Ayr and Airlie

Saturday 8 December (Ayr)

 

It sure felt good to be back! Up at 6am, just like my old routine, and out for a walk through the streets of Ayr, while all was still and quiet - apart from the magpies in Queen Street who sang delightfully for me as I marched past, on my way down to Plantation Park.

At 8am I jumped in the car and headed down to Airlie Beach to join the board members for a meeting with WWF about turtle tagging and gearing up to train their own rangers and a few other items. We ran through the WWF strategic plan and identified a number of initiatives that Gudjuda was interested in collaborating on. There are so many opportunities ahead for these people - it's a very exciting time!

And for any of you worried about me working on a Saturday, here's some pics of me with the Uncles and Aunties 'working' ...



L to R: Eddie (Chairperson), me, John (Business Manager)

 

With the turquoise of the Whitsundays behind us, you can imagine it was hard to concentrate so we had to have quite a few breaks!

L to R: Renarta (language/culture), me, Dorothy (Board Member)
My original 'deadly Aunties'!

 

 

 

And of course once everyone knoew we were in Airlie for the day, we had extra visitors so I got to meet yet another of Dorrie and Eddie's brothers - Greg. We rounded out the meeting with a drink at the tavern down the road, so we could catch up for a couple more hours. I was simply procrastinating as I didn't want to leave.

So, just as I was settling in to the lifestyle I loved so much and picking up conversations where they were left off only seven months ago, it was time to head back to Ayr. I hugged and kissed everyone at least twice and finally jumped back into the car for the 2-hour drive home. Note to self - don't ever, ever, ever pass up a chance to stay in the Whitsunday's overnight again!!

The drive home was fabulous - the sun was seting a brilliant peachy-red and then the brightest of stars came out to replace him and guide me home. I drove alongside a freight train for a while which was oddly comforting and then I turned off the air con and stuck my arm out the window to feel the warm night air pushing my hand back. I only put the window up about 10 minutes later, when a great, big bug slammed on the front window and I began thinking about what I might have been inadvertently letting in - gulp! I spent the trip changing channels on the radio - from jazz, to interviews with talented people including an indigenous musician who explained the difference between an aborginal and a non-indigenous sense of being in sync with the earth as that white man might write a song called 'sunset dreaming' but he would write a song called 'sunset feeling'. Then I heard a review of a theatre production called 'Beautiful One Day' which turned out to be a documentary style production, with one of three stories based on Auntie Renarta's father and the story of his life and the terrifying events he was subjected to on Palm Island - how amazing was that for a small world?!

OK, so once back in familiar Ayr, I took a quick detour to check out a few more Christmas lights and then drove home to Ray for  warm welcome and a quick cuppa before bed. Aaaah - so nice to have been surrounded by people who just love to be happy because it feels good! I really am one of the luckiest people, ever! 

Return to Ayr

Friday 7 December (Ayr)

How lucky am I that these wonderful people keep inviting me back!

 

Friday was the official launch of the yet-to-be named cafe and while I couldn't get a flight in early enough to attend the event, I arrived in the early afternoon to catch up with most of the board members and to find out just how well it all went.

 

Funnily enough, the launch was about launching the Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) and to introduce the cafe to all the people who had participated in its creation, but the cafe doesn't actually 'open to the public' until February! Not exactly what I was expecting, but might be another excuse to get up here early next year!

 

Anyway, the kitchen of the cafe is now fully kitted out and looks fantastic. The walls alone cost $6k as they needed to be stainless steel. The hand washing sink comes with a kickboard, or should I say 'hipboard' because it's at hip height, which just needs a tap and the water rushes out, avoiding the need to turn on a tap. Everything is sparkly and new and I can imagine the local chefs will be enviously watching on as it starts operating!

 

Apparently the food and event went really well and the RAP was a hit (well, it helped them to get a $500k grant to set up their next venture, so was something useful out of my time there!) and only a handful of spelling errors noted, so version 2 will be produced sometime in the new year!

 

Spent the late afternoon with my mate Ray and a cuppa and caught up on the goings on of the motel, staff and guests.

 

Ended the evening with a wander down the road to check out the most amazing Christmas Lights ever - they change in time to the music!! Of course, Steve will want a set of these amazing American lights for himself when I show him the clips on my phone!! Please don't tell him anyone?! :)

Home Ayrt last …

Day 36: Saturday 28 April (8pm, Baulkham Hills)

Yesterday and last night, my last evening in Ayr, was surprise after surprise!

You already know about the didgeridoo. I’m embarrassed to admit that I was also undeservedly showered with gifts from many of the beautiful people I’ve met in what feels like a lifetime, in Ayr. Lynette’s family is especially generous, so I’ve brought home some very treasured items including a mug, bowl and plate decorated with the traditional Torres Strait Islander headdress and a travel pillow in the Torres Strait colours – they really are special people to be giving so much.

So we finished the farewell celebrations by dining at the Ayr Anzac Memorial Club. It was a perfect finish to the weeks of working in the Gudjuda office. The whole team had managed to make it for dinner so I was surrounded by the people who’d spent more time than anyone, either in or on that building - Eddie and Diane, John and Lynne, Jardine and Tracey, Michaela, and of course, Lynette. Next surprise was that the girls had made up a certificate of appreciation for me and if you knew how highly regarded certificates are in FNQ, you’d really appreciate the care they’d taken with the words they’d chosen and how it was printed on a gorgeous piece of parchment too – another beautiful treasure of my time in Ayr.

We ate our meals but didn’t need to order dessert as the girls had one final surprise – a birthday cake! And not just any cake! How gorgeous is this?! How many cakes have you ever seen that celebrate exactly how old you are?! I laughed so hard about that number being on there, because it just perfectly typifies the way that place was – no point in getting too big for your boots, because for every piece of accomplishment, there was always a bring-me-back-to-earth moment - I loved it and it really was a perfect finish to the evening and the trip!

In a funny twist, maybe I should actually count the final surprise as being from Mother Nature, who gave me the only rainy evening of the whole five weeks so that I couldn’t walk home from the club. Probably for the best, but I put it down to even the Burdekin feeling sad about my leaving!

All packed by 7.30am this morning and picked up by Shelley and her boss from Bowen, Michelle, just after 8am. I couldn’t get the words out to Ray that I wanted to say to thank him for all the care that he took of me, but it didn’t matter – he knew.

Arriving in Townsville about three hours before the flight actually worked out really well for us. It gave us some space to reflect on the program, our input and achievements, the people, our learning and all the various aspects of our time here that I haven’t mentioned. I’ll work on refining the notes to a simple summary, so the posts don’t end today – there’ll be at least one more, attempting to summarise an amazing experience into a few lines.

I don’t know how I’m going to tell people about my time in Ayr without feeling like I need to catch my breath, as there is definitely a little piece of my heart up there now. I’ll be back again one day to see how that kitchen got kitted out and how the chairs and tables look on the deck and who they hired and what’s on the menu and whether they could use it to celebrate the launch of the RAP and a million other questions that are swimming around my head and it hasn’t even been 24 hours since I was there! Gosh, I miss them all already. But it’s time for another adventure now – this one is a bit closer to home, and won’t need a blog, which will be a relief!

OK, just one more amusing moment (well, to me at least) - here's my final mention of 'smoko', found in the local church bulletin last Sunday! Thank you Ayr for some fantastic moments!!

FAyrwells …

Day 35: Friday 27 April (5.30pm, Ayr)

Oh dear. Very few people understand the stress I go through in saying goodbye. I don’t know why I find it so traumatic to even think about. I don’t remember a time in my childhood when I felt abandoned so don’t think it’s a subconscious reaction, but I don’t even take Steve to the airport for one of his frequent interstate trips because if I have to say goodbye there, I’ll inevitably shed a tear – it’s pathetic, but involuntary, so you can imagine how today went.

So first, let me give you some slightly amusing anecdotes that I’ve been saving for such a time. I was temporarily concerned that I might be acclimatising to Ayr or Queensland and the way of life up here …

After all the warm nights we had over Easter where it was too hot to sleep without the air conditioning on, at least intermittently, I’ve started to wake up in the mornings feeling a bit cool and had to pull the sheets in close to warm up. Apart from today, it has still been 30 degrees in the daytime here, so I’m a bit worried about returning to cold old Sydney after this - never thought I'd say that!

I don’t usually buy magazines, but I’ve recently found myself picking up copies of New Idea in the supermarket and sliding it in between the groceries so the person behind can’t see the trash I’m occupying my mind with. I justify to myself that I’m buying it for the puzzle section, but I have a suspicion that my subconscious is after the latest Brad and Ange goss. Pathetic!

Blurry action shot of Lynette and two
'hardheads' walking with us this morning :)

It’s just a little weird, but I love it when I hear Lynette calls her kids ‘hardheads’. It’s a funny little phrase that’s uniquely hers or maybe it isn’t but she’s the only one I hear use it anyway. I don’t really know why I laugh at it so much, but it’s just the way she says it with frustration and affection all at once, “the little hardheads” that makes me smile.

Another funny word – ‘true’. Despite all the warnings, I’ve hardly heard anyone here add an ‘eh’ on to the end of a conversation, but I’ve heard a lot of ‘true’. It’s tacked on as an acknowledgement, as a question, an exclamation, a surprise, a confirmation, a sigh – just about anything and all the time. Now I’ve started noticing when I say it too! True!!

And finally, I’m getting very used to my easy start to the day of getting up at 6am and heading out for a walk. Then getting home by 5pm so I can stop at the shops to pick up groceries or have a cuppa with the ‘neighbours’, so when I got caught up chatting beyond 5.30pm one night last week in the office, I could feel myself starting to get some of that old stress back, looking at the clock, then at other people’s watches to check the time! Oh, next week is going to be really tough getting back into the routine!

So back to today and my last day with my Gudjuda peeps –

Jean (ABV), Michaela, me, Eddie, Lynette, AnneMarie (ICC)

Started off well enough with Jean from ABV and the ladies from ICC (Townsville’s Indigenous Coordination Centre) joining us for a review of the program. All good as you can imagine. Even though I’m not about to talk out of school on a blog post, I think you can tell what a fab time I’ve had here and if you can believe me, the feeling has been mutual. Jean expressed surprise and relief that it had all gone so well and while everyone was feeling good about what we’d achieved (still not quite finished work on the plans though!) we went out to the Munda to take some photos of all of us together.

Next was Eddie and my visit to the local state member, Rosemary Menkens, to talk about the RAP and see if she would be interested in adding her support to the final document via a few paragraphs in the colour copy. She was interested, curious, accommodating and such a pleasure to deal with. Of course she agreed and we left her with a draft and a promise to send her the final version in a few weeks. We’d brought Jean along with us and it was a great opportunity to promote ABV and the success of our relationship. More interest and conversation and we headed back to the office.

We walked back into a discussion at Gudjuda with an Indigenous Skills Development Officer with the Queensland Government and that was yet another opportunity to promote the great relationship and achievements of the past five weeks, so Jean jumped in and it might just turn out to be another link we’ve made for the future for ABV and the Indigenous people of FNQ!

Aunties - Ranita, Glen and Alva
with one of their 'grannies' (grandkids)

Finally, it was just us usual Gudjuda people left, so Eddie decided to tell me that he was going to give me one of the didgeridoo’s I’ve been covertly admiring. Of course, you can guess the reaction that brought out in me, so I spent the afternoon trying not to cry and it’s extremely difficult to concentrate on a business plan when you are also trying very hard to control uncontrollable emotions! Anyway, we made it through the afternoon and packed up in a big rush and on the way home we drove past Curves - you can see from the photo that Lynette's sister and another couple of Aunties were enjoying the passing crowd. I love their smiles! I warned them when I met them a few weeks ago that next time I drove past them with their big smiles I would take a photo, so I did and isn't it the best?! They brought me farewell gifts today too - so unexpected. Just beautiful people here.

Dinner tonight is at the Ayr Anzac Memorial Club – a very fitting finish to my time here! No doubt, a few more tears to come, but I have fallen in love with these people after five very close weeks, so I think I can be forgiven a little!

HAyrppy Birthday …

Day 34: Thursday 26 April (10pm, Ayr)

What an amazing day today was! I’m just going to give you a blow by blow description as no other way to describe it …

First up, Shelley and I went for a walk along Queens Beach in Bowen. The sunrise wasn’t spectacular but it gave everything a silvery glow so was still pretty magical in my mind. The earth was wishing me a happy birthday for sure!

Next was breakfast – a quick stop at the local bakery with Jean, our program co-ordinator from Australian Business Volunteers, who has come up to review the program. We grabbed a very light brekkie as we were not sure how good our sea legs were at this early stage. Turns out we had nothing to worry about, but while waiting for the coffees, we admired some of the many murals that Bowen is famous for – 19 of them in total. Here’s a couple to admire and if you want to know more about them, check out the link which will tell you the artist, the story and the year they were each painted.



http://www.whitsunday.qld.gov.au/web/guest/bowen-murals   

Start of the trip
Back: AnneMarie, Jean, Gayle,
Leigh, Shelley, Me, Jim, Eddie
Front: Coen, Lynette





Then on to the harbour and all 11 of our motley group met at the boat ramp, donned our sexy wetsuits (mine was camouflage so you may not be able to see me in any photos!), got 'smoked' by Jim who ensured we were all protected with a smoking ceremony and words with the spirits and then jumped in to the two boats.

Out in the harbour, we began our search for turtles in the shallow water. This entailed one or two of us sitting on the front of the boat scanning the water and giving a yell when we spotted one. I was in the boat with Eddie driving, so we’d then point to the turtle until Eddie could get close enough to tail him and we’d attempt to tire the turtle out a little so we could bellyflop in and catch them in our (gloved) hands.

Well, first in was Jim to give a demo. Unfortunately, the demo was on the other boat so we missed the lesson, but we’d had a bit of a briefing session at the hotel the night before, over dinner (or drinks but what does it matter?), so we figured we would be fine. In the meantime, Jim took the turtle up into the boat for measuring, tagging, etc and a few photos with us girls, of course.

Not happy, but turtle 1 tagged and looked after!

  

Me, Lynette, Jean, Jim,
Gayle, Leigh, Coen with turtle 2



Good thing we took some photos as our many, many attempts to catch a turtle in the water were unrewarded, but it was a lot of fun trying and it was a lot of fun getting back into the boat – I made a meal of it as nearly ended up doing a forward roll into the boat until Eddie unceremoniously lifted one leg over for me and I managed the other one, in between fits of laughter. After four dives (and four unladylike returns to the boat) I had twice managed to grab or touch the shell with one hand but not the other, so pretty pointless unfortunately as you need to get a good grip with both hands. Those turtles weigh an awful lot and their powerful flippers can scoot their body away very quickly, but that's a poor excuse for my lack of hand-eye coordination.

Lynette abandoned -
she let the turtle go!

Lynette had come along with us and she at least managed to catch a turtle, but when one of his flippers scraped along her shin bone, she yelped and let him go, so we ended up three/nil in the final tally of Jim vs Eddie's boat x turtles tagged for the day.

Showered, changed, and quite weary, we thought we should have lunch before heading back to Ayr, so we stopped off at one of the seafood shops along the marina and bought some prawns – red spot prawns actually and they were delicious freshly peeled on bread as a sandwich. Can you see their spot in the photo? It was a meal fit for a king. Or me. 

Next stop was back home to Ayr where I had a proper shower, with soap and shampoo and felt semi-human again. Was going to do a load of washing but just didn’t have the energy to swap some notes for coins for the washing machine, so it will have to wait for tomorrow now, or Saturday night perhaps. Hmmm, probably Saturday night. Anyway, Jean arrived around 6pm and just as I was greeting her, I saw that Colleen had arrived as well so it was a really good feeling to see those big, warm smiles again – like old friends!

Jean and I finished the day by heading off for dinner at the tavern in town (in other words, we walked to the next block) and then back home for a relatively early night.

I know I should be finishing the plans for tomorrow, but I don’t think I’d make any sense now. I can barely scratch this out so it’s time for bed.

Awesome birthday? Tick! I won’t be forgetting this one in a hurry!! J

Ayrnzacs …

Day 33: Wednesday 25 April (1pm, Ayr)

Anzac Day is always an emotional morning. Watching the march on TV is enough to send me for tissues, so I thought I would be really brave this morning and attend the march. It was brilliant!

I almost missed it as I had the wrong start time so wasn’t quite dressed when I heard the pipers and determined it was a little bit more in tune than a practice would sound, so quickly threw on my clothes and raced out the door without any makeup on – thank goodness for sunglasses! Got to the street outside my window and I took the short cut between the shops to the main street. Made it just in time to see the first cars roll through, followed by the diggers and then all the supporters and schools. Ray (motel manager) was all dressed up and very proud of his ‘Skippy’ badge so gave me a salute as he walked past. He later told me it was proper for an officer to salute a woman as she would always be of higher standing than a male – I think deep down all the husbands of the world know this, but it’s nice to hear it!

Once he was past me, I cut through the march and ran down to Anzac Park for a better photo and stayed for the ceremony. We had the Mayor, the State Member for the area and the Federal Member all present! RAAF guarded the memorial. We had a fly over (might have been a straggler from Townsville?). Apparently it was the biggest turnout they’ve ever had, so little ol’ Ayr did good today!

Remember I mentioned this was to be a short week as I had some exciting news? Well, I’m about to head down to meet Shelley in Bowen for an overnight stay as we’re going to be out in the beautiful blue waters around there early tomorrow morning – we’re turtle tagging!

This could easily be the highlight of the trip as we will be out in the water, jumping in to catch turtles and then tagging them for research purposes before dropping them back in the water. It’s up there in the amazing stakes with swimming with dolphins and whale watching, and almost didn’t happen, but Eddie has done some shuffling of his responsibilities to wrangle a day off on Thursday to take us out with Jim and their wives. Perfect timing as our Australian Business Volunteers co-ordinator, Jean, has arrived to review how we’ve gone, so she’ll be joining us too.

Expect some stellar photo’s from this event!! (ooooh, expectations – silly girl!)

ShipwrAyrcked …

Day 32: Tuesday 24 April (11pm, Ayr)

Today was another day of working through business plans and planning for the next couple of days. Not much to tell you, as I spent most of the morning taking Eddie through all the documents I’ve been working on and adding in some of his additional feedback. However, he’s given me a copy of a booklet to read, about a seaman, James Morrill, who was shipwrecked at Cape Cleveland, between here and Townsville in 1846.

The interesting thing is that this man ended up living with the Aborigines for 17 years before being found by settlers. Shelley, Steve and I learnt about him while driving around over Easter as our curiosity about how the towns around here were named led us to discover him. I missed an opportunity to buy a book about him, but now Eddie has given me a copy of his story, so I thought I would read the first page to see what it was like. I was immediately hooked – it’s fascinating! James made it to land after 42 days on a raft with three others. The story of how the aborigines found him and treated the four of them is just full of the fear and nervousness you might expect. The aborigines could see that the white people were ill and so they fed them and talked in signs to let them know they would take them back to their camp. When they got close to camp and began to fear they would be eaten alive, the aborigines warmed their own hands and placed them on the survivors to stop them shaking in fear and reassure John and his colleagues that they were OK.

The three others ended up dying in the first couple of years as they’d been through a lot, but John made it through and learnt quite a lot of their language, living as an aborigine, tracking wallabies for food, scrounging for roots, honey and breadfruit and even became a better trapper of birds than the aborigines, as he applied some skill to their ideas. He explains towards the end of the story about how the aborigines lived and he really shares a vivid picture of what life was like for them back then. Now that I know these are likely to be the ancestors of my colleagues, it feels almost a little personal now. Especially as Eddie explained to me only today how his Dad was born on the banks of the river that passes through Plantation Park. And having seen quite a bit of the bush around the region myself, I can almost imagine wandering through these lands, looking out for tracks, or stopping at a river to set a fish trap, or being rightly afraid of crocs and snakes! Though, I might have become a vegetarian! 

James eventually came across a sheep property, so after washing himself as clean as possible so they would see he wasn’t black, he revealed himself to a couple of station hands, telling them not to shoot because he was a British ‘object’. I love that he admits in the story “Of course I meant subject, but in the excitement of the moment I did not know what I said.” – just priceless for a man that had barely spoken English for 17 years! So, returned to civilisation, James asked on behalf of the aborigines that they be allowed to keep the land north of the Burdekin as it was no good to the white men anyway. Seems that no-one else thought this was a good idea, as the land was settled soon thereafter and he died only a couple of years later at the young age of 41.

I really haven’t done James’ story an ounce of justice here, because the way he tells it is so full and rich and vivid, so if you are interested, let me know as I’ve made a copy to take home. You won’t be able to put it down so lucky it’s only brief!

Taking it Ayrsy (or, It’s all relative, so don't be jel :) ) …

Day 31: Monday 23 April (6pm, Ayr)

Feels like today was a long day, but I spent most of it driving, so actually it was an easy day, in places at least. 



A very proud John wearing his totem shirt:
turtle, bird (think it's a frigatebird) and mackeral



Out at 6am for my (now) usual walk, only this morning I got to Lynette’s to learn that she couldn’t come out. The kids were all up so it was a good opportunity to grab a photo of her eldest boy, John, wearing his shirt with the Torres Strait Island totems on it for me – the indigenous shirts are all so beautiful, but I think he looks handsome in it too! He's our walking buddy and destined to be a footy star in the future, so I'll be able to say I knew him when ... :)

Talking of footy stars, Lynette made me laugh today when she asked if I'd heard of Gordon Tallis and I said yes, and she responded that he's her cousin. Then she asked if I knew Wendall Sailor and of course, he's also her cousin. We'd been talking about the upcoming 20th anniversary of the Mabo decision, so I jokingly asked if she knew Eddie too - you can guess the answer. No point gossipping up this way as everyone is related somehow!!

Anyway, once at work, and not to be confused with Lynette's son, I took our John through my progress on the Business Plan and he’s thrilled with how it’s looking. He can’t wait for the template and the Social Enterprise version to be finished now so he can use it to put a submission in, so that’s good encouragement for me to keep at it again tonight. Fingers crossed we’re close enough tomorrow to progress something anyway.

I called Aunty Dorothy a couple of times to see if there was any way that she could squeeze me in today or tomorrow for a chat. I had come to the realisation overnight that it’s her words that the RAP needs now. She works part time at James Cook Uni in Townsville, so when she rang back at 12.02pm to say she could fit me in at 1pm, Lynette and I jumped straight into the car, filled up the tank and (carefully) overtook anything that got in our way. We didn’t get to her till 1.30pm, but she ended up talking to us until after 3pm, so we were very lucky to have gotten so much time with her. A quick photo and straight back into the car.

Back at the motel by 5pm (yes, 5pm! I’m normally about to respond to a backlog of emails after a day of meetings at this time!), I made myself a cuppa and headed over to the reception area where a few of the regulars now make ourselves at home in the afternoon for a bit of chit chat. Oh, if only life was so relaxed everywhere! I'll be back to reality next week, but in the meantime, I’m loving it and lapping it up!!

Ayrnalysis overload …

Day 30: Sunday 22 April (8pm, Ayr)

Awesome progress on the business plan template and the business plan for the café today!  It’s amazing how just about anything you need to know can be found on the internet – quality may be dubious, but I’ve conducted secondary research for a marketing analysis, updated a SWOT analysis, threw in a competitor analysis including a weighted matrix, a customer analysis, enhanced the competitive advantages already identified and now I’m working on the marketing plan – I’m sure I’ve just picked up a year of a diploma in one day!!

Nothing else worth mentioning, so I won’t.

Ayry Fairy …

Day 29: Saturday 21 April (11.54pm, Ayr)

There’s really not much to say about today, my last Saturday in Ayr, so just to recap on the highlights …

I shopped for my final week’s worth of groceries this morning. Made a salad for lunch as I was still feeling bad about Thursday’s junk food jolly (but snuck in a packet of chips that just seemed to jump off the shelf – Thins – you know them, so don’t pretend you don’t!).

I went for a walk down to Plantation Park late this afternoon, to check out the garden chapel and watch the sun set. It’s a pretty spot and it’s been bandied about in conversations as an option for Bim’s men’s group, so it looks like a good backup if the Home Hill options take longer than estimated. Loads of mozzies breeding big there at the moment, but that’s only because there is still water lying around from the cyclone a month ago. I’m itching all over!

I don’t know that I’ve mentioned the vast birdlife here before, but there is an incredible amount of birds in and around Ayr and I knew there would loads settling down for the evening in the park, so that was another reason for my walk. Here's a cheeky bird that got very close to me today - look at him looking straight at me!

Well, I’ve just put the finishing touches on the RAP document, so that's one down and one more major document to go tomorrow, all ready for Eddie and the Directors to review next week! Hard to believe that I'm officially in my last week now!

HAyritage …

Day 28: Friday 20 April (10pm, Ayr)

One of the fascinating and interesting tasks of the Traditional Owners (TO) is to participate in a heritage or cultural walk. This is about showing respect for the history and culture of the indigenous people of the region and is typically conducted when a mining company or Main Roads or similar organisation commences planning for excavation of land for further development.

The TO conducts a search of the area, looking for things like flint stones, axe heads, rock art, grinding grooves, middens (deposits of food remains, like shellfish or bones, indicating the site of an historical camp or regular eating hole), scarred trees (trees marked in a specific way that indicates the removal of bark for canoes, shields, boomerangs, etc) or anything else that indicates the evidence of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander existence.

The Gudjuda Directors are often contacted to seek their participation in a walk and unsurprisingly, they take this role very seriously. Only Traditional Owners can conduct the walk, for obvious reasons. I haven’t had a chance to witness a walk, but we have a collection of photo’s from one of the local walks a couple of years ago. It might be hard to see the detail in the pictures, but I thought they might give you some idea of what the walks are like.



Uncle Bim (Alfred) with his ancestors

I spent most of the afternoon talking with Uncle Bim as consultation for our RAP. He regularly works with troubled indigenous people through the courts and Murri Watch and his Men’s Group, so it made sense for him to particularly influence aspects of the plan that relate to healing. We decided to include an action of identifying a place or a space for cultural healing processes. Something as simple as seats around a tree or a small shelter will be ideal and it’s likely that something will be created for Bim out at the Home Hill Showground. The local community has been talking a lot about the need for something like his Men’s Group out this way, so it should be pretty popular.

Bim has also been explaining to me about the indigenous way of being ‘on country’. My second-hand interpretation is that it’s when a traditional owner is in or on their traditional lands and seas, and getting back to their culture and traditions by doing things like going fishing using traditional methods, or learning how to use bush tucker, or making traditional tools, like spears or boomerangs or even just exploring their surroundings. There are a lot of indigenous people in Townsville and other cities who have never been ‘on country’, so we’ve been talking about how we might enable this, especially for people who are getting in trouble with the LAW and need some teaching about their LORE! Many of the Directors agree with the importance of this and have suggested we set up temporary accommodation to enable people to come out and stay ‘on country’. It’s certainly one of the key themes coming through the discussions.

A quick one before I go - the painters got a fright this morning when a small goanna came rushing past their prep area (under the legs of Rob!), quickly followed by a larger one, who kicked over the paint tin in the process! I got close enough to take this photo, but then his enormously long tongue came out and I was warned not to stand too close or too still as he was scared and could become even more so and then possibly climb up me for a bite to eat - of me! I don't need to be told twice so, yep, I got out of there as quick as I could (but not before a few good photo's of his stunning skin!)!

Well, I’ve got nothing but a couple of walks planned for this weekend and an intensive, run to the finish, working bee on the RAP and business plans! Just want to make sure that when I leave, I’ve given as much as possible to the amazing people of Gudjuda. I only have two days of work in the week ahead (you’ll learn why later this week!), so a good night sleep should set me up well for a productive weekend! That's my cue - sleep well everyone! J

RAyrP Work …

Day 27: Thursday 19 April (8pm, Ayr)

Yet another fascinating day in FNQ!

Lynette picked me up at 6.45am so we could get an early start in to Townsville. We had an 8.30am meeting booked with Kelvin, one of the Gudjuda Directors, to obtain his input into the RAP. Kelvin is the artist of the group and as everything is now starting to link together, you might remember I mentioned that Uncle Bim had painted a mural on the wall of the women’s prison recently with a friend – Kelvin. (Men’s Business, Day 8)

Kelvin provided his input to the RAP and made several helpful suggestions before we changed topic and got on to his paintings over smoko*. He had one leaning against a wall, so I asked him about it. Before I knew it, he was handing the painting to me, to keep, so after a friendly argument where I gave him the little money I had left in my wallet, he told me the story.

The Gubbula Munda (the Carpet Snake) watches carefully over all women and looks after their spirit as they die. She encircles them and after a time, she releases them up to the heavens, as a shooting star. In this way, all women are shooting stars.

I’m quite sure my husband thinks of me as a shooting star in his life too! J

Next stop was Charmaine and as her house had taken some damage in the cyclone the week before I had arrived up here, she asked if we could take her to McDonalds for a coffee and cake instead (yes, more smoko*!).

Charmaine liked a lot of what we had already incorporated and had loads more to contribute as well. She has a lot to be passionate about as she is the daughter of Aunty Renata, and the story of her grandfather's life on Palm Island specifically is an amazing one, so I was keen to capture her views.



Charmaine smiling through a comment
that she hadn't been prepared for photos!



Charmaine acknowledged that everybody has a story about where they are from and the things that they have gained or lost over the years and she wants to hear the stories of migrants who came here and what they struggled through to arrive in this country. However, when it’s weighed up, she feels strongly that aboriginal people have lost far more.

She explained that the aboriginal penal settlements were often made up of a mix of Aboriginals, Torres Strait Islanders, South Sea islanders, some Maori folk and on Palm Island, they even threw a German in, because he had olive skin! These cultures didn’t have a history together and so there were lots of problems with mixing the people together. Many lost some of their language and culture and traditions, and even now, she has family members who can only retell the stories of Palm Island as they’ve lost touch with their history before that time. She wants all indigenous to really know their history but she also wants non-indigenous people to keep an open mind, hoping that we all understand and acknowledge the fight that her people have had.

With the mix of cultures we all live with in today’s society, it’s actually quite easy to empathise with Charmaine on some levels, but the obvious difference is that we have been able to consider and make choices about our own living arrangements - clearly, her family had none.

Last stop was Cathy and we met her in a huge park as she was hard to catch, spending the bulk of her day travelling around and through the Townsville suburbs (no smoko this time*). J

Cathy also had some great contributions to the RAP and one of these was about respect for the land and its history. We talked about our plans for placing 'Welcome to Country' signs up in the area, to let everyone know that they are on Juru, or Bindal or Ngaro land and how that might drive interest and understanding and respect for the Traditional Owners.

The discussion evolved and we started to talk about a similar 'welcome' sign she had seen up in the Daintree, near the Thompson River. The first time Cathy was taken there was with family and as they stopped near the river to meet people, she looked over and saw an old lady standing under a tree not too far away. She asked her Aunty about the old lady and the Aunty didn’t know who she meant as she couldn’t see anyone standing there. Cathy insisted there was an old lady there, so she described her - she was short, long haired, an old lady. Well, the Aunty, shocked, fell to the ground in a faint and when she came to, told Cathy that the old lady had been her grandmother’s mother. She went on to explain that her grandmother had been born under that very tree, so Cathy is planning to build a home there one day, believing it to be a special place (plus there is a great watering hole nearby!). The spirits are certainly strong in that family!

With the last interview for the day over, we headed back to the office and retold many of these tales and others to Michaela and John. Sure beats a day of meetings in the office at North Ryde!!

*‘Smoko’ cracks me up every time – it’s the local term for morning tea and you can guess it’s origins, but I just laugh whenever anyone asks me if I want some, as it sounds so ridiculous. Probably just me, but I find ‘pyjamas’ an amusing word too. I could go on, but naaah, I’m sure you’ve read enough for today! J