Interesting Article re the Kimberley

Thanks, Snow. Good read alright.

Reminded me of a couple of yarns from my time in the Kimberley, just to east of Kununurra.

It was 1968 and there'd been some good late rain in May, which put a hold on mustering activities. Once it was dry enough to get about, the Boss, 2 boys & myself, headed down the road towards Police Hole, in what is now part of Keep River N/P. Travelling along okay, down a gentle slope, when the Toyota dug in without warning, and we were stuck. An attempt to reverse out merely lowered the vehicle down onto the chassis.

A hand winch we had was useless, being similar to a boat winch, and shovelling wasn't progressing well as the ground around the wheels was rapidly turning to liquid. Started carting ant beds and throwing them under the wheels, which had a two-fold advantage......the ant beds soaked up the excess water, and gave a solid base to reverse out onto firmer ground.

Once out of the bog, we beat a retreat for another week or two.

The other is a yarn told to me by a long time resident of that area. Some blokes, think they might have been fencers, got caught in an early storm, and efforts to get their truck out onto firm ground prove fruitless when they were stuck in some ti-tree country. Bogged to the axles, they left the truck there deciding to collect it when it dried out.

Well, apparently it was one of those Wets when it never stopped raining, and the truck sat there till well into the middle of the next year. As they got close to where the truck should have been, it was apparent that something had changed, the old lorry wasn't as easy to spot as they thought it would have been. On arriving at the vehicle, it was obvious why it had been difficult to see as they drove up. The truck had sunk further into the ground, so much so that it was possible to step straight onto the tray, which was now at ground level.

Don't recall how they got it out, but no doubt there would have been a lot of digging involved. :-(

Bob