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Australia's Outback Graves

Beltana

Borroloola Characters

Borroloola, a small town 50 kilometres inland from the south west corner of the Gulf of Carpentaria on the banks of the McArthur River, is the final resting place of several characters Two of the men, Roger Jose and Jack Mulholland, with a third man, simply known as the Mad Fiddler, feature in a short film called, The Hermits of Borroloola The film was produced in 1962 by David Attenborough for...

Mining, Murder and Mayhem

Whim Creek Of the many graves in the Whim Creek Cemetery, only four are identifiable, and only two have headstones Both headstones are broken, but the words on that of Thomas Darlington suggest a mystery "Killed at Whim Creek, 24th December 1911 Erected by his fellow unionists" Killed on Christmas Eve And why did his fellow unionists pay for the memorial? In the bar of the Whim Creek Hotel...

Phantom of the Outback

The Min Min Light Outback Australia is home to one of the World's oldest mysteries The ephemeral, enigmatic and elusive apparition known as the Min Min Light was appearing long before Europeans called Australia, 'Terra Incognito" Maybe it has been appearing since the beginning of time, yet it is still a mystery Let's hope it remains that way It's much more fun There is no argument that...

Beltana, Copper mining town

Beltana, South Australia Anne Johnson and Children Anne Johnson and four of her children died in a fire on 15 December 1881 The headstone was erected by a T Pearce as a mark of respect, but who T Pearce was, is not known The South Australian Register of Monday, 19 December 1881, carried a report of the inquest with the headline: A Sad Case of Burning The inquest was held in the...

Donkey Boy's Grave

Bedourie to Boulia Road, Queensland Joseph Dunne In the early 1900s, Alec Scobie and his wife, Ellen, owned the Ooroowilanie Cattle Station on the Birdsville Track, in the Far North of South Australia Their three eldest children, Ethel, Angus and Don, used to attend school at Mulka Cattle Station, which was owner by their Uncle Jim Scobie To travel the five miles south to school the...

Two Missing Boys

The Canterbury Cemetery, South West Queensland The town of Canterbury was located fifty miles (80km) west of Windorah (previously known as Stony Point) on the Bedourie road During his explorations of the Cooper Creek country in the 1870s, John Costello had carved his initials on a tree while camped at that spot From then onwards the camp site was known locally as The JC As time passed a...