Further Ayrfield …

Day 14: Good Friday 6 April (7pm, Ayr)

Hire car at the ready – it was time for some exploring today! Shelley drove up from Bowen for an early start. We headed out to Charters Towers to see what this town, with its history of the first Stock Exchange in Australia, had to offer.

Original architecture

CT certainly has gorgeous architecture and we got to see some of it firsthand. We pulled up in front of an old pub and as the doors were wide open, we thought we’d wander in and see about a drink – it was mid morning, so coffee of course! Well, the pub was no longer a pub, but instead, had been converted to cater for a mix of different accommodation budgets. The owner found us immediately we walked in and offered to give us a tour. We weren’t sure if it was a museum of sorts or whether there was a fee, but he enthusiastically showed us around the entire building, greeting a permanent guest as he made a cup of coffee (wearing a chef’s hat, as you do), knocking at another guests’ door to check they had cleared out, and then revealing the ‘honeymoon suite’ with its supersized spa and bonus mannequin sporting an antique wedding dress (thankfully it wasn’t on show today as we didn’t want to ruin the surprise should we ever decide to have a second honeymoon). In 35 minutes we got the full tour, including the cellars, which we weren’t too sure about but proved harmlessly full of antiques ready for repair. The owner has truly done an amazing job of restoring the building safely and with oodles of character. Almost a shame that we had to press on, but we did …

We grabbed the coffee we’d been after at Henry’s Restaurant just down the road and then we drove up to the lookout to see some of the mine shafts and a holographic show. Turns out the show doesn’t commence till 6pm, but still worth the view and a bit more history of the area. Not much was open so we headed off for Ravenswood.



Ravenswood quarry



A Ravenswod pub



Ravenswood is a ‘legitimate’ ghost town – not sure what that means exactly, but we suspect shenanigans on the ghost town status as there was a bit of activity in and around the town today! The pub that said it was open all day over Easter was closed, so it was lucky that we’d brought our own lunch, and we drove up to a lookout over the local gold mining quarry to find a spot to eat it. Back down the hill after lunch, we noticed that another pub that had looked closed was actually open and there was a woman wandering around in a cape, so maybe those ghosts were playing tricks on us after all. Just to be sure, we drove on up to the cemetery to have a look around and found some gorgeous gates that had been made for it early last century.



Headed back towards home when Steve suggested we stop in at the Billabong Sanctuary as he’d had such a good day there yesterday. We arrived there at 3.45pm. Gates closed at 4pm. Front desk looked at us quizzically and gave in to us as 3.47pm (with a 66% discount!). We raced around to see the dingoes, crocs, and turtles and managed to pat some kangaroos and a wombat and take a few photos of birds and out by 4.04pm. It really was a whirlwind tour!

Fish and chips for dinner – sleep now J

PhotographAyr …

Day 13: Thursday 5 April (9pm, Ayr)

Gudjuda's soon-to-be cafe!

Very quiet in the office today – ‘Sorry Business’ (funeral) for one of Michaela’s aunts, so the painters and Michaela finished around 11am and Lynette took the day off to help prepare food. Before she left, Michaela and I had the task of running around town to photograph the various work initiatives that Gudjuda has running or in plan. So I’ve finally got a picture of the new dining area to show off – looks like a gorgeous old Queenslander when looking up from the park.

There is also a Bush Tucker walk in the park, so we headed over to the entrance to add a photo to our collection. After the cyclone a couple of weeks ago and the storm that followed, some of the park was underwater and the walk has been badly damaged. The Aunty’s warned me that there would be mosquito’s and maybe snakes too, so Michaela and I were a bit tentative about heading in too far. We soon realised that there was no point in taking photo’s as everything was covered in mud. A few steps in and I heard a big ‘plonk’ in the water. I turned to Michaela and asked if there were crocs here. She hesitated and gave me a timid ‘maybe’. A millisecond later we had turned and started running back towards the car, when …                  … I could turn this into a fantastic story or even just let you think it was a really smart move to fly out of there, but with the benefit of hindsight, it was ummm, probably, ummm, a frog. L

I spent most of the quiet opportunity today putting together an action plan to achieve the Reconciliation Action Plan. It’s likely to take longer than my five weeks here, but things move at a different pace in FNQ anyway, so I’m not taking any chances that the Group won’t achieve their goal! I asked Eddie how quickly we might be able to get the stakeholders together to talk through their expectations and ideas. He suggested that it might not be for a couple of weeks, so my back up plan is to pull together a variety of ideas, using my new understanding of the Group’s objectives and other RAPs as a starting point. I’ll also try to catch up with the stakeholders individually over the next few weeks to gather as much as I can, as quickly as I can. I guess it’s easier for them to critique than create, but I don’t want to stymie the creativity of these remarkable people, so will be very careful in my sharing of ideas. 

We had an early finish to the day, so I took Steve for a drive over to Home Hill to see the Burdekin Bridge and the views from Inkerman Hill. We found a turnoff to an old WW2 site, so curious about what could possibly be there, we followed the road and came upon a couple of bunkers. Apparently they housed alternators to power a radar station that provided an early warning system in case of enemy aircraft. Don’t know if they ever tracked anything but an unexpected surprise for us anyway!

Back to Ayr for dinner at the local tavern – won’t see any vampires tonight after a delish meal of barramundi in garlic sauce - mmmm :)

A Dose of Fresh Ayr …

Day 12: Wednesday 4 April (9pm, Ayr)

Tough jogging past this ...
 ... good reason to walk instead!

It was a gorgeous sunrise this morning and there was lots of excitement in my steps today (I hear you saying “unlike every other day”, but this was different!). Steve (husband) arrived this afternoon for the Easter weekend and I was like a girl with a high school crush waiting anxiously for him to arrive all day!

By some fluke, everyone was in the office at the same time this afternoon, so Steve got to meet Eddie and John, Lynette and Michaela, and even Eddie’s lovely wife Diane who had popped in to say hello. We were all actually waiting for the Mayor to visit as she is keen to see the new dining area now that it’s up to painting stage. After a few time checks we reviewed her email - turns out that she was going to try to visit, so I guess we’ll expect her another day, but the welcome wasn’t wasted - Steve quickly got into the spirit of Ayr with a tour of the premises and said all the right things as he heard about the important initiatives already underway and those in planning too.

My first 'in the wild' brolga!

Eddie let me get away a bit earlier this afternoon, so I took Steve around the main streets of Ayr to see the shops and sights, out to the beach for a stroll through the sand (saw a brolga in the fields on the way out there!), over to the Commercial for a delicious dinner, out to the touch footy games to meet Lynette’s kids and see them strut their stuff on the field, and finally, back to the hotel for a quick dip in the pool – all that in less than 6 hours!

Other than that, it was a normal day in the office, so apologies this is a boring blog today but catch you tomorrow with more news from Ayr! J

Quirky Ayr … (or reasons to love a country town)

Day 11: Tuesday 3 April (actually 7am on the 4th, Ayr)

Ooops! Forgot to post this last night, and only remembered this morning while out walking! Not too much to tell anyway – you can see I’m getting stuck into the work now.

I started work on the Reconciliation Action Plan yesterday. There are around 300 organisations that have a RAP and I’ve been looking at a couple to get some ideas for ours. A RAP is a commitment to work with indigenous people and organisations and lists vision statements and clear actions to be achieved. Our RAP will be a little different as it’s about an indigenous organisation working with everyone else, so it’s pretty exciting. I’ll be calling on the government advisors today to see what help they can provide us and I’m sure they will jump at the opportunity – well, maybe ‘jump’ is too strong a word, but I’ll see some enthusiasm for sure!

Thought I’d share some of the quirkier sides to a country town today.



A house that seems to attract pigeons like no other around it.



A fence I just love for its kitsch value.

Speakers in the main streets, playing the radio all day.

Which came first, the house or the footpath?



Ice ready when you are – love this idea!





Still loving this Ayr! J


Ayr Traffic Control …

Day 10: Monday 2 April (8pm, Ayr)

First day of real work and it was fabulous - yes, I’m talking about work!! Well, it began with big, bright smiles from Lynette and a huge welcoming hug from John, so was off to a great start!

Eddie was working most of the day in his paid job as Police Liaison Officer but he dropped in and out to check whether he could help me understand the various plans I’ve been asked to review.

With everyone travelling through here on their way to the now combined men’s/women’s trip to Mile Island, we had visitors to the office throughout the day. Renarta and Bim popped in on their way to the shops and stayed for a cuppa. I got to meet another Board Member, Charmaine, as she took a break from the campsite too.

I then met one of the goanna's that have been hiding out in the garden as he sat in the sunshine in front of our entrance - he didn't stay long.

One more new person for the day - Jardine, Michaela’s Dad, had come in to check out the new decking that was finished on Friday. He’ll be painting and staining the deck and surrounds, in readiness for it to be opened up as a café in a couple of months – one of the very important and ongoing employment initiatives for this group. The business plan for the café has already been written, but it’s one of the plans I’ve been given to review and enhance with the cultural aspects I’ve been learning about over the past week.

John and the Gudjuda board have been responsible for employing more than 30 indigenous people over recent years. This is more than all the Townsville job search agencies have been able to employ in the same timeframe and this incredible success is getting noticed.  It’s one of the key reasons they were selected by ABV (Australian Business Volunteers) for the program I’m participating in. It’s also spurring them on to formalise other ideas as business plans, including the visions they have for the showgrounds at Home Hill that I visited last week. However, the amount of paperwork required by each submission is enormous and a little surprising to me when there seems to be an abundance of funds made available to some indigenous organisations. But the rigour behind the submissions is all taken in its stride by the team, who just start work on the next as soon as the last has been dropped off to the post office.

After my first full day in the office, I headed for home with the plans under my arm to keep working on them over dinner. I guess it will take more than a week in the country to shock the workaholic out of me, but this is so exciting and I can’t wait to get a strong template together for my Gudjuda friends in the hope that it makes their future submissions a little bit easier to prepare.

So it’s been a day of people (and animal!) traffic and even an evening visitor! Ray has just wandered over with a book he’s written of ‘Practical Recipes’, obviously from his own busy kitchen. Only last night I heard a regular guest asking Ray for their favourite meal from his menu. He’s been such a thoughtful host, always looking out for me to be sure I'm OK. I really don't have to look far to be reminded of how very lucky I am - I'm in good hands and definitely being watched over by some special angels while here! J

Quiet Ayr …

Day 9: Sunday 1 April (6pm, Ayr)

Look up, my people,

The dawn is breaking

The world is waking

  To a bright new day,

When none defame us

No restriction tame us

Nor colour shame us

  Nor sneer dismay.

From A Song of Hope, by Oodgeroo Noonuccal (Kath Walker), from the book My people: a Kath Walker collection. To read more of this beautiful poem:  http://www.creativespirits.info/aboriginalculture/arts/aboriginal-poems/a-song-of-hope.html#ixzz1qh8PJKlM

Sundays in Ayr are quiet, there’s no question, but that gave me time today to look up some of the things we’d talked about this past week. People and frameworks and footage on YouTube, all supporting and growing my knowledge of the indigenous culture. It’s going to be a big week ahead, so lucky there is a long weekend coming up, as I think I'm going to need the rest.

If you are interested to see for yourself a little more about what I’ve been learning about, here is a link to three short excerpts of a movie called ‘Lousy Little Sixpence’. If you only have time for one, then number 2 is my recommendation: ‘Pretty frocks’. I couldn't get the volume to work, but the transcripts are just below the screen and a guide for teachers as well. They’re all very quick and easy reads so you can get the point easily, but watching their faces as they speak and seeing the old footage is part of the experience too.

http://aso.gov.au/titles/documentaries/lousy-little-sixpence/clip2/ 

Men’s Business …

Day 8: Saturday 31 March (10pm, Ayr)

Today was a day of learning about men’s business.

It began with our trip to Bowen to deliver Shelley to her special role for the rest of this adventure. We were picked up by Eddie and Dorothy’s brother, Alfred - number 4 in the family for those who are counting and affectionately known as Uncle Bim.

Bim is another very special man who gives up much of his time for his people and the community. He also prefers to remain in the background, so I don’t feel as though I can share a lot of what he told us, but to give you a small perspective on why helping our Indigenous men is so important, I’ll try to share some of what he taught us here.

Bim’s professional role is with Murri Watch. In this job, he meets with indigenous men and women to teach them that if they don’t follow Indigenous LORE (land, origin, respect, elders), they will inevitably end up in trouble with the Law. So he meets the accused person while they are staying in the watch house and talks to them about what they’ve done. There is a lot of shame involved in this process, so it’s not unusual for a man to go to court, keep his head down and simply respond ‘guilty’ when asked, regardless of the reason for his misdemeanour. Bim works with them to understand the ‘why’ behind the ‘what’ and then encourages them to speak up in the court. As an Elder, seated right next to the magistrate in the court, he is often called upon to help finish the telling of a tale if the accused can’t for any reason. It must sound strange to those who are new to the Murri Court when the magistrate calls on ‘Uncle Bim’ to help with the proceedings!

Bim uses quite a few tools to help heal his people emotionally. He facilitates a program that helps the men learn to get back the warrior strength that the indigenous people once had. He draws on analogies that the men can relate to and uses his own experiences and personal struggles to help the men see that they really don’t want to go to gaol. He shows them that if they go in, there is a risk that when they come out, they may find that the government has given their wives such good benefits that they don’t necessarily want the men back. This creates more shame and that’s when the men typically turn back to old, negative ways. He teaches them to take pride in their history and to reach deep into their emotions to be the warrior and remember the strength that they need to survive.

Bim didn’t necessarily like the way that some of the healing processes he had used in the past were working. With the best of intentions, it seemed that the men were not being taught to explain to their women what they were doing to recover or heal themselves, and this led to more problems which placed the healing programs at risk. He found that men would come back to him asking how to deal with their women. The men complained that their women sometimes questioned whether they had another woman if they started taking the kids to the park or asked if the other woman had a better house if they suddenly began washing dishes. He could see a gap in the systems, so he began his own Men’s Shed and of the men he commenced with in September last year, not one has re-offended – this is such an amazing success that he is drawing attention and being asked to consult professionally. Despite this, he’s very humble about the part he is playing, but you can see and hear the pride in his voice. His Men’s Shed began in the lounge room of his apartment, grew out to the carport so the men could talk in the open air, and now he’s looking for a tree big enough to set up seating in a wide circle all the way around its trunk so that the men can talk where they feel most comfortable. He talks to the men openly about his life story; about being in gaol himself; about 24/7 partying; about stopping the drink eight years ago and having a better life in so many ways since then. He speaks to them very honestly and openly and always from his heart.

Bim and another friend recently painted a mural of the Gubulla Munda on the wall of the women’s prison. He found that in the men’s prison, the inhabitants were typically from this area, so they could share their common stories and lore and help each other. In the women’s prison, many of the women were from other areas and as each part of the country is very different to the indigenous people, he found that the women were exceedingly fearful. He noticed that there were three blank walls in the women’s prison and decided to paint a mural and story of the Gubbula Munda on one wall. He left the remaining two walls blank and explained to the women that they should get together to paint their own totems on those walls. He said that if their daughters and granddaughters would one day come here, they would see the paintings and be reminded of their stories which would calm then and they’d realise that they did not need to be so scared.

Jim and Bim with me and the Gubulla Munda and her Brolgas

So my round trip to Bowen was filled with more fascinating education! As we drove into this part of the country, Bim had interrupted a tale to acknowledge the traditional owners of the land, just as he always does when he moves through the countryside. We stopped at Jim’s – a good friend to Gudjuda, local Elder and one of the traditional owners of this land. Even though Bim could have told us the stories we were about to hear, he respected that this was Jim’s role so we stopped off to see the sister totem to our Gubulla Munda in Ayr and heard from Jim about the significance of this place. In the past, a pair of brolgas was always seen around here. The waterways are not quite the same nowadays, so they no longer stop here, but their spirit is in this memorial and watching over the ancient bones buried here. We gave them all a Wadda Mulli to acknowledge their spirits and ensure we were looked after while here.

Her eyes watched us no matter where we stood!





I'm not going to explain this ...                                                
                                   ... come to Bowen and see for yourself!

 

Now to make you all really jealous – the 360˚ café on Flagstaff Hill is Shelley’s ‘office’ for the next four weeks. Check out this view! It’s the top of the Whitsunday’s, an hour from Airlie Beach and surrounded by the most beautiful blue seas. The bay below us is where the turtle tagging takes place. With the sun shining down on us, we were in heaven! I don’t know how Shelley is going to focus on anything as all I’d be thinking of would be cruising those gorgeous islands for the afternoon, with a cocktail in one hand and a fan in the other with an umbrella protecting me from the rays and …

Sorry – lost it there for just a moment but it’s all good – Steve arrives in time for the Easter weekend this week, so we’ll be heading back to Bowen very soon, for sure! :)