Hunter!

Hello! Well, as promised, I'll now share with you one of the exciting things that happened whilst we were living out in the bush...

On the third day of camp, the third group of campers arrived at the campsite where myself and Lotte (the other gappie who came on camp with me) were staying at. Now, not that I had my favourites or anything, but I really connected with this beautiful group of young people. This probably occurred for several reasons, including the fact that we had a day and a half together as opposed to only one day. This particular group was 15 large, and within this there were three boys-Dylan (who is in one of the classes I assist with and was mentioned in a previous blog), Stevo (who is in the same class) and Anthony-who were the only Indigenous students. Even though they were boisterous, loud and attention seeking most of the time, they were very quiet and reserved around the white kids. Easy to understand if you're outnumbered like that though.

On the forth day, in the morning, we all went for an explore down the gorge that we were camped near. I know right now that I am going to fail terribly at attempting to describe the mysterious and overwhelming beauty of this place. Totally ancient, yet with an atmosphere of something just being created the day before, this place is entrancing. I wouldn't be surprised if this wasn't a significant place for the Aborigines when they lived here. Apparently there was some Aboriginal art on one of the gorge walls, but the area was too massive and we couldn't find it. The gorge was littered with gigantic boulders that looked as though they'd been tumbled there by a giant, the river was fresh and cool, there were several swimming holes, sandy banks, jagged rocks, little frogs, goannas, massive fishes in the water, spiders, and I even found a crab shell! The walls of the gorge were sheer, the sky was opened up above us and we were totally isolated.

In the photo above, i was trying to capture the clear, perfectly blue, hot sky. Never a cloud in the sky out in the bush! I don't think I saw one all week!

So anyway, I'll put up some more photos of the gorge another time, and now I'll get on with the story...

So as I said before, the Indigenous kids seemed a little shy. But by the forth day, they had gained a lot more confidence and were mucking around with the others. In comparison to the three boys, the rest of us white fellas looked totally incompetent in the natural environment. We would gingerly climb over the rocks whilst Dylan would leap like a wild cat from boulder to boulder, and never did his feet fail him. He then showed us how to catch the little frogs by trapping them in his hand on the rocks, and would entertain us by throwing them in the water for the fish to gobble (although I put on a casual face, I was internally horrified-I love frogs!). So already I was really impressed by the boys' ability and knowledge about how to survive in the bush, and yet the real fun hadn't even begun!

As I was on my way down one of the rocks, I came across Dylan and Anthony under an overhang, and beside them lying on the ground was a dead goanna!! I was like "Dylan, did you kill that goanna?" and he said very matter of factly "yeah miss!" I found out that he had spotted the lizard, carved his own spear from a stick and thrown it, only to aim true right through its throat! I asked him if he was going to eat it, and he replied "I only kill what I'm going to eat miss!"

Thus the group clambered over the rocks back to the camp, where Dylan proceeded to cut out the organs of the goanna (if you want to be grossed out, read this sentence, if you don't, skip to the next paragraph...the heart was still beating 20 minutes after it had died)

Dylan new exactly what to do-he cooked and cut the goanna for us all and shared it with everyone (gonna tastes like tough chicken!). He knew how to remove the yucky tasting bits, he new how to stitch it up, he new how to place it in the coals, he new how to cut up the cooked meat. Such knowledge!

Check out the photos! I love the fact that Dylan the hunter has his frowning, serious face on!

It was a very special occasion for all of the group. it was very special that Dylan shared the meat with all of us, but that's the Aboriginal way. What belongs to one person belongs to the whole family.

It was also special because it gave us a chance to reflect on where our food comes from. The group leader, Nick, took the opportunity to remind us that we must always respect the life that is sacrificed for us to live (remind you of something else?) In our culture, it's so convenient to grab some meat out of the fridge, and we often don't think about the process behind where our food comes from, and we don't acknowledge the animal that had life. It's easier to only think of the end product, and probably more comfortable.

So that was an account of one of the things that really inspired me out in the bush. We often forget how intelligent Aboriginal people are, and we think that our way is somehow more superior. Silly us, I couldn't even catch a baby frog!!!

I'll share some more of the camp adventures next time, there are a lot of thoughts and experiences that I want to write about for you!

I hope you're all going really well, wherever you are and whatever things you are doing!