Week Commencing 22.08.10
Sunday 22.08.10 – Left camp early As long drive today, some 455kms to our Free Stay at Robe River. The day was overcast and windy. When we arrived at Robe River we were a bit disappointed, red dirt, dust and it was raining, not the best situation. John set up Foxtel and we spent most of the time inside the van.
Monday 23.08.10 – Up reasonable early and packed up in between showers and hit the road for Karratha. On arrival, looked at the caravan park and said I am not staying here. Anyway we did stay (as there was no other option). It looked terrible very ordinary, when we arrived at our sight, more red dirt, dust yuk! Decided to go back to reception to see if we could get a slab, but they were closed for lunch. So we set up camp and we were here for three days, soon found out there was only six tourist sites and the rest were permanents. I forgot to mention it was in the industrial part of town. We did have some nice people around us and it turned out ok in the end. After lunch we took a drive into Dampier which is the port. This is where the Iron Ore comes on the train from Rio Tinto in Tom Price.
Tuesday 24.08.10 – Car is being serviced today, so a relaxing day in the dust at camp.
Wednesday 25.08.10 – Today we did some more sightseeing , shopping etc.
Thursday 26.08.10 – Special day today, set the alarm for 5.30am so we could call Melissa for her birthday before she heads off to work. On the go again, today we have a huge drive of 55kms to Port Samson. Funny we seem to be on a run of bad experiences with camps at the moment. We booked into Samson Caravan Park which is ok , we do have a slab and little bit of grass. But next door is the brand new Cove Caravan Park – very classy. We decided to check it out and ran into a group of three travellers who have been following up on our journeys. They made the right choice. Anyway, things aren’t too bad we have settled in and all is good.
Friday 27.08.10 – Today we visited the Roebourne Vistors Centre which is at the old Roebourne Goal 1896, very interesting place. From there we went to Cossack Heritage Town. We spent a few hours here as we decided we needed some exercise so we did the Heritage walk. We both found this place very interesting. As we wondered through the cemetery we found it amazing how young these people were.
History of Cossack
In 1861 Francis T Gregory undertook the first European exploration of the Pilbara region. It was as a result of Gregory’s favourable reports of the area that settlement occurred. In May 1863 Walter Padbury, the first land settler landed his stock at the mouth of the Harding river at an inlet to become known as Butcher’s Inlet, near the present site of Cossack. Cossack was first known as Tien Tsin, after the barque that carried Padbury and his party, however in its early years it was referred to as Port Walcott and North District. It was not until December 1871 after a visit by Governor Weld in HMS Cossack that the town’s name was finally chosen.
At the first port in the North West , Cossack played a vital role as the port for Roebourne and the surrounding areas. All supplied for the new region and budding pastoral industry that was developing were shipped to Cossack.
The existence of nearby pearling fields saw the development of a significant pearling industry. By the early 1870’s up to 80 luggers were operating in the area. The most tangible reminder of this once booming industry is the Japanese cemetery where some hapless divers are laid to rest, others, including many Aboriginals who were employed as divers, were lost at sea.
The Pilbara gold rush of the late 1870’s coincided with the growth of the pearling industry to bring real prosperity to Cossack and in 1877 the municipality of Cossack was declared. This year also marked the construction of a horse drawn tramway to link Cossack to Roebourne.
By 1880 the population of Cossack had grown to 229 and by 1894 this figure reached over 400. Official records show that in 1894 there were 141 Europeans and 225 Asiatics living at Cossack. During the “lay up” season from Nov to Mar many hundreds of people of Asian origin occupied Chinatown.
All homes and public buildings in the town were originally built of timber with iron roofs. As a precaution against cyclones that periodically struck the town, many of the buildings were anchored to the ground by chains extended over the roofs and attached to bounders sunk in the ground. The government buildings were also constructed using iron and timber but during the 1890’s they were replaced by the imposing stone structures which remain standing today.
Cossack’s growth spanned nearly 40 years, however its decline was for more rapid. By the turn of the century the pearling fleet had moved to Broome and the gold rush had diminished as prospectors moved to other fields. To add further impetus to the town’s demise, Butcher’s Inlet, which vessels had only ever been able to navigate with any certainty at high tide, was too small to accommodate larger shipping.
The municipality of Cossack was dissolved in 1910, however people still lived there until after World War 11. There were some attempts to revive the town during these years by introducing new industries. A turtle soup factory was established in the Bond Store and in 1913 a leprosarium was established on the bank of the Harding River opposite the township. In 1931 this was closed and patients were transferred to Darwin.
Local legend claims that Mrs Muramot, widow of one of the few Asians who owned a store and pearling luggers at Cossack tried to revive the pearling industry after World War 11, but was unsuccessful. By the early 1950’s the town was virtually abandoned.
Today, Cossack offers unique glimpse into our colonial past.
Saturday 28.08.10 – Day before my birthday. Today we drove to Karratha, John went to TAB and took off to do some shopping, spent my money Jen gave me for my birthday. Went out to the North West Shelf Woodside Project (found this interesting as it was a Schenker client). Amazing place. From there I drove to Dampier and had a nice walk along the beach. By this time it was time to pick up John and we drove back to Port Samson. Watching the Brisbane Lions and a few beers before dinner.