Adventures of Barbara Keck: Australia 2018- Up, Around, Down & Across PART THREE Perth and Environs ~ Western Australia

WESTERN AUSTRALIA

BROOME

The first stop in Western Australia is the town of Broome, where the expedition to the Kimberley ended. A short tour of this town at the base of the Dampier Peninsula, considered part of the Kimberley district, reveals its history as a famous pearling center. The traditional owners are often collectively referred to as Goolarabooloo, the Salt-Water People. The Yawuru people were traditional owners of the lands and waters in an around the town of Broome, and used the giant pearl shells to make Riji, which were worn as public coverings like a loin cloth attached by a band around the waist. Only men of the highest degree could traditionally wear them; they are incised with sacred patterns associated with water, spiritual powers and healing.

The story of pearling in Broome has a checkered history. By 1910, dozens of pearl “luggers” (boats) docked here. Today the pearling tradition continues, although Aboriginal men and women are no longer forced via “blackbirding” to work on pearling luggers as divers. The advent of plastic for accessories disrupted the mother-of-pearl industry, but the production of beautiful pearls for jewelry continues.

WA = WESTERN AUSTRALIA. Pippi Longstocking (the strongest girl in the world) absolutely loves it here, and so do I. We are busy enjoying PERTH and its surrounds.

First, some exploration close to my wonderful hotel, the Alex Hotel, which is right in the middle of all the fun of Perth. Here is the sunset over Perth from my hotel window:

It is a two-minute walk from the Alex Hotel to the museum called the Art Gallery of Western Australia (AGWA). I didn’t have as much time there as I would liked to have had, but I particularly enjoyed the galleries with Aboriginal art.

GREETINGS FROM ROTTNEST.

This 1988 work by Sally Morgan who was born in Perth in 1951 and whose language group is Palyku, celebrates the great recreational island of Rottnest, but notes that it was built by slave labor of Aboriginal “criminals”, many of them freedom fighters, who were forcibly removed from their traditional lands throughout Western Australia and imprisoned from 1838-1931.

Is it ok to be two things at once?

This 1996 work by Julie Dowling who was born in Perth in 1969 and whose language group is Badimaya, was created because she is so often asked why she identifies as an Aboriginal when she looks “so white”. This question reflects “the total ignorance of what happened when our ancestors were raped and exploited for generations. I am the product of the breeding out program.

ROTTNEST ISLAND

It is a short commuter train ride from the central station five minutes away from my hotel to the stop in Fremantle near the ferry terminals serving Rottnest Island. This beautiful recreational area, a short 25-minute ferry ride away, was so named by Dutch mariner Willem de Vlamingh in 1696 when he noted the “giant rats” … now we know they are a marsupial, the friendly and well-known Quokka. The Quokka are not, however, welcome everywhere… like in the shops! In addition to beautiful bays all around this island, there are salt lakes in the interior where salt was mined for many years. Bicycles are the largest means of transport on the island, but a hop-on-hop-off bus plies a circular road that begins steps from the ferry landing. We thank the traditional Aboriginal owners of the land, the Nyoongar, for permitting us to enjoy their country known as Wadjemup, part of Nyoongar Dreaming tradition.

The day trip to the SOUTH of Perth, final destination being the vineyards of the Margaret River area, started off propitiously with spotting several Black Swans enjoying a tranquil morning swim on the eponymous Swan River. Gorgeous land, with huge wheat growing operations. Other exports: live sheep to the Middle East, wood chips to Japan, and various minerals such as titanium. Again, it is important in Australia to acknowledge the traditional owners of the land. This is Noongar boodja, country of the Noonjar aboriginal people.

MARGARET RIVER WINE REGION, WESTERN AUSTRALIA:

See all those “w” designations on the map? That means.... WINERY. There are more than 100 to visit in this region, which is known around the world for premium wines. I particularly like the Chardonnay and Shiraz.

In the famous Margaret River wine region, the Wilyabrup sub-region is one of the most famous wine producing areas in all of Australia, recognized for excellent Cabernet, Chardonnay and now Shiraz (which we call Syrah in the USA). We visited the Sandalford wine estate, where they are pruning the Shiraz vines. The majority of vines on this estate date back to 1970. Like Bordeaux, this wine region has generous winter rainfall, frost free springs, subdued summer temperatures, and well drained red brown loamy soils.

CAVE ADVENTURES!

The Margaret River region of Australia has more than 100 caves, found in the spine of the Leeuwin-Naturaliste Ridge. A million years of water moving constantly through limestone carved the Mammoth Cave where 10,000 fossils accumulated over the years, including some Australian Megafauna (giant animals) that became extinct around 46,000 years ago. During winter a stream still flows through the cave.

TRIVIA QUESTION: Where does the Indian Ocean and the Southern Ocean meet? Right in front of the Cape Leeuwin lighthouse, situated among the wilderness of the most south-westerly tip of Australia. It’s the tallest lighthouse in Australia. Watch out Pippi Longstocking, it’s windy here! Don’t fall into the grass...venomous snakes live in there!

A day trip to the NORTH of Perth:

An excursion North took me to Lancelin on the Indian Ocean, home of 3 story-high white sand dunes. Our truck from Adams Pinnacle Tours got mired in the soft white sand, but with the use of sand ladders it got going again. Sand boarding is a big sport here!

The Nambung National Park is home of the Pinnacles Desert. This park, near the town of Cervantes, is famous for these limestone formations. The raw material for the limestone came from seashells of an earlier era that was rich in marine life.

NEW NORCIA

About 100 miles to the northeast of Perth in the Outback, the 1847 Benedictine mission to the aboriginal people of the Yuat tribe evolved over time to become a self-sufficient community deducated to the education of outback children. Later, it became a center for ecclesiastical art and culture in Western Australia. Today New Norcia is famous for its Benedictine community – you can actually go stay in the monastery for retreats – and it is a living museum. St Gertrudes, one of the well-preserved buildings there, has a church that is stunningly beautiful; school groups are allowed to stay in the dormitory for cultural outings. The art gallery contains painting by Spanish and Italian masters as well as manuscripts and religious artifacts. I was fortunate enough to find a wonderful guide and companion for my day there, Norma Stapelberg; I know she will be a friend for life!