Octagon January, 2017

Norseman
Our visit here on the way over was just
a drive thru. On our return however, we
stayed for 2 nights as we were waiting for
our Kiwi friends to come from Esperance.
As we stated in the first part of our story we
usually like to travel alone these days, but
as Juliana and Warwick were in need of
company, not having been in this neck of the
woods before, we said we would accompany
them across the Nullarbor. They had heard
all sorts of horror stories about what to
or what not to expect whilst crossing the
Nullarbor! Or was it that Juliana had heard
about the Nullarbor Nymph and was worried
that Warwick might go feral!
of this little town is that it has been almost
abandoned and forgotten. It’s somewhat
tardy appearance belies what is happening
in the surrounding countryside. Admittedly
a lot of the workers hereabouts are FIFO
(fly in fly outs), but a lot of the mines are
underground and therefore unable to be
seen unlike in previous decades.
Juliana & Warwick had had a few dramas
since we said bye-bye to them at Perth
and this is why they were a day or so late.
Firstly poor Juliana ended up in hospital in
Albany because of some type of a virus.
Then an oil seal on their MGB had to be
fixed at the back of the gearbox, as it was
spraying oil all under the car. And the third
thing they found was that they had broken
a spring. They had to then wait for another
to be freighted, overnight, from long-time
MG buffs Peter Harper’s workshop in Perth.
I believe he sent two. They were nearly
thinking about turning around, going back
to Perth and shipping their car back to the
Eastern states. But we said, “No – you’ll
make it across the Nullarbor – it’s a piece of
cake and you’ve had your 3 pieces of bad
luck now, anyway!”
So whilst waiting for Juliana & Warwick we
did a little investigating around this historic
gold mining town. One’s first impression
By the time Juliana & Warwick arrived we
were able to take them to the best vantage
points to see some of the town’s highlights.
Two sculptural features which appear in this
town are very apt. The first one is of a horse,
whose name was “Hardy Norseman”. His
owner, a prospector called Laurie Sinclair,
found gold-bearing quartz where the horse
had unearthed it, overnight, in the1890s.
The second dramatic set of sculptures is of
a camel train made from corrugated iron, at
a round-about in the centre of town. Without
the use of the camel or corrugated iron in
these areas the early Europeans would not
have been able to do what they did. Camels
were used because of their ability to travel in
such dry conditions.
Corrugated iron was used because the white
ants can’t eat it and it is light to transport.
Corrugated iron is still used today for
constructing houses. We have seen some
very swish modern homes built of it.
As the sun was setting fast it was a rush to
start driving Eastward Ho, because we had
booked accommodation at Fraser Range
Station.
The Octagon - January 2017 35