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The Tropical North West Australia.

The tropical north west of Australia has 4 major river systems which carry large quantities of water in the wet season. One of which is the Ord River. Not a long river, only about 300 miles and has 2 dams built upon it. The lower dam, commonly called the diversion dam supplies water to a large flat fertile black soil plain simply known as the Ord River Irrigation area. It has been under utilised since its inception in the early 60’s. A suitable crop has not been found to grow economically on such a large scale and many have been trialled. It has an inhospitable climate with suicides and murders each wet season when human endurance is at its utmost. The area is in the same proximate location as the three cattle properties I wrote about in the last few days.
The second dam, commonly called the main dam is about 40 miles upstream from the diversion dam. Built in 71 and flooded the property of what was formally Argyle Station.
The property is well known in Australia. It had been settled by a well known family by the name of Durack. A house hold name in West Australia. A daughter, Mary, was a celebrated writer and married a dashing young airman by the name of Horrie Miller, whose name became synonymous with the WA airline “MacRobinson Millar Airlines”. Later the property name became synonymous again with the Argyle Diamond Mine. A Rio mine known for pink diamonds perhaps one of the biggest producers in the world but a low yielding mine and will close in 2020.
I mustered the cattle on Argyle prior to flooding and I shall tell you about just that.
The first day I mustered up a mob of coaches. The second day a big muster. The mob too big to walk to the holding yards and the yards too small to hold that size mob anyway. They were held over night by the ringers who said they couldn’t manage and saw them wander off in big mobs. They didn’t start me on the third day but walked the stock back to the homestead. A head count of 4500.
I continued some time later and one morning I landed to pump fuel and returned to find everything was in disarray.They had crossed the River to collect stock I had spent the morning mustering when they were hit with a torrent. Horses and stock everywhere. The Ord dam had commenced to hold water. End of muster.
I also mustered on Lissadel Station which is adjacent to Argyle. I can remember smoke coming from bullocks hoofs as they ran down the stony range. It is that range where the diamonds are mined even though the mine is known as the Argyle diamond mine.

Chapter 2.
Australia has 2 types of crocodiles. One, the fresh water crocodile which is the Johnson River Crocodile. Silly enough, the Johnson River is in Queensland and its inhabitants are the salt water or estuarine crocodiles which are a very large and a cunning killer. The name Johnson is after an amateur naturalist not the river.
I well remember flying low down the Ord River, watching about 150 yards in front and seeing the freshies run into the water. I enjoyed the spectacle. The salties by comparison could not be intimidated and just impossible to move.

Footnote.
The following year I worked mustering in the territory flying helicopter. A job I did not enjoy. I was no longer an independent contractor but an employee. The management ( not manager) was incompetent and the work non rewarding. I crashed a helicopter, which I wrote about earlier and returned to ag work and enjoyed that and continue to do so. Much more rewarding. And lucrative.


pictures from the internet.