Sunday
3 April 2016 – 167 160 - 37°C
This morning we toured Thurlby Station with Craig. It is 33 000 acres, with a mix of mulga, sand and Mitchell grass plains with greatly variable carrying capacity. We drove around the property in an old 4WD that no longer had doors or a boot. We saw hundreds of kangaroos, dozens of emus and two brolgas. We walked beneath an eagle’s nest and saw the assorted bones scattered beneath. We saw emu tracks and many wild dog tracks. We then visited a creek to put in yabbie pots and travelled along the old Cobb & Co roads and saw the remains of the bridge from that era. Next, we walked around on the plains near the Ward River, where there are many Aboriginal stone artefacts. We saw several “Flakes” which show the bulb of percussion from their creation. Craig also explained the station’s efforts to conserve the environment with stock rotation, controlled burning and fencing. The station uses mobile phone cameras to measure the level of water in the dams, and remotely open and close the water flow. We returned to the caravan park completely covered in dust – but a very interesting morning. https://www.murweh.qld.gov.au/evening-star-station-tour
After lunch, we
drove into Charleville and explored the historic buildings. Next up, we drove
out to Angellala Bridge explosion site, where they are still repairing the road
two years on, the railway bridge is yet to be repaired. A truck carrying 53
tonnes caught fire, crashed and exploded and caused major damage.
In the
evening, the caravan park had a large campfire gathering. Bacon and egg damper, and choc-chip damper
were made in camp oven’s in a separate pit of hot coals, followed by ice-blocks
for the kids and marshmallows toasted on long, forked sticks. Craig gave the kids a show, tell and touch session
of Aboriginal artefacts – fighting shield, close combat shield, women’s
collecting basket, fighting boomerangs (which are shaped like a seven), assorted
other boomerangs, fighting clubs, grinding stone, wooden bow, axe heads and a
complete axe. The axe was made by
splitting a young tree, inserting the axe head in the split, binding the tree
above and then waiting for the tree to grow around it, and then cutting it down
once the handle is the desired size.
Once the children had dissipated, some much older and fragile axes were
brought out for viewing only. Craig also
showed us a conical headdress made from bark covered in twisted hair and topped
with ostrich feathers; a large stone penis showing circumcision (apparently,
some Aboriginal tribes practices circumcision and some did not). A thoroughly enjoyable and educational evening.
No comments:
Post a Comment