Veronika Wild

The Leaning Trees of Greenough have a tale to tell. They have outlived the town that grew up around them This river redgum at the museum is over 800 years old. They grow this way because of the prevailing south westerly wind One of many scattered abandoned buildings They challenge me, these buildings that stand so proudly and defiantly with their sightless windows. They shout at me that some great tragedy has taken place here and that I should find out what it was. What happened here I wonder? Was it a lack of water as in Coolgardie? Was it a natural disaster? Or a human failing? Was it fire? Pestilence or Drought? Did it happen all at once? Or was it a progressive insidious thing, a slow erosion, a loss of faith in the future, where people packed their things and left one by one? Why do these buildings stand so solid and yet so empty? Do they have some moral to teach us? I am in what is left of Greenough (pronounced Grenuff) 24 kilometres south of Geralton. It started well...

One of the magnificent Colleges at New Norcia In a state as pragmatic as Western Australia which celebrates its heritage mainly in terms of former quarries, logging camps and abandoned mining towns, it’s doubly surprising to come upon a place like New Norcia, a little bit of Spain right there among the gum trees. It seems like a mirage rising out of the reddish - yellow countryside. This fabulous collection of sixty nine buildings includes two colleges, a convent, several beautiful churches, the monastery and a hotel. Begun as an aboriginal mission by Benedictine Monks in 1847, it is a remarkable monument not only to the faith of its founders, but also to humanitarian ideals incorporating not only religious beliefs, but practicality, fine architecture, art and education. It is also a poke in the eye to those who believe ‘man is an economic animal dedicated solely to the pursuit of self interest.’ The colleges were dedicated to helping Aboriginal people gain literacy and agricul...

Happy 40th Birthday Hutt River Province! I had my passport inspected and stamped and have just made my first international trip this year, all without even leaving the country. I have been on a pilgrimage to Hutt River Province, about 65 km north of Geralton in Western Australia, which will be 40 years old on the 21 st of April, 2010. Over the weekend of the 24 th and 25 th of April, Hutt River will be a lively place with pipe bands and brass bands, knightings, bush dancing and rides for the children. It will also be Prince Leonard and Princess Shirley’s 63 rd wedding anniversary. You do not expect to find a Sovereign Kingdom in the middle of the Australian Outback Here's where to get your passport stamped Apart from the new Chapel, the Government Offices and the Souvenir Store, Hutt River doesn’t look all that different to any other outback farm - a few run down buildings, a tractor or two, the sound of a generator humming in the background, except for the tour buse...