how long has our fantastic government been charging to have a look at the whales at the bight on the nullarbour, I dont remember having to pay, but my memory is a strange animal, $12.00 ($10.00 concession) sounds a bit high, when all along the great ocean road and down at victor harbour one can see whales for nix, I remember quite a few viewing spots on the treeless plain, has the national park government gestapo taken all the spots or just the best ones, victor harbour penguin tour is a bit of a lark, charge through the nose to see the penguins at sunset and scare them out of the way during the day, never mind could be in Tassie at the moment, mate just rang, 40 knot winds gusting to 55 knots and hail stones the size of marbels, 26 here today

The Head of the Bight is Aboriginal land and I think that you will find that it is they that charge, not the Government. There are no charges at any of the other cliff top spots as far as I know. Cheers, Peter

blackfellas dont own it according to the national parks and wildlife website, it is known as the nullabore national park and regional reserve, they do however waffle on about aboriginal ownership in bygone years which were pijintjara and naninjeriii, both of whom have elders here in pirie, one of which was of the goolwa island "secret womens business" affair

The Whale Watching Centre at the Head of the Bight is over 20k (by road) inside Yalata Aboriginal land.
http://www.nullarbornet.com.au/towns/yalata.html

Cheers,
Peter

 Hi dave It is strange you have to pay to look at the water. I have some friends heading back across the nullabor in 10days I told them to duck down to the cliff and do some whale sightseeing I better inform them to take money or try a different cliff. And Dave I used to live in a place near goolwa all my children were born there Tooperang have you heard of it. I think I was still there when all the secret womens business thing started. Our local indigenous group had a meeting of the elders over the weekend because they want to own a share of the water in the Murray for cultural reasons. The way things are going there will be no water for anyone to own(not that I believe water is something you can own unless you buy it in a bottle at the shop). cheryl

Yeh, whole place is going like that, pay before one enters, I had a look at my old battered log and I had a note in there about a sign going in to a viewing area around yalata, had boomerangs and tourist trap written all over it, bypassed it went about 150 yards up the track theres a side road with a sign ( caution crumbling edges ) went in there, great pictures, the blacks only "own" that particular area known as "the head of the bight" which is a small area, around yalata, (strange because it is not even at the "head of the bight" ) they dont yet own the whole nullabour, that is the part I was talking about, but I was told by a freind (patrol grader driver, concentrating on the nullabour stretch ) that the area surrounding the platforms each side was to be fenced off, but I made a couple of calls and that is not to be, thank god, so tell your freind not to worry, all the other spots 100's km's each side are still open, little tracks everywhere, the dingo fence, according to my old log starts in s.a. just by yalata, I didnt worry about looking too much around there, too much risk with those people, prefer the quiet spots well away from our colored freinds, I was a long way from there before I started looking for whales, I know Goolwa reasonably well been through there quite a bit, I was in a shop in Port Pirie, when that maningerie tribal elder women ( the hindmarsh island secret womens business bullcrap) was bragging about how she was taking the government to court over secret womens business, she was laughing , thought it was a huge joke, I love the old paddlewheelers in goolwa, great little spot on the way to victor harbour, I've been meaning to take the ****le train but never have as yet, oh and one of my my favourites, the river run gathers momentum from there even though murray bridge claims that honor, if ever you or anyone else are coming down the murray , try to time your stay at morgan with the river run, great weekend of folk, jazz, blues and country, goes all weekend, held in the park just north of the caravan park, huge lawn area, under big old river reds, live bands everywhere, fantastic atmosphere, but I digress, yes tooperang, near cox field conservation park, havent been there but I drive the goolwa highway now and again seen the signs and I reckon it would be a great spot in amongst the rolling hills, now they want to own a share of water in the murray, thats a lark anything for money those buggers, how would you work that out, " I own that bit between the red flag and the yellow flag, OH BUGGAA!!!, iT'S JUST GONE DOWNSTREAM" , the coloureds already own vast tracks of inland country, the trick is to get the buggers to stay on it and actually work there, not come in to town causing mischief, but they will get their way, and we will pay them as well as our ilustrious government

-- Edited by dave06 at 13:01, 2008-09-22

We Too discovered the "free" viewing spots up the road from the paying area.Intend to "camp" at one on way back home. Read our local paper online; there is a place on our coastline called"Blackfellows Caves", little fishing/getaway spot; apparently local tribe are suggesting name should be changed!!!! It is so sad, WE PUBLICLY SAID WE ARE SORRY!!, leave the  past behind, move forward and worry about health education etc of their own instead of what they "own" . I have new members of my family of indigenous descent, her mother "australian"  and have found I have to mind my p's and q's when certain issues arise!! I have also been told by young family here in the park who travelled over couple of months ago, they stopped at Ceduna for some supplies, and were harrassed by local youths. Such a shame!!!!!!!

colleen we couldnt get away from the camps, didnt try the fishing, couldnt work out how to get the line up from 40 feet, we just sat enthralled with the whales, it's a shame that the young indigenous are being brought up with so much hatred, the destruction present in their thinking is incredible, I have worked on a few far flung stations with a few aboriganal stockman, and I can tell you they are fantastic mates, and they condemn the coloured city dwellers, worked with a fellow on the water works, terrific bloke until the weekend and he got some grog in him, couldnt look sideways at him, but he would apoligise in tears come monday, the general feeling amongst the community is that the white feller owes them a living, why, I dont know, I dont hate them or anything like that, but I do tend to give them a wide berth, if that is prejudice then so be it, I dont want trouble, yeh! look Ceduna, I'm hearing bad things out of there, I would suggest a quick refill and an even quicker exit, I havent been over there for a while but reports are it isnt good

http://lh6.ggpht.com/keviny681/SNHU9QlzOxI/AAAAAAAAAVU/n4z0FrCVW5A/head%20od%20bite%20board%20walk%20TEXT.jpg

dont know whether this will show up its a picture of the boardwalk at the whale watching centre, it would have cost a lot of money to put there
$10 or $12 is not much and i think that would help run the place
Was in Ceduna last may for 4 days had no trouble at all,some people take offence--- one instance while we were at the c/p when a group of indigenous people were using the bbq across the road came over and asked if we could give them some salt, the chap next to us complained to the c/p manager and wanted them removed, when told he couln't do that he then rang the police and the dog squad turned up and chatted them

-- Edited by keviny6 at 18:57, 2008-09-23

HI Kevin and welcome to you, I'm glad your experience in this region was a good one, $10 - $12 doesnt sound much but the problem starts to arise when one is travelling for months at a time on a tight budget, $10 here and $12 there soon adds up, after all they dont own the place, they occasionally walked over it, the general populace (you and me ) are getting ripped off left right and centre, we own the national parks ( as taxpayers ) and then we are expected to not only pay if we want to see it but also pay for its up keep by rangers that cant even control the weeds or feral animals and dont seem to want to, all the while the areas we are allowed into is diminishing at a rapid rate of knots, as soon as a certain population wants to visit an area it immediately becomes a national park or an aboriginal reserve, doesnt matter what name gets put on it the result is the same, you pay to enter and the money goes in to some coffer or another not back in to the park to keep it in pristine condition, just dont forget it is us, you and me that "own" the place, and also us that put the original roads in to there, and its our money that keeps it there, look out if they find oil or gas there you wont be allowed in at all, as I stated I have met some really good blacks but the reports keep coming in, not mine, but a lot of my friends that travel or live in that area, oh the boardwalk, yes put there by "work for the dole program" guess who paid for that, and you are right it did cost the tax payer a lot to be put there

-- Edited by dave06 at 20:40, 2008-09-23

Grizz, the good ones are still there, I see them every now and then, worked with quite a few, but the youngsters that are coming up now are just filled with hate, as you say a days work for a days pay would, I think, fix a lot, we must stop this "hand out " mentality

Re the person who wanted that group removed- that is racism and snobbishness to the max!!  If situation was reversed and it was he who wanted to borrow some salt I wonder what would happen. As for police dog squad- pleeaase!! While there certainly are troublemakers we cannot and should not label them all the same.

fully agree, give the person a chance first, black white or brindle, give him salt, I would have went over and had a chop and a beer with them and would have been a great time I would wager, but thats me, all welcome at my campfire, but the ratty few are really tainting the majority unfortunately, the feller that alerted the park owner and called the cops should have been berated as the mindless prejudice bigot that he is, and he would have been the one on the outer

-- Edited by dave06 at 15:54, 2008-09-25