Synopsis
BULLET. Set in the Kimberley in the 1980s and 90s, the central character being a Dog of indeterminate breed that we found up in the remote Isdell river. My wife and I never really wanted a Dog at the time. He was in such poor condition and close to death, I had decided to put him out of his misery with a bullet. He made a miraculous recovery and attached himself to our family. The Dog was Irascible, so we named him Bullet to remind him from time to time that when he was extremely naughty, we still had a bullet with his name on it This book is as much about the Kimberley, and the Characters we lived, worked, and came in contact with during our 17 years of living on Koolan Island, as a Tale about the dog himself. I wrote it from memory many years after leaving Koolan. Its written in the vernacular of that time and place, when Political Correctness was an unheard-of concept, and Men and women alike liberally used four letter words to stress a point in conversation. Bullet was a tough little Bush Dog with a voracious appetite for adventure or misadventure. He became quite a well-known character in the Kimberley due to his fearless tenacity to take on any beast whether it be bull, shark or crocodile. Also sharing some Poignant moments with him, like when we sat together at the precipitous edge of Mount Trafalgar sipping a beer and gazing in awe of Gods creation, and other times of sheer terror when I began to wonder what Bullet and I had done to annoy the big bloke upstairs. There are many Historical sections that are as accurate as available research allows. The journey of Philip Parker King, William Dampier, and George Grey, who went on to become Governor of South Australia. The ill-fated Settlers who tried to farm Cattle and Sheep in Camden Harbour, all interwoven in as integral parts of the book We also came in contact with many wonderful people of some renown, people such as Dick Smith who we helped in an Australian Geo project. We took Mike and Susan Cusack to Kunmunya, for their ‘Year alone in the wilderness’. Dick also used his Jet Ranger to locate a Tourist who had overturned his boat in the Vicious, giant Whirlpools of Yule entrance. I became mates with Malcolm Douglass and helped him in the filming of some of his adventure films. I trapped problem Crocodiles around Koolan then flying them to his newly established Croc Farm in Broome. With a backdrop of Koolan and Cockatoo Island, and the hard working, hard drinking, and hard swearing Miners, readers will find the book Hilarious, exhilarating, and steeped in melancholy when BHP finally closed the Mines. Roland Long
About the Author
I was born on the remote atoll of Penhryn, the northern most Island in the Cook Islands, South Pacific. My family moved to New Zealand, I became a Sea Cadet, which naturally lead me to a Life at sea. I completed my Maritime studies at Victoria University, then moved to Australia in the late 1970s accepting a position as Senior Tugmaster on remote Koolan Island West Kimberley. My family and I Lived there from 1978 to 1995. We had a 32-foot powerful launch “White Shadow” To explore the remote areas of the Kimberley. It was on one of these sojourns into the Isdell river that we came across the Dog for whom the Book is entitled. We discovered later that he had travelled 190 kms over some of the harshest terrain in the Kimberley and had virtually run his Paws to shreds. I first thought I would put him out of his misery with a Bullet. However, he staged a remarkable recovery, but the name Bullet stuck. He was irascible and together he and I embarked on some exciting adventures. We earned a degree of notoriety and were featured in articles in the West Australian, The Weekend Australian, the BHP Review, and a feature film to climb Mt Trafalgar Among the many people that I worked with, were Dick Smith, Mike and Susan Cusack (A year in the wilderness) Malcolm Douglass, who with whom I assisted in making adventure films. After Mine Closure at Koolan, my Family moved to Darwin, and then back To Penhryn Where we started a Cultured Pearl Farm. Though I love Penhryn, my heart was always back in the Kimberley. We were hit by twin disasters in 2004! A rare Algae Bloom destroyed our Pearl farm, and my wife passed away from Cancer. I stayed in Penhryn and accepted an offer for the position of Head of Ministry by the Cook Islands Government. Alone on Penhryn except for times when my children and grandchildren came to stay I had plenty of time on my hands, so I decided to write a book about my time in the Kimberley. In 2008 I returned to WA and to my old profession as a Tugmaster, forgetting about the Manuscript that lay gathering dust in a Cupboard. I now live in Exmouth WA, and recently had a visit from my sister Ada whom I hadn’t seen for many years, and during a conversation the subject of Bullet came up and when she read the Manuscript, she became so enthralled by it and insisted that I had to have it Published. She rekindled my enthusiasm, and together we are collaborating to do just that, though she lives in NSW.
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