Morning all,
I'm back from the tropical north. Sorry to hear that some of you are being sick with allergies. Hope you get better soon. Spring and spring flowers seem to trigger a lot of allergies these days.
Hal - Derby day sounds interesting in your neck of the woods. Melbourne has race fever here in November with the Melbourne Cup. It's always a carnival day too.
I'm getting used to the city noises again. Although it is very quiet around my house, there are aeroplanes and sirens etc in the distance frequently. The sound of lawnmowers and chain saws also breaks the silence. Never heard them on Groote Eylandt. Apart from a few cars we never heard anything except frogs and birds.
Groote is an island off the coast of Arnheim land in the Gulf of Carpentaria about 630k east south east of Darwin. It is completely isolated except for the airport and the seaport. The company (BHPBilliton) leases land in the western sector to mine the managanese. Manganese is used to harden steel. The majority of the ore is washed, taken to the port in huge road trains and put onto ships going to China, Japan, USA, and Europe. A small amount is sent to Tasmania by sea to be refined for use here. It is estimated that there is another 20 years left in the mine. It's been going since 1964. This is one of the best producing manganese strip mines anywhere. It's easy to get out, doesn't require refining apart from washing and so is a big money earner.
The airport and the port have been built by the company on land leased from the local Aboriginal tribes. The town is built on leased land consists of around 1000 permanent people and assorted hangers on like me.
There is only one main road - from the mine to the port - that is sealed. The road is kept in good condition by the company because of the road trains. The roads in town are sealed (around the pot holes) and are maintained by the company.
At the town itself, there is a shopping arcade - Post office, Chemist, and a couple of general type stores - souvenirs - joke, no one comes to the island for a holiday, kids shoes, some clothes, fishing gear - and a travel agent. Further down the road there is a supermarket. Huge amounts of frozen food. Food and other supplies, mail, mining gear etc comes by barge once a week. At the end of the week any fresh food such as salad type stuff is beginning to look a bit tired. For all that, the mining fraternity live very well. There is no alcohol sales on the island - or rather very little since there is a bottle shop at the A.R.C. (Alyangular Recreation Club) - but one has to have a permit to keep alcohol or drink in any place other than the ARC or the Golf Club.
There is a primary school on the Island but the kids have to go to boarding school for further education. Generally the family moves off Island at that time.
There is a swimming pool, tennis courts, netball, AFL (Aussie Rules football) and soccer fields and a gym. They have a Golf course and a Gun club and the Mess Hall for visiting consultants, people in single room accommodation and some of the shift workers. There is a police station but there appears to be little crime and the kids are pretty safe around there. It would be a good place for kids. For all that the company brings in a Psychologist for a week a month to deal with any problems arising.
There are a few Aboriginals who live and work in town, but the majority are Caucasian Australian as well a few imports from Kiwiland, Britain and South Africa. The town occupies a small portion of land on the western side of the Island. It is not swaying palm trees and white sand like the travel brochures.
The island is mostly flat, mostly native vegetation. You can not leave town and go inland anywhere without a permit. There are places you can not go even with a permit, since these are sacred sites. You can boat around the island at anytime, fishing or snorkelling (look out for the funny knobbly logs of wood floating on the water) but you can not land anywhere without permission.
The local Aboriginal people have 2 towns further east on the Island. They are rarely seen. They do live in houses but they mainly live off the land using the hunter/ gatherer subsistence living methods they have used for centuries. Every so often war breaks out between factions. They are left to deal with it themselves as they have always done. I'm told they are the happiest, most stable Aborigines in Australia.
The land itself is more or less as it was last century, the century before, and those that came before that. Therefore you find on the island, wildlife that existed that existed thousands of years ago. There has been no clearing of land apart from the strip mining and that is within a confined space. Most of the vegetation is savannah forest - ie gum trees with grass and low secondary growth. It's easy to see through unlike the dense rainforests of Queensland. Wildlife consists of a great many reptiles, a great many frogs which have been almost wiped out on the mainland, a large number of birds (the only non native is the Galah - a result of a mating pair being let loose some years back by a returning miner), wallabies and small marsupials and there is a healthy population of dingos to keep the critturs in check. You don't get to see many animals really apart from the birds. The wily critturs don't venture into town. It is mostly nature as it used to be from what I am told. Didn't see many butterflies - but then there are not a great number of flowers.
The mining workers are extremely well paid. They live in cheap rented accommodation - the price is cheap, the accommodation seems to be fine (can't own anything on Groote) and no doubt if they stay for several years, they could be financially set up for life. There is power, tv, satellite communications, and you can take the vehicle over if you wish - just not many places to drive it and 4 wheel drive is almost mandatory since the only sealed roads are in town, the rest are dirt and mud tracks.
Could I live there? Don't know. Provide I could fit in with the community - and there is a large sense of community there, then it would probably be okay. I suspect I would need to go to Darwin once a month to get away from the place. Probably I am a bit too solitary for there. For families with small children it is ideal. The children would grow up with a sense of freedom, but may be vulnerable to the preys of town life afterwards. But they would grow up without too many hangups and probably no colour barriers.
This is a part of Groote from the air. Unfortunately the clouds come over and the township disappeared.
Anyway, I've written a book. I need to get to the gym.
.... just a quick drop in to let you know I am still alive!
