This morning Matt and I went to a local market at the Subiaco primary school. This was great and I thoroughly enjoyed the set up. It is a great example of utilising open space that would otherwise be dormant. The primary school is a perfect place for such small scale local markets as it has all the required elements - power, toilets, shelter, open area for children to play, and a host of other features.
After this Matt took me to Kings Park. This is a beautiful park located right next to the main city centre. The park is very large, bearing a large proportion of natural bush land. I found this very interesting as most city parks are completely defunct of natural bush. It was an interesting contrast looking at a finely groomed landscape (thick dark green grass freshly mowed, European trees, open space) to that of Australian shrub land (yellow from dryness, burnt looking, thickly clumped together). It made me wander on the biodiversity of the scrubland, whether it would still be active being so close to the city centre. It also reminded me of a few weeks ago when I was riding through Margaret River region and I saw on one side of the road a thick pine tree plantation that spanned for many km's, and then on the left side of the road natural thick bush land that also spanned for many km's. On this occasion it felt like I was looking at two worlds. The pine tree plantation, although being green and hiding any bare ground, was completely desolate of any animal life. I couldn't hear one bird chant or see one nest in the trees. On the left side however, full of native vegetation, the birds were in full flight making many beautiful sounds and from the angles I could see having many nests throughout. I must of looked at bit crazy at this moment, swerving from one side to another listening to the sounds of the birds!
This made me think about the environmental connection of Aboriginal people. How distraught they must of been when first colonised. To see rapid transformation in the landscape must of been what the apocalypse is to Christians. The provider of life would so suddenly be destitute of this very thing, along with rich stories, sacred places and connections with ancestors. I think very few people may ever understand this connection. It will be a great day when modern society can incorporate this deep respect back into our earth.
Later on today I went back to my friend Luke's. Tomorrow pick up my bike and start getting my gear ready!
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