Old Nick (part one)

When ‘Old Nick’ Kulikovsky died in a caravan park in Katherine, NT, his friends farewelled a quiet, well-read loner. But Nick had been carrying a surprising family legacy, that could no longer stay buried.

I first heard about this story the same way everyone else did – when it was all over the local news. It seemed to have an old-fashioned tabloid appeal. And I too am one of those who’ve always been fascinated by the Romanovs and (especially when I was a kid) the ‘mystery of Anastasia’.

If you’ve ever had the pleasure of visiting Katherine or the Northern Territory, you might understand why Nick chose to hang his hat there.

The Katherine River is a wide, languid stretch of brown that gives at least the appearance of cool relief, even if crocodiles make swimming pretty much a no-go, and in true Territory fashion, the locals can make welcome the right sort of stranger.

Nick obviously found a place he could call home, but why did he have to journey so far to find it?

Eddie Baker outside Nick's unit.
Eddie Baker outside Nick’s unit.
Peacocks enjoying the shade at the caravan park.
Peacocks enjoying the shade at the caravan park.
Leonid and his grandparents, the Kulikovskys. Photo supplied by Paul Kulikovsky.
Leonid and his grandparents, the Kulikovskys. Photo supplied by Paul Kulikovsky.
The emigré family. Photo supplied by Paul Kulikovsky.
The emigré family. Photo supplied by Paul Kulikovsky.
Leonid and his grandparents, the Kulikovskys. Photo supplied by Paul Kulikovsky.
Leonid and his grandparents, the Kulikovskys. Photo supplied by Paul Kulikovsky.

Credits

Theme music ‘cars+passing’ by Nick Huggins from Little Lake Records.

A version of this was first broadcast on Radio National’s The History Listen.

Other music used in this episode

‘Baba Yaga’s Dream’ by Zulya and the Children of the Underground.

‘Persian Dances’ from Khovanshchina by Modest Mussorgsky, performed by Symphony Orchestra. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives-3.0 (unported) license.

‘The Capture of Kars’ by Modest Mussorgsky, performed by University of Chicago Orchestra. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives-3.0 (unported) license.

‘March of the Unborn’ by Parvus Decree, from the album Aeon 1: Dixi, licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License.