Macca's Meanderings

It has been nearly three weeks now since I arrived here at Minjilang.  Some may ask, where is Minjilang or Croker Island? From Darwin, Minjilang is 240 kms north east lying just a couple of kms off the Australian mainland, which at this point is the Coburg Peninsula. Minjilang is the most northerly community in the NT and apart from the Torres Straight Islands and Bamaga in near the tip of Cape York Peninsula in Queensland it would be the most northerly community in Australia. It is just 350 kms to the nearest Indonesian island. See map below. Long before Europeans came to this part of the planet, Crocker Island was hone to Iwaidja, Mawng and some Kunwinjku people. The Dutch explorer Tasman travelled along the north Australian coast in 1644 long before the English explorer James Cook. Some place names from Tasman's voyage remain today such as Groote Eylandt and Coburg Peninsula. The Dutch were not suitably impressive with Australia so sailed off to later establish a colony in Indon

 Late morning on the 25th of August saw me on the road heading for Darwin initially and then on to Minjilang on Croker Island around 240 kms north east of Darwin. Nancy will fly up in mid October after overseeing some maintenance and a tenant change.  Since 1984 we have travelled the roads between the NT and SE Qld many times. This time I decided to take a couple of detours. My paternal grandparents met in the Blackall area. Grace was nursing at the Blackall Hospital and it is thought that Claude was working on Fairfield Station near Longreach. After their wedding Claude and Grace moved to Cressy Station north east of Winton where they managed the property for around 7years. My dad and Aunty Lois were born during this period. The great depression resulted in Grace and Claude being laid off and their departure from Cressy.  First I dropped in on Aunty Lois in Toowoomba to collect copies of photos and letters relating to Cressy Station as the current managers were keen to learn something