Bitumen for Tanami

Hi Murray

The people that turned up were polling officials, a Halls Creek Shire Councillor, and an Interpreter from Perth who did not speak any of the languages spoken here.

Cheers

That's right Muzbry.
Marc, if they were to try to bitumin the CSR it would be a crimminal act .
I guess it's lucky you can speak all the languages you do Marc, an interpreter who couldn't understand your community language is typical of government stuffups.
Remember though, there will be pot holes eventually and if it's at all like the roads down here, they can take forever to get fixed and make a bigger mess of your tyres than a good dirt road.

Hi Pa & Ma

Even though I speak quite a few languages (Aboriginal languages that is) I am not a recognised interpreter, as I have not done a Government course to assess the level of my English. (Forget the fact that I hold a Science Degree from Murdoch University, and am a qualified boilermaker).

Here the languages are Walmajjari, Kukutja, Jaru, Walpiri and Pintupi, with English as an introduced language. The interpreter spoke pigeon English, and the people laughed at him for him for how stupid he looked, as noone here speaks any pigeon English (which predominates in New Guinea.

Before you say it, I have applied, on 5 occasions, for an interpreters certificate, but I would have to travel to Perth and find accomodation for three weeks to prove that I can do what I already do unofficially.

You need to understand, because most of the people here speak very little English, they are "uneducated". This annoys me greatly.

Cheers

Isn't that typical..... you, who CAN speak the languages, is overlooked because they need to bring their own interpreter.

But, obviously they didn't bother finding out what languages the interpreter needed to speak/understand.

Glaringly obvious isn't it? This is the very heart of how governments operate!

Yes Marc, the "uneducated" stigma annoys me as well..... and it's not just indigenous people that are subject to this, a friend of mine here on the Gold Coast had a girlfriend many years ago whose father was of Croatian descent. He spoke 6 languages, but his English was very hard to understand as it was his 5th or 6th language. My friends father, who was a small minded man who liked to belittle those around him, would introduce this Croatian man at gatherings as "Tony, he doesn't speak English too well, so you'll just have to get him to repeat things till you work it out" One day, "Tony" got his back up and asked this bloke how many languages HE spoke, and then gave him a bit back for being so small minded. He hated doing it, but it put the bloke in his place! I thought it was brilliant!

Anyways, as much as I hate the idea of these iconic Australian tracks being bitumen-ed, thus opening it up to anybody who wants to drive up there, obviously for me, and I dare say a lot of travelers, it's a once-or-twice-in-a-lifetime thing. Unlike you and your family, who live there and drive it regularly! So if you're in agreeance with it, then so be it I say!

Cheers

Brian

Hi Marc
I wonder how much the useless interpreter was paid, better so how much is the Government person responsible for employing him. You think that someone on their Government Department would have at least done their homework to find out what were the spoken languages of the area that they were visiting.

Keep Dry

Cheers


Stephen

Hey Marc,
Pidgin English in Papua New Guinea is different to wot they call Creole here in Australia, i grew up in PNG and the language is a mixture of local languages, German, English and Malay.

Not hard to learn but i always had trouble conversing with anyone from the Highlands because they speak so fast. Coastal people were so much easier to talk with.

Cheers Mate

Mark

Hi Mark

That is exactly my point. He wasn't speaking Creaole, which some people here would have understood, he was using Pidgin English. It was ridiculous.

Cheers

Hi Brian

I think the actual ballot will be very close. There are a lot of people out here who do not want the additional traffic that sealing the road will bring, so it is now a matter of waiting and seeing what the result is.

Cheers

Hi Stephen L

Now I know who to blame. You.

I was just coming back from Balgo and got my first puncture in nearly 7 months, so I took the wheel off and then the skies opened up, I was having a hard tiome seeing the wheel nuts to put back on, and laying down releasing a small trolley jack with water rushing all over is not mt idea of fun.

Wish you didn't type to keep dry, as we have a huge storm at the moment.

Cheers

Hi Ma

It is still drying out, but the clouds are quickly building again, so I think we may get wet again very soon.

The Rabbit Flats Roadhouse is closed for fuel and general services, so now you have to go to Balgo, Billiluna, Yuendumu or Tilmouth Well for such services. I do think if someone made Bruice a goiod offer for Rabbit Flats he would jump at it. You could still think about buying it, and have managers do the work for you, but that is just a thougt.

I am unsure if another one will ever be built, but with the potential bitumen going down, that could quickly change.

Though we do not celebrate Christmas, thankyou for the thought. The wife and I wish you guys the best as well.

Cheers

Hi Dunworkin

I reecall, from what I read and heard, that the bitumen would be from the Halls Creek turn off to the NT Border. The bitumen would not go into the actual communities though, which means we would still have 75 km of corrugation to tangle with, but that is better than more than 300 km.

I am not sure a truce will ever happen. When the Department of Native Affairs (in the 70's) decided that groiups found in some locations would live in Balgo, other groups would live in Billiluna and so on, they did not allow for thousands of years of tribal in fighting.

Cheers

"I am not sure a truce will ever happen. When the Department of Native Affairs (in the 70's) decided that groiups found in some locations would live in Balgo, other groups would live in Billiluna and so on, they did not allow for thousands of years of tribal in fighting. "

Sorry Marc, I didn't word that too well, the truce I meant was between the Halls Creek Shire and the Government not being able to work out who was responsible for the road. (that's how I understood the reason for no maintenance on it).

Cheers

Hi Dunworkin

Sorry, my bad for misunderstanding. Hopefully you do know that the communities have been offering, for about the last ten years, to maintain the road, but the Halls Creek Shire have been refusing, stating it is their road.

We gave up approaching the State Government abnout 12 years ago, all they ever said was that it is not a road, it is a track. As stated, we in the communities have offered too many times to accept responsibility fopr the maintenance and upkeep, we just need a budget or grant from someone for the fuel.

I have a grader ticket and would be happy to camp out there for 2 or 3 wedeks and fix the road, but the Shire will not allow for it.

Cheers

Red Tape, now it will cost tax payers millions to get it bitumised... go figure.

Cheers

D

Hi D

Perhaps you are correct, but please let me know who paid for the bitumen on the roads that everyone else drives on everyday.

Cheers

Sorry Marc, meant to say extra millions$$$$ ( meaning 'than it would have done in the beginning').

Cheers
D

Hi Fred

I have no idea who Ronald is, but I am assuming a politiician os something.

Yes, it has been a proposal for some time, but never before have they come out and sought the opinions of the communities, that must mean something is happening.

By the way, for some reason I cannot open links.

Cheers

Ronald is the face of a small developer, who builds the odd takeaway here and there, often in predetermined locations, on major highways, suggested by local council officials who have no financial interest. He usually provides a play area which is hugely popular with the children. Surely you have heard of him.

Fred

Hi Fred

Please do not think me foolish, but I have not heard of him. I do not know that many small developers though.

Cheers

Hi Joe

Although I do hear and understand what you are saying, the most of the communities here are still far enough away from the Tanami to put many off from coming anyway.

It would be up to the Elders and the enforcement of the by laws to avoid the big town problems. The communities will remain dry anyway, and the only one close, Billiluna, still lock their gates at 10:00 PM, so they don't get too many problems.

The easier route for trucks will reduce freight and allow for better produce and purchases.

Cheers

Joe, I lived on the Tanami when it petered out into a 2 wheel track beyond Yuendemu, to Mt. Doreen where I lived, and then only became some wheel tracks to The Granites. Later it developed into a short cut to Halls Creek, and now many years later, it MAY open up as a cheaper route for NWWA for all logistical movements. It is called progress, and while ever our freckles point to the ground, we won't stop it.

The Nullabor was once also iconic, I crossed it in 1968 when a lot of it was unsealed, just loved the experience, but travellers now will never know what it was like then. All progress mate. Sad, but ineviteable.

Fred

"The Nullabor was once also iconic, I crossed it in 1968 when a lot of it was unsealed, just loved the experience, but travellers now will never know what it was like then."

Hi Fred, you are spot on there, my first of many trips across there was in 1952 when, as a very young girl, my parents moved to WA from SA and every couple of years after that we would return to catch up with family. I try to explain to hubby what the road was like at the time but it just doesn't seem to justify the reality of it, It took us a few days to get across, you were lucky to see another vehicle on the road during the day, if you did you stopped and had a chat. One memory that has stuck with me is one year going across a family had started up a new fuel outlet, it was Cocklebiddy, so Dad stopped to get his fuel from there to help them along their way, when we got to the next fuel stop we were told that they wouldn't be there long as there was not enough traffic to sustain them, Cocklebiddy is still there today of course. I have many memories of the Nullabor of those days, but try as I might I can't get the same feelings crossing it as I did back then when you left the bitumen 20klms out of Norseman and hit it again when you reached the Pt Augusta/ Whyalla road. If only someone had written a diary of our travels back then.

Cheers

D

Hi AJB

In 1994 until 1998 the wife and I were in the Pilbara, though we infrequently came back here for holidays. Yes I knerw of the crazy mechanic that you are talking about, but never actually spoke with the person.

Housemaster and Tanami builders I have some recollection of, although the last builders I saw here were Westwide. Yagga of course has been shut down for some years now, it is mostly a short cut road through to Kiwirrkurra. Is doesn't surprise me at all that people haven't met me, as I am not here all the time.

This is my wifes country, but there is no work here for a tradesman, so I frequently drive to Kununurra, and occasionally the Granites, for work. We decided in 1999 to settle here for good, and move around from here when there was a need, but then our youngest daughter looks after our house with her kids.

The road around the lake, Lens Bore Stafford Bore, Yunpu and C26 is still used when the SDturt Creek goes up to high, though when that happens the CSR becomes very muddy as well, making for a long journey with a few bogs and dig outs.

In 2004 I was working in the shop, big bloke with bald head and long beard on the till for quite a while, although that depends on what time of year you dropped in.

Cheers

It was Easter in 2004. We got to the Sturt, heading north, but it was too high so we detoured through Balgo and onto Mulan. I spoke with some women who were fishing in the river and they remembered us and said they'd see us tomorrow. If it was 8 years earlier I would have continued on through the night as I knew the area well back then. However as you know the tracks appear vastly different at night and it doesn't take much to follow a shot line and end up anywhere. Anyway we were late into Mulan and early out. Got near Lake Stretch and the track had changed direction but I knew where I was from memory and looking at the countryside. I used to ride a motorbike all over the place back in 95/96. Stopped in Billiluna, twice, and caught up with a lot of friends there. On the way back the Sturt causeway was shallow so we did not need to detour again.
So back then I stayed in Yagga, Mulan, Balgo and finally Billiluna. Then moved onto Fitzroy and Derby. Great time of my life!!

Hi AJB

Easter 2004 according to my wife we were in Broome looking after her brother who was on dialysis at the time. The Elders here asked my wife and I to go down there, as drunks from Balgo and Mulan were causing trouble for him all the time, and I quickly put an end to that.

You would have probably met Father Matt who was the Catholic Priest in Balgo at the time, and in 2004 I am fairly certain that Karen and Peter were running the shop here at Mulan, the CEO then, I am certain, was a guy named Mark.

He livers and works for the Federal Government in Halls Creek now.

Cheers

Hi Chris

I have been to Lajamanu on many occasions, as my son-in-law (now deceased) was a founding member of the Lajamanu Teenage Band. AS soon as you mentioned doing that trip regularly in a 2 ton truck, I am now certain we have previously crossed paths.

Bruce and Jacqui at Rabbit Flats are family friends with us, and I have frequently worked at the Granites as well, as well as occasionally at Groundrush near the Lajamanu turnoff.

Cheers

Hi Matthew

All I know is that the people were here doing a poll for peoples votes on whether they want it done or not, and that is what I mentioned. I have no further details, but if I do hear of anything, rest assured I will let people know very quickly.

Cheers

Gday D S
I agree with you . Very interesting.

Murray

Ditto!!

Cheers

Brian

Hi Phil (ducking for cover)

Actually, you have no reason to duck for cover, as the vote from what I have heard is extremely close.

They will never seal the CSR, as all communities that use it, including Billiluna and Mulan, where the traditional owners are, have said NO. My mother-in-law is the most senior Martu woman, and her say is virtually one of the final ones. She has said that it is never to happen.

The reason for this is not because it is "iconic", but because there are a lot of unmarked sites on the CSR, where people would have no idea what they are only a couple of KM's away from when driving.

I voted yes and I make no apologies for that, my wife voted no and that is her right.

Cheers

I dont know your name but thatnks for the response.

I had to drop you a line and say how I like the travel words in your "signature"

Phil

Hi Phil

You see where it says Member - Marc Luther B, that is my name, Marc.

Cheers

Oops. That's my one mistake for the week.

I will get back in the corner. Unsealed corner of course.

Cheers

Phil

Hi Alloy c/t

Actually you would lose that bet. The move was started by KAMSC (Kimberley Aboriginal Medical Service Commission, and the CEO (Catholic Education Office), as the were continually complaining about damage to their vehicles, and the amount of rollovers they have had to attend.

The mining companies will probably go along with it of course, such is their right, and I will admit I am getting tired of continually doing repairs out on the Tanami and having people drive off, no thanks or anything, of course that is my own stupidty for being always willing to help people.

Cheers

Looks like I'll have to send you a "scratchie" , QLD version next time get to a newsagent ,,,,

Hi Fred G

Actually it says 20009, that 9 simply should not be there. As a member you could have seen, in my profile, that I have a 2000 Hilux Dual Cab.

Hopefully that clarifies the issue, or we will have to wait for 20009 for this thread to be valid.

Cheers

Hi Again Fred G

Obviously you have taken a dislike to me, and that is your right. You seem to go for all my typos whenever I post, and look for grammatical errors in my writing.

I respect fully your right to express yourself in such a way, but please respect my right not to reply in future.

Have a good weekend.

"Obviously you have taken a dislike to me, and that is your right. You seem to go for all my typos whenever I post, and look for grammatical errors in my writing"

That's a pretty unfair comment to make.

This is only the second time I have asked you to clarify a post on ExplorOz, only to clear up some confusion, and each time you have taken offence for being asked. I can't understand that. There is no malice anywhere in what I have said to you. It is pretty reasonable to ask the poster of a thread to make a clarification. Why take offence for being asked to do so.

Fred

Hi John Baas

Given that I personally know the senior most Elders for the CSR (one of them is my mother-in-law, I know that all the traditional owners right through have stated that the CSR will NEVER be sealed.

For such a road to be sealed, they would have to get full consent from all traditional owners, and that will simply not happen.

Cheers