Chapter 14

“Is there an office of the Department of Parks and Wildlife around?” Sam asked Andy.

“Dunno. Never heard of it.”

“Who might?”

“Annie. She works at the radio station.”

“She around?”

“Right over there.” He raised his voice: “Hey, Annie!”

A woman a bit older than Sam turned, waved and walked over.

“Mornin’”

“Annie, this is Sam Bunjil.”

“Howdy.”

“I’m glad to meet you, Annie. I asked Andy about a Parks and Wildlife office.”

“They’re over near the airport. Ivanhoe Road. Whatcha need ‘em for?”

“I thought I’d buy an all-parks permit.”

“Hell, you don’ need no permit!”

“I know I don’t. But if a state copper wants to give me a hard time, it’ll fox ‘im. An’ it’s under a hundred for a year.”

“You’re a smart whitefella.”

“Thank you.”

“Aha! Caught you!” Tessa walked up from behind him. “Turn my back and you’re chatting up another gin.”

“Annie, this is Tessa, my wife.”

“Real wife?”

“Both whitefella and blackfella ceremonies.”

“How’d ya trap him, honey?”

“Just stuck out my foot and tied him up.” They all laughed.

“Good meetin’ you. You really goin’ with Jos and his group?”

“We really are,” Tessa responded. “But I don’t expect it to be for everyone. As I read it, the real problem with Utopias wasn’t inclusion, but exclusion. This will have to be a true cooperative. Everybody works and everybody shares. But no fightin’, no drunks, no loafers an’ no filchin’.”

“Good summary, Tessa. Kropotkin wrote:

In the long run the practice of solidarity proves much more advantageous to the species than the development of individuals endowed with predatory inclinations.

Under any circumstances sociability is the greatest advantage in the struggle for life.

Man is a result of both his inherited instincts and his education. Among the miners and the seamen, their common occupations and their every-day contact with one another create a feeling of solidarity, while the surrounding dangers maintain courage and pluck. In the cities, on the contrary, the absence of common interest nurtures indifference, while courage and pluck, which seldom find their opportunities, disappear, or take another direction. Mutual Aid

Sam got to Ivanhoe Road just before noon. He located “Parks and Wildlife,” paid the fee, and received a small piece of paper and a decal for his Toyota.

“Is there a place in town that does water analysis?” he asked the man behind the counter.

“Potability or real analysis?”

“Potability, I guess.”

“‘Round here, Health says the main pollutants are biological and mineral. The main mineral ones are – he looked at a card – arsenic, copper and nitrate. I’ve got some litmus strips; otherwise the hospital’ll send out for biological contaminants.”

“I think mineral tests are what I need. Let me get a bottle from the car.”

Sam poured some of the spring water into a paper cup and the man dipped several strips from different vials into it.

“No significant arsenic or copper,” he said, “but the pH is low. That might cause scaling in your pipes.”

The most likely reason [for metallic taste] is the presence of actual metal content. Trace metals like iron, manganese, zinc, and copper are all common water contaminates that can provide that unwanted hint of metal ... Another reason your water may have a metallic taste is because of low pH (potential Hydrogen) levels. [Wyndhan|East Kimberley, Water Quality]

“Thanks. Any fee?”

“Nope.”

Sam cleaned the interior bottom corner of his windscreen and affixed the decal. He then drove back to Mirima Village, where Tessa greeted him with questions.

“I’ve been talking to Susan, Tadum and Annie and a few other gins. You’ve spoken of shelter, but not of food nor bedding.”

“Right. I’d not thought at all about bedding. And I’ve thought more about shelters. You know what a mia-mia is?”

“A temporary shelter.”

“Right. I bet at least one of the women knows which grasses and leaves are the best to use for roofing and for bedding. Why don’t you make that your preserve?”

“I’ll try. And food?”

“There shouldn’t be much of a problem. There are birds and most likely some fish. Once the waterflow settles, we can build fish traps. I saw some native red rice by the lake. And I’ve seen bush tucker. I thought there might be traditional communal cooking. But we can buy some things, like wheat flour and sugar.”