Slim Dusty, Australian Legend.

This plaque, one of perhaps 50 (I didn't actually count them) set on large rocks at the front of the Country Music Centre at Tamworth NSW commemorates the life and achievements of my favourite Australian Country music artist, Slim Dusty, I was disappointed to find that in 2005 they had not updated the plaque with Slim's death in 2003, I hope that this has been done now.

David Gordon "Slim Dusty " Kirkpatrick AO, MBE (13 June 1927—19 September 2003) was an Australian country music singer-songwriter and producer, with a career spanning six decades. He was known to record songs in the legacy of Australian poets Henry Lawson and Banjo Patterson that represented the Australian Bush Lifestyle, and also for his many trucking songs. Dusty was the first Australian to have a No. 1 Hit song with Gordon Parsons (Pub With No Beer).^[1] He received an unequalled 37 Golden Guitar and two ARIA awards and was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame and the Country Music Roll of Renown. At the time of his death at the age of 76, Dusty had been working on his 106th album for EMI Records. In 2007 his domestic record sales in Australia surpassed seven million.

Among Slim's huge tally of awards and achievements there is one that can never be taken away or equalled... The first artist broadcast from Space....

    ·  ·  The first artist broadcast from space when astronauts played his rendition of Waltzing Matilda from Space Shuttle Columbia as it passed over Australia on its maiden flight in 1981

Slim was the recipient of Australia's first Gold record and he also won more Gold and Platinum records than any other Australian artist.

Slim was honoured with an O.B.E. (order of the  British Empire) and an O.A. (order of Australia) for his services to the entertainment industry.

Slim won an unprecedented 37 Golden Guitar Awards from his 72 nominations,at the Tamworth Country Music Festival, this festival is Australia's equivalent to Nashville USA Grand Ole Opry, yet another triumph for Slim was his invitation to perform at the Opry.

Slim shared "pole" space with another artist Rex Dallas in 2005
















Not my best photos I'm afraid but good enough to get the general idea.


Please click to enbiggen.

Sidney Kidman

9 May 1857 – 2 September 1935 aged 78.

The post below about mustering and trucking cattle from Helen Springs Station (which is one of the S Kidman Co properties) prompted me to have a closer look at one of Australia's Legends Sir Sidney Kidman.

Born in Adelaide, South Australia, Sidney Kidman left home aged 13 to work as a sheep drover. Being a man of vision, he formed a small business with his brother in droving and trading cattle and horses.

S. Kidman & Co Ltd was founded in 1899. Sir Sidney went on to become the greatest pastoral landholder in modern history, earning the nickname of "The Cattle King".

The present company is a family business owned by descendants of Sir Sidney Kidman.

With a land holding of 123,599 square Kms the Kidman empire is large by any standard, in terms of a series of cattle properties specifically chosen by the company founder Sidney Kidman to "drought-proof" his herds of cattle, it was visionary in concept and brilliant in its execution.
It spreads from the Kimberley in West Australia, the Northern Territory (Crocodile Dundee territory) Queensland and South Australia



The 7 black sections on this map of Australia show the location and size of the SK properties, they are spread over a vast area that Sidney Kidman came to know well as he searched out and acquired the links to his "drought-proof" dream.
All of this was done originally from the back of a horse, there were no roads or cars in that era, he later progressed to a horse and "jinker" (a compact wagonette) Later again he tried using a motor car but found it totally unsatisfactory as he kept running of the road??? as he gazed about and dreamed his dream.
The foundling company was nearly wiped out by a severe drought 1900/1904 but survived and rebuilt, there have been other droughts that have left scars on them but through it all the Kidman Company has fared pretty well thanks to the fore-sight of its founder.

Sidney was revered by his employee's one of whom wrote this poem to help celebrate his 75th birthday.

Kidman’s Boys.

By Les Daley

The old man sat in the grandstand
And he gazed at the oval below-
At the boys in blue, at the boys he knew,
Round his heart was a sort of glow.
And his thoughts travelled far from the city,
With its hustle and bustle and noise:
He was riding on the cattle track,
Riding with Kidman's boys.

Once again with the greenhide and stockwhip
He was wheeling the mob on the plain:
How they baulk and dash as the writhing lash
Sings its staccato refrain.
And his eyes they kindle and sparkle,
His head takes a statelier poise;
The horses' manes toss as they bow to the boss,
Aren't they ridden by Kidman's boys?

For these are the men from the stations,
Who ride'neath the Northern Star's light,
Where the saltbush blows and the mulga grows
And men must be men in the fight.
Where they're not yarded up by tramlines,
And no boundary of brick wall annoys,
A thousand mile ride, they take it in their stride,
'Tis the day's work for Kidman's boys.

There's Hooper of Diamantina,
And Archie McLean of the Peake:
Pierce Edwards there, with silvering hair,
And Mick, who prefers not to speak.
John Brooke is down from Mundowdna,
And Cusack, whom Morney employs,
Kempe of Macumba, and Ferber of Momba,
And Johnnie, they're all Kidman boys.

Durham Downs sends us McCullagh,
And Carr's from Nundora, the tinker,
Gourlay and West are there with the rest
And Spencer from far Innamincka-
Riding through good times and bad ones,
Riding through sorrows and joys,
Like Crombie of Glengyle, going broke with a smile,
'This the spirit of Kidman's boys.

And we who sit snug in the city
And rail at the drabness of life,
Rave of depression and have an obsession
That we were just born into strife.
Let's take a cue from these riders,
And stop all this gloom that annoys,
Get a stockwhip and rope, put a lasso on hope
And smile, just like Kidman's boys.

Let's ride on the trail of good fortune
And cut out bad luck from the mob,
Where there's a muster, bring dull care a buster
And stick on like glue to the job.
And tho' drought and ill luck may assail us,
Stick your chin out and don't drop that poise,
And tho' tough be the battle,
You'll muster fat cattle,
And win out -- like Kidman's boys.

BTW I spent quite a bit of time finding out that Nicole Kidman is not related to Sir Sidney Kidman, just thought you might like to know!!

For anyone who would like to know a bit more of this fascinating story

Please follow this link

Australian Legends

I had visitors from Victoria (1000 miles from here) my nephew John and his biker mate Bob, they had joined with hundreds of fellow bikers from all over this huge country to farewell a legend in the biking community.


At a refueling stop,
Bob alongside his GTR

On the right, John sheds a layer of the clothing used to keep him warm in the early morning of their ride

Click on photos to enbiggen.

Davo was a man with an aura about him not only in the biking world but also in his family life and home community, he married his lovely wife Wilhemena in 1978, between 1980 and 1997 they had 4 children the last born was their only son.

Davo was a motorcycle riding enthusiast who masqueraded as a successful real estate agent on the Sunshine Coast of Queensland.

After a few years without a motorcycle, in 2003 David purchased his first Kawasaki 1000 GTR and another love affair blossomed.

He formed the very popular GTR-AUS club and then a group he named FarRiders which promoted safe long distance endurance riding, within these groups (both of which John and Bob are members) Davo was an inspiration to many.

During 2009 Davo was living another of his dreams, he traveled to the USA where he completed the "Coast to Coast in 50 hours", Davo is the only rider who has completed this ride on the two continents, his next, and as it turned out his last ride, was in the "Iron Butt Rally" run over 11 days across the USA, he was within a couple of hours of the finish of this epic when a deer bounded across the road and hit the side of his motorcycle, the resultant fall proved fatal and we lost another of our legends.

God speed on you latest trip Davo.

Remembering Steve Irwin

Steve Irwin

September 4 marks the 3^rd anniversary of the death of Steve Irwin, "The Crocodile Hunter", I have already done several posts about Steve, his family and Australia Zoo so I’m going to limit this one to my latest acquisition, a very realistic bronze figurine of Steve with a croc. (of course)

Its 3 years already since Steve's death, time flies doesn't it.

Steve stands, or rather crouches, at 12 inches tall so the croc would be about 7 to 8 feet long.

This is a limited edition production #1312 of 5000 and I am proud to show my appreciation of Steve and to applaud the ongoing work of his widow Terri, both at Australia Zoo with its magnificent wildlife hospital, and in the acquisition and development of land suitable for establishing wildlife refuges for endangered species.

Click to enbiggen.




Just when I thought I had finished this post I found the local bookstore had put Terri Irwin's book "My Steve" on special so I've added it in.

Albert Namatjira

Please click on photos to enbiggen.

Regular readers may well recognize this photo of a bookstall at the wonderful weekend market at Port Adelaide, I was impressed by the casual disarray the owner had created which proved to be a magnet to myself and many other book lovers... a clever marketing ploy!!!!


I purchased this book, along with a few others, while I was there, the object to my purchase was to provide research material for this blog, my reason for displaying it in such a disorganized setting was to give a glimpse into the harsh conditions that these brilliant posts are born from.


I have chosen as my first blog subject from this book the only indigenous Australian listed, whether this is a fair assessment of our indigenous people is a matter for private opinion, suffice to say Namatjira was a brilliant painter who enjoyed world renown in his chosen field.

NAMATJIRA, ALBERT (ELEA) (1902-1959), artist, was born on 28 July 1902 at Hermannsburg (Ntaria), Northern Territory, son of Namatjira and his wife Ljukuta. Elea belonged to the western group of the Arrernte people. In 1905 the family was received into the Lutheran Church: Elea (who was given the name Albert) and his father (who took the name Jonathan) were baptized, and his mother was blessed (as Emilie). Albert attended the Hermannsburg mission school. In accordance with the practice of the missions, he lived separately from his parents in a boys' dormitory. At 13 he spent six months in the bush and underwent initiation. He left the mission again at the age of 18 and married Ilkalita, a Kukatja woman. Eight of their children were to survive infancy: five sons—Enos, Oscar, Ewald, Keith and Maurice—and three daughters—Maisie, Hazel and Martha. The family shifted to Hermannsburg in 1923 and Ilkalita was christened Rubina.

In his boyhood Albert sketched 'scenes and incidents around him . . . the cattle yard, the stockmen with their horses, and the hunters after game'. Motivated by a deep attachment to his country and the possibility of a vocation that offered financial return, Namatjira expressed an interest in learning to paint. Pastor Friedrich Albrecht, the superintendent of Hermannsburg, encouraged him in this and later displayed ten of Namatjira's watercolours at a Lutheran conference held at Nuriootpa, South Australia.

Although Namatjira is best known for his water-colour landscapes of the Macdonnell Ranges and the nearby region, earlier in his career his imagery had included tjuringa designs, biblical themes and figurative subjects. He also produced carved and painted artefacts, and briefly painted on bean-wood panels.

Namatjira's initiatives won national and international acclaim. As the first prominent Aboriginal artist to work in a modern idiom, he was widely regarded as a representative of assimilation. In 1944 he was included in Who's Who in Australia. He was awarded Queen Elizabeth II's coronation medal (1953), presented to the Queen in Canberra (1954) and elected an honorary member of the Royal Art Society of New South Wales (1955). His quiet and dignified presence belied the underlying tensions in his life.

With fame came controversy. Namatjira's brilliant career highlighted the gap between the rhetoric and reality of assimilation policies. Tensions arose between Namatjira and the Aranda Arts Council when the council tried to maintain control over the quality and quantity of his work. Namatjira also encountered racial discrimination. He was refused a grazing licence in 1949-50 and prevented in 1951 from building a house on land he bought at Alice Springs. By the early 1950s he lived independently of the mission in a fringe camp at Morris Soak on the outskirts of Alice Springs.

The citizenship granted to Namatjira in 1957 led to further anomalies. Exempted from the restrictions imposed on other 'full-blooded' Aborigines, he had access to alcohol which he shared with members of his family in accordance with Aboriginal custom. In 1958 he was charged with supplying alcohol to the artist Henoch Raberaba and sentenced to six months imprisonment with labour. Following a public outcry and two appeals, the sentence was reduced to three months. Namatjira finally served two months of 'open' detention at the Papunya settlement in March-May 1959. He died of hypertensive heart failure on 8 August that year at Alice Springs Hospital and was buried with Lutheran forms in the local cemetery. His wife, five sons and one of his daughters survived him.

For a time Namatjira's name drifted into obscurity, his achievements largely eclipsed by the 'dot painting' style developed at Papunya in the 1970s. his grand-daughter Elaine, acknowledged Namatjira's legacy by producing a terracotta mural for the headstone of his grave. The work is a landscape combining three sites in the Macdonnell Ranges which were the subjects of his paintings


This painting is typical of Namatjira's work with Ghost Gums set against his beloved Macdonnell Ranges.

Still only a young man when he died Namatjira had tasted success, criticism, frustration and failure, his paintings however did open many doors for indigenous painters who were to follow and he has proven to be a role model for both black and white to follow.