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Published: June 21st 2009
We thought we wouldn’t have enough new material to write about Marble Bar but we discovered places we hadn’t been before.
We pulled into the Caravan Park just after lunch. It was obvious immediately that things were different with the new owners. We were told to park anywhere we liked so we spent some time deciding on our preferred aspect. It was interesting to see little caravans in spots best for the larger vans. Hopefully a big van won't come in and not be able to park!
Working at the school almost felt like we hadn’t been away with most of the children remembering us from last year. There have been some staff changes and in fact Judy discovered on the first day that the new young Canadian teacher was there because of an email she’d sent. The Principal had emailed her when looking for a replacement for a teacher due to ill health and she’d passed it on to a friend, Jenny, whose daughter Tobi, was doing casual teaching work. Tobi said she wasn’t interested but her flatmate might be. Her flatmate tuned out to be Heather who had just that day received her Education Department okay to
Marble Bar Townsite
The view from the water tower - the caravan park is in the foreground.teach that day. Heather felt this must be meant to be so had rung David, the Principal, and been given the position until the end of term 2. She felt like it was a great way to see and experience some of Australia.
Judy had put a presentation together about life in Vietnam and along with various items we’d brought back including some hats we enjoyed sharing this cultural experience with the classes at Marble Bar. Some even remembered us telling them about New Zealand last year.
On the first Saturday we picked up Heather and Bill another new teacher and toured a few local spots. Of course we had to take them to Chinaman’s Pool and The Bar - both the must dos of this town. After this we went to places we had not been previously. The first of these was Doolena Gorge. This is about 40 kilometres back toward Port Hedland and was very stunning, made even more so because we were the only ones there. Our next stop was Coongan Pool, a delightful, peaceful place on the Coongan River. Rags is keen to stay here for a couple of nights after we leave Nullagine. He
Heather and Rags
Heather came to the van for dinner one night and Judy was able to catch up with what was happening for the Barnard children. reckons we could get our van in here and has chosen the place he wants to put it.
On the way back from Coongan Pool we stopped at the new cemetery. Why a cemetery you may ask? Maretta Bane told us not to miss it. Apparently a couple of families are having a competition over who can have the most elaborate gravesite. It was well worth the visit!
An enjoyable evening was spent on Saturday at Peter and Maretta’s. Everyone brought some food as with no supermarkets in town people get a bit low on fresh fruit and vegetables by this time of the term. We managed a veritable feast , however, with everyone contributing and a good night was had by all!
Sunday, we decided to head out to Carawine Gorge a place we’ve heard much about but as it’s about 180 kilometres from Marble Bar, somewhere we hadn’t got to before. Just Rags and I went as Bill has picked up a bug from one of the kids and Heather’s not keen on early starts, nor did she bring any walking shoes.
We were glad we made the effort as it was an impressive site
Heather, Judy and Bill
Later in the first week Heather and Bill brought food for a barby and we had an enjoyable evening. We were all a little starving of company. with cool pristine waters. We made our way down river (it’s actually the Oakover River) until the water cascades over rocks. This area was lightly bushed and inhabited by a group of about 20 people in what is called a Tag Along Tour. They were nearing the end of their 23 day tour and we met a few energetic fellows who set out to try their hand at fishing whilst most of the group were happy to sit in a group around a camp fire. I think they were finding the wind as bitter as we were, keeping our jackets on the whole time we were there and parking the car in such a way to give us a wind break while we ate our lunch. Our lunch was eaten at the other end of the gorge away from this large group of people - we could have been the only ones here! We could see where a cyclone had been through a stripped out much of the vegetation in this area. The locals report that it used to be much more spectacular.
The highlight of the following week for Rags was preparing a kangaroo stew for the whole
Chinamans Pool
The one every tourist visits here. school to eat at lunch time. This part of the high school program where they prepare the “Friday Feast” once a fortnight. Kranky, the gardener supplied the meat and the 2 teacher aides helped the girls prepare the stew and make damper. As an extra the girls had made jelly and fruit cups with Rags the day before. The meal went down well.
Judy spent half the week with the kindy, pre-primary and year 1’s - oh what fun!
Our last Saturday we drove out to Glen Herring Gorge as we thought the water levels may be different to our previous visit last year but this wasn’t the case. Judy was feeling a bit off colour so the afternoon was spent snoozing.
We are looking forward to leaving the caravan park. It’s been a disappointing stay after our good experience previously. The new owner has a manager and very little appears to be done. Cleaning is done only a few times a week rather than every day and no watering is being done. The barbecue area that was once the centre of the action has had the chairs and gas bottle removed so the 5pm sundowners are
Marble Bar
This is the jasper deposit for which Marble Bar was named. a thing of the past. Only one out of 3 washing machines is working and the drains are backing up in both of the very old shower blocks.
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Lorraine and Fred
non-member comment
Hi you two, Loving the updates. Have you seen any crocs yet?