Escarpments in Arnhem Land  N.T. 

As in A SHADOW FROM HIS PAST

THE DEVIL'S MARBLES

Northern Territory

Termite mounds. The Kimberley

NW Australia

Roper Bar as  in

HUNTING WITH THE WOLF  

Boulia  Outback Queensland. The Min Min light - a myth?.  

As in HUNTING WITH THE WOLF

MYTHS AND LEGENDS   

Most of us love them.  They stimulate the imagination which in turn creates dreams.  I would not try to dispel them nor search for the final clue, because when the mystery is lost, so is our dream, and we all have a place in our hearts just to store dreams. 

 The Min Min light is said to move around, and often follows the traveller’s car for long distances hovering and dancing all the time.  Nobody really knows when these lights started to appear, but the old people believe it goes way back in Time.  Hardened old bushmen say it is dangerous to camp on the Min Min Ridge or surrounding plains, believing those areas to be its stamping ground, and those who have seen the Min Min light have even admitted to fear.

Locals say that the Min Min light was last seen in 1974, but after that… well, nobody had.  Tourists who didn’t see the lights, complained it had been a wasted trip, but the locals, protective of Boulia's own mystery, insisted it was because of the great increase in traffic that the lights were  running shy. 

 We camped on the plains at Boulia three times and  I watched all night in the hope of seeing this phosphorescent phenomenon, but with no luck.  Bill, sceptic as usual said, ''If you want to see one, you'll have to consume a whole bottle of cheap red, first…”

                                                     ~~

LEGEND--Lasseter’s Reef (gold) in Australia’s Red Heart.   In 1897 Lewis H.B Lasseter decided to fossick for rubies in the western McDonnel Ranges and in the process came upon an outcrop of quartz that ran for miles - a reef bulging with gold.

 Lost and dying of thirst, had Lasseter not been found by an Afghan camel-driver,  no one would have ever heard his amazing story.  'Gold, as thick as plums in a pudding,' he said, showing samples of the ore. Despite the fact that he'd noted the landmarks and on the strength of which men had been fired up to mount several expeditions, to date, the reef has not been found.  

                                                                                                                                             DARWIN  Fannie Bay.  Overlooking  the Timor Sea. 

As in

COME, LOVE ME AGAIN

Jandamarra's cave at Tunnel Creek. NW Australia.

 Known as the Land of the Wanjana.

The story of Jandamarra the Warrior and the Bunuba people.        

Jandamarra was a strong, intelligent young man.  His nickname, given by the white people was 'Pigeon".  At fifteen, along with the other young men of the tribe, he was initiated in a sacred place known only to the elders and old men.  The elders slashed deep cuts into the chests of the youths, and despite excruciating pain, not a whimper passed their lips; their silence a mark of their manhood.  These welts would remain for always as symbols of their courage and strength.

 As time passed, the Bunuba watched the mighty force of foreigners taking over their hunting grounds and setting up cattle stations where Aborigines were forced to work.  They watched as their brothers and sisters were often led away in chains to prison.  But they were a proud people and would fight for what was theirs. 

 Jandamarra also worked for the new settlers and became skilled at riding and shooting, until he was twenty-one.  Then came the day when he shot a policeman, set Aboriginal captives free and so became a marked man.  Jandamarra led many battles and after these skirmishes hid in the caves at Tunnel Creek to tend his wounds and make plans for the next move in his struggle against the white troopers who were in constant pursuit of him.  At twenty-four Jandamarra the warrior, was dead - shot by a trooper.   To this day the Aboriginal people look upon Jandamarra as a hero, a reminder of their proud and ancient past.

Uluru at sunrise

Central Australia.

As in

HUNTING WITH THE WOLF

The Never Never. Road through Outback Australia as in

HUNTING WITH THE WOLF