ARTIST CAPTURED NORTH AUSTRALIA ,THE PACIFIC ISLANDS AND ITS PEOPLE

The  fact  that  the late artist , Ray Crooke OAM , who died from cancer  , at the age of 93,   did  portraits of prominent and controversial   author  Xavier Herbert  and  his wife , Sadie, seems to  have been  almost completely overlooked  by the  Australian media. Newspaper reports  of  Crooke's  death  concentrated  on the fact  that he had  won  the Archibald  Prize in 1969  with the  portrait of  another  author and  friend , George Johnston , and his Gauguin-like renditions of  island  life .

Herbert   won  the  1938 Australian sesquicentenary award  with his novel, Capricornia, based on his experiences in the Northern Territory,   and in 1975  was declared the Miles Franklin Award   winner with  his epic  Poor Fellow My Country, the  cover paintings  by  Crooke. He also illustrated Herbert's Dreaming  Road .

 

Beginning early next year, Little Darwin will  launch  an extensive  series about  Xavier  Herbert's  colourful life,  concentrating on  his time in the Northern Territory  and   the   Cairns   area . 

SICK TIMETABLE AT TOWNSVILLE HOSPITAL REQUIRES TRANSPLANT

Not  far from the  repulsive  SEWER manhole which shows signs of  overflow (anybody for Golden Staph or Tinea ?),  surrounded by  fag ends , at  the bus shelter and  taxi stand  at  the front of  Townsville Hospital  ,  this  is  the  battered , baffling  bus  timetable which tests  the  eyesight, reflexes   and  marbles  of  patients  and  visitors .

MAD MONKEY BUSINESS IN PARLIAMENT

Nose  job needed.

CANBERRA :  Persistent  rumours maintain  that an unnamed  member of  the  Monkeypod  Table was  admitted  to   a busy  infirmary  with  a  badly  flattened  nose, see exclusive photograph  here ,  after slipping on a   banana cake slice  during a  Christmas rumble in the jungle  break  up  party .
 

Tight-lipped  Monkeypod  members refused  to  confirm or  deny that  the injured  colleague  is a hairy chested  misogynist , a me Tarzan you Jane type,  and  junk  food  addict who suffers from  bad  breath and  overpowering  body  odour. In a kind gesture, PM Malcolm Turnbull  has arranged for  the swinging  cake victim  to recuperate  in  a  VIP cage  at  Taronga  Zoo supplied with  unlimited  supplies  of  rejected roasted  Kingaroy peanuts  during  the current  boisterous  simian  mating and  migrating  season. 

BUSHRANGER SEARCH EXTENDS INTO MARLBOROUGH COUNTRY

Isolated  marker  where in  1864   bushranger Frank Gardiner  was  dramatically  arrested. 

Back  from  following  and filming   the  Queensland  trail of  the  audacious  bushranger   Frank Gardiner , who  organised colonial Australia's largest gold escort  robbery and  was  exiled after  serving 10 years of  a  32 year  sentence in  Sydney  ,  is   Gary  Hunn ,  with  a  swag  of   interesting  information. 

 

Over  a drop of red  consumed  from   glasses  from  a Napa Valley winery ,     souvenirs of   a   trip he  made to America , Gary described  how he  and  two sons ,  Jesse  and  Kelly ,  recently travelled to  Apis  Creek, 150 kms  north of  Rockhampton,  to  the site  where  Gardiner, a wanted man with a 1000 pound  reward  on  his  head , was  arrested  by  New South  Wales  police . 

 

[See previous Little Darwin post Dramatic Arrest of  Notorious Bushranger and Terrible Death of  Runaway Kitty , November 4, 2015.]

 

Today  Apis  Creek Station , outside the township of Marlborough ,  is  a  50,000 acre world  renowned  brahman stud . The  owners, Tim and Lynette  Olive, kindly arranged  for  a  guide  to  the site  and  allowed  them  to stay two days  filming  and  exploring  the area.

 

Tim  Olive's  uncle , in his capacity as the local shire chairman , in the 1970s  unveiled  the marker for  the  Rockhampton Historical  Society . It states this is the  site  of  the combined store and  hotel  where  Gardiner, going under  the  alias   Francis  Christie ,  was  arrested.

 

Stone flooring  is  visible  as  is   a  large bottle dump containing many smashed  rum  and  whisky  bottles .  Apis Creek  was one of  the main  stops along  the way from  Rockhampton  to the Peak Downs gold and copper field in the l860s  and  hundreds of   people  travelling on  foot , in  carts , wagons  and coaches  daily  passed  the  store  and  hotel , presenting Gardiner and Kitty Brown , his "paramour", with  much  honest  money .

Gary  Hunn  with  sons Jesse  and  Kelly   at  Apis Creek  camp.

Camped  out  on  the site for two nights , Gary said it was disconcerting to see the large number  of spiders  with eyes  that  glowed  in the dark .With the help of old maps and  advice from Tim Olive who  gets about the property in a helicopter  , they went to the original  location  of  Marlborough following  still  visible  Cobb  and  Co. stagecoach tracks , old  horse  holding yards  there .

On way to Marlborough ,  Mount  Gardiner  in the distance .

After being arrested  at  Apis  Creek , Gardiner was  handcuffed, his feet  tied  underneath  a  horse, guarded by four armed  law officers , and  taken to Marlborough, where  the  party, which included Kitty and Darkie, a stolen racehorse  ,  spent  the night before  going on  to  Rockhampton.

 

In Rockhampton, the site of the  lock up, where Gardiner was lodged,  now the Rockhampton  Bowls Club ,  next to the Fitzroy River , was  filmed. Kitty was  also  locked  up  there  but  later  released. 

 

 As  Gary described the  trip at his Magnetic Island home, he presented this blogger  with a  piece of  a broken bottle   from   Apis  Creek , which now rests  with  a   display  of  old Australian and New Zealand pub soda siphon bottles .

 

In another surprise, Gary produced  the  above book by  Craig Landy  and  Shirley Marr,  who  acted as their  guides  at   Apis  Creek  , which  is  about their five year, 5000 kilometre  trek in a  Gypsy wagon  and  on packhorses  along the Australian  Bicentennial National Trail  from Cooktown in far North Queensland to  Healesville  in Victoria .  Craig works  for Tim Olive  and  lives  on  a nearby  property .

 

In the foreword, Shirley is described as being  a bit more articulate as she migrated from  England as  a young girl, became a   successful dress designer and did a fine arts course, a hippie at heart  . In  the case of Craig , his credentials  are shearer,  drover, horse breaker, cattle musterer, fencer , jack of  all  trades , a master of   none sort  of  guy .

 

Anyone  interested in purchasing  the unusual, well illustrated  book or  making contact  can  ring 0488 547 895 or email : shirley.marr@outlook.com.

 

At some stage in the near future, Little Darwin will run  more fascinating  information  about   Gardiner  and  other  bushrangers resulting  from Gary Hunn's  extensive  research .  

ON GOING TROPPO

Grumpy   blogger  turns  cuckoo ,  sees    flying   walking  sticks!!!*

If  you  have spent  about  half a century in North Australia , as  has this crusty  blogger , you  know  the symptoms  and signs  of  individuals  going  troppo.   As  a result , I did not  tell the  doctor  on  my latest  visit  to him that I had seen  several  flying   walking  sticks in  the sky as he would  have almost certainly have certified  me on the spot  and  men  in  back to front  white coats  with trendy  brass buttons  would  have  ushered me  away  to  a safe  and  comfortable place  for  the  festive season .

Just  told  the  doctor I was  not sleeping well , looked like Rudolf  the Spotty  Red-nosed Reindeer  because  of  the  ongoing reaction to antibiotics  and   detailed the assorted   hypochondriac  aches  and  pains . Apart from  that extensive list , I  was  a  fine example of  a  man   lurching  way  past  three score and  10.  

During  the  trying  build up to  the wet season many a person succumbs to what is termed Mango  Madness. They tend  to  drink a lot , do irrational things, become irritable . In my case , I  have daily  been drinking  several sydharbs of  cordial  to  flush  the  kidneys  and  overcome the impact of  the  antibiotics  which  made  me look like a leper  ;  ranted   at   TV ;  cursed  plastic  (Made in China ) clothespegs  which explode  and litter  the ground  with shrapnel, narrowly missing  eyes  in the process ; hurled  to  the  floor  several  (Made in China ) cheap biros  which  refuse to write. Who , I shouted at  the Curlews , is checking   the   quality of   imported  goods  flooding  this  nation?

Also showing signs of going troppo  is Little Darwin's resident  frog who lives deep  inside  a  downpipe near our sweaty den . We have had so little rain , he  falsely  indicates the drought is about to  break   by   croaking  hysterically  when  the  sky  becomes  overcast  or  the sun is momentarily blotted out by a cloud .

However, on the occasion we  did  have  some  rain  and  the  downpipe became  a torrent  for  a short time , he sounded like  an  ecstatic honeymooner  going  over  Niagara  Falls  in an unsealed  barrel .  How he did not  drown is puzzling.  A  mere  six  spits  of   rain  a  moment ago  and  the  frog   groaned  with  frustration .

 

SECOND  OPINION  REDEEMS  SANITY :

*Thanks to the  incredible knowledge of  Magnetic Island's Queen of the Jungle this mumbling   blogger  now feels almost sane , because she confirmed he  had actually  seen  flying walking  sticks in the sky-high flying , noisy Channel-Billed Cuckoos. Believe it or not , they are supposed to be an  indication of  the beginning of  the rainy season and have  been dubbed Storm Birds, Flood Birds and Rain Birds .  Importantly , because   they  perform  a cruciform  flight on high, they  have  been called  flying  walking sticks.  Saved  by the  cuckoo.  It  drives  other  birds mad  by laying  eggs  in  the nests of  crows , currawongs  and  butcher  birds .    

THE HANGING OF BUCKLEE BELL AND PARLIAMENT GALA EVENT

 

A  great addition  to Little Darwin's cluttered  den  is  Bucklee Bell's  acrylic painting  entitled  Parliament . Present at the  major Australian  art  event were  Gough Whitlam in a faded  political block set , the fierce Apache warrior ,Geronimo , a circa 1950s celluloid  duck shaped  clothes brush  which  mysteriously  comes  alive like a poltergeist at  midnight  and  a  greedy  Dole Cashier  bird on  a  perch who  made a  pig of  itself  on  the finger food . 


From 1967-1970 , Bucklee was involved in the Underground Comix movement in San Francisco and Berkeley, California ,under the name Buckwheat Florida , Junior . His distinctive  work was exhibited in the 1969 joint Underground Comix Show at  the  Sy  Lowinsky  Gallery  in Berkeley.

 



The  painting is  from his 2012   Off The Wall  exhibition at the Baan Tuek Art Centre  at Chiangmai  University, Thailand. Bucklee  kindly  sent  the painting to Little  Darwin to  hang , much to the chagrin of envious leading international galleries.   

SMOKING JOE HOCKEY QUITS BIG SMOKE , USA FOR SUNSHINE STATE

Unusual  shop  in  Rockhampton, Queensland , snapped by  Magnetic Island film-maker  Gary  Hunn  while  hot  on  the  trail  of  bushranger  Frank  Gardiner , details  soon .