The Day My Mum Went Psycho

Zebra Rock Mine – July 10^th to 12^th

We made our way back to this wonderful place from Kununurra and are so glad we did.  The ambiance here is just lovely.  It’s a dusty little place but Ruth and Kim who run the place make it feel so warm and homely.  Kim’s Dad named him Kimberley after the region as he fell in love with the place.
Kim grew up on Argyle station (well before they built the Argyle dam, he occasionally dives through the rooms of his old homestead) and he and his brother were the only two white kids on the entire station.  The Aboriginal women used to take them both bush for three months at a time and they would return naked and extremely happy with their bellies full of kangaroo or goanna.  He has had an amazing life and is as much a part of the region as anyone we have met.  He spent 14 years looking for the Zebra rock and found it 15 years ago.  The mine has been running for 3 years with this year being it’s first full tourist season.

Both Ruth and Kim have an incredible love and respect for the land so undertake their mining with an environmental conscience. They surface mine only and refill and revegetate any land they disturb.  Rio Tinto is sponsoring a rock museum to be opened up in Canberra and a slab of their Zebra Rock will be shipped there to be included for prosperity….they only hope Rio Tinto are coughing up for the freight!

Droving as we arrived....what a welcome.

Bells and Toli helping Ruth and Minnie deliver fire wood to each place...didn't need it. Over 34 degrees the second night we were there!

Bre Taylor....

As I went to sleep that night my heart was rocked by this all encompassing feeling….a remembering that when I get home I will have to face the loss of my beautiful friend Bre. Whilst on holiday it’s easy to separate yourself from your reality – especially as my reality has a giant gash in it that I escaped from before I could process it. But tonight as I lay in our camper, watching the starry desert NT sky I heard the haunting rendition of Hallelujah from a neighbouring camp fire…..took me straight back to Bre’s farewell. I’m so very sad that you are no longer with us (I’ll face those demons when I get home) but tonight I was pleased to be reminded of you….when I think of you I always see you slapping your leg as you laugh – often at your own joke.

Thank you to Elise Barrow for forever enriching that song with memories of Breeza. Whenever I hear it now I know I will stop and think of her xxxx

The Fishing trip

Toli and I got up early and headed off on a fishing trip with Kim and four others. It was my first time fishing but I was really just going to watch Toli…..so I thought. Kim wouldn’t have a bar of it. There are no passengers on his boat. Everybody fishes! We were fishing for Silver Cobbler (Catfish), sells for about $43 a kilo in the shops….for us free! As Kim and the other men were talking about the delights of women in bikinis – even those yummy mummies (fishing boat talk apparently) Toli and his big mouth let out that the kids had bought me a mug with Yummy Mummy on it…..so that was my name for the entire three hour fishing trip and the duration of our stay at Zebra Rock Mine….yeehah. Toli caught himself a nice little catfish and I was shocked to catch three – one as I was pulling in my line! It made my heart ache to see them all swimming around in the bloody water in the bucket. I had to look away when they ‘gaffed’ the poor buggers. I don’t think I have fisherwench blood in me L. Anyway, back to camp to meet up with Bells and Mama and some more delicious scones with jam and cream….a specialty of Ruths.

Filleting the Cobbler...Toli loved this part. Gross. He was fascinated....bet he wanted to touch it.

The Whistling and Black Kites eating the scraps thrown over board....counted 22!

Captain of his own vessel one day.....

The tour….

After lunch we all went on a tour of their mine – not what we expected. It’s simply the top layer scraped away and a 15-20 metre section of Zebra Rock exposed. No big holes in the ground with machines running around the place. Kim just takes what he needs with a shovel and a crowbar to make a few bowls each season. Ruth and the delightful girls she gets to help her, take little bits and make jewellery or mantle piece feature pieces. There were too many people for the mine tour so Kim needed someone to drive the 40 year old Landcruiser….I was only too happy to step in. He delighted in being able to call me yummy mummy again in front of the tour. The old cruiser was awesome, no windscreen or doors, raised benched seating in the back for 6-7 people. I am glad I’ve had experience driving old rigs.

A short rest then off to the Wildlife Safari…..

We jam packed our stay here as we did very little last time through. After hearing reports of the Triple J tours of Lake Argyle we opted to wait and do our Lake Argyle tour here. What a wise decision. It was magnificent….even if we were on board with a bunch of gaggling grey nomads with too much wine in their bellies. Kim isn’t the most polished tour guide but I liked his style. By this stage I was a little over the tourist talk …so I really just wanted to see the sights. Kim mentioned briefly about his personal history of the area and then said “if you want to know more facts and figures about Lake Argyle and stuff get on the internet”.

We continued our cruise through the south east side of Lake Argyle (aptly referred to by Kim as an inland sea not a dam or lake) then into some wetlands. Here I was absolutely chuffed to sea our first Sea Eagles…..wow – how simply stunning!!!

We moored at a little island that had horses trotting around on the adjacent one and went walking through some river gums. It was lush and green underfoot and the sight of the white tall trunks of the gums was beautiful – the number of butterflies fluttering around further astounded us. Packs, hoards, schools, bunches, groups of more then 50 would land then flutter away as you came close…..the kids and adults alike loved it.

Toli helped himself to Kim.s fishing rod that he leaves next to a tree and within a few short minutes was pulling in a big catfish. We threw it back in though as we had no fishing gear to finish the job with us.

After we all filled our bellies with as much drink and nibbles as we could we boarded the boat again and floated off to watch the sunset. Kim, being the ever professional tour guide he is, threw a catfish in the water in front of the setting sun and we all watched with delight as a Sea Eagle flew down and pulled it from the water. Not one of us got it on film ( I sort of did). One of those moments for the memory banks only. “If you all bloody shut up for a minute and watched you would have seen me do it”…love it. We gently motored along and watched the sky turned all the different shades of reds, oranges, yellows and purples that you would imagine for an incredible sunset over water. It was then home in the dark back to the camp special of fish and chips. Four very tired campers hit the sack in Big Betty that night.