Memories of Miss Pink

As a staff member of the Herbarium of the Northern Territory, Des Nelson got to know Olive Pink personally in the 1950s when she visited to ask questions about local flora. Here he remembers a great eccentric who also had a human side.

          “Three people worked in the herbarium: the botanist and two assistants, of whom I was one. One day Miss Pink called in to speak to the botanist and shortly left with a thunderous look on her face. She had requested that Rosy Dock, Acetosa vesicaria, which she called “that filthy plant”, be placed on the list of noxious weeds. The botanist refused the request and said that he thought it was rather a pretty plant. As far as I know, Miss Pink never again spoke to the botanist and referred to him as “The Beast”. What the other assistant did to annoy her I’m not sure but he became her “Bete Noir”. So that left me… I was engaged in a great amount of bush work and Miss Pink would ask me to collect various things for her. I recall bringing small spinifex plants for her garden from the sand plain a bit over 100km north of Alice Springs. I brought her ferns from under mulgas, Macgregoria racemigera, also from the spinifex country. She called this species “Spinifex Snow”….

          During the 1960s, I was appointed as an Inspector of Noxious Weeds in the NT. It was after this appointment that I was invited by Miss Pink for a memorable tour of her gardens. She conducted me along a row of planted River Red Gums, each of which had been named after someone. This was Miss Pink’s way of expressing gratitude to those who did favours for her. She introduced me to the trees – “This is Mr. So and So” (I can’t recall the actual names). One tree was introduced with a stern voice, admonished by: “I’m not watering him any more!” He had fallen from favour.

          We came to the western boundary of the reserve… In the gully was growing a large and healthy Opuntia cactus of the species known as “Devil’s Rope”. “Miss Pink,” I said, “Do you know that plant is on the Noxious Weeds list for the NT?” “Oh,” she answered, “but you won’t tell anyone, will you?” She had put the plant there to act as living barbed wire to discourage the entry of intruders….

          Miss Pink was very protective of her place. It was a privilege to be invited there and she objected very strongly to intruders. Sometimes, jogging football trainees, as an example, were impudent enough to take a short cut through her place. They would receive a severe scolding. One such person apologised to Miss Pink in a heavily-accented voice. To Miss Pink’s inquiry as to where he came from, he replied, “I come from Tasmania.” “How dare you?” she retorted. “I come from Tasmania!” I heard her on at least one occasion refer to herself as the “Tasmanian Devil”….

          Miss Pink had a particular dislike for the public service, especially the branch known originally as Native Affairs and later the Welfare Branch… Miss Pink categorised people as friends or foes, the latter being referred to as “the Enemy”…. When she approached the administration offices, there would be quite a flurry. “Miss Pink’s coming!” would be announced. Some would suddenly need to go to the toilet, office doors would close, others would remember urgent outside business to be done. So when she entered the foyer, there would be a remarkable lack of personnel – except for perhaps two people. One of these was the Housing Officer, Maurie Morrow. No one in the universe could say the things to Miss Pink that Maurie would say. “What do you want today, you old bag?” I was shocked. “Mr. Morrow! How dare you?” came from Miss Pink but it was only mock indignation. The two were in fact good friends. Maurie was another character of the times…. He was definitely a candidate to have a tree named after him.

          The other person who remained on the scene when Miss Pink entered the administration office was the girl who collected payments for government services – power, water and so on. She was confined to her little cubicle near the entrance. Miss Pink admired a cameo brooch worn by the young woman. They became acquainted and Miss Pink described the girl as a “polite young lady”. One day Miss Pink noticed that her “polite young lady”, Patricia Colley, was wearing an emerald engagement ring. She asked some questions and it was revealed that Pat Colley and myself had become engaged. We were invited to her home for a celebration, “just for half an hour”. We partook of sherry, cake and Bickford’s lime juice. Afterwards, there came a cup of tea before we left, having spent a memorable four hours… We are fortunate to have experienced the human side of Miss Pink, not known to many others.

          Miss Pink had a lively imagination. To illustrate: she arrived at the herbarium one morning and declared, “You have a Nazi spy working in this place!” Such a remarkable statement had to be investigated…. Among the chemistry staff was Harry Granits, a Latvian with an excitable personality. His accent was rather Germanic… Harry was determined to become Australianised. One way to do this, he reckoned, was to learn to throw a boomerang. When he had tired himself out, he sat on a log and would hold a transistor radio to his ear for some time. This performance was carried out close to Miss Pink’s fence. Harry never noticed that Miss Pink closely and curiously observed him. One morning, she made her move. Down into the river she went to confront Harry on his log. “What are you doing?” she demanded. Whatever explanation Harry gave apparently did not satisfy her. Her imagination produced a Nazi spy getting his orders via his little receiver. I was happy to be able to inform Miss Pink that Harry was a harmless member of the community, so the matter was dropped….

          Many people, who did not have close contacts with Miss Pink, either as friends or enemies, just viewed her as a strange old lady, perhaps a bit lacking in the brain department… However, when you got to know her, it became apparent that although a true eccentric, this was a lady of superior intellect, with an acute and perceptive mentality.

          In 1971, I received what I consider to be a real honour. Miss Pink phoned to tell me that she had named a tree after me. Subsequently, I went to the gardens to meet “my” tree, a Corkwood or Hakea. It is only recently that I learnt that Miss Pink’s given Aboriginal totem is the Corkwood. Now, I feel doubly honoured.

          Some people pass on and are soon forgotten. Miss Pink’s memory goes on and gets stronger. She is a vital part of Central Australian history. Final evidence of her non-conformity can be seen in the Alice Springs town cemetery. The majority of the graves there are clustered together, headstones facing east, towards the rising sun. In the northwest corner is an isolated grave, facing west, towards the setting sun. Guess whose it is!

Des Nelson

Extracts from a talk delivered in the Olive Pink Botanic Garden and reproduced in the Australian Plants Society Journal.