bilateral kellerberrin

Roger woke me this morning with an early phone call from Sydney. This happens occasionally, what with the time difference and all. People sometimes forget that we are two hours behind over here in Western Australia. In this case, though, Roger hadn’t forgotten. He had just thought that 8am (my time) was late enough to expect me to be out of bed. Actually I was quite pleased to be up so early. I thought it would help me break my late night cycle. But as soon as he hung up, I collapsed back into bed for another couple of hours…

Roger is looking for housing in Sydney. He’s been couch surfing, and staying with his girlfriend a bit, but he wants to rent something a bit more permanent. I gave him a few phone numbers. It can be hard finding a place to live in Sydney.

Strangely, if anything, it’s even more difficult to find a rental property here in Kellerberrin. Felena has been asking around. The idea is that the IASKA person who is up here four days a week could be accomodated in a rental place much cheaper than staying at the Prev on an ad hoc basis.

But apparently there is nothing to be rented in this town. Plenty to buy, and quite cheaply. If anyone is reading this in Sydney, Kellerberrin is the place to start out! Just 50 grand will get you a three bedroom house a minute’s walk from “downtown.” And some of these empty shopfronts on the main drag (prime retail space!) go for as little as 20 grand. Well, they don’t “go,” actually. They “stay,” empty, for a long time, which is why they’re so cheap.

A little while back, Mick Cole from the council gave me a bound file with a business plan about something called “The K Place – Contemporary Art and Indigenous Culture”. The K Place is a plan developed by the council, and IASKA, and KAPA (Kellerberrin Aboriginal Progress Association). If they pull it off, The K Place would take over the big empty ex-hardware store, a few doors down from the gallery. It would house a permanent gallery for artworks generated through IASKA, a centre for indigenous tours and language seminars, and a highly visible shop-front for info about the area in general.

The K Place calls itself a “visitor’s precinct” project – and the idea is that it would be the thing which links the existing gallery, the old cinema, and the local indigenous cultures. It sounds great. It also sounds highly ambitious. It’s the kind of thing which Pauline always refers to as the “point of difference” which puts Kellerberrin on the map, and ensures that it doesn’t just wallow in obscurity as the “Gateway to Doodlakine.”

By the way, Doodlakine, about 10-15 km east of Keller, was apparently one of the top three contenders to be crowned “the nation’s capital” back in the late 1800s. David Blair told me this, and I hope he wasn’t pulling my leg. Apparently Doodli was a lot bigger then, and much of the town’s population shifted down to Keller in the 20th century. I can’t remember why.

I love the idea that Doodlakine could have been Canberra. If that had happened, I’m sure property values would be a bit higher by now. And probably the Doodli Pub would be able to attract a bigger star than Jimmy Barnes for its big backyard concerts. Someone like Johnny Farnham, maybe…

* * * * *

A breakthrough has been made with Geoff, the taciturn postmaster. It happened a few days back, when I was picking up mail, and Zed was paying a bill. She asked if we knew each other. Geoff said “yes, Lucas comes in to collect his mail.” So he knew who I was already, although we hadn’t been formally introduced! But now we are officially acquainted.

I asked Geoff about the beautiful old post office building. There is still a flat upstairs, where he lives. You’ve gotta love this old fashioned simple way of doing things. I joked that there would be no excuse for him to be late to work. No fear, he’s an early riser: the mail from Perth arrives about seven, and he has to be up to help lug it in.

Yesterday, I bumped into Geoff again, in the newsagency. He said “Hello Lucas,” and I said “Hi Geoff.”

* * * * *

I feel like I am withdrawing, bit-by-bit, from this town. With only ten days to go, and an ever-mounting list of things to do, I’m finding it more difficult to pursue pointlessness with the same rigor as I did in April. I’m out and about less, since I have a lot of organising to do for the cinema programme and the exhibition. So I’m meeting less new people. Which is a shame. I had hoped to coast to the end of my stay, behaving the same, day-to-day, pretending I had no deadline. Interesting how difficult that is.

But then, I knew May would be like that, didn’t I?