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chamber back to surface level. Carl’s recompression chamber is now in the possession of the Museum and Art
Gallery of the Northern Territory.
Carl also hunted crocodiles in his early years in Darwin, but like many people before him and since, in his later
years he became very conservation-minded and the thought of shooting crocodiles became abhorrent to him.
During the 1960s, and before television had reached Darwin, Carl visited the Leprosarium at East Arm. He was
sad to see bed-ridden Aborigines with little to do. The Aborigines loved western movies so Carl arranged for
some television sets to be donated and flown to Darwin. He wrote to film companies for the donation of films,
and eventually after much time and effort, was able to set up closed-circuit television for the patients. This was yet
one more unpaid community service.
After being on a fortnightly tenancy at Doctors Gully since 1946, in the early 1960’s Carl was given a 99-year
lease on the northern side of Doctors Gully where he built a marine centre with a flat above which overlooked
the water. He saw fish swimming below and thought ‘ah, fresh fish for dinner!’ and proceeded to feed the fish
to encourage them to stay. More and more fish of many varieties came in to be fed by hand at each high tide
but Carl did not ever have his fresh fish for dinner—he always said ‘one doesn’t eat one’s friends!’ Carl didn’t
commercialise ‘his’ fish but was pleased when Cherry and Marshall Perron bought Doctors Gully and continued
the fish feeding.
Carl was the first person to water ski in Australia—in the 1930s in Sydney Harbour—and when his heavy
diving days were over he concentrated on teaching water skiing and running a marine business from Doctors Gully.
In 1960 he was among a group of enthusiasts who founded the Northern Territory Water Ski Association
Carl, who was 188 centimetres and larger than life, had always been a colourful character, and during his days
of tussles with the Customs Department was something of a controversial figure in Darwin. As is usual when a
person attracts publicity, he had his detractors, but he was admired and respected by those who knew him well.
Carl loved life, loved animals and people, loved parties, but a stroke in 1972 badly paralysed him down his
right side and left him unable to walk, unable to speak properly and no longer able to read or write, other than to
sign his name. His lifestyle was changed dramatically. However, with the great willpower that was his he managed
to walk again with the aid of a stick, was able to drive his car and boat, and even had a ladder built which enabled
him to climb up onto his front-end loader to continue making the pool in front of his marine centre. Driving the
front-end loader sounds an easy task but one must remember he was badly paralysed. With a ‘dot and carry one’
motion he would climb the ladder, hang his walking stick on the vehicle, swing himself across the gap, right side
throwing him off balance, and plop down into the seat—beaming!
Because of his disability, the very high rise and fall of tide in Darwin meant that Carl could go boating only
during the rare king tides, so after his long and interesting years there, he decided to move south where the tides
would not be a problem. After much searching, in 1983 Carl finally bought a home on the banks of the Tweed River
at Tumbulgum in northern New South Wales. On 3 July 1984 he and his long-time companion, Wendy Iles, were
married at their home at Tumbulgum. However, with boat ramp completed, and boat ready, his new life on the river
was not to last. Carl was hospitalised in Murwillumbah, New South Wales, with cancer in November 1984 and
died there on 17 February 1985. He was cremated at Tweed Heads, New South Wales.
On 5 March 1985 the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly took official note of Carl’s death. Both Tom Harris
and Marshall Perron, who had known Carl since boyhood, recounted some of his doings with great affection.
As Perron put it, ‘I think Carl may have fostered a little bit of the mystique about his background and some of his
exploits. Just the same, they were part of what made him such a character.’ He continued, ‘I hope that someone
takes the trouble to write about a big man who lived a full life and left his mark on the Territory as one of those
irrepressible characters who did everything his way’.
Northern Territory Parliamentary Record, 5 March 1985; personal information.
WENDY ATKINSON, Vol 3.