Yesterday we went for a walk. Originally the idea was to explore what was the first gold mining area on the northern boundary of our town … but … it was fenced off … completely enclosed with a high mesh fence designed to keep animals and people from crossing the border.
We had barely left the main highway when I noticed a plant that resembled, at a distance, a lamb's ear. Upon closer inspection the resemblance faded. Spikes grew on the stem, spikes protected the underbelly of the delicate leaves, and random spikes showed their armour. The white ground must reflect all the summer sun and even on the cooler days of winter a certain amount of heat would stream their warm rays to this plant. Added to the charm of this mock lamb's ear were flowers of the same texture, but in a murky shade of purple, that curled inwards. Perhaps brave insects made their home in these bracts ignoring the prickles forming an impenetrable barricade.
Other plants new to me were pepper trees with delicate lacey fronds. These were scattered over a wide area of abandoned mine shafts that dotted the landscape. Some of these shafts may still be in use. It was difficult to ascertain which were in use and which were deserted because the rich findings had petered out. A few were fenced. These were deeper and a closer inspection failed to show a bottom. Stones tossed in clattered down into the bowels of the earth but resisted our efforts to judge the distance as they plummeted onto board floors that had been erected in the mining operation. Frankly I would have felt claustrophobic had I been the intrepid miner digging down, and down, and further down, in the search of gold. Today the use of detecting devices makes the search easier.
The morning warmed up and the flies gathered encircling us and landing on our backs. What to do? Make mad swipes in the hope the flies would disperse? It didn't work! They dispersed for all of half a second, only to once again settle on a warm back. The flies in this part of Western Australia are bush flies … smaller than the blowfly, and silent as they swarm in the morning sun. There is a way to keep them off one's clothing. Walk deep into the foliage of a pepper tree and the flies appear to take umbrage at the aroma emitted from the flowers. While not completely banishing them from one's clothing the pepper tree certainly reduced the numbers drastically. I wondered why some type of fly spray was not manufactured from this source.
A white jawbone with teeth intact lay on the ground. What was it? A dog? Or was it a fox? Only a few steps further gave us a definite answer … a leg bone belonging to a kangaroo. Bleached white by the heat it was impossible for amateurs to decide just how long this native animal had met its death. Death in the Outback is a hush-hush affair. Eagles, goannas, foxes, crows and ants make short work of any evidence.
As we wandered back towards the town we decided to explore a shed surrounded by tyres and bits and pieces of metal, and old machinery. Parts of drilling equipment littered the ground. A box of nuts and bolts stored in an open cardboard container looked as though it had been tossed onto the broken concrete floor, and while the original owner may have found no use for them, I am positive others would covet such useful odds and ends. Two large openings in the shed walls allowed the weather in, thus shortening the life of these stored, or abandoned items.
Mounds of tyres, large enough to fit a truck or machinery, sat … perished, in the blazing sun. Vehicles, rusty and unwanted, rested on exposed rims, the lining of their flat tyres showing through. It was not a pretty sight. It was not a pretty site. Whether this area had once been a workshop for a contractor, a farmer's shed, or simply a dump for unwanted machinery was not obvious.
The surrounding area, as far as the eye can see, would be unrecognisable to the people who walked this land over 100 years ago. In the insatiable search for gold and other valuable minerals the land has seen a bulldozer moving great swathes of soil from A to B in the hope that the earth will give up its riches. We are unable to gauge if the terrain was undulating, what plants clung to cracks in the rocks, or whether the riches that abound in this barren landscape were easily detected.
To spend a couple of hours wandering across a few acres of land, that must have held hopes and dreams of early explorers and modern day prospectors, gave some small insight into the arduous livings eked out in what can appear an inhospitable landscape. We were only minutes from town but when we reached the streets signifying town boundaries 'civilisation' clamored with the voices of children playing on the footpath. The utter peace and quietness surrounding us on that deserted piece of land left a pleasant feeling of two hours well spent on what was a public holiday, a day of rest.
We had barely left the main highway when I noticed a plant that resembled, at a distance, a lamb's ear. Upon closer inspection the resemblance faded. Spikes grew on the stem, spikes protected the underbelly of the delicate leaves, and random spikes showed their armour. The white ground must reflect all the summer sun and even on the cooler days of winter a certain amount of heat would stream their warm rays to this plant. Added to the charm of this mock lamb's ear were flowers of the same texture, but in a murky shade of purple, that curled inwards. Perhaps brave insects made their home in these bracts ignoring the prickles forming an impenetrable barricade.
Other plants new to me were pepper trees with delicate lacey fronds. These were scattered over a wide area of abandoned mine shafts that dotted the landscape. Some of these shafts may still be in use. It was difficult to ascertain which were in use and which were deserted because the rich findings had petered out. A few were fenced. These were deeper and a closer inspection failed to show a bottom. Stones tossed in clattered down into the bowels of the earth but resisted our efforts to judge the distance as they plummeted onto board floors that had been erected in the mining operation. Frankly I would have felt claustrophobic had I been the intrepid miner digging down, and down, and further down, in the search of gold. Today the use of detecting devices makes the search easier.
The morning warmed up and the flies gathered encircling us and landing on our backs. What to do? Make mad swipes in the hope the flies would disperse? It didn't work! They dispersed for all of half a second, only to once again settle on a warm back. The flies in this part of Western Australia are bush flies … smaller than the blowfly, and silent as they swarm in the morning sun. There is a way to keep them off one's clothing. Walk deep into the foliage of a pepper tree and the flies appear to take umbrage at the aroma emitted from the flowers. While not completely banishing them from one's clothing the pepper tree certainly reduced the numbers drastically. I wondered why some type of fly spray was not manufactured from this source.
A white jawbone with teeth intact lay on the ground. What was it? A dog? Or was it a fox? Only a few steps further gave us a definite answer … a leg bone belonging to a kangaroo. Bleached white by the heat it was impossible for amateurs to decide just how long this native animal had met its death. Death in the Outback is a hush-hush affair. Eagles, goannas, foxes, crows and ants make short work of any evidence.
As we wandered back towards the town we decided to explore a shed surrounded by tyres and bits and pieces of metal, and old machinery. Parts of drilling equipment littered the ground. A box of nuts and bolts stored in an open cardboard container looked as though it had been tossed onto the broken concrete floor, and while the original owner may have found no use for them, I am positive others would covet such useful odds and ends. Two large openings in the shed walls allowed the weather in, thus shortening the life of these stored, or abandoned items.
Mounds of tyres, large enough to fit a truck or machinery, sat … perished, in the blazing sun. Vehicles, rusty and unwanted, rested on exposed rims, the lining of their flat tyres showing through. It was not a pretty sight. It was not a pretty site. Whether this area had once been a workshop for a contractor, a farmer's shed, or simply a dump for unwanted machinery was not obvious.
The surrounding area, as far as the eye can see, would be unrecognisable to the people who walked this land over 100 years ago. In the insatiable search for gold and other valuable minerals the land has seen a bulldozer moving great swathes of soil from A to B in the hope that the earth will give up its riches. We are unable to gauge if the terrain was undulating, what plants clung to cracks in the rocks, or whether the riches that abound in this barren landscape were easily detected.
To spend a couple of hours wandering across a few acres of land, that must have held hopes and dreams of early explorers and modern day prospectors, gave some small insight into the arduous livings eked out in what can appear an inhospitable landscape. We were only minutes from town but when we reached the streets signifying town boundaries 'civilisation' clamored with the voices of children playing on the footpath. The utter peace and quietness surrounding us on that deserted piece of land left a pleasant feeling of two hours well spent on what was a public holiday, a day of rest.
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