The weather is extremely hot here. It is hard to get comfortable, as when you might find a shaded area to relax a million Mosquitos will then bite you.
In the morning I was keen to get into town and have a banana smoothie. I had two yesterday afternoon when arriving in town and couldn't wait to get another. It's great in these country towns, as you don't have big business chains destroying the hospitality sector. This seems to retain quality home cooked foods and in this case well made fruit smoothies. I went down to the shops with the couple I spent last night with.
We sat together enjoying the smoothie in town. As we were sitting there many aboriginal children were coming into the bakery. All the children wanted were sausage rolls and fizzy drinks, usually coke. The couple I were with started to feel really uncomfortable, also having concern of their car as they thought it may not have been locked properly. Although the Aboriginal people seem very wild around this town they don't appear to be aggressive people or have the mindset to cause trouble. It was in this situation I could see very easily how generalisations form. This is not to say the condition of this community isn't genuinely shocking, but I was definitely eager and confident that there had to be another side to what we were seeing.
The couple had to shoot off and I once again said goodbye to some other valued travel companions. After they left I went into the information centre asking about any information on Aboriginal culture in the area. The lady was pretty surly and wasn't to keen to talk about the Aboriginal culture. She expressed that the people around town are not even an inkling to how bad Aboriginal communities are. I managed to find out about a cultural centre close by and went over for a look.
In the centre I saw a section out the back for languages in the area. In the room I met two people who were sitting at desks talking. It felt as if it wasn't a room designed for tourists, but after introducing my self I managed to pull up a seat with them. We got along like a house on fire, talking mostly about political issues and the current work being done with indigenous languages around the country. It helped as I managed to know a few people that they've dealt with back in Victoria. After this tension had dropped even more as it seemed a level of trust had been formed through the mutual acquaintances we had.
During our conversation the gentleman there offered to take me out on Country. I couldn't believe it, I was wrapped. It almost felt surreal, as this is one o the main things I've been looking forward to on my trip. The two had also explained much if the Aboriginal presence in town is a mix of people from northern parts travelling down here to escape heat and chase alcohol.
I went back to the caravan park and had to get my stuff sorted quickly so I'd be ready for tomorrow. About an hour later the man came to pick me up. His name is Gubby, meaning water in Wirangu language. This man was very intelligent, not only on his own culture but also in understanding political structures. This is an area he has had to deal with a lot from what he told me. I learnt a lot off him, not only about the plants and stories of the country and culture but also the type of issues associated with Native title and other political issues associated with Indigenous self determination. Other issues we spoke about also included alcoholism amongst his people.
This time was really unbelievable. He took me out on their traditional country, showed me bush foods along with some saltwater foods, such as oysters that we snacked on, and also the dreaming stories of the country. I could tell it was great for both of us to get out on country and enjoy the time together.
At the end of the night Gubbi dropped me back at the caravan park. I could sense a uncomforted feeling from him, as I expected he felt out of place in the caravan park. This is a business ran by local white people and I realised that other local aboriginal people may have been told to leave in the past for one reason or another. This is the impression I got but it could have been anything. I told him he was a guest of mine and that I had some kangaroo meat in the caravan kitchen. His eyes lit up and we ate the kangaroo together.
I said my farewells and hope to see him again. He has plans to head to Melbourne so I will wait and see what happens.
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