 To reach the Homestead from the lugger relics, head south across the sand flat, basically towards the two high coconut trees shown in the centre of the photo right. Walk up a shellgrit beach and continue south through the bush and across a marshy area with paper-barks and ferns until you reach the wooden posts and the homestead ruins beside a small creek.
The History of Kinganna Willie Reid was the son of a white policeman and an aboriginal mother. He was raised in Yeppoon in central Queensland. In 1911, Willie came to Western Australia as a "dekkie" on the lugger "W.S.Park" which was the supply boat for the Presbyterian Mission at Kunmunya in the southern part of Port George IV. After a year, Willie became skipper of the lugger, but resigned after a disagreement in 1919. Willie bought his own lugger and went beachcombing on the W.A. Coast. During the "dry" season, the beachcombers collected trepang (beche-de-mer), pearl shell, turtle shell and sandalwood to sell to merchants in Broome. These beachcombers employed aboriginals for five or six months in return for food and tobacco. After a couple of years of wandering up and down the coast, Willie Reid decided to settle in the Kimberley for the whole year. He chose Maia Cove at the southern end of Vansittart Bay as a permanent base because it had shelter from severe weather and a reliable supply of fresh water. Willie used aboriginals from the Pago Mission to cut back mangroves in the upper reaches of a small tidal creek at the head of the Cove and construct a landing from rocks to bring supplies on shore from the lugger. Another small camp was established on Long Island at the northern entrance to Vansittart Bay.  Native mangrove timbers were cut and building materials were brought in from Broome and Wyndham in the early 1920's to construct a fenced compound, stables, workshed and 2-storey accommodation. The 2-storey accommodation is similar to the mission building at Pago. The only access to the upper level was by ladder, which was pulled up at night to prevent intrusions by unwanted visitors from the aboriginal camps.
A well was dug and lined with stones, then extensive gardens and orchards were established to create the permanent base known as Kinganna. The photo left, taken from outside the northwest corner of the fenced compound in 1935, shows the stables and workshed on the left and the accommodation building on the right. The kitchen, fireplace and washrooms were at the far end of the accommodation building, and the well was over near the creek through the gap between the two buildings. Willie's main income was from trepang, therefore he employed about 100 aborigines at Kinganna and on his lugger fleet which had grown to three in the mid 1920's. However, up to 500 aborigines were sometimes camped around Kinganna during the dry season, because many preferred this free lifestyle rather than the rigid daily ritual imposed by the missionaries at Pago and Kunmunya. In 1942, soon after the Japanese bombing of Broome and the Kalumburu Mission, police came to Kinganna and ordered Willie to leave. Willie took one lugger and sailed to Broome. The other two luggers, the "BETTE" and the "BELLA" were destroyed by the Police where they lay in the mangroves at the landing. The building and gardens were left untouched. After the war, Willie applied for mission status for Kinganna to gain financial assistance to re-establish his business. This application was firmly opposed by the Kalumburu and Kunmunya mission authorities, who saw Willie as a "renegade" and a non-believer in the faith. The application was refused by the authorities. Willie Reid did not return, and Kinganna was left abandoned. Relics at Kinganna in 2005 - THE LUGGERS  After leaving the dinghy landing and trudging 20m through the mud and  mangroves, the first sign of the luggers is the pile of rusty chain (left). Just near this chain there are some timber remains still outside the mangrove line. One of the timbers, protruding nearly vertically from the mud (right) is sheathed in copper. This appears to be either the rudder post, or part of the bow of one of Willie's luggers.
Looking carefully into the mangroves (left), the ribs of a lugger become visible amongst the tangle of roots. Again, it is difficult to tell which way the lugger is facing. However, the most likely direction is towards the salt flat. However, the angle of the ribs seem to be  more upright away from the flat, indicating that the bow may have been facing towards the creek. Walking further southeast along the mangrove edge, there are some more wooden relics lying on the  surface (right). These could be either the deck of the second lugger or the head of a wooden jetty. There were no wooden ribs visible to indicate a lugger, However, there was a large rusty steel winch  (left) adjacent to the flat wooden relics. This winch seems to be too large for an anchor winch on a lugger, so it may have been a hauling winch at the head of the jetty. Making your way across the salt flats, you encounter another iron relic with two wheels and a central cog wheel on a shaft (right), which also appeared to be part of a large winch or the axle off a rail trolley. THE KINGANNA HOMESTEAD When approaching the Kinganna homestead from the lugger landing (from the north), the first recognisable sign of the homestead will probably be one of the several cubical rusty steel water tanks scattered around the fenced compound. The lines of fence posts are also visible. These tanks may have been from the luggers which would have needed to carry supplies of water to the Long  Island camp and on the long voyages at sea collecting trepang.  The raised floor of the stables and tool shed, clearly shown in the 1935 photo left, is still in good condition. The floor appears to be formed from sintered shells (concrete), using a similar technique and materials as at Pago Mission. A number of iron relics from the stables (right) were lying around on the ground and on one of the water tanks.
 Further south in the  fenced compound, the kitchen, fireplaces and washrooms were located. Some large wooden posts (left and right) still remained after 80+ years of surviving fires, floods and storms. The most interesting metal relics were scattered on the ground around this southern end of the compound.
These included more water tanks, a pitch- fork, metal buckets, and  an array of pre-war implements considered essential in the kitchen at the time. This helical mincer (left) was attached to a post beside the kitchen, and the steel camp oven (right) with a piece missing from the side, was lying on the ground beside a campfire pit. The "JATY" water pump (below left) which was made  in France, was also lying on the ground. The world's largest "garlic crusher"  (right) was found beside the tool shed foundations. Actually, Mr. Geoff Cairnduff of Broome emailed the following information on this relic on 19 October 2006 "Yesterday I was delivering some teak furniture to the Broome Historical Society and I noticed they had the worlds second largest garlic crusher - second only to the one you photographed at Kinganna Homestead. The Lady there informed me that it is in fact a Book Press." I'm not sure why Willy needed a book press! Kinganna is in a remote location at the rarely visited southern part of Vansittart Bay. However, it is accessible by dinghy then on foot when you know where to look. We found Kinganna from the coast, and saw no visible signs (footprints in the mud) of recent visitation from either the land or sea. It is rare in the Kimberley these days for a place of such historical interest not to be overrun by tourists. Enjoy your excursion to Kinganna while it remains untouched by the hordes! Acknowledgments This story was pieced together from a number of sources. The major source was the book "We Won the Victory" written by Ian Crawford and first published in 2001. Many hours of personal time were spent ashore trudging through the mangroves looking for the lugger landing and relics, then a further 800 m through the bush looking for the homestead and yards to photograph the places and relics mentioned on this page. And a special mention of Geoff who provided the info on the garlic crusher. | 
mangroves on the western bank of the creek and then walk through mangroves to the sand flat. Looking south you will see a wooden post and a lumpy line of rusted chain on the flat (left). Follow this line east to the edge of the mangroves to the lugger relics.