If the number of people trying to get Heavy Rigid (HR) truck licenses currently is any indication – then Western Australia’s mining industry is taking off again. Its impossible to get lessons or assessment times in Perth.

Western Australia is definitely lucky – there are huge gold, iron ore, bauxite and natural gas reserves – and, with China buying all the resources it can get its hands on, there is a lot of money pouring into the State. Projections have Australia having a short-fall of over 200,000 skilled workers each year.

With this in mind, and since the tourism business in Croatia is seasonal, I got my HR license yesterday. This license allows me to drive the big haul-packs such as that in the picture above on the mines. Andrew’s Driving School in Hamilton Hill taught me how to ‘double’ the clutch and ‘split’ gears on their truck.

As mentioned before, many Croatians worked in the mines, especially those in the Kalgoorlie Goldfields, when they first arrived in Australia. Dida was a driller underground; Mum was born in a mining town.

But Baba and Dida wouldn’t recognize Kalgoorlie today – many of the old pit-head frames disappeared when the underground mines were combined into the ‘Super Pit’ 20 years ago – the ‘Pit’ is Australia’s biggest mine.

I used to work as a shot-firer (the guys who blow things up) in a open-cut mine and it is one of the worst jobs I can imagine – the temperature in the desert in the summer often reaches 50degreesC in the shade – so my idea is why work outside in the dusty heat and not try to get a job in an air-conditioned truck cab!

Update – A 5.0 magnitude earthquake shook Kalgoorlie this morning – causing damage to historic buildings, but, fortunately, only minor injuries.

Today was the final of the Perth edition of the Red Bull Air Race – and Aussie lad (and former RAAF fighter jockey) Matt Hall, finished a close second.

The excitement started earlier in the week when Adilson Kindlemann, a Brazilian pilot, crashed Thursday during practice into the Swan River. Fortunately he was pulled out by the rescue crew and, after a check in hospital, went home.

Yesterday, we took the boys down for the qualifying rounds. We set-up camp on the northern (Perth) side of the River – right next to the temporary landing-strip on Langley Park. The planes, no bigger than go-karts with wings (6.3m long and 7.3 wing span), landed and took-off only metres above our heads – blowing the boys away!

After the qualifying races and other displays, the organizers opened the gates and let the public in for a pit-lane walk. The boys were amazed to see the machines and their pilots close-up – in particular Kirby Chambliss.

The most photographed plane was the Breitling entry – the latest all carbon-fiber MXS-R. It weighs only 590kg; its engine produces 350hp giving it a top speed of 425km/h; the frame can stand up to 20gs (20x the force of gravity – the pilots themselves sometimes have to endure 12gs.)

And the Croatian connection? Perth friends Alec and Gayle spend 6 months every year in Croatia on their yacht Stefanija. Alec is an air-traffic controller at Jandakot Airport – and he has been working long hours this week keeping all the planes separated in the congested air-space around the event.

(Images of the crash are from BVR and Getty Images.)

More pictures to follow…

Us Fremantle Dockers supporters are a long suffering mob – its been over 15 years of disappointment. But so far this year its been different – 3 wins from 3 games. And today was the biggest victory so far – beating last year’s AFL premiers – Geelong. And Best-on-Ground was Matthew Pavlich – Fremantle’s captain – and a South Australian-Croatian.

Western Australian-Croatians have supplied many great footballers to the State and National Leagues.

Players such as:
Adrian Barich
Jon Dorotich*
Gaspar Brothers*
Jakovich Brothers*
Craig Starcevich
Peter Sumich*
Parentich Brothers*

John Gerovich* (Responsible for the mark above – a statue of which stands in front of Fremantle Oval.)
Jacob Surjan*
George Grljusich*
Ray Gabelich
Steven Bilcich
Tony Begovich*
Scott (Ivankovich) Watters* (His mother is Croatian.)
John Gavranich
Shane Beros

Though an East Fremantle Sharks supporter in the WAFL (the local league) I have to admit that all those marked with an asterisk played for the South Fremantle Bulldogs Football Club – mainly because Spearwood, the suburb in which many Croatian immigrants first settled in Perth, was included in its draft area.

Australian Rules Football has been exported back to Croatia – the first team was setup in Zagreb – the Zagreb Hawks. (Two other teams have now been started.) There is also a Croatian national team – the Croatian Knights – who hosted the EU Cup last year – finishing third.

We have another family link to Fremantle Football Club – block branding, my brother’s company, is responsible for their latest TV commercial.

When we are not on the water in Croatia, we like to escape Split by heading into the hills behind the city.

Our favorite trail is up from the village of Sitno Gornje to the peak of Mosor. On the way is Planinarski dom Umberto Girometta at 868m above sea level. (A planinarski dom is a hiker’s hut.)

Hiking Club Mosor, Split (HPD Mosor) is responsible for maintaining the refuge – and one local family has been making the trek up there each weekend, with the supply-laden donkey, for the last 35 years, to feed us hungry hikers.

The rooms are basic (open every weekend of the year), but the food is hearty – especially the pasta fazol – bean soup with sausages.

Our Danish friends came with us one weekend – their report can be read here.

Dropping Roklan off at day-care the other day I noticed the kids running around the playground with familiar brown seed pods – though I have never seen them in Perth before. The pods come from a carob tree – a rarity here, but numerous in Dalmatia – where they are called rogač.

Today carob is used as a chocolate substitute – historically the drought-resistant plant has served many purposes – mainly using the powder made from the skin of its seed pods, but the seeds themselves were useful as well.

In ancient Egypt, carob was used as a sweetener.

Saint John (the Baptist) is said to have survived in the wilderness by eating them – giving the plant another name – Saint John’s Bread. During WW2 the Maltese and Greeks used the pods as extra sustenance.

The Venetians are responsible for the most of the carob trees in Dalmatia – they fed the meal to their galley slaves – not only is it high in carbohydrates, but, and probably, more importantly, in the bilge of a ship where toilet-breaks were discouraged, if a lot of it is eaten it causes constipation.

Julie found the recipe below for Carob Cake on allrecipes.com. (To make carob powder, take the pods, remove the seeds and then roast and grind up the husks.)

Ingredients
1/2 cup butter
2/3 cup honey
2 eggs
1 banana, mashed
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup water
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup carob powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

1/4 cup butter
1/3 cup honey
1 cup dry milk powder
1/4 cup carob powder
1/4 cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions
Preheat the oven to 175C. Grease and flour a 20cm square pan. Sift together the flour, 1/3 cup carob powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, cream together the 1/2 cup butter and 2/3 cup of honey until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the banana and vanilla. Beat in the flour mixture alternately with the 3/4 cup water. Stir in chopped walnuts. Pour batter into prepared pan.

Bake in the preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Allow to cool.

To make the frosting – in a large bowl, cream 1/4 cup butter and 1/3 cup honey until smooth. Blend in the milk powder, carob powder, 1/4 cup water and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Beat until smooth and spread on cooled cake.

In Dalmatia, the powder is mixed with water, and then distilled to make a spirit – rogačica.

The cake goes well with good Dalmatian dessert wine – maybe Prosek Hektorovich from Tomič’s winery on Hvar Island.

Finally, for what were the discarded seeds used? As a standard unit of weight measurement for precious stones and gold – and Ceratonia siliqua, the plant’s scientific name, evolved into ‘carat’ – our measurement of diamond size…

Last week we received the invitation from Plamenko Bavcevic to participate in the 2nd Rota Palagruzona – a traditional boat event starting on Hvar Island, crossing to Komiza, on Vis Island and then crossing to remote Palagruza Island.

Professor Josko Bozanic started the regatta to honor the old fisherman who used to make the marathon journey from Komiza to Palagruza to take advantage of the rich fishing grounds. (The currents of the Adriatic Sea sweep up the rocky islet from the depths bringing nutrients with them – attracting fish from all around.)

Last year we took the Labud to Komiza to take part in the crossing. Unfortunately we had some mechanical issues – so it would not have been safe for us to take-on the 45 nautical miles of open sea – but as it turned out the weather was against the rest of the fleet, and no one went.

Instead a small race was organized to Brusnik Island.

That night, upon the boats’ return, a festival was held in Komiza, with a presentation, klapa (traditional singing) and a brudet (fish stew) cook-off.

This year the regatta will be from 20th – 25th June. It will coincide with one of our Vis and Hvar Islands Kayak Adventures.

More information about the fishermen of Komiza and crossing to Palagruza can be found in articles Ray Fusco and I wrote about our attempt to cross the Adriatic by kayak – here and here.

The Western Australian Croatian Chamber of Commerce held another guest speaker night last month. This time Fred Botica, radio star on Mix 94.5, gave the presentation.

The Chamber was set up in 2003 to promote business links between the State of Western Australia, with its large Croatian population, and Croatia. It has sent 3 delegations to Zagreb, introducing companies, such as Austal Ships, to counterparts over there.

Brian Rakich, Founding and Current Chairman of the WACCC and a Seashells Hospitality Group director, hosted the night at Rosie O’Grady’s Irish Pub in Northbridge.

Also there were Ljiljanna Ravlich, the former Minister for Education in the last State Labor government and a current Shadow Minister. Ljiljanna, born just south of Split, was the first woman from a non-English speaking country elected to our State Parliament, and Hrvoje Petrusic, current Croatian Consul in Perth.

The WACCC also helped Croatia in its selection as a special guest nation at this year’s Perth Royal Show.

This week I had a second meeting with Dr Michael McCarthy, Curator of Maritime Archaeology at the WA Maritime Museum. His department is responsible on behalf of the Federal Government for all the historic wrecks off the coast of Western Australia. The reason for the meetings – Mack has a small project for me.

As mentioned before, one of Western Australia’s most important wrecks is that of the Dubrovnik-flagged vessel, the Stefano. Numerous studies and books have been written on the subject – but there are some gaps in the information published.

More research needs to be done in Rijeka where the boat was built about its construction and fit-out, and the Dubrovnik’s archives need to be plundered for anything else important.

Also Mack would like some design input on a possible monument to the men of the Stefano and the local aboriginals who saved the survivors.

There is a small mention in their latest newsletter.

And why do this research? For a possible future Masters in Maritime Archaeology.

While there I showed Roklan his great-grandmother’s and great-grandfather’s names on the Immigrants’ Memorial in front of the Museum. Dida (Ante Pecotich) arrived on the SS Cephee in 1927 and Baba (Danica Panzich) on the SS Otranto in 1937. Neither of them looks particularly luxurious.

Trying to learn more about wooden boat construction, I sought out the few remaining shipwrights in Perth.

I was lucky enough to find Aaron Woodall‘s contact details, and visited him in his Henderson workshop. He was able to offer me a short-term job learning some tricks of his trade.

Aaron’s training came with a distinct Croatian influence. His master was Nick Sohry was Croatian and Nick’s master was Marko Sambrailo – one the brothers from Korcula who built many of Western Australia’s crayfishing boats. The brothers arrived in the 1950′s setting up their boatyard on Riverside Drive in East Fremantle, and later moving to Fishing Boat Harbor before closing recently. These pictures below are of their yard.

At Aaron’s yard he has been renovating the Avone, a 36′ Halvorsen, built in Sydney in 1956.

The Halvorsen shipyard is another successful immigrant story.

Lars Halvorsen, son of a Norwegian ship-builder, moved his family to Sydney in 1925, and began putting boats in the water.

In 1962, Halvorsens built “Gretel” the first Australian challenger for the Americas Cup.

Until 1980 the family designed and built nearly 1,300 craft, including vessels for the Allied forces during WWII, which earned Lars’ eldest son Harold the Order of Australia Medal, in Australia.

In 1975 a joint venture company was formed in Hong Kong to design, build and market a new range of pleasure boats worldwide. The company was called ‘Kong & Halvorsen Marine & Engineering Company’. By the 1980s production had moved across the border to Southern China, and to the present day over 900 Halvorsen Boats have been built in East Asia.

Recently after 20 years Halvorsen has also returned to building in Australia.

AC/DC are playing Subiaco Oval tonight – their last concert of their Australian / New Zealand Black Ice Tour. Last year they started their World Tour in Europe.

The band’s core was formed around a group of young Scottish-Australians in the early 1970′s – Angus and Malcolm Young, and the band’s lead singer and soul – Bon Scott.

Robert ‘Bon’ Scott was born in Kirremuir, Scotland, in 1952. In 1952 the family moved to Melbourne and then in 1956, to North Fremantle, just near where we live when we are in Australia. Bon attended North Fremantle Primary just around the corner from their house – where Aklie started school last month.

He then went onto John Curtin High School – but dropped out at the age of 15.

After various bands he joined AC/DC in 1974.

In the early hours of 19 February 1980 (30 years ago last month), after a night of partying, Bon died in a friend’s car of either alcohol poisoning or an asthma attack. He was buried in Fremantle Cemetery – in what is now Australia most visited grave.

After his death Brian Johnson became the band’s lead vocalist.

AC/DC’s record is quite amazing – they are 1 of the top 5 selling bands of all time in the USA; ‘Black in Black’ is a double-diamond selling album, selling over 22 million copies, making it the 5th largest selling album ever in the USA.

A memorial statue of Bon was placed near Fishing Boat Harbor in on Fremantle’s waterfront. On it is a quote from Classic Rock magazine describing him as the ‘Greatest Rock ‘n’ Roll Front Man of All Time’.

Given their influence on world rock, it is a little surprising and sad that North Fremantle Primary didn’t do more honor the 30th anniversary of his death. I guess it had something to do with the minor run-ins he had with the law.

For those that want to visit all of Fremantle’s Bon Scott sights, they should jump on the Highway to Hell Tram Tour.