Cossack - Residents of a Ghost Town

We are temporarily living and working in Cossack W.A. For the Garlbagu Enterprise. Garlbagu is a foundation to support Ngarluma Yindjibarndi People of the Pilbara with training and commercial opportunities. The Bert’s are working in the Cossack Cafe doing “whatever it takes”.

Cossack is positioned on the “harbour” of Nullagine River and just 200m from the ocean. 52k from Karratha and 206k from Port Headland. It has a permanent population of 2 people 2 dogs and 2 cats.

Looking out from the village in the arc from NNE through WSW the land and waters are pristine and it feels so very remote in this postcard place of Cassock. But when we climb to Tien Tsin Lookout on the edge of the village, while still beautiful we can see the impacts that industry has made in this part of the Pilbara:
- Bulk container ships out to sea.
- The massive ore loading facility feeding the carriers at Port Samson which still hosts a small seaside fishing village.
- The (quite frankly, soulless) town of Wickham that supports the port.
- A jail. Too sad.
- The local community radio station 96.1 xxxx transmits into and supports the largely Indigenous interred population (listening now actually - a bit too much R&B for my liking).
- The township of Roebourne is the support hub for the First People of this region. They are very up front about keeping the stories alive that tell of the atrocities committed against their ancestors following white settlement. [Back in the early and mid 1800’s the local pearling captains of industry rounded up the traditional owners with guns and whips and enslaved Aboriginal people forcing them to dive and forced the women into prostitution. Very shameful. A public outcry in the late 1800’s put a stop to the slavery and slaughter. The town is now back in the hands of First Nation Australians. They are working with an NGO to increase training opportunities for traditional owners and to increase tourism revenue in the area.]

As ever, there is plenty of wild life, especially the birds:
- Our first sighting of Spinefex Pigeon.
- Huge population of Zebra Finch all of whom are busy building nests in the tree in the cafe courtyard.
- A Kite has made a nest in the eaves of the courtyard and has a chick growing rapidly.
- Galah who feed their young in a very vigorous and noisy ritual.
- Turtles and Sawfish in the harbour.
- some big strong looking Red Kangaroo.

If you are still reading this post, you might fancy some history of Cossack.
- Established 1863 as a Pearling centre, a hub for gold mining and for pastoralists. The town was dissolved in 1910 and abandoned in 1950 after Pearling moved to Broome and the Gold Rush ended.
- you can explore the customs house, the courthouse, the post and telegraph office, the bakehouse, police buildings, and one of the stores (Galbraith’s store). Chinese market gardens, the tram station, the schoolhouse, and the Tien Tsin lookout. Many of the buildings are listed by the National Trust of Australia.
- Flattened by cyclones in 1881 and 1898 then later restored.
- The decline in the financial and viability of the settlement was evident before the last of the buildings were complete.Read more