Well this is a novel addition but they are so beautiful in their own earthy way, that I wanted to write about them!

The Pilbarra is a half million square kilometre wilderness area in Western Australia.  It is where Australia’s huge iron ore industry is located.  The rich deposits of iron ore are being shipped off to China as fast as it can be hauled out of the ground.   This landscape is Pre-Cambrian –  two billion years in the making and therefore  ’pre-life’.   Fortunately in 1969 the Karijini National Park was established preserving this strikingly beautiful landscape.  Deep, blood-red  gorges, steep cliffs, bone white Snappy Gums, golden spinifex and the stunning ochre coloured termite mounds define this  ageless land.  These structures are built by the industrious collectives of the Spinifex Termites.  There there may be a million    of these little creatures in one mound surviving their harsh habitat by utilisiIMG_3675 Karijini Termite Mounds Smrng their    extraordinary engineering skills to control the heat and humidity of their homes.  Their  mounds also act as a defense against predators, a food source and a recyclable way of  enhancing the nutrients in this ancient soil.

The Aboriginal people of this area understood this habitat and the animals that survived     here.  The Spinifex Termites were used for medicine and as a supplementary food source.   They only took from the land what they needed and also survived for tens of  thousands of years.