DAY 16 Pilbara – Kimberley Trip
MT GOULD – COBRA BENGEMALL INN via MT AUGUSTUS
Damn flies, damn its hot
Now its bloody flies and bloody hot
What a morning at this spot
Flies, flies, flies
Swarms of flies
Ozzie salute wearing thin
As even more show up with a grin
Patience does wear thin
As chairs and tables don’t fit
In that special bag made for them to fit
Finally seated in the car
Windows opened so far
To send our guests on their way
But they like their hosts and decide to stay.
Flies like to travel wherever we go
They visit and visit and don’t want to go
Till dusk falls and they are gone
Leaving the space when the light is but gone.
This sums up our morning and every evening.
Hot so hot today
As we travel to Burringurrah today
Or might Mount Augustus as you might say
Mt Gould is now behind
The Gascoyne is now in front
That mail run now long gone
Carnavon to Bengamall
Then Meekatharra Bengamall
But for us so much to see
So far to go, many places to be
Tyranny of distance I say
But its so vast don’t you say
The mail must get through
No matter what weather might brew
Flying fox barrels
Bush ingenuity in barrels
Stood the test of time
When Gascoyne flooded every time
Waterless countryside here lies
Wajarri people know otherwise
Hidden water pools
Worn rocks from grinding tools
Along the Kingsford mail run
Hold water by the ton
Hot oranges, reds and green
Litter the countryside umpteen
Make you feel hot
Even when just seen
From the comfort of the limousine
As the asymmetrical anticline rock layers
Unfold arch like structures in layers
Of sandstone, quartz and granite layers
Burringurrah rises to tell the tale
And show us visually the tale
Too hot to walk
Too many flies to stalk
42 degree heat does us stalk
Car slid on the sand in two wheel drive
Too hot to lock hubs in for four wheel drive
Nowhere to go to escape the heat
But Cattle Pool provides that seat
Then we drive west again
Straight into the sun what a pain
25K Cobra Bangamall way
Then detour Edithadna Pool way
Clothes and all we all jump in
Hubby, Marguerite, yours truly and Jim
Then finally come to a place of rest
To battle the dust and get some rest
The local Aborigines refer to Mt Augustus as Burringurrah. The dreamtime story refers to a boy who runs away during initiation process, is caught, then speared through his right leg, falls to the ground and is hit with a fighting stick. He collapses and dies. His final resting pose with left leg bent up besides his body is seen as one approaches Mt Augustus from the south.
Our initial response to Mt Augustus was about how huge it was. It rises 715 meters out of the red sandplain and is 1105 m above sea level. It is a 49km drive around it. We intended to stay several days in Mt Augustus. It is just too hot, no shade and one can only camp at either Mt Augustus Resort or Cobra Bangamall Wayside Inn. So we went to Cobra where as we arrived we were invited by the lessee of the Bangamall Inn to go for a swim in a pool named for the three daughters of the earlier station family – Edith, Ada and Anna. After dinner we joined Jim and Marguerite for a glass of wine and heard tales of the area.
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