Thurs, 24th May, 2018 Caroline Pool, east of Halls Creek, WA (Old Halls Creek and Halls Creek sightseeing)

Cool crisp morning, 4am it was 12 degrees when I got up, but it has warmed up and by 7.30am it is 19 degrees, and the breeze is quite nippy.

Lots of birds tweeting around the water. The sky is clear and blue again. Packed up. Lovely old tree in the middle of the creek.

Back to Duncan Road then across the causeway over the Elvire River (which Caroline Pool is part of) to Old Halls Creek. 

Old Halls Creek is where the original Canning Stock Route survey finished so we have completed that journey.

More info from the Halls Creek booklet –

Goldrush History. In 1884 a geologist called Hardman was the first to note the gold potential of the Elvire River. In the following year Charles Hall and John Slattery were the first to actually find gold. They rode their horses hundreds of kilometres west to Derby to register their claim. At the time there was a WA Government reward of 5000 pounds on offer for anyone who discovered at least 10 ounces of gold. The reward was on condition that the field yielded at least 10,000 ounces of gold. Sadly for Hall and Slattery the official yield figure for Old Halls Creek only reached 8668 ounces. In the end Hall and Slattery only received a reward of 500 pounds for what was WA’s first gold discovery. The actual yield was probably higher than the Government’s figures as it is believed substantial quantities of gold were sold across the nearby Northern Territory border.

Old Halls Creek (Old Town). This is the site of the first gold discovery in WA and where the WA gold rushes began. On the 14^th July 1885 Charles Hall found a 28 ounce nugget. Men (very few women) soon streamed into the interior in search of their fortune. The ‘Golden West’ had its beginnings in Halls Creek. This is the site of the original gold mining community where prospectors followed the gold up the creeks and gullies from Brockman to Old Halls Creek. The rush might have been short lived (4 years) but it nevertheless left an important legacy. The gold strike contributed to the establishment of the ports of Derby and Wyndham as well as the town of Halls Creek as men and mining equipment were brought in from places as far away as California. During the rush Old Halls Creek was a town of makeshift tents. After the gold was all but exhausted Old Halls Creek subsequently developed into a small centre for commerce and trade. At its peak the town boasted a Post Office, Hospital, Police Station, two stores and a hotel. Men who came to the fledgling WA colony in search of gold stayed on. Many moved on to more lucrative gold discoveries in places such as Cue, Coolgardie and Kalgoorlie and significantly contributed to the development of WA. In 1885 when gold was discovered in Halls Creek the total population of the colony was just 30,000. By 1900 there were 239,000 people in WA.

Old Halls Creek has an Aboriginal history. Right up until the early 1950s Aboriginal people from outlying areas were brought into the Police Station here in chains. The area around Old Halls Creek is known as Jungulu in the Jaru language. There was an Aboriginal camp across the creek and these people traded what gold they could find to eke out a living. After the gold ran out they sold dingo scalps to the Halls Creek Roads Board. They also had goats for milk.

In 1955 the town of Halls Creek was relocated 14km away and Old Halls Creek became a virtual ghost town. Building materials from the old town were used to construct the new town. Most of the original mud slab buildings have eroded away to their foundations, although substantial sections of the old Post Office still remain.

We stopped at the Post Office which has a big roof over it and fenced off. Information boards are around the edge. A telegraph pole out the front beside a big rock cairn.

It is amazing to think they built this huge building out of mud and spinifex. Even the detail of the rock to make the arch over the fire place is fabulous.

Nearby was a rock cairn which then joined by a path and steps to a monument commemorating the first payable gold in WA. We think there may have been a windlass on top of the posts as there is a square hole below like a shaft would be.

Nearby is the The Lodge. I had in my Camps 8 notes that it was closed but there is bit of sign on the gate saying it is open. Access to the old cemetery is through there but we will skip that today.

Steve drove back to the picnic area and I walked back looking at other plaques on rock cairns and the street signs.

The town well isn’t so nice anymore apparently.

The picnic area needs a bit of attention.

At the other end I found the site of the butcher’s shop. A lot of the other cairns are missing their plaques.

Back to Halls Creek for fuel, groceries and water. Checked at the Information Centre about the Bungle Bungles and what else to see around town. Noticed the gold jewellery on display stated that Halls Creek gold is 97% pure with only two other places as pure – Palmer River and a gold mine in Mongolia. The lady mentioned the Moola Bulla Lookout so we drove up there to have a cuppa. Obviously there were a lot of spare bonnets for this artist, Barry Demi (2017), to use doing all the signs around town.

Unfortunately not a very nice flat area or picnic spot but there was good phone reception so Steve made some phone calls (Malcolm, his Mum & Dad and Rick – great for him to do the chatting for a change. I went online to upload my blog and do the financial bits and pieces as well as emails and Facebook. Big slabs of rock to sit on.

A bit out of town so had to zoom in. Took a video too.

Back into town. Stopped to check out the old Tracker’s Hut. This hut was built in 1960 to accommodate Aboriginal trackers. Trackers were regarded as trusties and were often recruited from prisoners. Police Aides replaced police trackers in 1975. However this building was mostly used by trustie prisoners. They cooked food here for themselves and the other prisoners.

A dreaming story.

The rubbish bins have been decorated which is very nice and there are paintings on most of the shops. There is an art gallery down the road.

Locals are sitting around in the park and on the grass by the sports ground but aren’t worrying anyone. There are a few different Aboriginal groups around here and Halls Creek has a reputation of being very rough but I think they have cleaned it up a lot and it appears safer with lots of CCTV cameras everywhere. Though in the IGA there was a notice about local children throwing rocks at pedestrians and passing vehicles.

We walked up to the main park to check out the sculptures. I chatted with Mum and Dad as I walked along checking out the old engine and stamper. The plaque on the engine read - The engine originally provided power at the Poverty Mine (near Old Halls Creek). It was then moved to Ruby Plains Station after purchase by Mr Walter Darcy where it was used for pumping water. Transportation was by donkey team from Wyndham Port to destination. It was donated by PJ & C Quilty of Ruby Plains Station.

Found the statue of Jack Jugarie who was a well-respected Jaru Elder. In his life he had worked as a Police Tracker, an orderly at the Fitzroy Crossing Hospital and as an Aboriginal Police Aide. In 1997, at over 70 years of age, Jack took part in the 350km ‘Human Race’ across country from Halls Creek to Wyndham. He competed against two much younger competitors. Jack used only the stars and his knowledge of country to navigate and find food and water along his way.

Nearby is a sculpture of Russian Jack. In 1886 ‘Russian Jack’ (Ivan Fredericks) pushed a heavily laden hand-made wheelbarrow as he made his way from Derby to Halls Creek across country to reach the goldfields. With about 30km to go, he met an exhausted fellow prospector. He unselfishly put that man’s load on the barrow and together they pushed on to reach the goldfield. Legend has it that Russian Jack also once pushed a sick mate a great distance in his barrow so he could receive medical attention. The endurance and mateship of Russian Jack is immortalised in this sculpture. Some years ago there was also a wheel-barrow race from Old Halls Creek to the ‘new town’ to honour the feat of Russian Jack.

The school students painted this wall with a guide on the side to explain the symbols. Might help us work out the etchings on the walls at Culvida Soak.

There is a town walk too but most of the posts have been vandalised so we won’t bother.

We splashed out an bought a pie each and sausage roll and softdrink from the Bakery. Rang Jonathon and Daniel for a chat. All good there. Tried ringing Jeff to say we were here as they were in Kununurra and might be coming this way. Picked up our tub of icecream from the Coles Express – Coles 1 litre Macadamia and Carmel Swirl – yum. Managed to jam it in the freezer. We were deciding where to go for the night when Jeff rang. He and Lyn were 50km away so we said we would meet them at Caroline Pool.

Parked at the other end down on the creek bed as Jeff has a caravan now and there was a ready-made fireplace here. So wonderful to catch up with them again. He gave us some of his honey from home and they had lots of lovely rockmelon and honey dew melon from their friend’s farm at Kununurra.

Steve got the fire going and a camper pulled up at the top near the toilets. A German chap, Tom, came down and asked if he could join us as he liked hearing people’s stories. His lady preferred to rest. It was interesting hearing his stories too.

Another couple came down with a camper trailer and they parked where we were last night.

Had a wonderful evening chatting. Jeff and Lyn are heading to Broome as Lyn will fly home in a week then Jeff will go off detecting. Will catch up with Lyn when we go through Rocky in July.