Under a Morning Glory Cloud

He was known as Honey Rowe but his real name was James. No one ever called him that and he answered to Jim or honey. He was not a tall man 5’6" (175cm) at the most. He had a lean figure, blonde hair, blue eyes and fair skin.

His mother came from Yorkshire, England and his father was from Burra Burra, South Australia. Jim was the youngest of the family and was born on the eight of October 1901. He had two sisters and two brothers and they lived and grew up in Charters Towers, Queensland. Australia. Jim was an adventurous child and ran off twice to join a circus, each time he was bought back home but the third time he ran off his parents let him go thinking he was old enough to fend for himself. Jim went west to try his hand at droving cattle, and did this kind of work for several years around Camooweal, Northern Territory and the Gulf of Carpentaria.

During those years he acquired the name of Honey because he addressed all females as Honey. He was a bit of a Casanova and a very good dancer, which made him popular at dances in small remote outback towns.

Dance with me, Honey he would ask

How are you going, Honey? He would say whenever he saw a female. It became a habit of his as he found using the name Honey was much easier than remembering names. All who knew him referred to him as Honey Rowe and this nickname stuck to him for the rest of his life.

After Jim gave up droving, he took on a mail contract to isolated areas in the Gulf of Carpentaria; his route was from Burketown to Wollogorang Station, which was situated over the Northern Territory Border.

It was just a bush track that went through isolated cattle stations and aboriginal communities. Jim also delivered mail to these places and horse power was the only way to travel through these areas and sometimes it took him ten days or more to complete the journey.

Jim’s mail team consisted of six pack horses and a Dray which was pulled by another four horses. It was a lonely life, sometimes he would have the company of other men travelling between cattle stations and they would accompany him until they reached the turnoff track to their destination, they would then bid him farewell and he would travel on alone. His only companion then was his tins of Log Cabin tobacco and the howling of dingoes at night as he slept under the stars in his swag. During the wet season it was impossible to travel anywhere in the Gulf of Carpentaria and all bush people knew to stock up with supplies as they could be isolated for three to four months and wouldn’t see a living sole until the roads opened again. Their only communication to the outside world then was a pedal wireless.

Jim’s mail run was put on hold during this time and he spent the wet season in Burketown. This little remote town in the middle of the Gulf of Carpentaria was situated on the Albert River. Back in the 1800’s it was a large thriving town which boasted of four hotels but after one disaster after another and over the years it had dwindled down to a small town as Jim found it when he arrived in the late 1930’s but, still there were remnants of old buildings where once thriving businesses were in operation. An abandoned concrete building which was once the custom house still stood intact and a ice works building badly dilapidated but still turning out a block of ice when needed, a deep open concrete well enclosed all around with a strand of wire was still left in the middle of the town and a hot artesian bore that was sunk in 1904; the never ending flow of hot water gushed out of the ground and flowed down to a tidal creek that branched off the Albert river. The town that Jim knew had one general store, a post office, police station, one hotel, a small hospital, a one room school and an aerodrome which a DC3 plane could land. There were a few houses some were occupied by the handful of people who lived in the town and the other houses were vacant. The occupants had abandoned those years ago or had died.

Supplies to the town were bought in once a month by a ship called CORA. The Albert River was narrow and not very deep so the ship could only get as far as Truganini Landing a few kilometers down river where it was deeper, once a year on the king tides the CORA could come right into town and pull into a wharf to unload near the general store. It was an event where the whole population of the town came down to watch the unloading.

Five miles (8klm) out of town was large fresh water lake called Woods Lake and one could squat anywhere along the lake, it was crown land and no one cared who lived there. Jim built himself a one room tin shack with whatever sheets of iron he could scrounge from the abandoned houses and with the abundance of Tea Trees that grew along the banks of the lake, they made excellent timber in which to erect his home and build a yard for his horses.

Jim had plenty of neighbors; the residents were poor and could not afford to live in the town. They all lived in makeshift shanties on either side of the lake. Having never ending supply of fresh water the residents were able to grow their own food, keep a few goats for meat and milk and hens for eggs. They were self supporting and were better off than some of the town folks. Jim got to know them all as he had to ride his horse pass their homes and often stopped

While Jim waited out the wet season he got odd jobs working on the Shire council or helping to unload the supply ship which had to be unloaded manually from ship to truck and again from truck into the store.

One day Jim was riding his horse into Burketown and met up with two young women walking back from town, the road was still muddy and they walked barefoot carrying their sandals and parcels. As Jim got closer he noticed they were of Chinese decent, one was slim with shoulder length black hair, she was quite handsome, the other was short and plumpish and equally as attractive but the taller girl had caught his eye and he was curious as he hadn’t seen these women before.

Jim stopped and tipped his hat

Hello Honey, where do you come from? He asked

The girls stared at him wondering who this stranger was as the girls thought they knew everyone who lived on the lake.

They smiled politely and said Here! On the lake

What are your names? He asked

I’m Alice Kum Sing and this is my sister May Alice said

Who are you?May asked

Names Jim Rowe and I live in that hut near the mango trees He replied

We used to live there when we were kids; and old farmer Bill planted those mango trees when he married mum Alice laughed

So! You’re Maude’s girls, where have you been all this time? Jim asked

Alice and I have been working on Augustus downs Station, were home until the wet is over. May said

Well I am pleased to have met you ladies Jim said and rode on

Alice and May watched him ride away and then turned and walked in the opposite direction towards the lake.

Notice the way he kept looking at you Alice, I think he likes you.May teased

Alice just smiled and shrugged her shoulders as if to say no, she didn’t expect to see Jim Rowe again, the wet was nearly over and she will have to look for another job and she thought it was time she should start writing to other cattle stations applying for a job, cooking was all her sisters and her ever did and they became good at it and never had any trouble getting work, their main problem was finding transport to get to the stations where they were employed.

There were about four or five people in Burketown who owned a vehicle and that’s counting the shire council. The vehicles ran on benzene and it was a scarce commodity so the vehicles were only driven when it was necessary.

No one on the lake had a vehicle and relied on horse and buggy for transport that’s if one was fortunate to own one or like Jim rode a horse. Most of the lake people just walked and Alice and her siblings would have to wait until the station managers sent someone in a station vehicle to pick them up.

As the days went by Jim kept thinking of Alice and wanted to see her again, he hoped he would see her walking along the road whenever he had to go to town but, alas he had not passed anyone for days and he thought it would be too obvious if he just showed up on her doorstep, he needed an excuse to go there.

He had purchased a sack of potatoes from the store when the ship arrived last week and decided that if he gave some to Maude, it would give him a reason to visit. Early next day he saddled his horse and hung a half a bag of potatoes over the saddle, after he had tethered his horse he went inside to spruce himself up a bit. He had a quick wash and donned on his only good white shirt and pulled on a long leg grey riding trousers. He sat on the edge of his bunk and with the help of a desert spoon he was able to squeezed his feet into a pair of elastic sided riding boots then he had a quick shave and slicked back his short blonde hair, he tied a red bandana around his neck and put on his old brown felt hat. As he mounted his horse he hoped Alice was still at home.

It took him forty minutes to reach Maude’s house as he had to go the long way around the lake where the water was shallow enough for his horse to cross.

He hadn’t been there before although he had seen her place from across the other side of the lake but this was the closest he had ever been and as he rode closer he noticed there were two flat roof huts constructed of rusty galvanized iron, one larger than the other, the smaller hut was behind the larger one and a long narrow iron roof adjoined the two; the buildings looked very old but he wasn’t surprised as he knew Maude had lived on the lake for many years.

Jim went to the smaller hut where he could hear voices, the door was open and inside there seem to be a lot of people sitting around a table and three children playing on the dirt floor. They were laughing and talking loudly and didn’t see him standing at the door.

Hello he called out and banged on the tin to get their attention.

Hey! It’s Honey Rowe. Someone yelled out

Come in Jim and have a cup of tea Maude greeted him at the door

Jim was pleased she had invited him in, he handed her the bag of potatoes

I bought these potatoes for you Maude, they will go rotten before I can eat them all He said

Thanks Jim, I can certainly use them now that all the family is home. Sit down Jim Maude said and went to get him a large enamel mug that was hanging on a nail in the kitchen.

Jim found a place at the table and looked around, he knew Albert who was Maude’s oldest son and saw Alice and May whom he had met a few days ago.

As Jim poured tea into the mug Maude had placed in front of him from a large green tea pot that was sitting on the table, he was aware everyone was watching him as he shyly poured goats milk into his tea and spooned in some sugar.

Jim these are all my children, they have been away working on a cattle station Maude said. She went on to introduce them all

You already know Albert and Bill and this is Archie, Arthur, Rachel, Alice and May and the little ones are Albert, William and baby Violet.

The grownups stood up and shook his hand May and Alice also shook his hand and neither let on that they had already met him.

Where did you come from Jim? Little Alfred asked, he was only eight years old and he was not used to seeing strangers in his home.

Well, I’m mainly from around Camooweal way, where I used to do a lot of droving. Since then I have been doing the mail run from Burketown to Wollogorang Station. Jim replied

I am going to Camooweal when I grow up Alfred said and went back to playing with William

It’s a good little town, right on the Northern Territory border and all the traffic has to pass through the town to go to Darwin or Alice Springs.

Yep, I have been there but right now everything is flooded, the only way out of here is to fly that’s if the aerodrome is open.Arthur said

Well I hope its open next week because I’m flying out to Cloncurry.Albert said.

What are you going to do in Cloncurry at this time? I heard on the news the Cloncurry river is over the bridge and even the Georgina at Camooweal is nearly up to the bottom pub and there is no way one can get to Mt Isa, even the trains are having trouble getting there Jim asked

Oh well, I’m not in any hurry to get a job but as soon as the wet is over I’m going to try and get one with one of the mines that are opening up around Cloncurry and if I don’t there is always the railway.Albert laughed

Well I wish I was flying out with TAA but, it will be my turn next to leave Burketown Rachel said although she didn’t know when that would be

Yep, when the road opens again we will all be heading back to the stations to work there’s no work here in Burketown Archie said

Bill Sewter heard the midday chime of his clock, he stood up not saying anything, refilled his teacup and picked up the remaining biscuits that was left on a plate then walked off into the big hut

Yep, right on the dot, its ABC news time Archie laughed

Jim never missed the news either; there was unrest in the world and war was imminent and there was talk of Australia becoming involved, the ABC news was the only info the bush people could get on how it was faring. Jim was glad he didn’t get called up but the Army did give him a big heavy overcoat that weighed a ton, Army boots which were no good for riding horses and a felt hat with a badge attached; just in case he was called on to defend the home front. Today he would give the news a miss he can hear it later.

While the men chatted May was urging Alice to say something to Jim.

He came here to see you Alice May whispered

I don’t know what to say Alice whispered back

Alice and May waited at the table until the others had wandered off and Maude started to clear the table.

Alice I’ll help Mum wash up while you show Jim around our place May said

Yes! Alice come and show me around, from what I see Maude, you got a good set up here Jim said standing up and putting on his hat

Yes, Bill was a farmer in England that’s why the kids call him Farmer Bill. Alice! Show Jim our vegetable garden Maude said.

May winked and smiled at Alice as she followed Jim out the door.

Where do you all sleep? Jim asked

We sleep in the big hut; our rooms are divided off with hessian sheets made from cutting up the sack bags

Jim knew all about hessian bags there was no end of uses one can make from a sack bag so he knew what Alice was talking about

When we all leave Mum takes them down and just have the one room as there will only be the three little ones and Mum and Bill left. Alice added

Alice didn’t know what else to talk about and Jim wasn’t helping by keeping quiet so she said the first thing that popped into her head

Did you see our goat yard when you rode in? Alice asked, thinking what a stupid thing for her to say

Yes, I couldn’t miss it; I rode past it on my way over here. Jim answered staring at the goat yard shinning in the sun with a few black crows perched on the fence

Why have you built the yard out of sheets of iron? He asked

That’s to stop the dingoes, they won’t jump over tin. They always hunt at night and this is the only way to protect our goats, after all, they are the only meat and milk we have.

Alice was aware Jim was looking at her and she was starting to get all flustered

Come! Jim I want to show you something first she quickly said and started to walk ahead, passing the vegetable garden and the chicken house and headed down towards the lake. Jim followed behind

Alice stopped when she reached a high ridge above the lake. She pointed to the ground and said My father is buried here

Jim stared at the bare ground as Alice continued He came over from China during the gold rush and worked around the Croydon area, then he came to Burketown and met and married mum, they had seven children and I am one of them She smiled

Jim kept staring at the bare ground and wondered why it wasn’t marked and waited for Alice to explain

When my father died, he was buried in a tin coffin right here on the lake, his grave used to have a cross but the lake had flooded so many times and kept washing the markings away and after awhile no bothered to put any back up and the reason his grave is close to the bank is due to the constant gouging out of the embankment after every flood. No one was brave enough to dig up his coffin and shift it elsewhere.

A few years later mum married Farmer Bill, William and Violet are their children but they are called Sewter and we are Kum Sing Alice said proudly

You sure have a big family Honey Jim said

Yes Alice laughed come, I’ll show you our vegetable garden

The garden was enclosed by a high wire netting fence; Alice informed Jim that was to keep out the wallabies and the cattle that roamed free on the lake. She opened a wire gate and led Jim through. He was amazed at the variety of vegetables the family had growing. He was very impressed and said so.

Alice laughed and agreed but she reminded him it was hard work as every afternoon they had to cart buckets of water from the lake to water them but it was worth it to have fresh vegetables and with the chooks and goats, they were better off than most.

Old Farmer Bill planted all these vegetables, I think he buys the seeds from a catalogue and he saves a lot from the vegetables we cook and sow the seeds again when the season is right. She boasted

Jim thought this is the kind of setup he would like when he found a bride and settled down.

It’s time I was heading home Alice, can I come and see you again? He asked

Alice blushed. If you want to Jim, maybe I will come over and visit you.

You do that honey; I’ll be looking out for you

Jim didn’t have to wait long, a week later Alice and May came to visit, they told him they had nothing else to do as they had to wait until the road opened again before they could go back to work, both having got their jobs back on Augustus Downs Station.

The girls stayed all day, they cleaned up his hut, washed his clothes and cooked him a meal, whilst they worked, Jim tended to his horses and repaired