Greetings From Beyond the Pale: Expulsion from the Garden of Eden

Ben Laycock  

A long days journey into night finds me stranded once more. Far from home, far from civilisation, far from certain of my place amongst this motley crew of cowboys, tomboys (Carol), ferals and hippies.

The camp is … Read More

Greetings from Beyond the Pale: Carol

Ben Laycock  

After fully immersing myself in the various mud-baths on offer around Derby, it is time to move on. Always time to move on. I am approaching my final destination …

I set off many moons ago … Read More

Greeting from Beyond the Pale: Derby – City of Mud

Ben Laycock  

We bid a fond farewell to Fitzroy Crossing and its quaint country pub and head for Derby (pronounced Derby), the once bustling capital of all the Kimberley, now but a faded replica of its former self. Derby … Read More

Greetings From Beyond the Pale: Fitzroy Crossing

Ben Laycock  

We bid a fond farewell to the Mary River and head south till we hit the Fitzroy River; the longest river in the Kimberley and one of the last wild rivers on earth: No dams, no diversions, … Read More

Greetings From Beyond the Pale: A Gathering of the Clans

Ben Laycock

PART 9: A GATHERING OF THE CLANS

What have l stumbled upon here? Part conference, part corroboree. There are mobs from Beagle Bay and one Arm Point, Kolumbaru on the Timor Sea, Oombulgari, Yakanarra, Jigalong, Lajamanu. … Read More

Greetings from Beyond the Pale: Wolf Creek

Ben Laycock

Having been evicted from Balgo for transgressing a Christian sacred site, l am standing with my thumb out in the blistering heat. A car going the other way pulls up in a cloud of dust and hands … Read More

Greetings from Beyond the Pale – Balgo: the second most dangerous town in Australia

Ben Laycock

After crossing The Great Sandy Desert, we limp into Balgo belching black smoke. The funeral is in full swing. A string of fairy lights dangles from tree to tree. There is much wailing and moaning.

I make … Read More

Greetings From Beyond the Pale: The Tanami Track

Ben Laycock

Time to bid a fond farewell to Nyiripi and continue my lonely quest. The Kimberley beckons with the allure of the exotic and the unknown. The bitumen road from Alice Springs to Kununarra is a giant dog-leg … Read More

Greetings from Beyond the Pale: A Death in the Family

Ben Laycock

I am still at Nyiripi, way out in the Western Desert. Paul and Clair are the ‘gudia’ (whitefellas) that run the place. The Walpiri reckon gudia are like Toyotas. They go really well to start with, but … Read More

Greetings from Beyond the Pale: Hunting & Gathering

Ben Laycock

No sooner have we arrived than l am invited on a genuine, authentic, real, live, traditional hunting expedition with real, live, genuine, traditional blackfellas. I felt like all my Christmases had come at once.

We all pile … Read More