Ayrified …

Day 7: Friday 30 March (8pm, Ayr)

Over the years in my HR roles, I’ve often been required to summarise events, and usually the most logical way of doing this is in chronological order. Sometimes it can make a very exciting day seem ordinary, so I apologise in advance for that happening here - it really was a great day!

The day started, as has become usual, with a walk around the streets of Ayr just after 6am. John had grabbed for me a map of Ayr at the Anzac Memorial Club on Tuesday night and I’ve been highlighting the streets I’ve walked so far on it. It’s surprising how much you can cover in an hour every morning, especially when we're staying so central to everything! This morning I headed south to see what awaited me in the streets around one of the high schools.

Kingfisher wadda mooli - he's smack in the middle of this shot

Yesterday morning Shelley and I were stopped in our tracks by a lone, tiny kingfisher, sitting in the middle of the footpath. He must have flown into a shop window as he looked a little dazed and after a few minutes, flew off. It was the only day I didn’t take my camera with me on our walk, so of course this morning I grabbed it before anything else as I left. No kingfisher greeting me up close like yesterday, but there were about eight of them sitting up in the wires watching me this morning. Their colours are amazing so I took a photo of one as close as I could get to it. He’s in the middle of this shot.



We arrived at the Gudjuda office just before 9am and there is a lot of work going into the organisation of the next couple of weeks where separate men’s and women’s trips to a sacred place are being planned. Eddie gave us an excuse to hitch a ride into Townsville to collect the equipment needed for the trip. He suggested we take a trip to Magnetic Island and explore the Strand to really top off the week of getting to know the people and the area.  Who are we to refuse such an offer?!



View from The Strand out to Maggie

We set off for Townsville with Michaela at the wheel. The trip took ages as there are a lot of road works being undertaken and the Bruce Highway is one lane each way, so it was stop-start all the way. It was practically lunchtime when we arrived, so we stopped off to eat, just long enough to discover that we were about to miss the ferry to Maggie (as the island is fondly known). We endeavoured to make it anyway, but found ourselves at the car ferry instead of the people ferry, so gave it up and headed over to The Strand instead. Wow! Now I know why people talk about Townsville as a beautiful holiday destination!  This place is gorgeous!!  Of course the ice cream shop was closed for repairs but it was good to see that the workers were taking a well earned coffee break when we arrived …  



I'm sure that's our ferry ...



     … and when we departed … 

  
    … good to know that the view is being enjoyed!

More of Townsville's Strand

We picked up all the camping gear we’d been tasked with purchasing and headed back home to deliver the goods. Back at Gudjuda we met another one of Eddie’s relatives, Alfred, and made plans to drop Shelley down to Bowen tomorrow morning. One of Alfred’s many roles is to work with indigenous kids in custody and he sits next to the magistrate in court when their hearings come up. I'm hoping he’ll be willing to share some perspectives with us on the trip down tomorrow – more cultural education for us, so my pen and paper are ready, just in case!

Perhaps it was the afternoon sun and the sleepy trip home, but we were stopped at
road works at one point and it was noted that this burnt branch looks like an elephant :) 

We finished off the day with dinner at the Commercial Hotel in town where a fancy dress party was just kicking off. We weren't invited and couldn't make out the theme anyway, so headed back to our rooms for an early night – all this work has tuckered us out! J



Ayround Town …

Day 6: Thursday 29 March (9pm, Ayr)

Old Caretakers Building

It’s the calm before the storm!

Today was a very relaxed day of visiting many different sites belonging to the Gudjuda Reference Group, to see the breadth and extent of their business.

Future Grey Nomads!

First stop was Home Hill, a town about 12 kms down the Bruce Highway. Gudjuda have been given an extended lease for the former showground site here. There are a number of buildings on site and the plan is to convert this area into a potential rodeo arena, a plastics business and the rest of the massive, grassy space will be set up with power, facilities and BBQ areas for the many ‘Grey Nomads’ that travel through Home Hill each year. It’s a popular spot and likely to become even more so in the coming years. We had a glorious day for wandering around the site, so can imagine it being the perfect comfort stop for all those retired travellers in the future.

From the top of Inkerman Hill

Another 12kms down the highway and we took a quick side trip to view the region from the top of Inkerman Hill. The view over the Burdekin river and out to sea was stunning. We could see where the water changed colour from fresh water to salt; probably a little more pronounced since the rain and flooding last week.

More from Inkerman Hill

Back into Ayr from there to see where Eddie helps out with the local youth in his spare time (as if he has any!). We drove around to the Youth Club where the kids are taken by bus most afternoons for activities like basketball or to access computers before heading home.  We met Eddie’s lovely wife and then headed back for some lunch. Next stop was out to Alva Beach for an inspection of the regeneration area, including the new fences put up recently.  Sounds like an excuse? We just did what we were told –
the fences are all looking good (and so was the sand!) :)



View from the Burdekin Bridge out towards the ocean -
that's the reflection of the sky changing the colour of the water



It couldn’t be helped but Lynette went home sick today, so our plans for the afternoon were thrown into just a minute’s disarray. We ended up back at Home Hill for a walk along the famous Silver Link – the Burdekin Bridge. Longer than one of my favourite landmarks, the Sydney Harbour Bridge, it’s an inspiring piece of engineering as it’s built on sand. We only made it about halfway along before turning back. The noise from the cars and trucks going across it was manageable but their vibrations and the numerous, large spiders were a bit more off-putting, so we figured we’d done enough walking for one day!



The Silver Link itself



Spiritual Ayr ...

Day 5: Wednesday 28 March (9.30pm, Ayr)

We began the day with some early
morning sunshine on the cane fields ...

... and ended it with touch footy
at the local grounds

Last day of our ‘official’ cultural training today and it was quite emotional – not necessarily because we had to say a small wadda mooli to our teachers, but we talked about a lot of special moments that they had experienced over the years; moments of initiation that they had not expected to happen at the time; moments of messages from ancestors watching over them that could not be ignored; moments of optimism and laughter despite deep sadness and loss - it was a day full of stories with very spiritual experiences.

Tonight Lynette invited us down to the football fields to meet her sons and watch her daughters and partner play touch footy. We’ve been wonderfully fortunate already to have been warmly welcomed by everyone we meet. It’s made me think about the differences between our families at home and the indigenous families we’ve met so far - the differences are not so many, but they are there.

A key difference is ‘family’ - the size and context of it. So many families here are made up of five or six children. Older generations are even more likely to be one of 10+ siblings. So much for the one each for you and your partner and then one more for your country! And when they speak of family, it’s far wider than even grandparents and grandchildren. Family is uncles, aunts, cousins, elders and because each arm of each family is so large, an intimate gathering of immediate family becomes a reason to hire a hall!

Another difference I’ve noticed is ‘respect’. Renarta and Dorothy are one of a small group of people able to sign the permits that allow people to hunt for turtles. Today, a nephew of Renarta’s turned up at the centre to request a permit. He’d come all the way from Townsville, not realising they were here, but eager to go hunting that afternoon on the high tide. The permit allows people to take one turtle, or two if there is a special occasion, such as a wedding or a significant birthday, like a 90^th. Every part of the turtle is used in some way and every child learns that greed doesn’t pay, so they don’t hunt turtles if they still have anything remaining unused from a previous expedition. The season is also limited to periods outside of the breeding cycle so that numbers are not reduced and a lot of work is completed with the co-operation and support of the local marine authorities. Because the turtle is so significant to the Birri people, they show it an amazing amount of respect by following this process. They also show Renarta and Dorothy respect, by going out of their way to work with them and the government to complete the necessary forms. The nephew will return in the next couple of days with information regarding the turtle he took, including its tag if it has one. I just can’t imagine my own brothers being so respectful in regards the wishes of my Mum, but Elders and older people in the indigenous community certainly command such respect within their family and wider community.

Shelley, Aunty Renarta, Aunty Dorothy and me

At the end of our day with these beautiful women, we were told that we could call each Aunty, as we’d proven ourselves to be their guthalins (sisters) through our listening and questions and our own show of respect for all that we had been taught over the past few days. You can probably guess that I shed a few happy tears in that moment. Right now, I can’t imagine anyone in the whole wide world feeling luckier than me.

Ayrnother morning, Ayrnother walk …

Day 4: Tuesday 27 March (6pm, Ayr)



Dorothy's 'greeting' shirt
 -  the serpent and turtle
represent the spirit of
the Juru people



Alright, I know this is really going to annoy some of you who are hard at work right now, but please remember that I have been walking that treadmill very hard, and for many, many years (27 of them actually, give or take a year or so of intermittent travel). So when I found myself at 6am this morning, jumping out of bed to go for a walk with Shelley, you might be able to empathise a little with my almost uncontrollable desire to skip and shout for joy at how relaxed and full of life I am feeling! Maybe it’s the spirit of the Munda or just getting eight hours of sleep a night, but gosh it feels good to be here!

We spent most of today listening to Dorothy and Renarta share more stories, building our knowledge of their people’s history, customs, struggles and joys – in Dorothy’s words, “yarning”. This education will be all important for when we start work later this week on the business and reconciliation plans. We will be somehow weaving this background into the plans, so we’ve been soaking up as much as possible in anticipation of some challenging days ahead.

Much of the conversation today centred on the importance of kinship. As the eldest of 13 children, Dorothy took on the role of mother to at least six of her brothers and sisters, so her mother could concentrate on the babies. Even when she got married, she took in three to live with her in their early married years.  It’s because of this strong devotion to family that she believes the Smallwood mob all treat her like a ‘queen’ nowadays and we saw firsthand the number of calls and wishes she received throughout the day. There was a lot of disappointment that she wouldn’t be home to Townsville to celebrate with until late tomorrow.

Not all indigenous families are the same, but in Dorothy’s family, her sisters are all known as ‘grandma’ to all the grandchildren, regardless of who their real grandmother is. All her brothers and sisters have special talents and are renowned throughout the area for their respective works, but Dorothy has an important place of respect across even the broader family, so she often gets to make the final call on issues and debates that impact family members.

Lynette also shared her stories of kinship, and being of South Sea Islander descent, she had similar tales to tell. Her parents were around, but Lynette and her brother and sisters were brought up by her aunt’s, so she also has strong feelings of family being much broader than mum, dad and kids. It’s obviously bigger than Lynette’s family as everyone visiting today has called Renarta either ‘Aunty’ or ‘Sis’ at some stage – mind you, she’s such a warm person that I’ve been tempted to call her Aunty too!

Lastly, Renarta told us about life in the community that was settled in the former army huts in Townsville, known as Garbutt, and the sense of family that was developed there. If you can imagine the ocean looking out to Palm Island, then a settlement of tents just back from the beach, followed by a number of tin shacks known as Happy Valley, then a section of rows of neat fibro huts with shared facilities for bath and toilet in between the rows – this last area was Garbutt. All the men in this area would go off to work in the local meat works or public works or even as waterside workers. The women would all stay home and clean and care for children. The kids would run about all day, eating at one another’s houses and in the early evening, some mother would yell at them to all get going home and swing a broom at them – no one minded their kids being yelled at as they all felt a sense of responsibility to act as mother’s to the children, regardless of whether they were theirs or not.

There was no selection process to determine who got to live where, but the lucky families that got to live in a small section of old Queenslanders were designated the ‘upper class’, simply because the housing there was made of wood. The relationships between the families that commenced in Garbutt still hold fast today. Even at funerals, there are comments made if there is no representation from one of those old Garbutt families.

One of the unifying themes of these three indigenous women is their ability to tell a story – they admit themselves that their people have an uncanny ability to mimic a person’s actions or words, whether for good or bad, so that in the telling of a tale you can feel like you were there in the room with the original players.

So with this talent in mind, we thought we were very fortunate to be given homework that involved reading a short book Renarta had written, telling the story of her Dad's life, "Straight From the Yudaman's Mouth" (Yudaman being a horse). The story started with his early childhood in Bowen, to being rounded up with his family and taken to various missions before being settled on Palm Island. He was arrested for famously killing a man in self defence and subsequently released, having been acquitted. He went on to marry, father 14 children of which seven survived, rescue his family from devastating floods, and finally died at the grand old age of 95, with at least 101 descendants across four generations. It was an amazingly optimistic view of life in a time when most of his people were treated only barely better than slaves.  

Not a terribly good photo, but Dorothy and her birthday cake at the Ayr Anzac Memorial Club - our first night out!

It’s been an amazing few days of learning and Shelley and I are both in awe of these ladies and their tremendous spirit. Can’t wait to see what tomorrow will bring!

Walking on Ayr ...

Day 3: Monday 26 March (6pm, Ayr)

What a day! At 6am, I was full of energy and enthusiasm so began it with an hour long walk in the light rain – like most people, this is a real luxury as I’m normally rushing around the house to get ready to scoot into the office at this time!  At 6pm, I’m exhausted after burning through all my happy energy with the loveliest people today, and ready to cook dinner and head straight to bed! Let me tell you why …

Lynette is the office administrator. She’s also a mum to six kids, all under the age of 20, so she must have been up with the larks to get the family fed and watered and packed off to school/work in time to collect us from the motel. She spent the rest of the day making sure we were fed and watered and able to focus on the lessons we were getting in readiness for our projects.

Michaela is a trainee from TAFE, who also happens to be a cousin of Lynette’s and was ready to do any typing or running around we might have needed – of course it’s too early for any of that for us, but all offered anyway – everyone here is so amazingly friendly (just my kind of town!).

Next to join us were Renarta and Dorothy – our cultural trainers and guides. Renarta is an elder of the Juru clan and Dorothy is the Indigenous student support officer and part time lecturer at James Cook Uni. These amazing ladies shared precious histories of themselves, their parents, their grandparents and many others in between. I truly feel honoured to have spent the day in one-on-one training with these ladies and hope I can retell some of their stories fairly.

Renarta began the day with a traditional welcome, asking the spirits to welcome and watch over us in our work both in the building and outside of it today, all in the most mesmerising tone and beautiful language.  I was welcomed as a migaloo goothalin (white sister) by my midtha goothalins (you can guess that oneJ) and we each gave a brief history of our life story or who we were – my first lesson in the major differences between our cultures – their life stories began with their grandparents while we began with …   … us, of course.

Next was a history lesson, told in pictures, and obviously from an indigenous perspective. We commenced with the 1770’s and saw Cook depicted as a land clearing, disease bringing, murderous invader. We considered the slavery and forced religion of the late 1800’s which lasted well into the 1950’s. We contemplated the isolation that living as an aboriginal in a white environment would have brought about in the late 50’s and 60’s as they tried to assimilate into the western ideal of a working life, and the shame of being shunned by their original communities as they made changes to their world. This is the period of the stolen generation and stolen wages and deaths in custody, where many older aboriginals don’t talk about what happened as they fear the feelings of anger that arise in their children and grandchildren when they learn of the atrocities experienced.

We saw how the late 60’s and early 70’s saw the beginnings of change where efforts to understand and integrate resulted in the ability to marry without permission, or vote, or more importantly, to be counted in the census - but of course aboriginals were still expected to drink out the back of the pub and be home by curfew - unlike their white counterparts.  Finally, we looked at some of the more recent changes, of Mabo and land councils, of Charles Perkins and the Freedom Ride, of Wik and the Laura Dance Festival – and with so much context, we were ready to explore the local culture.

Shelley and Dorothy listening to
Renarta share the local history
(the Munda is in the background)



The dreamtime story

So, after lunch, we went outside to see what the snake sculpture was all about.  Turns out that it’s actually the representation of the local Jura tribe’s spirit (apparently every tribe around Australia has a snake spirit which together make up the Rainbow Serpent of the dreamtime stories). This snake, or Munda, is guarding the remains of four ancient local aboriginals, whose bones have been returned to this spot from museums and the like around the country. It was beautiful to watch Renarta and Dorothy give another welcome or “hello” to the spirits of these ancient relatives, letting them know they were here to watch over their resting place and protect them. Nothing seems to happen without some acknowledgement to the ‘Great Creator’, but it’s not tacky or contrived - just peaceful.

I asked Renarta how it is that she became an elder as I wasn’t so sure it was her age. She humbly told us that it in her 50’s she finally became interested and started asking her Dad all sorts of questions about their history and culture. She didn’t realise just how much of the information was being retained until her four older brothers pointed out one day that she would become an elder as they'd seen how people would look to her at important meetings for guidance. She was surprised by this, but they insisted that their Dad had told them it was to be. She asked her father why it wasn’t going to be one of her older brothers and she realised that she actually did have answers for all the questions that were being asked within the community and she knew it was right. She is turning 70 this year but her mind is as sharp as any younger person’s. She’s quite sure that the spirits she calls on for help are guiding her carefully.

Back into the centre and we were finally joined by Eddie, Chairperson of the Gudjuda Reference Group and John, the Business Development Manager who were both eager to hear how we'd enjoyed the day.  A few repeats of stories and special events and they sat us down to watch a quick DVD of them and their families 'turtle tagging' with some local marine specialists. This is one of the adventures we're going to be taken on at the end of our time here and the DVD contained all the people we'd met so far, so we jumped at the chance to take a copy of it home.

Hugs and kisses all around (we're family now!) and we headed home to catch up on grocery shopping.  Dinner tomorrow night is at the RSL to celebrate Dorothy's birthday, so don't wait up for my report!! :)

Sunday Morning Ayr ...

Day 2: Sunday 25 March

2pm, Ayr

'Home Sweet Home' for five weeks

Safe and sound in Ayr – collected at the airport yesterday by John, Gudjuda’s Business Development Manager and his lovely wife, Lyn. We got the low down on Ayr and the surrounding communities during the hour drive south, from Townsville. Perfect intro to the friendliness of the locals!

Home for the next week for Shelley and five weeks for me is the Ayrline Motel. We’re already firm friends with Ray, the very generous owner who couldn’t do enough to make us feel comfortable – completely unprompted he dropped off a bowl of hot chips to us last night, just because we were sitting out in the shade, waiting for evening to fall.

Nippers at Alva Beach

We’re an hour behind Sydney so up at 6am and straight into a walk around town in the early morning light. Saw my first cane toad (probably not something to be thrilled about but I’ve never been this far north before!). Everything in town was closed, bar a newsagent and chemist so we took a taxi ride out to Alva Beach where the local nippers were in training. The water was pretty murky following last week’s storm and floods, but it was lovely to feel the sand between our toes. Even managed to scratch out a couple of sketches, so you can tell I am feeling completely relaxed!

Time for a nana nap - blame the humidity!!

Adventure Begins ...

Day 1: Saturday 24 March (7am, Sydney)

Have been unable to control my excitement for the past two weeks, but today is the day the adventure begins! Five weeks in Ayr in far north Queensland and I’m a little nervous - probably just enough that you might call it ‘healthy nervousness’ – probably ...

Four weeks ago I submitted an application (horribly awkward listing strengths and achievements - definitely not my strong point!) and, well, something must have appealed to the ABV people as they interviewed me a week later, laughed at my interview style, gave me the job and two weeks later, I’m about to jump on a plane!

I’ve got all sorts of ideas floating through my head, about what Townsville airport is going to look like, how friendly Eddie and John will be in person, how different the cultures of the people I’ll be meeting might be, just what the humidity is going to do to my hair – it’s chaos in my head, but fuelled by the promise of adventure as I leave behind the comforts and routines of home!  Time to go see what it’s really like!