Trip Blog 5 (by Duke Albada)

Ngunnhu : fish traps at Brewarrina

These days, as in immemorial times, people tend to flock to places where food is a plenty. Such one place is the Ngunnhu (fish traps) at Brewarrina. A stretch of 500m various dry stone wall ponds showcases knowledge of river hydrology and fish ecology. Though in the Ngemba nation, this location has always been a very important gathering site for many language groups. And still the spirit of this place is strong

Hence I stay a little longer at the Barwon River and explore the regions diverse cultivation, wildlife and historic significance. Moving between the "renowned for fishing" bush campsite alongside the river to the historic fish traps, canola farmland, the plains and the township. This was one of the few places where the wider landscape features as much in my footage as close up details.

Trip Blog 4 (by Duke Albada)

Wyandra

My connection to country concentrates on the land; the nature and environment but all these are influenced and sometimes completely appropriated by people. During my travels I meet with traditional custodians, speak with contemporary keepers such as park rangers, encounter cowboys and farmers but also catch up with council staff, youth workers, a radio presenter, a kangaroo hunter and corner pub/restaurant owners and families. Their lives, their stories are part of the landscape.

In general each person places certain demands on the land, and looks after it in a way that suits those demands. This has resulted in a huge alteration of the landscape ensuing in a loss of the possibility of traditional living.

Minnie Downs (Tambo)

Road-trip notes; a scale of sentimental values

Sandy tracks meander into shrubbery bush,
we head to mysterious destinations unknown.
A tree trunk rigidly salutes.

The sun-paled sky crowns iconic yellow grass fields,
beside lush green evidence of intense irrigation,
alternated by weary not-so-virgin stretches of ploughed red earth.
Worn tree speckled plateaus lie alongside smoking coal copies.

Parked cattle trucks shake,
sounding low "moos" and heavy hooves,
perfuming the air.

Red dusted car and lizzy blooded tires.
Mass fly suicides on my exoskeleton.
Crosses, rubber and roo corpses line the roads.
King wings soar above a murder feasting.

Sloth paced refuelling
10min parking spaces urge otherwise.
I zoom in and on

Trip Blog 2 (by Duke Albada)

The Gemfields

Walking the dry creek bed without a shovel, bucket, or sieve means my fossicking experience in the gem fields is limited to observation and fantasy. But bedding down I find that the precious stones I was seeking are all suspended in my ceiling.  Though the star flooded sky completely annihilates any significance I may place on my person, it also excites myriad thoughts of possibilities and mysteries hidden in the "outer world".  I watch Mirrabooka* rising and find the emu in the Milky Way, though I confess I haven't learnt any of the local Yagalingu interpretations and names. 

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