On Thursday I visited Roebourne.
Roebourne is a small community of about 1000 people about half an hour from Karratha. In fact, Karratha is in the Shire of Roebourne.
It’s an old gold rush town and was once the biggest settlement between Darwin and Perth. More about Roebourne.
The old buildings are made of stone and are still prominent features of the town. The Police Station, now abandoned Shire offices, the Visitor’s Centre just three examples.
We went up to the old folk’s home and family centre – housed in the old schoolhouse.
The first schoolhouse was built in 1874 but was destroyed in a cyclone in 1884.
It’s interesting that back then the builders of the day understood how to build in hot climates, high ceilings, ventilation to take out the hot air, thick walls. We could learn a lot and lets face it the buildings look so much nicer than today’s.
The family centre is home to an increasing family of peacocks apparently. I didn’t see them. They are breeding like rabbits although seeing that there seem to be a predominance of males maybe that population will regulate itself.
I went to the police station too and was kindly shown around. I was taken to see the original cells – the one where John Peter Pat died – the death that sparked the Deaths in Custody Royal Commission.
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So it is fenced off.
I think it needs to be looked after. It is a place of great shame for white Australia and that shame needs to be remembered.
Interestingly the memory of John Peter Pat has been turned into a memory of hope at the local Indigenous radio station, Juluwarlu.
I met the lady who was leading the group there. She had been in Roebourne for one week! They start broadcasting after more than a year not broadcasting next week.
This is the Harding River that flows past the main drag. I couldn’t get close enough to take photos of the white jabiru type of bird… don’t ask me, I’ve got no idea what it was. Some kind of long legged marsh wetland species. Beautiful though.
We visited three art galleries along the main street.
The town is dusty and dry. Rubbish flattens itself along fences in the wind. I was there around lunch time and very few people were around. No doubt inside escaping the heat. A lot of the businesses were shut. It felt deserted.
It has a bad reputation. Domestic violence and alcohol related crime is rife. It is a noisy place to live.
And yet, I left with a feeling of hope.
