Treaty (Karratha, WA)

The next morning, we reluctantly drove away from luxury dear reader, knowing that, while we were continuing North, from here, the accommodation standard would be going South.

We had a list of things to complete before the never-ending Great Northern Highway was tackled non-stop to Karratha. Firstly, there was the obligatory brekky pie to obtain at the bakery we had located yesterday. No queue out the door – good sign. But only 1 solitary plain pie was left and no plain sausage rolls (maybe that’s why there was no queue?) Not a happy way to start the day but, there are worse things… The last lonely pie secured, we made our way to one of the town’s iconic sights – the Big Prawn, located near the cultural centre of course.

As you will appreciate, it was imperative that we get a photo of the prawn, especially since we did not deign the paltry size of the Big Western Rock Lobster at Dongara worthy of a pause to take a photo. The Exmouth Big Prawn was impressive in both size and colour.  Item number 2 ticked off the list, we headed out of town to the "cheapest petrol in Exmouth" to fill up before the next leg. Local knowledge cannot be underestimated and it proved thus, that as out of towners, we were sucked into the roadside makeshift sign ad campaign that we had seen, coming and going to Coral Bay in the last couple of days. We pulled into the unmanned station to find the cheap petrol was technically cheap as they only sold 95 and diesel, not the unleaded 91 we have been buying. So we filled up on 95 at 91 prices and continued on our way – Item 3 done and dusted.

Bigger than Ballina's prawn.

Our final item on the list was to take photos of the termite mounds that punctuate an otherwise pretty flat terrain around Exmouth. While these mounds are similar in size and shape to ones we have seen earlier, these are a much darker colour, reflecting the different soil profile in this part of the country and apparently their diet. The mounds stand in communities along both sides of the road and often provide vantage points for the local birdlife to survey the area.

They look a bit like a Bishop's mitre.

The open road beckoned for the next 5 hours as we headed to Karratha for our next night. The temperature gradually started to climb into the mid 20s as we drove along and the road stretched out forever. Overtaking other cars was no problem as you can literally see oncoming vehicles kilometres ahead of you. Jayne joked about how ridiculous it would be if we encountered roadworks and a New Zealand style contraflow out here. As if someone was listening, a couple of hundred kilometres later, a contraflow, complete with red light, rose up out of the distance, forcing us to prepare to stop. As we approached the light, there was a worker, parked in a truck at the side of the road, coordinating the flow. The light switched to green as we rolled up and on we went. Like railway crossings out here, if you have to stop, you could be in for a long wait till you can proceed, given the size of the trains and distances involved.

Any wonder there are no trees. Termites everywhere.

Onto Karratha and our place of residence for tonight – the Karratha International Hotel. Sounds grand, doesn’t it? The KI as it is known locally, is a pleasant motel complex with a pool, outdoor bar and Italian restaurant. The staff are lovely and it is well-positioned in relation to the CBD of Karratha. It is, however, not the Exmouth Mantarays Ningaloo Resort. As it was still early afternoon, we checked into our Palm Room, booked for dinner in the Italian Restaurant and headed off to walk around the town centre to locate the bakery, the petrol station and generally have a look around. 

The bakery location proved to be a bit of a challenge but we found it eventually after strolling up and down the main street and around the Karratha Town Shopping Mall. We can’t tell you what the pies are like because the bakery was closed. So, we paused momentarily to determine which way we would head to get back to the KI. Apparently, we paused too long as suddenly our ears were assailed by an electronic voice, repeatedly informing us that "you are under surveillance". The alarm warning continued until we moved away from the premises and we looked around expecting the local constabulary to arrive with sirens blaring – nothing.

The country goes on forever ...

After that edifying experience, we wandered back past the juvenile justice centre, the adult correctional facility and the fancy Karratha Cultural Arts Centre to Hotel KI to get ready for dinner.

Luce e Cibo is the name of the Italian restaurant and it is one of the few Karratha eateries that operates on Sunday evenings. As it turns out, that was completely fine because the 2 pizzas we ordered were the best we have had in a long time. Authentic, Neapolitan style bases with just the right amount of topping. 

We really enjoyed our meal and the wine. That is until, I was complimented on my t-shirt by one of 2 men, sitting at the adjacent table. He liked the Handpicked Wines slogan, Less Whine More Wine, which then started a very one-sided conversation about their itinerant work in the WA mining industry, never wanting to retire despite their partners going off alone on overseas trips, the huge pay packets they attract because they live and work in remote locations, the big houses/boats/caravans/4 wheel drives they buy with their money, the fact that electric cars will never have a market in WA… it was still going reasonably amicably, albeit uninterestingly, until the talk turned to aboriginal communities.

... and ever.

And that’s when the lecture began for the bleeding-heart, inner-city, latté-sipping (we only drink long black or espresso) lefties who clearly needed to be educated about the seriousness and hopelessness of the "Aboriginal problem." He continued on his soapbox, requiring little input from either of us as he delivered a well-honed sermon. All the clichés were there – "It’s not ALL Aboriginals", and "there are bad whites too," until he delivered the clincher… "I’m not racist" (there was no but), the qualifier was, "I have 50 or 60 aboriginal friends."

Impressive. I don't even know that many people. His definition of friend must have been very loose.

I was not comfortable being part of this conversation but he continued his racist, bigoted diatribe until pausing to sip on his Amaretto (no doubt paid for by the company). Jayne used that rare opportunity to pose the question, "What is your solution then?" Oh, this will be good, I thought. 

... and on.

He was ready with his response. Clearly he had all the answers. "First, education," he said. What he meant was, education in the ways of the white man which really translates to 'assimilation'. The second part of his solution was to remove children from their parents! No seriously. He was advocating another era of Stolen Generations or perhaps he was adopting the previous WA Protectorate policy of 'Breed them out'.

I had had enough and stood up and said, "That’s it, I’m out. You don't know me. You don't know who I am. You don't know my story. You don't know what my relationship might be with Indigenous people." His mate said, "Well, at least we can have a conversation and disagree with each other." From where I stood, this had hardly been a two-way communication, implied by the word 'conversation'.

"I’m going to watch the cricket," was my reply and we left. I’m sure we were the topic of conversation after our departure. Unfortunately, the cricket provided no consolation and we went to sleep in a far more despondent frame of mind than we have experienced for a while.

One of my fervent wishes is to see Australia as a grown-up country. One that has a positive future that includes all Australians. Before we can do that we need to acknowledges the mistakes and wrongs of the past. We will never be one Australia until we can bring our Indigenous brothers and sisters to the table to share with us. We can't change the past but we can create a better future for all Australians.

Australia's white history has a black past. The title today, Treaty by Yothu Yindi. You don't need to ask why dear reader.

Until next time.