Lonely for My Land

By Tish Lees

SID HARTA Publishers
$29.95

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Reviewed by Lezly Herbert

Tish Lees was born in Perth in 1940 and three weeks later she began her life on a remote sheep station 1700 kilometres to the north.  Her parents had lived on Karratha Station since 1929 and were Pilbara pioneers.  At that time fewer people lived north of the 26th parallel in Western Australia than worked for Myers in Melbourne. 

Before even the luxury of radio communication, things were “more challenging, more remote, more dependent on human ingenuity.”  There was no refrigeration and certainly no traditional diversions for young child.  With the horizon as the boundary to her world, Lees grew up with nature and has recorded her time in the North West before the discovery of iron ore and natural gas in great detail.

As a child, she nearly died three times and she relates very compelling tales of extreme isolation, floods, cyclones, bush fires, locust plagues and Japanese planes flying over during World War II.  She has fond memories of the five day trip to Perth on dirt roads and the fishing trips to the coast before Britain tested their atomic bomb in the nearby Monte Bello Islands.

Her recollections are crammed with the stories of people who have made a difference in North West Australia, including her father who worked to improve conditions for the Aboriginal people and family friend Lang Hancock who dreamt of mining minerals in the area.

This unique history of place that few Australians have visited is a fascinating read.

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