by Di Morrissey
‘Great. I rang the chief-of-staff at Network Eleven, Darwin. The head camera guy is out of town on a story so he’s trying to get me a cameraman. But I’ll be okay with a stringer if he can’t. Where do I find Bonza and Reggie?’
‘I’ll put the word out via the pub. They have no fixed abode connected to a phone,’ said Jim.
‘Thanks heaps. Can I buy you a drink sometime as a thank you?’ she asked.
‘You can do that. But I’ll talk to my old girl and see if we can rustle up some friends for a barbecue one night. And bring along anyone you care to. Do you have friends in Darwin?’
‘No. Just you,’ said Veronica.
Jim looked flattered. ‘I’ll call your mobile when I’ve made contact.’
When Veronica received a call from Dougie, the junior cameraman from the TV station telling her that he was available, she asked him to come over and meet her at the Mantra.
Dougie was in his early twenties and eager to work with her. ‘I think Our Country is a fantastic show. I’ve often thought there are some stories around here that’d be worth doing.’
‘Well, why didn’t you put them up to your boss?’ asked Veronica.
Dougie looked uncomfortable. ‘Ah, who’d listen to me? I’m told to just point the camera and keep my mouth shut.’
Veronica nodded. ‘Yeah, it’s a tough business. But you’ve got to just keep hammering away, Dougie. One day someone smart will listen. Now, let me explain what I’m doing.’
Veronica didn’t want Dougie to know that this was a new concept, so that when the time came to unveil the ‘new look’ program, no-one would have any idea how the show had been changed. With this in mind, she outlined her idea that he should just follow her around while she researched her story.
‘Okay. Sounds easy enough. You tell me what you want and I’ll do it. You’re the producer,’ said Dougie sounding relieved that he didn’t have to make decisions. ‘Okay so we have the two blokes, Bonza and Reggie, I’ve heard of them. Then there’s you in the archives and the newspaper office. What else?’
‘Ah, I suppose we need some overview scenes of Darwin. How about you take me on a tour and we pick up shots of me wandering around the places in Darwin you think people would want to see.’
‘Yeah. Cullen Bay, that’s cool. What about the terrific aquarium or the Crocoseum? Get you in the cage. It’s the big new thing to do here. And there’s Mindil markets tomorrow night and Parap markets on Saturday morning. And the harbour . . .’
‘Whoa. Sounds like you have your finger on the pulse. Terrific,’ said Veronica.
She devoted the next day to the sights of Darwin with Dougie. She drew the line at the new tourist attraction of a wildlife complex where large ‘retired’ crocodiles had their own private domain and two people at a time could get into a protective glass cage and be lowered into the water for a very close encounter.
‘C’mon, Veronica, get in the cage, it’ll look great,’ said Dougie.
‘No way. Film that couple in their swimsuits,’ said Veronica, as a pair who were obviously on their honeymoon got into the cage, which was lowered into the water. ‘Have you noticed the gouges and teeth marks on the outside of the cage? But you’re right, this is a novel attraction in the centre of the CBD. Perhaps I could go as far as holding a snake or lizard.’
Veronica loved the colonial-style buildings along the seafront and the bustling restaurants at the wharf. Then they headed over to Cullen Bay with its expensive new high rise apartments and cluster of eateries facing the sweep of the bay.
‘This is a great place for dinner, expensive though, sixty dollars for a mud crab meal,’ said Dougie. ‘I’d rather eat at the markets. We’ll do that tonight. It’s become an institution. Started out as a casual thing. Locals used to go to the beach to watch the sunset, bring a picnic and there were a few stalls and now there are hundreds. It’s huge.’
That evening as their taxi followed the stream of traffic past the big casino it seemed that everyone in Darwin was heading to Mindil Beach. They got out near a forest of thick trees covered in vines and walked to a beach fringed by palm trees. Already people were setting up chairs and picnics while the walkway was lined on both sides with colourful stalls. The lights, decorations, inviting cooking smells and mix of people looked, to Veronica, like a mini international gathering. There were musicians, tarot card readers, massages, cooking, crafts, art, gifts and children’s play and entertainment areas.
‘This is incredible. Best market I’ve ever seen and what a setting,’ she told Dougie. ‘I see what you mean about the food. Everything looks fabulous.’
‘I go for the Asian stuff, but there’s everything – Greek, to African . . . you name it,’ said Dougie. ‘Maybe you’d like a buffalo burger, or crocodile kebabs? Will I take some shots of you wandering through all this? Then we’ll set up for the sunset.’
‘Go for it, Dougie. I’m going to look around.’
Veronica bought a selection of foods, including the crocodile kebabs, which were delicious and a bottle of beer for herself and Dougie, who’d chosen a barramundi stir fry for his dinner. Sitting on the sand she ate from a paper plate as Dougie filmed the great red ball of the sun sinking into the Timor Sea.
The next day Veronica dropped her notes into Collette at the archives, listing as many names, places and details as she could remember from what Colin had told her. Then, with Dougie in tow, she headed to her appointment at the library.
Parliament House, which housed the library, was a spectacular new white building adjacent to Government House and the Supreme Court, with views across the harbour. After passing through the security check Veronica and Dougie took the lift to the well-appointed library. Veronica explained to one of the librarians that she’d come to do some research and that she had been given permission to film her scrolling through the microfilm. When she located the microfilm section and started to look through the old papers, Dougie peered over her shoulder so as to get a close-up of the screen.
‘Amazing old stuff. Wish I’d been up here in the old days, bit like the wild west,’ he said.
‘Yes, a bit of a frontier by the looks of it. Pretty rugged country once you left Darwin. And it’s close to Asia – you can practically see Indonesia. Makes you realise how near our northern neighbours are,’ said Veronica.
‘My granddad talks about the war, reckons there were a lot more Japanese midget subs that came close to shore than they know about,’ said Dougie. ‘Well, I’ll leave you to it. Let me know how you get on, Veronica. Been nice working with you, if there’s nothing else you want me for right now.’
Veronica pulled her attention away from the screen. ‘Aren’t you going to be working with me anymore, Dougie? That’s a shame, you’ve been great.’
‘Thanks. Yeah, the chief camera guy comes back tomorrow. I hope I can get out on some of the trips he gets to do, sometime. I’ve only been up in a chopper once. Loved it.’
‘Good luck, Dougie. I’m not sure what else I have to film around here. Sorry it’s not been so exciting for you.’
‘My turn’ll come. Eddie moves around a lot.’
‘Eddie? The chief guy is Eddie? Eddie who?’ asked Veronica, her heart sinking.
‘Eddie Jarman. Used to work in Sydney, done a lot of documentaries. Do you know him?’
Veronica turned back to the computer screen to hide her confusion. ‘Yes, I know him. See ya, Dougie.’
‘Right. Well, see you then. Let me know what you want done with this footage or when you want to look at it and edit it.’
‘Yep. Thanks, Dougie.’
Dougie glanced back at Veronica as he left. She suddenly seemed very occupied at the computer and yet slightly distracted.
Damn you, Andy, she cursed under her breath. Surely he knew Eddie was up here. She was shocked at the unexpected news that her ex-boyfriend and colleague was working in Darwin. Why hadn’t Andy told her? Veronica sat still, her eyes closed, trying to calm herself and sort out how she felt about
seeing him again. I’m over you, Eddie, she told herself firmly. So why was she feeling so rattled? Perhaps he was married or in a stable relationship, if Eddie knew what that was, which would keep some distance between them.
But creeping into her mind came memories of the fun they’d had together and the great working relationship they’d had – before they’d fallen in love and slept together. Or was that the other way around? She couldn’t help smiling as she thought about their trip to Norfolk Island when they’d become more than professional colleagues.
Well, maybe the story would fizzle out and she wouldn’t need a cameraman. When this ridiculous idea came to her, she realised that she wasn’t concentrating – skimming images on the microfilm were just whizzing past her eyes.
She decided to take a break and rang Andy.
‘If you tell me you knew Eddie was working up here and didn’t warn me, I’ll wring your neck,’ she said as soon as he answered the phone.
‘Veronica? Is that you? How nice to hear from you. How’re things going in Darwin? Is it hot? Have you caught up with Jim?’
‘Andy! You damn-well knew he was here! Why didn’t you tell me?’ she shouted.
‘What difference would it have made?’ he asked calmly.
Veronica was silent for a moment. ‘Well, I might have been prepared.’
‘So how is he? How’s the research going?’
‘I haven’t seen Eddie. He’s been out on a job. I’ve had a young kid who’s been great. In fact, I might ask to use him and not Eddie.’
‘That’s up to the head of the camera department. Who happens to be Eddie, I understand. How was Jim?’
‘Nice. Helpful. Does he know about me and Eddie?’
‘No, of course not. Why should he? Look, Eddie’s a great cameraman and you said you’re over him, so what’s the big drama, Veronica?’ asked Andy.
‘Men. You’re hopeless. I am over him. It’s just, well, a surprise. And I have nothing new to report. I’ll have to spend quite a few more hours poring over the newspaper records. But I’m going to meet a couple of outback characters, friends of Jim’s.’
‘Great. You can trust Jim. I wouldn’t go into too many details with anyone else about Cardwell though,’ said Andy.
‘If I’ve got a cameraman in tow, like Eddie, it’ll be hard to keep things quiet,’ said Veronica.
‘I suppose so,’ said Andy. ‘But be careful.’
‘Around Eddie? That I can guarantee,’ said Veronica. ‘But Darwin is interesting. Must have been a wild place in the old days.’
‘See if you can get some archive footage of Darwin in the fifties. Go out bush a bit. Try to capture what it must have been like for those innocents making that film and dealing with the loneliness and isolation of the outback after Europe. The landscape won’t have changed too much.’
‘I’ll wait until I have something to go on,’ said Veronica. ‘I’ll keep you posted.’
Veronica again sat at the computer in the library till her eyes ached and she thought that she couldn’t look at another page of print. She felt as though she’d sat through hours of news footage as images and headlines of 1955 Darwin rolled past. There was so much to get through, especially as she wasn’t sure what she was looking for, so she had refined her search to just the entertainment pages when suddenly a classified advertisement jumped out at her – ‘European Actress to Star in Famous Plays’. The words ‘European’ and ‘Plays’ were unusual compared with the rest of the stories she’d been reading. Holding her breath she enlarged the ad.
Famous Swedish actress Marta Johanssen will star in a one-woman show performing scenes from playwright Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House and Ghosts, as well as scenes from Shakespeare and other classics. The Outdoor Theatre, Darwin . . .
‘Hallelujah,’ breathed Veronica, skimming through the ad looking for any photographs. She went through the papers for the following week to find, at last, a grainy photograph and small write-up.
Success for One-Woman Show
Miss Marta Johanssen has extended her series of dramatic performances at The Outdoor Theatre for another two weeks, due to popular demand. The attractive Swedish actress is starring in a film documentary to promote the Northern Territory prior to next year’s Olympic Games in Melbourne. Following on the success earlier this year of Jedda, Australia’s first colour feature film set in Outback Australia and starring Aboriginal actors, the exposure of the north at the cinema could soon make it a popular destination for foreign travellers. Miss Johanssen has taken time off from this venture to entertain audiences in Darwin with her superb acting.
Veronica studied the face of the actress with her curly hair, broad jaw and large smile. She looked fun, Veronica thought, with a strong face that seemed to reveal a bubbly personality. And now she had her last name. Veronica continued to scan the papers but there were no further write-ups of Marta’s show.
Leaving Parliament House she rang Andy as she started to walk back into town.
‘Pay dirt. It’s Marta Johanssen. She did a one-woman show which was extended as it was apparently quite popular.’
‘A one-woman show, eh? Curious. I wonder why. And nothing else about any of them? Any pictures?’
‘Just a portrait of Marta. She looks cute.’
‘What’s your next move?’
‘I’m heading back to the archives as I have a message from Collette to say that she’s found something.’
‘Okay. Keep me posted. And say hi to Jim for me.’
‘I will. He and his wife have invited me to dinner tomorrow night.’
Collette greeted her warmly. ‘Your story has me quite intrigued, I have to confess. I’ve been doing some searching. How did you get on at the library?’
‘Two references to Marta putting on a one-woman show.’ She handed Collette the photocopies.
‘Hmm. We might have something on this, as well. People tend to collect programs and playbills. Anyway, come and see what I’ve dug up.’
‘This is very kind of you,’ said Veronica.
Collette directed her to a table in the reading room and handed her a pair of white cotton gloves.
‘It’s a policy. While this isn’t an old document, it’s a bit fragile because it’s been kept in poor conditions, but I thought you might find it interesting.’
She laid a journal in front of Veronica and opened it at a bookmarked page. ‘It’s the diary, well, journal, kept by a Mrs Annabel Johns who lived for a number of years on a station called Brolga Springs.’
‘They stopped there! Colin said that’s where they saw the corroboree. What does she say? Does she mention the group?’
‘She does.’
Veronica was excited. This was corroborative evidence of Colin’s story.
Annabel Johns had neat handwriting and she’d kept a journal of daily events at Brolga Springs. Some entries weren’t relevant, dealing with food supplies, rations, stock details, work she’d given to certain staff, what mail had arrived but the arrival of Topov’s group had given her some entertainment and she’d written about it in detail.
Len Buchanan met some weary travellers on the Stuart and suggested that they come in and camp for a couple of nights. I was introduced to a very unusual group led by a rather loud and overbearing Russian gentleman, a Mr Topov. They are making a film about the outback and I don’t think they have yet had much luck, so I had Len and Samson round up some of the blacks from the camp to do a corroboree for them. I think it made quite an impression on them as most of the visitors were foreigners. One of them, an actress, a pretty young woman, took a great fancy to little Doris, as did the Yugoslav man who took many photographs of her. Doris was very impressed with an old yellow caravan they were towing. They said that they’re heading to Arnhem Land but I don’t know how successful they’ll be as they seem rather inexperienced in dealing with our conditions. I also had the feeling not all of them were in agreement with Mr Topov, though there was a quite capable woman in the party, a well-bred Englishwom
an who seemed rather out of place. However, I do hope they manage to put together some sort of film. I can’t help but wonder how much longer before the Aborigines die out and there will be little record of their ceremonies and their culture.
‘She was prescient in a way, don’t you think?’ said Collette. ‘By the 1960s there was a lot of change. And it’s changing again, now, though not the way Mrs Johns imagined. Mr Topov sounds a difficult man, doesn’t he? Now, let me see if we have any reference to Marta’s stage show.’
While Collette went to her desk, Veronica used another computer and, on the off chance Marta had made a name for herself, googled Marta Johanssen. To her surprise, there were several results for Marta. One came from Sydney’s Daily Telegraph and showed a photo of the expedition group taken at the sandhills at Kurnell prior to their departure. There was the Dodge, the Jeep, the Land Rover, the caravan and the group posed around them, just as Colin had described it. Veronica peered at the faces trying to see if they looked the way she’d imagined them. Marta, curvy in shorts, hand on hips looked flirtatious. Johnny, perched on top of the Land Rover, was too far away to make out any resemblance to the older John Cardwell she’d met. She almost laughed out loud at the sight of Topov. He was just as she’d imagined. Colin was still recognisable even with a shock of dark hair.
The second hit was the announcement of the stage show in the Darwin newspaper, which she had already found, but then, a couple of years later, there was a picture of Marta ‘heading for Hollywood’ and an article from the Sydney Sun newspaper.
The Australian-based actress Marta Johanssen, well known for her stage appearances at the Elizabethan Theatre and for her appearances in TV commercials, has landed a small part in a Hollywood film. The film in which she will play a war time European spy for the British Secret Service, will be shot in Los Angeles and Italy. Miss Johanssen, who now has a Los Angeles agent, hopes to continue to work in Hollywood films. Miss Johanssen added, that she would always consider Australia to be her second home.
