"She Who Carries Horses"... the true story of a ship called Kwinana.
I am going to tell you the story of Kwinana. On the train, I sometimes hear the kids call it "Banana". "Gorgeous maiden" or "young girl"…that is what the name Kwinana means in the traditional tongue of the Kimberly Aboriginals. According to sea lore, renaming a ship brings ill fate. In 1922 a damaged ship, the 'SS Kwinana' was beached on a semi-inhabited, lonely coast. The 'SS Kwinana' was built in 1892. A beautiful vessel, she boasted a frosted glass window skylight with an image of Darius on his throne, having originally being named after the Persian King. Sailing between Australia and Calcutta, she carried cargoes of horses. For 28 years she sailed, enduring leaks, hitting rocks and, finally, suffering severe fire damage in her hold on Christmas Day of 1920. As a final insult, she was nearly forced to sail while in a state of semi-repair. After failed negotiations to pay the sailors a $50.00 bonus, to make a risky trip from Canarvon to Freemantle port, every member of the crew refused to sail her. After being towed to Garden Island, she broke her moorings during gale-force winds and the wreck came to rest on what is now called Kwinana beach in 1922. My God, the town has changed but the silent influence of the steam ship still lives on. Kwinana became a city in 2012.
Kwinana is a crucible. It is an industrial area with it's own issues and initiatives. Kwinana sails it's own ship. "Shipwreck City" is about to be forced into merging with other councils and will be renamed "The City of Jervois". Here is where the toughest and the most beautiful girls live, second to the Maori shearing girls in Gnowangerup. Our crime rate is high and the sound of industrial sirens sometimes ride over the wail of police sirens. Unemployment is a heart-breaker. The Aboriginal community have a unique voice in the history of Kwinana while the area has it's own preservation issues concerning native species and endangered fauna. Kwinana City is about to be reduced to the title of an unfortunate ugly sister suburb. Government is about to sacrifice a queen and call her someone else.
* The fire of Christmas 1920 occurred between Geraldton and Shark Bay, Western Australia. After being contained, at first, it broke out a second time. Enduring unbearably hot weather conditions, the crew sailed a distance of 330 km, with fire in the bowels of the ship, to seek help at Canarvan. With only hand pumps to fight the fire, it burned in the holds of the steam ship for twelve days.
Kwinana is a crucible. It is an industrial area with it's own issues and initiatives. Kwinana sails it's own ship. "Shipwreck City" is about to be forced into merging with other councils and will be renamed "The City of Jervois". Here is where the toughest and the most beautiful girls live, second to the Maori shearing girls in Gnowangerup. Our crime rate is high and the sound of industrial sirens sometimes ride over the wail of police sirens. Unemployment is a heart-breaker. The Aboriginal community have a unique voice in the history of Kwinana while the area has it's own preservation issues concerning native species and endangered fauna. Kwinana City is about to be reduced to the title of an unfortunate ugly sister suburb. Government is about to sacrifice a queen and call her someone else.
* The fire of Christmas 1920 occurred between Geraldton and Shark Bay, Western Australia. After being contained, at first, it broke out a second time. Enduring unbearably hot weather conditions, the crew sailed a distance of 330 km, with fire in the bowels of the ship, to seek help at Canarvan. With only hand pumps to fight the fire, it burned in the holds of the steam ship for twelve days.
