SEARCH FOR NORTHERN TREASURE

 Inspired  by the  British  BBC  television series , Detectorists ,  about   eccentric  members  of  the     Danebury Metal Detecting Club , keen to find   buried  Saxon  treasure ,  a  group of  enthusiasts  has  started in  Darwin .  Before they even had a  metal detector ,  a  lead  member  made a  visual  inspection  of  the  city's  foreshore , including  the old  wartime  dump at  Nightcliff .

Something glistened in the sun  in one foray and  attracted  attention , leading to the first find of interest, not  worth  a  king's ransom, unfortunately : two  WWll  beer bottles, one  made  in  Adelaide, the  other, Sydney .

To keep company with  these  dead  marines , a  selection  of  old bottles  from  a collection , in  dusty  storage  under a  bed , was  sent  from  Townsville .

Keen to assist , this  blog has  offered  tips  on  possible  interesting sites in the Territory, including ones where  Chinese  miners  were  active and Doctors Gully in Darwin where there was a large Chinese garden which supplied the town  in the l880s . One of  our souvenirs  is  the stopper from   a  Chinese  jar, dug up  in  the Pine Creek area. Somewhere there is a military button from the old Southport  settlement  across  the   harbour   from   Darwin .

Armed with  detectors, the Darwin group is now  keen as  mustard . A recent  field photograph ( above )  shows one of the Detectorists , wearing a Richmond AFL  cap,  hamming it up,  testing  a coin found on  Mindil  Beach , not far from the casino ,hoping to strike  it rich . It  was  not  gold , but he may require  an  expensive  gold  filling . Actually, it  was  a  green 10  cent piece,obviously no a  Spanish dubloon ,  followed  later  by  five cents. 

Up early one day , the team , like the British comedy show,  bumped  into Simon and  Garfunkel , other   annoying  detectorists  on their intended patch. 

IN THE SHOCK WAKE OF CAPTAIN COOK

While  Sam  Neill  provided  much   interesting  information about  Cooktown ,North Queensland , where HMS Endeavour was  patched up after hitting the reef,   he  missed  a  saucy  modern  angle  in  respect of  Magnetic Island , unearthed   by  Little  Darwin  at  a  garage sale on  the  island .

Captain Cook's compass went haywire off what is now Magnetic Island , which he  named  Magnetical  Isle .   Botanist  Joseph  Banks may have done a  bit  of  sketching  of  the  mysterious  island's  flora and fauna . 

At  the  beaut  garage sale , the above   framed  cover of  a  purported  pulp  fiction novel  by James  Rowe, grabbed  our  attention and was eagerly snapped up .  It  has  joined  the  clutter  in  our  den . Books  bought  at  the  sale included  a  history of  puppets,from  the  Belgian Gardens  Maggimayd Doll Hospital , Townsville, the illustrated  golden age of  art  deco  in  fashion ( unfortunately, art deco bookends had already been sold ), the people and  places of  Charters Towers  and   historic buildings  of   Norfolk Island . 

There was an interesting offering of books about Western Australia,  Rottnest Island in particular .  Should have  bought  that  model lighthouse and  book  on  world  lighthouses ; a  worn  display of  ship  flags and  their meanings  would  have  also looked good on the wall , near the  encased display of  nautical  knots.

DARWIN GAS EXPORT

Stacey photograph .

 

LOVE AFFAIR WITH A CABBAGE MOTH BEFORE A POLITICAL MEETING

 

The  above  odd  photograph taken in the driveway of  a house on Magnetic Island  appears to show a grateful  butterfly  (the yellowy blob)  caressing the   wonky leg of  a  person who  rescued it from  a   spiderweb  .   It  was  spotted  wildly  entangled in the web  , one  of  many strung  out   between  foliage   after   heavy  rain  which  caused  an explosion  of  flying  insects-meals on  wings .

 Pulled  out  of  the web , it fell to the  ground and  fluttered  about  , still struggling.  Picked up , it was closely  examined,  pieces  of  web removed . 

 Then the  critter made a bee- line  for  the rescuer's leg, flew up and down it, including  bouncing  about  on  a  sock  worn to  prevent blisters  from  a  brace.  The  fond  embracing of   the  leg  created  a   problem  when  a  car  arrived   for  transport  to  an  ALP  meeting .

 Standing in a driveway with a  passionate  moth  giving  you  love  bites  in  public is  an unusual experience , hence the  out  of  focus photograph .   The  madly  fluttering , not to be denied ,  creature    had  to  be  forcefully  removed  from  the  leg , pointed towards Mars ,  launched into  space  to  fly away .   

At the  ALP  meeting,  the branch secretary , deeply involved  in  caring for wildlife , turned up  nursing a premature , 37gram ,hairless possum , plucked  from its  dead  mother , so  an amorous   cabbage moth  would  not  have been  out  of  place  after  all .

TIDDLERS AND THEIR SHADOWS SWIMMING IN THE SHALLOWS

Vallis  photo 

 

UNSIGHTLY PUMICE FOOTPRINTS VISIBLE ON MAGNETIC ISLAND BEACHES

 

It  is island hearsay that the  pumice floated in  from  a volcanic eruption out  near  the  Solomons  nearly 20 years ago . It has defied  the skills of  the Great Barrier  Reef Marine Park Authority and the Townsville City Council to remove the  pumice   from  the  island , billed  as Townsville's jewel in the crown .The seemingly  pulverised mainland  media  has  failed to pick up the issue , surprising as one of the  beaches  was recently  rated as  being one of  the  state's best , the  situation  captured in the above  photos by  Vallis  .  Perhaps one of  those rotating drum  devices   used   for  cleaning  Bondi  could  help clear some of the wash.  A plastic  rake  used  for  lawn  clippings  is  clearly not  enough . Alma Creek is often  coated  in  pumice . Friendly Martians could  zap  the pumice  with  their ray guns and overcome a  problem that  jug - eared  Earthlings  seem unable  to  solve. 

AUSSIE LIBERTE , EGALITE AND FRATERNITE IN DUMP SHOP AND PARIS

 French   almost   with   tears 

As a special Saturday treat , an arrangement was made that after  buying the weekend  newspapers  and  lottery tickets , hoping to win  $50million  or so , we  would drive  with  friends  to  the  Magnetic Island  dump shop and  check  it  out .  One  of  the  finds there (above) was  a publisher's  not for sale, advance , uncorrected  proof  copy  of  the Left Bank Waltz, by  Elaine Lewis , about  the  Australian bookshop she  opened in  Paris.

It  was  almost  as   good  as  a   lottery  win .  It tells how the author ,visiting her  muso son  in  France , in 1984 , got  the urge  to open  a  bookshop in  Paris . After doing  a  lot of research  in  Australia,  in March  1996, she , aged 60, launched the Australian Bookshop,  an  odd  looking stuffed  Koala  at  the  entrance door , with  a  week of  opening  ceremonies .

It  was officially opened by the  Australian Ambassador, Alan Brown, who had been recalled in 1995 as a protest  against proposed resumed French nuclear tests in the  Pacific  ; the dynamic former Lord  Mayor of  Brisbane , Sallyanne Atkinson , once  Senior Trade Commissioner to France, who had also been a research assistant to Liberal Defence  Minister, Jim Killen ,  was guest of  honour at the next ceremony ; French photographer Michael Fainsilber provided a collection of  portraits he had  taken  of outback  characters  in  the  Northern Territory  and  at  Broome , Western Australia .

The Australian Bookshop became popular and staged rencontres-readings, art and musical events, encounters with  authors  and  Australian  wine, Kiwis and  Crocodiles .

Delighted to have found the book in  the scattered  offerings  in the dump shop, we drove off to the Drop Bear Cafe  for  drinks  and to   check  on  the  smart  resident  green  frog who  lives  in  the  runoff  from  the  cool  room.

Then, as we drove about  the island on a mystery tour , the  car  emitted  an ominous ding! ding! ding! , so we stopped, the manual (in English )  consulted. To cut a long story short, after a plethora of concerning  dings and  stops, it  was discovered there was nil water in  the  radiator.

 Three  bottles  of Aussie water  from the nearby Arcadia Hotel  were poured into  the  radiator  after  an arm wrestle with  its  cap. The  alarming  ding! ding! ding! did not  resume when  the car was restarted , so we  drove off along the island's  answer to  the Champs- Elysees, taking  in  Nelly's groyne  ; the car was  eventually towed  to  the  garage  because  it  was found  to  have  split  hoses .