Tuesday, Nov 17, 2009 at 15:40
Hi Ed,
Yes the book is a fascinating read. The hardships endured out there were amazing, and the history of the Brookes family at Balbinya is quite a sad one in the sense that they lived their life there in such isolation, never marrying, and dying in the region. The little nugget in that book was a reference to my grandfather for which I was quite chuffed. My grandfather was at
Israelite Bay in the late 1890s as a telegraphist, and it was a nice experience to wander the rooms of the telegraph station, wondering which room he might have lived in.
I spent some time working on the Nullarbor between
Norseman and
Eucla from about 1969-72, and in the early-mid 80's, then some personal trips out there many times since (last trip was Nov/Dec) and I never tire of the place. The whole area thru to the border is dotted with
old ruins where settlers tried to make a go of it. In a good year, one can find sweeping plains of grass a metre high, then for the next 5 years, there's just
grey stubble. I guess the settlers went out in a good season, then soon discovered it was not a bed of roses.
I met John Carlisle, noted for his discovery of several meteorites on the Nullarbor, who was raised near Eyre at Burnabbie in the 1920s-30s. He spoke of peddling his bike from there to
Rawlinna siding once a month to collect the mail, a week's round journey he enjoyed as it got him away from the boredom of the station. The station was abandoned by the mid-30s.
Behind the desolation, there is a heap of history.
cheers,
Gerry
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