Tuesday, August 31, 2010

BETWEEN A ROCK AND A HARD PLACE

The seats made from local stone -porcelanite- at the Casuarina Square shopping centre have been much admired. An information plaque shows stonemason Tom Finlay working on the colourful stone. Finlay's famous place on the highway, complete with dinosaurs, Chinese dragon and assorted oddities , is up for sale.
Interestingly , bushman, raconteur , Protector of Aborigines and author , Bill Harney , noticed the distinctive rock when he was in Darwin in 1940 and mentioned it in his book , Life Among the Aborigines , first published 1957 . He said the Wargite name for Darwin in those early days -Karamalal- was derived from the flat, porcelanite rocks that formed the base of the town. Harney was intimately involved with another rock- Ayers Rock (Uluru)- where he became the popular ranger.