacon, eggs, toast, cereal & juice. Over breakfast we talked of the plans for the day that would see us making it to Lombadina.
After the brekky clean up & pack up of rooms, food & gear we headed into central Broome. We stopped at
Gantheaume Point, at the southern end of Cable Beach, and took in the vibrant colours of the fabulous looking, red sandstone cliffs that spill into the turquoise water as well as the views that stretch to the horizon. I think we all spent a few minutes dreaming we lived in the splendid house situated here and capturing the vista daily. A skeletal type lighthouse also shares the views from here. There are 130-million-year-old
dinosaur footprints to be seen here at very low tides, and cast copies feature at the walk approach for easier viewing. Also at Gantheaume Point is
Anastasia´s Pool, a rock hole carved out of the stone by a former lighthouse keeper to allow his arthritic wife the opportunity to bathe in the clear waters of the Indian Ocean.
We had a quick drive-by tour of central Broome and then spent time at the Broome Saturday market to wile away an hour or so as Paul & Catherine finished the necessary shopping. Anna & I walked, checked out the market with the youngens, & then went back to the Broome shops for a better look around.
Heading north, our next stop was at
Willie Creek Pearl Farm, 38km from Broome. This pearl farm has an ideal location, on the protected tidal estuary of Willie Creek. A natural harbour, the warm azure waters of the creek provide a perfect growing environment for the Pinctada maxima oyster and produces world renowned South Sea Pearls. I purchased a little something for Marg here - but she refused to accept the bottle opener! We had a look around, even handled a string of pearls
Anastasia's Pool
This 'bath' was cut into the rock by the lighthouse keeper. He would carry his arthritic wife here so she could bathe in the seas waters at high tide.worth $100,000, checked out the man-pearls and then had lunch. We even took the opportunity to sing ‘Happy Birthday’ to Caitlin with some birthday cup cakes Catherine had acquired earlier.
On the road again. The Cape Leveque Road is sealed for ~35km north of Broome & then becomes dirt/gravel for the next ~90km leaving the last ~65km to Lombadina sealed again. The journey wasn’t so bad, bumpy but pretty straight and not too many other road users to contend with. We stopped & got out at one point on the dirt road to have a look around & appreciate the isolated nature of this area.
Our next stop was at
Beagle Bay to check out the Sacred Heart Church. Named in 1838 after HMS Beagle, Beagle Bay is located around 120km north of Broome; it is the traditional home to the Nyul Nyul people. The church is quite an elaborate building for these parts, its whiteness quite striking in the sunshine. A Catholic mission was established here in 1890 & the church was built by hand by the German Pallotine monks and the Aboriginal people. Construction occurred whilst the monks were under wartime house arrest, from 1915 to
1917. The interior of the church is decorated with shells, including mother of pearl (on the main altar), cowries, volutes and olives. The side altars are inlaid with opercula, a rare stone taken from shellfish. The decoration includes tribal symbols of the Njul Njul, the Nimanborr and the Bard people of the area as well as symbols relating to the Christian faith.
We finally got into Djarindjin-Lombadina at dusk & got a quick 4WD tour of the place before darkness fell. The settlement is actually two communities, as the name implies, sitting side by side, and there exists two stores and two admin offices. There is an invisible line across the place that many locals ‘see’ and observe. The prettier side, with most of the grass, is Lombadina & the dustier section Djarindjin. The sealed road takes you to the settlement perimeter but no further; streets within the township are red dust.
As the Bishop’s house, the boy’s accom, was not available until the next day, a campout on the Lombadina beach was planned for all. So there was a bit of unloading of gear to either Paul’s place or the Yellow House (the girl’s accom) & then
The boyz at Willie Creek Pearl Farm
James, Nick Damien & Matthew check out the protected pearl producing bay. a reloading of bags, swags, tarps, bbq, etc, to get us through dinner & the night. Our first introduction to some real 4 wheel driving then happened as we drove the 2 vehicles on the very soft sands of the beach to get closer to the shore line. Deflate the tyres to enhance the traction, keep the car moving, expect to drift & slide your way along, be ready to jump out and push, maybe even to dig the wheels out. Both cars were, in fact, bogged upon stopping!
It was quite dark as we set up our campsite beside a permanent open-sided beach shelter. I was allocated the cooking of the frozen bangers on the gas barbecue as others set up tarps, dug a campfire hole, gathered firewood, laid out swags & set the fire. A cool breeze prevailed that caught many of us by surprise & in need of a jumper. The night sky was more impressive then it can be in the city and even displayed the odd falling-star. The lights came on after our dinner in the form of a near-full moon rising to make it easier to stroll along the shore or even visit
the dune toilets. With sleeping bags inserted into the swags we were able to settle down to a warm comfortable sleep. I would rouse occasionally, sit up to check how the kids were doing - but each time they were sitting up and chatting - little sleep was achieved by that lot.
Paul woke us early ~5.15am the next morning,
Sun 02/Aug/09, so we could watch the sunrise & we teachers were all soon sitting side by side, but still in our bags, looking east. The kids are up, too, but watching from the car area - Damien from on top of the car! Pretty special sunrise - a red band immediately on the horizon, a yellow band above this & then a white band that fades upwards to the sky blue, further still is the black of the night sky. The white to blue zone gets bigger as the sun nears, the red giving way to the brilliant yellow white of the full blown sun.
We started the pack-up not long after sunrise & headed back to Paul’s house for brekky & a shower. Paul’s place is fairly new, one of the two teacher houses built last
Christ the King Parish Church
Built in 1934 from local timbers, this is the last of its type to survive bushfires, termites & cyclones. year. We attended the 8.30 mass at the local
Christ the King Parish Church. This hut-style church was built in 1934 by local people under the guidance of a pioneering carpenter, come missionary, out of local timbers. It is the last of its kind in the Kimberley, others having succumbed to termites, bushfire or cyclones. Mass involved 24 people - the priest, the 10 visiting Melbourners, Paul & Catherine, Francoise (Paul’s student teacher) &, let’s see, that’s 10 others. Two indigenous, no kids, no dogs. The American priest had a flowery, verbose, evangelistic style.
So, mid-morning, we set off for the day, heading further north to
Cape Leveque. We were able to check out more of the stunning coastline with spectacular views out to the Buccaneer Archipelago where massive tides rip past the many small islands. Next, a quick stop at the local marine hatchery, cleverly disguised as a junk yard, to see a working aquaculture centre. A small range of local art and artefacts of trochus shells and jewellery were available for purchase. These shells can only be collected by the local indigenous people.
One Arm Point was our next viewing stop to take in more of
Austin & Mr Paul
Checking out the one of the aquaculture tanks at One Arm Point hatchery. these spectacular unspoiled coastlines. A tourist friendly Aboriginal community is located here and there is the opportunity to swim, snorkel, camp, go mud-crabbing, try bush food or fish with locals.
Cape Leveque is the northern most point of the Dampier Peninsula & the location of the multi award winning Aboriginal owned wilderness camp,
Kooljaman. This beautiful remote paradise overlooking the Indian Ocean allows unrestricted views of magnificent sunrises and sunsets, pristine white beaches and the golden red cliffs. Paul had organised a glass-bottom boat cruise of an hour or so for our group, but, unfortunately, not quite enough space to fit me on board as well. Drat! Apparently some great sights to be seen and a close encounter with some whales! We lazed around the beach; swimming, walking, exploring for much of the afternoon & had dinner (fish & chips for most) on the eastern beach at Cape Leveque, on the pale sand with the red-orange cliffs as a backdrop & watched the sunset. Seen this whole day through from sunrise to sunset!
Next day,
Mon 03/Aug/09, was a school day so we all gathered at the senior class at 7.50am to meet the students. A good turnout.
Cape Leveque boat cruise
A spot of whale watching was had around Cape Leveque in this glass bottomed boat. A prayer to start proceeding, and before long Paul had the visitors presenting themselves, using, say, a PowerPoint show. This was to demonstrate to Paul’s kids some of the things that PowerPoint can do as well as the obvious introductions. Half way through, the tables were turned, with the locals showing the visitors one of their class workbooks that provided some detail about themselves. In small groups, the locals then had the task of providing a tour of the school, and a little while later, a tour of the community. This all seemed to work pretty well with the locals not ducking off when they had the chance as was feared.
Djarindjin-Lombadina Catholic School serves both the Djarindjin and Lombadina communities. Lombadina has a long Catholic tradition being established as a mission in the early 1900's. Although it was the St John of God Sisters who founded the school in 1913, there have been a number of religious orders associated with the school over the years; the school is now staffed by a lay principal and teachers. Local Aboriginal Teaching Assistants provide invaluable support within the school and are a strong link to the communities.
Apparently, Lombadina-Djarindjin has a
population of about 400 but you’re unlikely to see anywhere near this number in the community. Most have had a block of land allocated to them through the Indigenous Land Council, based on ancestral claim to the area. These blocks are generally within 10km of the settlement and many of the locals will whip down to their block for the weekends.
The class group went off in a 3 car convoy to visit Lynn’s block (~5 acres) to do some fishing or mudcrabbing. The driving was off-road, on soft dirt, through a couple of closed gates, till we got to her water frontage. Spectacular. Her house sitting up on higher ground overlooking this superb bay; simply walk down the hill to the water’s edge to do some fishing, fire up the barbecue, or simply go for a nature walk. This is what most of us did; walked one way or other. The tide was way out so not really suitable for mudcrabbing. The locals boys went off with the Melbourne boys and weren’t seen for a couple of hours. Anna and I stayed a little more local & watched some of the girls fishing with a handline. The bbq
One Arm Point
Anna 'charades' her location. was set up & bangers were on offer for lunch.
Monday evening brainstorm session, lead by James, on pranks we could pull on the girls had most of us in stitches despite the fact most ideas were impractical.
Tues 04/Aug/09 was another regular school day. Class was well attended again and begun with a prayer that we were asked to discuss in small groups and draw out the meaning as it applied to us. Next was sort of a jig-saw literacy task, with each group receiving a different passage to read, discuss, provide answers & then verbally report back to the class. Paul set the groups so that there was a mix of locals & visitors in each & most with a teacher to help things along. It was hard going, though, with our locals reluctant to offer much despite being coaxed. The local girls seemed to be more forthcoming judging by the verbal report back.
The next day was to be the start of the class camp, a feature Paul had built into our visit. So Paul gave a bit of a rundown of the camp to us all but mainly to ascertain how many, and who, of
Red Cliffs of Cape Leveque
The views of these red cliffs sitting on the white sand above the blue sea waters are just incredible. his regular class would actually be taking part (& get permission forms back to school). We then went outside so the Melbourners could demonstrate to the local kids how to pitch the tents we would be sleeping under on camp & so the locals could then dismantle & pack the tent gear. Thankfully, Paul was nearby to bail the visitors out when their technique was a little wanting.
After recess the local boys demonstrated how spear making was done. This was an interesting process. Some tall straight saplings had already been cut and set aside as the wood needs to dry thoroughly. Then any kinks or bends along the length of the spear are removed by heating that part of the spear over an open fire, making it softer and malleable, and then bending it the other way, perhaps in the fork of a tree so that you get good purchase. Now, an end can be tapered down to receive the metal spike which is secured with a tight winding of fine metal wire. The boys were very good at their craft but didn’t talk you through their method unless you asked heaps of questions.
Concurrently to the
Senior Class
Mr Paul's class in full flight with regulars as well the Melb visitors. spear making, the local girls were to show how damper is made. A second fire was set & allowed to burn down somewhat before the dough was put in to the glowing embers to cook. The local girls weren’t too forthcoming with this activity and it was left mainly to Paul’s indigenous teacher assistant, Lynn, to do the deed. As there was still a bit of time until lunch many of the class went for a quick bike ride around the community with the school bicycles - not an easy task considering most of the place is loose dirt roads.
After lunch we drove with the class down to a place called
Urrloo (well, it sounded like that!) which was on the beach but a lot further down along the soft sands. I was driving & managed to get bogged a couple of times, but was able to reverse to firmer ground for a better run-up & finally got going - but so precarious. This swimming spot was absolutely beautiful, rocky (careful diving!), clear waters - a great fishing place so we could test the new spear. After the swim I got Anna to drive back.
From 4pm
Welcome to Djarindjin
The Djarindjin side of town! on a Tuesday, till dusk, Paul runs & referees a basketball comp at the school court. It’s an all-comers event, just form a team and you’re in. Draws quite a bit of interest from locals you wouldn’t otherwise see. An amusing thing to see as when the main-game is at one end, other on-lookers invade & use the idle hoop. As you can imagine, quick turnovers see cluttered courts, multiple balls in use and frequent near collisions between players.
I had to man the bbq again for the post-basketball feast, again a regular Tuesday thing, &, tonight, there was a dvd to view in the school music room for afters.
Wed 05/Aug/09. The Camp begins. This was to be a 2 or 3 day camp depending on the wants of the participants at the start of day 2. The plan was to travel a big loop - south toward Broome, east on the Great Northern Highway to Fitzroy Crossing, north-west (on the unsealed) Leopold Downs Road to Tunnel Creek & Windjana Gorge, west to Derby on the (occasionally sealed) Gibb River Road, south to just beyond Willara Bridge Roadhouse & then take a north-west off-road ‘shortcut’ back to
Lynn
Many locals have a block to retire to on the weekends. Lynn's block was 5 acres with spectacular beach frontage. Great mud-crabbing here! Lombadina.
We set off at 8.30ish in a 3 car convoy - drivers Paul, Anna & Larry - taking 2½hr to get to our first stop. We did have a couple of hiccups with a tyre blowing on Paul’s car & my gearbox locking-up at one point. Both minor disasters handled matter-of-factly by Paul to get us going again.
Roebuck Plains is a modern cattle station with a significant training program for young Indigenous pastoral trainees. It’s a commercial operation running ~23000 head of cattle, nearly a million acres, for sale and live export to mainly Asian markets. Students are accommodated on-site and can undertake TAFE Certificate I & II courses in Rural Operations & Agriculture (Beef Cattle Production). We had an Indigenous TAFE trainer talking to our group & showing us some of the facilities. We had a bit of a drive around this vast property & then settled down to a rather substantial lunch provide by Roebuck.
The rest of this day was mostly making our way to
Fitzroy Crossing for our overnight camp at the camping ground. However, we arrived later then we had planned & Paul sent we teachers & all the kids to
Tenting lessons
Paul shares some of the finer points about pitching a tent as we ready ourselves for the impending class camp. the hotel for their evening meal, where he joined us later, after he had set up all the tents & other camping requirements!
Thu 06/Aug/09 The drive to
Tunnel Creek was on unsealed roads, mostly dusty & sometimes windy passing some beautiful rocky mountains that have their sides dotted with those beautiful boab trees that are an intrinsic part of this area. Some beautifully scenic stuff ripe for the photographing - but somehow the stops we did make did not offer one of these views. Tunnel Creek flows through a water worn tunnel beneath the limestone of the Napier Range, part of the 375 to 350 million-year-old Devonian Reef system. You need to walk the 750m through the tunnel, to the other side of Napier Range, with your headset torch & footwear. You wade through several permanent pools and watch out for the bats and the stalactites that descend from the roof in many places. The tunnel is up to 12m high and 15m wide in parts. Tunnel Creek is also famous as a hideout used by an Aboriginal leader known as Jandamarra. He was killed outside its entrance in 1897.
Windjana Gorge is a 3.5 km gorge,
School Assembly
A post-recess assembly is part of the school day & provides a chance for visitors to say 'Hello'. carved out of the Napier Range by the Lennard River. The Napier Range is part of the same ancient barrier reef system that you also see at Tunnel Creek and Geikie Gorge. (In the Devonian period, over 300 million years ago, this whole area was under the ocean...) The walls on both sides of Windjana Gorge are 30 to 100 metres high, and the gorge is over 100 metres wide. It's an impressive sight, but it would be even more amazing to see during the wet season when the Lennard River is a raging torrent. Of course you can't get near the gorge then... At the beginning of the dry season it is possible to canoe the whole length of the gorge (update: it used to be, it's not allowed any more...), but the waters recede quickly.
A most noticeable feature of Windjana Gorge is the presence of freshwater crocodiles. There are literally dozens of them, in all sizes. As the pools of water get smaller and smaller they end up more and more crammed into those pools. You really can't miss them. They also seem to be very used to humans, which is no surprise given the tourist numbers
here.
The decision had been made earlier in the day, by majority vote, that we would head back home tonight rather than camp out a second night. We would have camped, here, at the Windjana Gorge camping ground. So we lunched out of the back of one of the troopies and then hit the road again. We headed to
Derby, just to have a quick look at the harbour, etc, before continuing on home. We actually made in to Derby just in time to watch the sunset from its port &, wouldn’t you know it, pretty spectacular, again.
The next leg home was mostly on a short-cut that the local boys had to recognise for us. We would cut across the country on unsealed rugged roads, in a north-west fashion. The alternative was to stay on sealed roads but drive all the way back down to Broome & then north again to Lombadina. In retrospect, perhaps the sealed road alternative may have been easier! The short-cut was unknown to us but reportedly bumpy and windy, with detours to circumnavigate any existing lake/waterhole. So we would drive fairly slowly, max 50kph, extending the agony of what seemed at times to be
an interminably long track. Finally met the sealed road from Broome near Beagle Bay & could travel faster through the burn off bushfires that were going. Got back home at about midnight.
None of Paul’s regular students made it to class on
Fri 07/Aug/09 after their very late return. So we mostly assisted Paul washing, drying , cleaning & packing away the camping gear; tarps, swags, etc. We visitors attended the weekly assembly in the music room where each class usually has something to present from the week’s class work. Matthew & Caitlin received the spear as a gift from the class. There were soon two spears to be got home, but, as luck would have it, there were a couple of very obliging technicians on-site engaged in the installation of internet fibre optic cables who donated some pvc tubing to get the 3½m long spears home. In the late arvo we headed down to the Lombadina beach, but further down, for a swim & a fireside dinner. A Friday evening beach visit is the norm for the school staff anyhow. Magic ambience.
Sat 08/Aug/09 was our return day so the morning was all about cleaning up our
premises and packing our gear for the drive down to Broome for our 1.00pm flight. That means noon check-in & you always have to factor in extra time for ‘remote’ possibilities. Damien must have had a pretty realistic dream as he had woken up with a mono-brow & other writings on his face.
A pleasant, uneventful drive back to Broome. Farewells to all at the busy airport. We flew to Perth & had to wait a couple of hours for the Melbourne flight that got us back close to midnight. What a week!
Paul was quite the Superman. His meticulous planning provided we visitors & his regular class a busy, interesting week. He covered all the logistics - the groceries for the various meals, all the camping hardware. His experience as a PE teacher, an outdoor education teacher, and his supervisory roles has equipped him well with the skills & confidence to get on and be an effective teacher. I didn’t hear him swear once, even when confronted by minor setbacks (eg. a blown tyre), he just got on with what had to be done in a very matter of fact kind of way.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.181s; Tpl: 0.02s; cc: 14; qc: 64; dbt: 0.0709s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.3mb
paige
non-member comment
roebuck station
love the pics they are awsome