The reminiscing with friends made me reflect on our life together as Joint Coordinators of the Southern Branch of the Union of Australian Women. We shared twenty-plus years of friendship and I wanted to honour her legacy too, but like so many good intentions writing the post never happened.
Amy had been recently widowed for the second time when we first met and understood the stress of being a carer. She was a supportive and wise counsel in my life and even more so when my husband, John died and I became a single mother with two teenage daughters, juggling teaching work and coordinating the Mordialloc Writers’ Group, plus the UAW activities. Later when a breast cancer diagnosis happened barely a year after my mother died, and the GST had wiped out 60% of what little superannuation I had accrued, I was grateful to have Amy in my life encouraging me to stay focused on the future not only making me feel valued but keeping me motivated.
I have pondered what to include to show the historical struggle and development (and sometimes progress) of many of the campaigns we shared because Amy believed actions spoke louder than words.
It was easy to forget she was twenty years older because of her attitude, beautiful soft skin – and amazing energy. Her life experience plus her commitment to social justice inspirational and educational. It is no surprise Amy “fought for equality, women’s rights, refugees and against Apartheid, War, and racism all her life.” As a member of Grandmothers for Refugees, she continually protested the detention of children.
I miss her vibrancy, the discussions about current issues and the continued struggle for social justice even after the Southern Branch no longer met because of the health and ageing of members (including us!). We often spoke via the telephone during the pandemic. I miss the laughter and sharing stories and memories.
Below is the last UAW photograph of Amy and me. We are with Anne Sgro from UAW head office as she presented the Southern Branch with a certificate for funds donated. Funds that helped make a difference to women in need and other organisations achieving practical social justice outcomes.
Amy was fearless when challenging injustice whatever its shape (she campaigned to save her local swimming pool from closing – and won!). This boundless energy was matched by a love of cooking. Her culinary expertise and generosity are legendary. Some of the most successful Southern Branch meetings at Mordialloc Neighbourhood House were soup and dessert lunches (I made the soup and Amy supplied dessert).
Amy sourced guest speakers to lead discussions on topics such as First Nations’ rights, asylum seekers, human rights, marriage equality, hospital funding, freedom of choice, dying with dignity, mental health, domestic violence, climate change, genetic modification of our food, the peace movement, saving the ABC, education … and expert speakers on international conflicts – sadly there was always the tragedy of war in some part of the world.
Our meetings were interesting and educational and I prepared letters for members to sign and post so that we acted on our concern or outrage.
Amy’s commitment to the labour movement and the Labor Party was honoured by those who spoke at her memorial: Anne Sgro, Secretary of the Union of Australian Women Victorian Branch, Clare O’Neill, Minister for Home Affairs and Steve Dimopoulos Minister for Environment and Minister for Outdoor Recreation, as well as several family members. (Former Prime Minister Simon Crean was too ill to attend and sent his apologies.)
The speakers had personal stories of being helped, advised, nurtured and sometimes admonished by Amy as she took her participation as a rank-and-file member of the Labor Party seriously. Secretary for many years of the Hotham Branch she determined to make every politician accountable. She was active in Labor for Refugees. (One of the conversations I had with Amy after she chose to move into aged care was her joy that she was now “in Daniel’s electorate” and could vote for him!)
When I thought about our efforts for equality, and equity for women and campaigns demanding Australia treat asylum seekers with dignity I despaired hearing the tripe uttered by Sussan Ley, Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party before, during and after the recent Dunkley By-election. It was the impetus needed to fulfil the promise I made to write a tribute to Amy who, like me admired the late Peta Murphy, the first woman to represent Dunkley and one who championed trade union rights and women’s rights.
Unlike Sussan Ley who bought another property on tax payer’s time and would have no idea about the mortgage and rental stress of ordinary people struggling to maintain one home, Peta cared about people who didn’t have the luxury of large incomes. I doubt Ms Ley can relate to the women who work in hospitality – not the CEOs or hotel and restaurant owners or investors, but those who cook, serve and wash up at the functions she attends. Does she even know their pay rate? What about the staff (mainly women) who service the rooms of the hotels she stays in? Instead of offering support to Brittany Higgins she played politics, and why did she vote against increasing workplace protections for women?
I worry that International Women’s Day has been taken over by marketers and media hype when the people needing to be heard and helped are nowhere in sight or are ignored. Corporate entities and Liberal Party identities rarely champion diversity, inclusion and gender equality but IWD is an excuse for functions and photo-ops. Where are the policies and where is the funding to make a real difference?
An issue both Amy and I felt strongly about was Domestic Violence – and I know she too would be dispirited that barely a week passes without headlines detailing yet another murder.
Is Australia still leading the world regarding Women’s Rights?
After a history of being progressive in the early 19th century, Australia may be losing the opportunity to remain a world leader regarding women’s rights.
Women are murdered more often by a partner than a stranger but there have also been shocking predatory attacks on young women on their way home from an evening out, work, or studying.
Everyone must ask why the #metoo and #blacklivesmatter movements are necessary to get a cultural change.
Where is equal pay? These are the latest statistics on what is euphemistically referred to as ‘the gender gap’ – how about calling it WAGE THEFT or DELIBERATE UNDERPAYMENT.
I was at the first Reclaim The Night rally in 1978 – it’s 2024 and I fear for my daughters. If walking alone at night or on public transport, they ring me to chat on the mobile phone until I know they are home safely. It’s not paranoia – they’ve both been abused or approached by random males. One night, driving home, my youngest daughter stopped at traffic lights at Glen Huntly Road and a man with a knife tried to get into her car. She accelerated through the intersection before the lights changed and fortunately, arrived home in one piece, pale and shaken. I insisted she ring the police to report the incident but the police officer at St Kilda Station who took the call was not interested, ‘Oh, he’ll be gone by now …’
I wrote this letter to the Herald Sun in 2009 after a particularly shocking assault by a group of teenage boys on a young girl with an intellectual disability, but what has changed? This month we read about the toxic culture thriving in some of the most prestigious schools in Australia. How do the students behave at home? How will they behave when they take their position as industry and government leaders – as they most surely will – because there is a class as well as a gender divide in Australia.
There are still too few women in the various levels of government regardless of political persuasion and importantly, not enough on selection panels or policy committees. Will we ever see a female Treasurer? The power and control of the purse strings is vital to allocating resources.
The lowest-paid workers, those working part-time, underemployed, or stuck with insecure casual work are still overwhelmingly female.
Many women were deprived of superannuation and now homelessness is increasing at alarming rates among older women with the retirement income gap in 2030 expected to be 39%!
These statistics only deteriorated in 2023, as did so many social inequities during the global pandemic and now as we live in its aftermath. The article below published in 1999 just needs the number of years in the headline changed!
In today’s world, bombarded by the 24/7 news cycle, social media, and instant notifications on your mobile phone, I know it is easy to be overwhelmed by negativity – there are good news stories out there and progress on many social issues have been made even if society often seems to take a step backwards!
Where is the cultural change needed especially with domestic violence? The will on behalf of men and women to create relationships based on equity and respect, to have expectations different from previously accepted cultural norms?
How many reports, newspaper articles, books, documentaries, films and prominent people speaking out do we need before there is real change?
This is a report from SEPTEMBER 1985 released by the Cain Labor Government
This was an intro from then PM Rudd when his government funded the first national survey and report plus an Australian Centre for Research. Completed every four years it is now “the world’s longest-running population-level survey of community attitudes towards violence against women.”
In 2017, there were still these concerning results:
There continues to be a decline in the number of Australians who understand that men are more likely than women to perpetrate domestic violence
a concerning proportion of Australians believe that gender inequality is exaggerated or no longer a problem
among attitudes condoning violence against women, the highest level of agreement was with the idea that women use claims of violence to gain tactical advantage in their relationships with men
1 in 5 Australians would not be bothered if a male friend told a sexist joke about women
In 2021:
Attitudes towards violence against women and attitudes towards domestic violence in particular showed slower change over time, with no improvement compared to 2017… the population’s understanding of violence and their attitudes to both gender inequality and violence against women were at a comparable level…
… continued, cohesive effort nationally is required at all levels… to disrupt misconceptions and problematic attitudes that reflect broader norms, practices, systems and structures that are embedded throughout our society and facilitate and maintain violence against women…
Violence against women needs to be recognised as a community-wide social problem that requires community-wide responsibility.
Will the 2025 survey show progress?
In 2019, with my friend Uma, I attended a free session at the NGV of the 2015 film, Suffragette, followed by a presentation by esteemed historian and author, Dr Clare Wright. The event was during the Melbourne Writers’ Festival and Dr Wright was promoting her latest book, You Daughters of Freedom: The Australians who won the vote and inspired the world. I’m grateful for those who went before, for the shoulders we stand on, but more importantly for those like my friend Amy and others in the UAW and other organisations who continue to persist.
Dr Wright offered a critique of the film Suffragette in the context of the Australian movement. (Lisa Hill’s excellent review of the book is here and my review of the film here.)
It was Father’s Day and the audience applauded when Dr Wright acknowledged her father for supporting her and thanked him and the other males present for being ‘an awoke bloke‘ when they could be elsewhere ‘being fussed over’. A chuckle rippled through those seated, and I’m sure many women paused and wondered if the men in their lives, or indeed the wider community, were ‘woke‘.
It’s uplifting to be in the company of women and men who care about social issues, listen with an open mind, ask questions, and initiate discussions without rancour.
Sadly, ‘woke’ is now an established derogatory term used to belittle anyone who dares challenge accepted cultural norms – as if we don’t need people to change or point out how far we still have to go for equality and equity examine history, do research (2019) and learn otherwise.
Jump to 2024 data, behaviour, statistics globally and in Australia… and weep!
Women all over the world rallied to protest Trump’s presidency after his ‘grabbing them by the pussy’ comment and his other atrocious remarks and behaviour yet there are ‘Women for Trump’ and he may be re-elected. Some women keep voting other misogynistic populists into power too – go figure!
Herstory Often Overlooked
Dr Wright has now written several books to reveal the plethora of women whose important role as changemakers has been overlooked when textbooks are written and school curriculums decided. Suffragists exposed and challenged numerous inequities … achieving the vote was the starting point for women’s rights but only a starting point.
She pointed out that the film Suffragette ignored several women who went from Australia to the UK to help their sisters. Historians and researchers of the past are not the only ones to blame for omissions. Why women wanted a voice is important to remember.A political voice allows change – not just the inequality between men and women, but also the imbalance of rich and poor. People often forget the two ideologies of feminism and socialism are intertwined and the historical reasons this is so.
Every year, new research is published and stories recorded, especially now those who were once voiceless or ignored like First Nation people, non-English speaking migrants, and those disenfranchised because of disability, class or poverty are telling their stories and writing their knowledge and experience.
We must keep asking questions, seeking answers, and recognising historical documents and perspectives influence how historical events and history are interpreted.
IWD 2019
“The more you know, the more you realize you don’t know.”
Aristotle
It’s important to remember the early suffragists weren’t just about voting. Here is a Gender Equality Timeline of milestones produced by the Victorian Women’s Trust with a mine of information and links to follow.
They were social campaigners wanting a fairer society. Many were socialists, communists and trade unionists. Some were privileged and well-educated but knew they had to rally all women, especially working-class and disadvantaged women. A collective struggle needed a united front.
I know, I’m ‘on the bandwagon again‘, but sadly, we need to be reminded effective change doesn’t ‘just happen‘ – we must thank women in organisations like the Union of Australian Women and the Victorian Women’s Trust. We have to thank women like Amy.
women who campaigned for equal pay,
for the Single Mother’s Pension,
women’s sexual autonomy, education and liberation
access to safe birth control and safe terminations
better community and workplace childcare,
the establishment of neighbourhood houses,
funding for women’s refuges…
Dr Clare Wright’s books focus on Australian women and will be helpful to anyone wanting to learn about feisty females facilitating change. They are readable, researched history for all.
Sally Warhaft, Mary Crook (VWT) and Clare Wright at Church of All Nations Carlton
How do stories get forgotten?
Stories about the suffragettes and some of the women mentioned in You Daughters Of Freedom have been told before but we need to repeat them. A whole new generation must come to the story afresh because what the women had to overcome to achieve success is too easily forgotten.
We have methods of communication today on a global scale that would astound early suffragist campaigners. Stories will be forgotten unless writers produce content like Clare’s on whatever platforms are available.
Clare goes into the archives to find a story and tackles the subject from ground zero rather than reading other history books and other historians’ interpretations. She discovered Australians were central and in the global spotlight fighting for women’s rights and is concerned about their stories being forgotten or ignored.
She uses various methods to tell the story, a good tactic considering young people often prefer film over text. Check out Utopia Girlson DVD, a dramatised documentary aired on the ABC 2012.
Many eyes were on developments in Australia regarding the fight for universal suffrage. The achievement of voting rights for men AND women became the democratic benchmark for the rest of the world. Achievements in the colonies made activists in Britain envious.
We shouldn’t take for granted that we have the right to vote, yet we do. People complain about having to vote. Those disillusioned with democratic outcomes say voting doesn’t matter, yet the battle for the right to vote was bitter and lives were lost!
Suffragists wanted a vote for all, not just men. They also fought for improved social benefits, a piece of the economic pie!The government had to recognise that women were citizens and voting was a fundamental human right. It gave women dignity and the ability to change their lives. A life often oppressive, with many living in dangerous circumstances. It meant more than pure equality, which is a principle of justice.
On another level, it was basic improvements in conditions like extreme poverty, high infant mortality and childbirth deaths. (My paternal grandmother, married in 1900, had 13 children in 20 years – only 7 reached adulthood, some died in early infancy, others were toddlers when they died, most deaths were caused by preventable disease and poor nutrition, the result of crowded living conditions and lack of access to decent maternal healthcare.)
Dr Wright harked back to the Eureka stockade in Ballarat and her earlier book, The Forgotten Rebels of Eureka – the first in a trilogy. Men and women fought side-by-side for democracy and then women were ‘thrown under the bus‘.
Men got the vote with a miner’s right, and if women had a miner’s right they got the vote too. Once that ‘error’ was realised the ‘powers that be’ inserted the word ‘male’ and women were disregarded!
A familiar story we discover!
A celebration with other organisations at a great exhibition at Mordialloc Neighbourhood House hosted by UAW Southern Branch
In 1897, at a constitutional convention, a South Australian politician said no citizen should lose rights when states amalgamated, therefore,women’s suffrage, and full political equality for women was on the agenda in 1899 at the next constitutional convention.
The United Labour Party of South Australia officially endorsed votes for women in 1894. South Australia became the only colony with a non-conservative majority in the Upper House and the debate of the contentious bill to allow women the vote lasted all night.
An amendment to not only give the vote to all women but also let them stand for parliament was put up by a member who believed no man would vote for that amendment. However, his ruse to stymie progress did not work and the bill was passed 31 to 14!
The spoiling tactic backfired and even First Nation women were enfranchised. Unfortunately, this radical bill did not go national when negotiations began to discuss federation and a constitution!
Ironically, the man who was a hero for the women died in parliament while it was sitting, his last words being ‘dreadful, dreadful’.
Pre-Federation, legislation was put up in the lower houses of parliament by male MPs – male champions of freedom – but always lost in the undemocratic upper houses full of wealthy businessmen and the propertied class.
IWD 2019
The new Constitution may have given white Australians the vote but in 1902 women were given rights that disenfranchised First Nation people and the parliament reinforced a strong belief in a white Australia.
Gender was no longer a disqualification but replaced by race and Indigenous Australians didn’t get the right to vote for Commonwealth elections until 1962.
Clare’s research involved going through the Hansard papers of the era. People made very long speeches but thankfully using the computer’s keyword ability to search proved a godsend. There were many parliamentarians against disenfranchising First Nation people but the majority were for and the racial vilification horrific.
One speaker who did acknowledge what was happening said, ‘We took their land and now we are taking their right to vote.’
Maoris were excluded from the White Australia clause disenfranchising Aborigines, Asians and Africans. Some Australian government officials nursed a long-term desire that Australia and New Zealand would come together as one country.
In many places internationally, the two countries were referred to as Australasia and from the 1840s unification was discussed publicly. By 1897, New Zealand had women’s suffrage and a Treatywith Maori. Finding common ground grew increasingly unlikely, however, some people still hoped for a great Australasia.
How many more history enthusiasts might we have if students could read themselves into the past? How many more female activists might we have if girls knew that women in the past were agitators, critics, risk-takers and rebels? And how many more boys might grow up to be men who respect women if women’s past actions and ambitions were recognised, valued and rewarded? Those questions might seem like long bows to current issues around gender bias, sexual harassment and domestic violence, but I think the connections are there to be made.
The way we tell stories about the past influences the way we think about our present.
Dr Clare Wright
I can hear Amy applauding! I am glad her contributions were not only recognised at the memorial service but will continue to be recognised and valued by the many people whose lives she touched – especially in the Neil household
My nostalgic weekend of steam travel is almost over as we reach our last stop on the Silo Art Trail, a definite highlight of the weekend. This slow rail travel is one of the longest journeys by steam locomotive worldwide. Over the weekend the Grainlander travelled “approximately 873km along Victoria’s broad gauge rail network from Melbourne into the heart of the Mallee.”
At Sheep Hills, the surrounding landscape provides a memorable experience different from any city or art gallery. The wheat silos were built in 1938 and closed in 2003. They sit atop a small rise surrounded by Mallee dirt and scrub.
It is claimed to be ‘the most photographed and most admired of all the murals’ and I’m not surprised. We visited during sunset, a superbly special touch for this striking mural in radiant, bright colours depicting Wergaia Elder, Uncle Ron Marks and Wotjobaluk Elder, Aunty Regina Hood, alongside two children, Savannah Marks and Curtly McDonald.
“The night sky represents elements of local dreaming and the overall image signifies the important exchange of wisdom, knowledge and customs from Elders to the next generation.”
Seven-O-Seven Operations booklet
In 2016, Adnate, the artist spent time with the local community to conceive and complete the mural. He spent four weeks developing a relationship with the local Barengi Gadjin Land Council. Melbourne-based, he began his career in graffiti and street art in the mid-2000s influenced by the chiaroscuro style of Renaissance painters like Caravaggio. His work often tells the stories of indigenous people and their native lands, particularly, First Nation Australians.
His portraits are “known for introducing a strong energetic presence to their surroundings.” His large-scale murals can be found in various settings throughout Australia and the world and have been described as ‘life-like’ and ‘emotive’.
Before the invasion of Europeans, the area was home to people from the Wergaia and Wotjobaluk nations. The simplistic town name of Sheep Hills comes from the pastoral run of Archibald McMillan who settled in 1847 and built a large homestead in 1866. When the railway from Warracknabeal to Minyip passed through the district, the settlement and station were named Sheep Hills. Today, the area is part of Yarriambiack Shire.
The mid-1870s saw holdings taken up by German Lutherans who had moved from South Australia. They joined the predominantly Scottish settlers. The Lutherans built a Lutheran School and in 1877 a state school opened. A Mechanics Institute was erected in 1888 and an Anglican Church in 1889. The following year the town had four churches: Episcopal, Presbyterian, Wesleyan and Roman Catholic.
In 1903, the town population was 350 but according to the 2021 census it is now 27. Standing by the silos and looking at the surrounding landscape the isolation and distance are profound and it is hard to imagine there was once a bustling community and industrial activity.
The last stop in our very full day interlaced with almost 3 hours of coach travel as well as the various stops for silo visits and lunch. The celebratory champagne toast is well-received and friendly chatter punctuates the desert silence. There is time too for wandering, pondering, and processing the information about the Wimmera-Mallee region gleaned from various noticeboards, leaflets and people met along the way.
Camera and mind worked overtime, especially as the sky changed colour as dusk descended and a glorious sunset flamed. I explored around, behind, and beyond the silos with a myriad of thoughts and memories.
I remembered Fay Lucas, a former student in my Writing For Pleasure class at Mordialloc Neighbourhood House. Fay was born in Danyo (about 200km from Sheep Hills) and her childhood was “spent in the northwest Mallee (sunset Country), during the 1930s.” I encouraged her to send a poem she wrote to The Weekly Times and it was published. The boost to her confidence led to a published poetry book in 2005, ‘Mallee, the landscape of my soul‘. Here is a selection I can remember her writing in the class. The discussions about the Wimmera and the Mallee and sharing her memories built a picture of the region.
Farmers struggled to survive in the harsh climate, but I thought of the resilience of the First Nation peoples coping with losing their land and traditional way of life as settlers made it their home. Many of these Immigrants left their homeland because they had been displaced or lost their way of life by changes beyond their control. They feared the future – yet they visited that displacement and uncertainty on people from the Wergaia and Wotjobaluk nations. It is important First Nation storytellers are now being heard and provide a balance and different perspective to the history of regions like the Wimmera and Mallee, bringing their knowledge and wisdom for land management and ideas for the future. Adnate’s image signifies the Elders passing on knowledge, wisdom and customs – a powerful message of hope.
I remembered Burnum Burnum a proud Wurundjeri man, a friend from my university days who wrote a book that he said was “a lifetime’s work, a journey to find my own roots in this great country,” which culminated in the enriching and memorable A Traveller’s Guide to Aboriginal Australia.
My fondest hope is that this book can give some real insight into this wonderfully diverse and challenging land – with all its timeless imagery – and the people who understood it so completely… The journey that unfolds in this book is one of many levels and I hope the reader will have an enriched trip because of it. Along the road you will need to be respectful of this often harsh and unforgiving land and well prepared for the remote regions. The music of the landscape will touch you and you can choose your own music to travel by, Aboriginal, modern or classic. Personally, I’d suggest Mozart.
Burnum Burnum
Tour leader Matt rounded up stragglers like me and we boarded the bus to return to Wycheproof for dinner. The champagne flushed faces and loosened tongues. We had seen our last piece of silo art and conversations buzzed.
Mozart’s memorable Eine Kleine Nachtmusik’s joyful and uplifting melody swirled in my head.
My slow train journey continued and more Silo Artvisited… in the last post I said how delighted we were to meet Jimmy, the kelpie who featured on the silo art at Nullawil. The silos are gigantic when you see them up close and reading about the artists and the thought put into choosing the subject matter plus the logistics of doing the work adds to their significance.
Silo Art tourists have brought visitors and income to the region – a couple of the objectives of the project. Our next stop was Sea Lake where the coaches met the train to take us to Lake Tyrrell before returning to Sea Lake silo art and then travelling to Woomelang for lunch in the hotel.
Lake Tyrrell – a place of local and international significance, offering a unique experience that combines stunning views with a rich natural, social, cultural and industrial heritage.
This First Nations’ continuous connection to the land beginning to be recognised by some authorities, but as we saw with the recent failed referendum of The Voice to Federal Parliament, acceptance of First Nation sovereignty is an uphill battle. Hopefully, the ongoing negotiations for Treaty agreements with the Victorian Government will be more successful.
An infrastructure project completed in 2020 encompassed the construction of a viewing platform, shelter area, car parking, boardwalk and access to amenities but also extended to providing protection to the lake environment, particularly when it is known the area hosts sacred sites and indigenous fauna and flora – undervalued by past decisions and users of the area.
Not everyone is happy of course. The 2019 decision to stop hosting the Mallee Rally, “Australia’s oldest known off-road car race” on the Queen’s Birthday long weekend at Sea Lake and Lake Tyrrell annoyed many people. The race’s cancellation came after a state heritage adviser identified traditional Aboriginal artefacts around the Lake and the need for a conservation management plan. The Mallee Rally posed too high a risk for Lake Tyrrell’s sensitive cultural heritage with proof of over 30,000 years of First Nation habitation.
There are also commercial interests to consider because over 100,000 tons of salt are extracted from the lake each year. The first recorded salt harvest from Lake Tyrrell was in 1896. The company is Cheetham Salt Works.
According to the Buloke Shire Council, the project funded by the Council, the Federal Government’s Our Rivers Our Regions Fund, the State Government’s Regional Tourism and Infrastructure Fund and the Mallee Catchment Authority was a collaborative success. A good news story worth celebrating when all levels of government work together and achieve a successful outcome for the community who have already seen local businesses pick up and be created by the tourist trade. This article published in The Age explores the various points of view regarding the past, present and future of a truly beautiful and significant place in Victoria.
Between September and December, Lake Tyrrell displays a unique pink hue but when we visited the water we saw – in the distance – azure and reflecting the sky. The Lake’s reflective surface makes it a photographer’s paradise and apparently a hit with ‘Instagram tourists’. Looking out the bus as we arrived at Lake Tyrrell you can see where the water has been blown by strong winds and greenery grows. The Mallee is known for its dry periods and being starved for water but a Brumby State Government initiative now sees water flowing from the Grampians via a pipeline. It took a decade to complete the project.
The lake is dry most of the year or covered by shallow water – it is the largest salt lake in Victoria and we had time to walk on the circular visitor’s boardwalk and explore the surrounding shore.
The Lake environment is host to Mallee reptiles, kangaroos, emus, and white-faced chats and apparently, small islands in the lake are a breeding ground for thousands of seagulls. The saltbush and samphire (a succulent, salt-tolerant plant) around the lagoon support a range of wildlife while the lunette (an eroded dune) to the east contains significant Aboriginal relics.
Apart from the stunning visual experience, there is much to learn about Lake Tyrrell no matter what strand of history or the environment you want to follow up. It is renowned for stargazing because the sky receives very little interference from man-made light. (The population of Sea Lake is approximately 640)
I found the stories of the Boorong people the most fascinating – especially the astronomical traditions of the Boorong clan, and their expertise in star navigation to monitor the flora and fauna to aid survival and manage the land. A Boorong star named, Unurgunite in Canis Majoris (the Great Dog), has been recognised by the world’s astronomical body.
There is a teaching kit to download put together by Museums Victoria, Stories in the Stars.
Stories in the Stars describes astronomical traditions from the Boorong clan. This clan was a member of the Wergaia speaking peoples in northwest Victoria. This region is still home to other Wergaia speaking people of the Kulin nations – Wergaia, Wotjobaluk, Dja Dja Wrung. The Boorong clan no longer exists as a separate entity, but their descendants live in north-west Victoria and throughout Victoria. Our knowledge of the Boorong astronomical traditions comes largely through the writing of William Stanbridge. Stanbridge was a pastoralist who came to Victoria from England in 1841 and took up sheep farming. He moved into the north-west districts in the late 1840s where he became friends with an Assistant Protector of Aborigines, and became interested in aboriginal culture. Over the last decade Stanbridge’s writings have been researched by historian John Morieson. Stories in the Stars is based on this work and in particular the booklet ‘Stars over Tyrell: The Night Sky Legacy of the Boorong’.
Museums Victoria Media Kit
The Boorong stories are acknowledged by the artists of the silo art we visited at Sea Lake. The GrainCorp Silos were painted by Joel Fergie, aka The Zookeeper and Travis Vinson, aka Drapl in October 2019. The artwork depicts a young girl swinging from a mallee eucalyptus tree and gazing out over Lake Tyrrell. A wedge-tail eagle soars above and emus are running to the right.
We contacted a local indigenous artist, Robby Wirramanda who shared a few interesting stories of his ancestors. It became clear to us that these stories are deeply important stories of the Boorung. A high level of sensitivity should be taken in ensuring that these stories be told by those with connection to the Boorong and, or the language group of the Wergaia. In the design, Robby’s wooden sculptural works are depicted in the centre of the design. Robby describes these sculptures as representations of his ancestors. They have been installed on the salt flats of Lake Tyrell previously and pay homage to his people who roamed these lands.
Joel Fergie also known as ‘The Zookeeper’ is a Brisbane based artist
After Sea Lake, we headed for Woomelang pitched as “the best kept secret in North-western Victoria!”
On the way, we heard about how farming had changed from Jamie. He grew up on a farm and said he ‘drove the tractor all day and all night’ and the next day his Dad redid all his work and straightened the rows. Today farming is hi-tech with tractors fitted with GPS to guide the rows to sow, provide information on soil, picking up where the best crop will grow. It saves sorting through the whole area. Farmers can spot spray where it identifies weeds and don’t spray areas they don’t have to.
When asked what the long sausage-like fixtures were in the middle of many fields, Jamie said they were bunker bags. The large bags store grain (barley or wheat) for up to a year. They cost approximately $1500 and are made of durable plastic. (A percentage of the pink ones if purchased goes toward fighting breast cancer.) Cheaper than silo storage and readily available. A machine blows grain into the bag and it expands. Once sealed it lies out in the field until emptied, protected from weather and rodents.
We had a lovely lunch at the historic Woomelang Hotel, ‘the quintessential country pub’ which had a lovely garden attached. Graham and Lisa Shore purchased and restored the once defunct Woomelang Hotel after a caravanning trip from Brisbane in 2015. Our hosts were amazing but because it was Mother’s Day weekend there was difficulty accessing the extra staff required and we were a large group so it took extra time to sit and serve us all.
This delay and glitch meant the tour through the town to see the ‘mini silos’ didn’t happen. I did manage to go for a wander nearby and found a mural of the endangered Victorian carpet python by artist Andrew J Bourke and two of the mini silos. I chatted with some locals as well as others on the tour. I met another Mary whose grandmother was a Scot. Her daughter is a paediatrician who loves reading fantasy, and her husband, Michael is Irish from Dublin. We arranged to make sure we were seated together at the evening meal.
I picked up a brochure and learnt that the original settlement was known as ‘Cronomby tanks’ after the natural waterholes that attracted pioneers to settle. According to local folklore, the name was changed in 1897 after a passing traveller riding his ‘trusty steed’, Melang and heading for the water source, rode over the rise. Upon seeing the township below he called “Whoa Melang” and from that day forward the township became known as Woomelang. (A yarn worthy of Frank Hardy’s Billy Borker!)
In June 2020, the town of Woomelang invited seven artists to transform mini silos into a tourist attraction for the town. Mobile field bins were donated by the locals. The artists commissioned included Jimmy d’Vate, Andrew J Bourke, Kaff-eine and others. Endangered species of the area like the spotted tail quoll featured as subjects. A walking trail (which I never found) enables you to see the 8 mini silos.
The next stop we made was Lascelles where the painted images of a local couple Geoff and Merrilyn Horman were by renowned Melbourne Street artist, Rone. An artist I knew of (hurrah) because I had attended his absolutely amazing exhibition in the Flinders Street Ballroom in 2022.
The information supplied about Lascelles states that “the town has a population of just 48 people on a good day, but Rone selected the Hormans above all others. They are a humble couple, who are both wise and knowing and who have nurtured the town with their vast farming experience and long-standing connection to the area. their family has lived in the area for four generations.” Born in the district, they married in Lascelles in 1967 and along with their two sons and families they continue a family tradition of wheat farming and community involvement.
In 2017, over two weeks Rone transformed the two 1939 GrainCorp silos so Geoff and Merrilyn overlook their hometown. They are the eighth silos to be included in the Australian Silo Art Trail.
A half-hour drive away we reached our next stop at Roseberry with a warning to not cross the highway or the railway tracks if exploring the area. The artist Kaff-eine, a friend of Rone’s assisted him and also spent time exploring the region, neighbouring towns, and the natural environment. She made friends with business owners, farmers and families to develop a concept to paint artwork for a theme to embody the region’s past, present, and future.
The silo on the left captures the grit, tenacity, and character of the region’s young female farmers, who regularly face drought, fires and other hardships living and working in the Mallee. Dressed in a work shirt, jeans and turned-down cowboy boots, the strong, young, female sheep farmer symbolises the future.
The silo on the right portrays a quiet moment between dear friends. The contemporary horseman appears in an Akubra hat, Bogs boots and an oilskin vest – common attire for Mallee farmers. Both man and horse are relaxed, facing downward to indicate mutual trust, love and genuine connection.
Looking around from the silo art you get an idea of the vastness of the region, the isolation of some of the farms, and the stark differences between the landscape and soil of the Mallee.
Kaff-eine’s journey to become an internationally renowned artist is interesting. In 2012, she quit a government policy career, sold her house and turned to street art full-time. Her roots in street art combined with a strong social conscience. She makes art and film projects in marginalised communities throughout the world inviting audiences to engage with social and political issues. Kaff-eine describes her practice from photo-realistic to darkly sensual stylised characters ‘loaded with symbolism and narrative’.
Guido van Helten’s iconic Brim mural, our next stop, was the first silo artwork to appear in Victoria. It infused the town’s community with newfound energy and optimism. After gaining widespread local and international attention.
Completed in 2016, the success put the Wimmera Mallee region in the spotlight and inspired the establishment of the Silo Art Trail. He had limited financial resources but van Helten’s mural depicts a multi-generational quartet of female and male farmers bearing expressions that exemplify the strength and resilience of the local farming community.
We were warned that the silo viewing area is split by ‘a busy highway’ and to be careful to not stand on the road to take photographs because the traffic is frequent and fast-moving! Plus the toilet facilities are ‘very basic to the point of being inoperable’! ( The Girl Guide motto springs to mind – be prepared!)
Guido van Helten was born in Canberra, ACT. He grew up in inner-city Melbourne and after graduating from Southern Cross University, Melbourne with a Bachelor of Visual Arts (majoring in printmaking), he began to develop work aligning with the contemporary large-scale muralism movement gathering momentum at the time. Celebrating everyday characters in forgotten places, his monochromatic, photorealistic style offers an intimate glimpse into the lives of others. His large-scale murals tell stories of culture, history and identity to capture the soul of people and places.
The art at Brim renders the figures as both central and peripheral, present and absent, “exploring shifting notions of community identity at a time when rural populations face both immense economic pressure and the tangible consequences of climate change.”
His translucent aerosol technique conjures a sense of ghostliness but ‘the characters are connected to their chosen place, infusing the landscape with a comforting, familiar presence.”
In 2016, Van Helten was nominated for the Sir John Sulman Prize at the Art Gallery of NSW for his work in Brim.
From Brim, we had a 40-minute drive to the last viewing of the Silo Art Tour at Sheep Hills and a champagne toast to the successful day before returning to dinner at the Terminus Hotel in Wycheproof but that will be in the next post!
I remember May 2023 – Mother’s Day hype swamped traditional and social media and with increased vaccination rates and easing of restrictions, more people were travelling.
Acknowledging Mother’s Day, the girls took me out to a place of my choice the week before the designated day to avoid crowds. I had chosen a special Rail & Sail trip organised by Steamrail Victoria. We caught the Port Phillip Ferries‘ ‘Geelong Flyer’ from Docklands Ferry Terminal, spent a lovely few hours in Geelong and then boarded a restored Heritage Train back to Melbourne. This was a trial run for a present to myself – a trip away on the actual Mother’s Day weekend…
On May 12, I draw back the curtains to greet the day. The air has changed and the light, as autumn transitions to winter. There is a spurt of heat reminiscent of the summer chilled by La Niña, but no expected overnight showers. The dust of summer long disappeared from leaves and the trees and plants drip dewy pleasure.
I’m feeling buoyant too, and after taking Josie for a walk I pack for the first overnight trip alone since the pandemic disrupted travel, and health ‘issues’ impacted the what, where, when and how of any plans.
I’m excited because it will be by train – my favourite form of transport and because I chose The Grainlander, I will be seeing some country towns ‘up close and personal’ for the first time and the Victorian Silo Art Trail – an experience I put on my bucket list when it first hit the media in 2016.
The Grainlander is operated by the Victorian-based Seven-o-Seven Operations, a not-for-profit- company with volunteers manning the train, which is made up of restored and adapted railway carriages from iconic trains like The Southern Aurora and The Overlander. They are hauled by two heritage diesel engines and a steam locomotive (seasonal weather permitting) as the train heads for the Mallee.
(I know coal-powered steam locomotives are an anomaly and definitely non de rigueur in a world fighting climate change but my father and grandfather were locomotive engine drivers and I have a lot of happy memories associated with steam trains and it is not an everyday occurrence!)
Seven-O-Seven operates under the accreditation of V/Line Corporation as the train operator and must comply with all aspects of rail health and safety and other regulations placed by Victorian Railways. When it leaves the suburban network it travels on the freight lines into regional areas. Some of these haven’t had a traditional rail service since the 90s and earlier, which is why there is a commitment by the company and volunteers to give back to regional communities. They work with them, tie in with local festivals and locals are given a seat in the Club Car to travel part of the Art Trail if they book.
The weekend would be a test to see if I can cope healthwise before looking and booking other travel experiences. I hope to venture further afield and interstate using coach, train or ferry and combinations of all three. For me, home tourism and ground travel are more appealing and doable financially than flying.
The trip promised to be an adventure as I read the copious notes sent along with my ticket. Expectations of comfort or a glitch-free journey tempered with the knowledge of no paid staff on the train. You rely on the competency, enthusiasm, efficiency and initiative of volunteers. However, the plus side is they are there because they want to be and I assume most will be train or art enthusiasts too. The train parks beside some of the giant silos and the others on the itinerary are a coach ride or walk away.
As a short memorable break (Friday evening to Sunday evening), I was not disappointed. The Tour Leader Matt was organised and impressive and did an incredible job, especially since the majority of passengers were seniors. Quite a few had not read important information about the train, or the recommended fitness level for negotiating a variety of carriages, platforms, railway sidings and paths – and about limited space for luggage!
I caught a train from Mordialloc to meet up with The Grainlander at Southern Cross Station. The evening is cool, but dry and windless. The clouds are broken by patches of blue-grey sky. Evening lights begin to come on as darkness falls quickly and by the time the train is at Ormond Station, it is almost dark.
At Southern Cross with an hour to spare I buy a cheese toastie and a cup of tea at Mrs Fields and sit opposite Starbucks while waiting for my daughter Anne to meet me after work. As I munch and sip, memories flash of the 2012 Amtrak trip around the USA with number two daughter, Mary Jane. We travelled by train from LA to LA plus a side trip into the Grand Canyon. We spent a lot of time grabbing a sandwich and cuppa in Starbucks – a fixture of every transport hub in the USA. On this trip, I won’t have to buy food because all meals are provided on and off the train, plus afternoon and morning teas – even a welcome supper the first night.
Anne waits to wave me off and I settle into my ‘Premium Single Cabin’ after the first of the glitches occur. The Grainlander being a private enterprise has to fit into whatever is happening in Southern Cross at the time and VR and Metro passenger service get priority – we leave later than expected.
I slept well and woke up to a beautiful sunrise and blue-sky day. I had opted for the 7.00 am pre-breakfast tour of Wycheproof so I set an alarm for 6.15 to give time for a top and tail wash and a cup of tea. The toilet and shower facility is shared by the whole carriage and there is a little room nearby with constant boiling water and extra tea bags and coffee sachets.
From the welcome supper and introductory chats afterwards, I discovered passengers were an eclectic bunch from various Melbourne suburbs, different regional areas and interstate visitors – from as far away as Queensland. There were train enthusiasts of course, plus photographers, history buffs, artists, and fellow travellers like myself venturing forth after the restrictions of the pandemic!
We were all in for a treat with Wycheproof – a great introduction to the Mallee towns. The early morning tour was a short bus loop of the town (one of the few with a railway line running through the Main Street) to end up at Mt Wycheproof – Grasshopper Hill – the smallest registered mountain in the world where the promised views are truly magnificent, especially in the dawn light! The bus grunted and crunched on the steep turn to the hill lookout. Our driver, Jamie lifted the suspension and checked the undercarriage.
Jamie was wearing a tartan tie. I asked him for his clan and he said when his forebears came to Australia immigration officials misspelled the name Stuart and they became known as Start, but his tartan Stuart. He lived in Somerville before he moved back to the country and knew Mordialloc ‘well’. He was a fantastic guide; his knowledge additional richness to the tour.
The view from the Lookout is indeed magical. We disturbed a mob of kangaroos and wallabies grazing when we arrived. Jamie said emus often visit too – the animals that graze don’t seem too worried about people. Unlike, later when the train travelled at full steam. I saw kangaroos and wallabies flee the proximity of the rail line. Sheep moved and even a huge hare bounded as far away as he could, birds take flight. I don’t blame them – the smell and belching smoke must be reminiscent of a bushfire – and this is bushfire and flood territory.
The Buller Buller Wycher people make up the First Nation community in Wycheproof and they requested a cultural heritage plan and more protection for the emus they consider sacred. They are concerned the emus, already in a reserve are being confined to an increasingly smaller part of the mountain and may die out over time. A spokesperson for the community is a nephew of Pastor Doug Nicholls (later Sir Douglas Nicholls) whose totem was an emu!
A selection of photographs I took that morning provides some more information about Wycheproof and views from the ‘mountain’. There used to be a King of the Mountain race whereby men carrying 140lb (63kg) bags of wheat, raced each other up the hill. A race for Queen of the Mountain had women carrying wheat bags of foam (a much lighter and smarter weight in my opinion!). The event ended in 1988 according to a statue in Centenary Park, another must-see landmark. Wycheproof is halfway between Mildura and Melbourne and is surrounded by sheep and crop-growing farms, the railway providing important links to the past and the present. The town has preserved a lot of heritage, has great amenities and the busy community noticeboard shows it is thriving and caring.
There is so much to Wycheproof and when we returned the next day I explored the township, but after breakfast, we went to Nullawil for the first silo art experience – only a step off the train. The name of the town is derived from two Aboriginal words: Nulla (killing stick) and Wil (derived from willock meaning galah).
The artist commissioned was contemporary street artist, Sam Bates aka Smug. He is known for engaging in large-scale photo-realistic graffiti street art murals around the world and chose a farmer and his kelpie sheepdog as subjects. The art immediately pulled my heartstrings and reminded me of Josie left at home. (She is a kelpie X)
We met the lovely Kelpie, Jimmy, now quite famous for meeting tours. He was friendly and used to onlookers and admirers wanting a photo op. His owner was lovely and patient. There was an intriguing display of metal art too and those interested in photography, trains, history, and country landscapes had time to explore and enjoy. I chatted to Rodney, one of the train drivers and he kindly took my photo.
After Nullawhil we went to Sea Lake and Lake Tyrrell before enjoying lunch at The Woomelang Hotel followed by six more Mallee Silo Art stops before returning to Wycheproof for dinner at the Terminus Hotel. An incredibly full and enriching day but that can be told in another blog.
There are a range of rail journeys on offer in Australia but you can also plan your own – even going on an unfamiliar line in the Metro network – it is a great way to travel.
Valentine’s Day is nine days away and marketers are already in overdrive. I’ve pirated the spirit of one of the well-known Romantic poets, Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-61) and her most famous offering: Sonnet 43, How Do I Love Thee? to share my love of Melbourne, which haswon yet another accolade as one of the best 20 cities in the world for 2024.
The original poem is engraved on my heart. A pendant with the words of the poem a gift from my husband John in 1983, along with a tiny silver elephant to remind me not to forget how much he loved me.
Remembering more precious after John died, but in 2020 the silver chain broke and because cancer returned with some new pals, I delayed repairs. Repeated scans and Xrays stipulate ‘no jewellery’, so like other non-urgent tasks, repairs will happen when I find the finances to get ‘a round TUIT.’
Why do I love Melbourne?
I love the celebration of the arts – the visual and visceral – to see, touch, listen, relax, meditate and enjoy a range of inspiration and imagination representing our multicultural and diverse community.
I love the quiet places and parks lush with greenery where people connect and appreciate nature in all seasons whether sunlight or twilight – to walk, sit, picnic and play and attend the many events organised throughout the year.
I love the Birrarung flowing through the city connecting the sea and the mountains where it originates. To watch or participate on the river – the rowing canoes, ferries, cruises, pleasure craft and hire boats – even permanent floating restaurants.
Marvellous Melbourne
Marvellous Melbourne, majestic and beautiful breathtaking reminder of how lucky we are of all the world’s cities, you are the most liveable Marvellous Melbourne, majestic and beautiful caught in your spell, my obsession not curable strolling Southgate’s walkways, beneath sun or star Marvellous Melbourne, majestic and beautiful breathtaking reminder of how lucky we are
On Wednesday, I spent a glorious day in the city at The Lume with a friend visiting from Italy. Tanja as enthralled with our city as I am. Born in Germany and living in Italy she is much travelled and returns here regularly to take part in marathon swimming events bayside and sometimes interstate. We walked along Southgate from Flinders Street Station and she declared Melbourne ‘has it all’ – arts, sports, diverse food, music, public transport and is welcoming and friendly.
She recalled how we first met more than a decade ago at Mordialloc Station. Tanja was going into the city for the opera, and I was meeting friends at the cinema. We chatted on the train and discovered many things in common (apart from sports!). We swapped contact details and to add a cliche, ‘the rest is history’. I visited Torbole by Lake Garda in 2015 – a trip I’d never have made but for our chance meeting and new friendship.
I was excited to visit Connection and so was Tanja. I’m still trying to be ‘covid safe’ so avoid crowds indoors but The Lume is spacious. I waited until the school term started and the majority of workplaces returned.
Midweek outings are ideal (hurrah for retirement!) and both Tanja and I agree it was a magical experience. A wonderful use of digital technology and brilliantly curated. I sat mesmerised absorbing First Nation stories, artwork, photography, songs and narration, as well as the audience reactions – especially those of young children. A ‘memory day’ as my daughters call many of the special activities we did when they were growing up.
What it does is it gives artists another outlet to share a story. Some people are going to be so comfortable walking into a gallery and experiencing the story that way, some people like to listen to it, some people like to wear it…
Sarrita King Gurindji People
Aboriginal art expresses the possibility of human intimacy with landscapes. This is the key to its power: it makes available a rich tradition of human ethics and relationships with place and other species to a worldwide audience.’
Marcia Langton Aboriginal activist and academic.
There are smaller rooms to experience other facets of Connection. You can wander, snap photos or videos and climb the staircase to experience the digital performances from a different perspective. The visitors replenished at intervals and the immersive sensory encounter on a continual loop featuring 85 Indigenous artists from 9 key cultural regions of the continent. ‘Curated tastes, aromas and a choreographed soundtrack’ allow you to ‘wander, play, dance and marvel as every surface becomes the animated canvas: floors, walls and guests alike.’
On St Valentine’s Day for many people thoughts turn to romantic love but there are different types of love: unconditional family love for parents or children; a deep friendship; a passion for a hobby, place, object, sport, cooking; a love of food, of travel … and as the quote above emphasises First Nation Peoples love of Country is essential for living and their connection to the land, sea and sky: “Country is not only a place of belonging, but also a way of believing.” BennyTjapaltjarri, Pintupi People.
LOVE is a great topic for writers
We link words together in our minds – what train of thought or other words does LOVE inspire to you? What emotional reaction? Attitude? Love conquers all – or does it?
What is the sound of love? The smell of love? How do you recognise love when you see it? What is the taste of love? What is the touch of love? Is it always necessary to say the words ‘I love you’ out loud? Is St Valentine’s Day a special day for you – why? (It was a great topic/theme when I was teaching writing classes and these are some of the starting points we explored as inspiration.)
A fortnight before Tanja and I visited the city I met another dear friend for lunch. We walked along the riverbank too, but the opposite direction of Southbank. On our catch-ups Uma and I often visit exhibitions at the NGV or State Library, or meander through a park. Our friendship began decades BC (before children). Whenever we meet there is always something new to learn or experience as well as discussing shared interests like reading, writing and travel.
I had never been into The Transit bar at Federation Square and Uma said the rooftop gave a fabulous view of the city – especially at sunset (I made a note for the next time I’m in the city in the evening!). I’m always interested to look or learn from another perspective and even although the bar didn’t open until 3.00pm the young man on duty welcomed us, ‘Sure, have a look around.’
Uma was right, the view fabulous.
To end the post focused on my love for Melbourne here is a poem I wrote after another day in the city with Uma when we went to the NGV – a favourite destination. We have seen several of their special exhibitions together and on the way we meandered through the Alexandria Gardens.
A spring in my step
The weather gloriously, sunny on Tuesday for a ‘catch-up with friends day’ arranged Melbourne Town Hall bedecked with flowers revealed marigolds with parsley not strange
the Alexandra Gardens another delight blossoms posed in eye-catching display giant spear lilies nodded to visitors a stunning welcome to brighten the day
Melbourne earns the title of Garden City our parks provide beauty and leisure thanks to workers who toil in all weather making green spaces important treasure
the Birrarung now full to the brim duck families enjoy results of the rain La Nina challenging usual activities to ducks water is their champagne!
a wander towards the Arts Centre ‘Billy Buttons’ a new floral sight golden drumsticks aptly positioned where buskers a frequent delight
I received a reminder that 2024 is the Year of the Dragon and Chinese New Year is almost upon us. Melbourne has a wonderful program of celebrations planned – another good excuse to explore the city – if you need one!
The Year of the Dragon brings an opportunity to focus on heart and health – physically and emotionally. It suggests we seek and do joyful activities, connect with love ones and be happy. Great aspirations, especially after the pandemic years so here’s to a great year ahead for everyone.
I considered not renewing the domain licence for my blog when the annual fee became due. I haven’t blogged regularly since the height of the pandemic and it seemed a selfish indulgence in tough economic times. The resounding no vote for The Voice, was dispiriting for me and devastating for many Indigenous Australians – so to be honest, a Monty Python character’s exasperation echoed in my head, ‘What is the bloody point?’
I respected the request for a period of mourning after the referendum failed. Two weeks stretched to two months and then another health crisis, Christmas arrived, and I thought perhaps the break would be ad infinitum…
I no longer teach and don’t participate as much or volunteer for the several community organisations I supported in the past. The biblical three score years and ten reached last year … perhaps it is time to age disgracefully – and in silence…
Not yet!
After several failed efforts, I’m determined to reboot before this year’s fee is due!
The dire state of global politics and environmental challenges plus concern for the health of family members and friends, including two deaths, make melancholy harder to shake off.
Walking and gardening replaced writing as the main therapeutic occupations to keep me sane. My garden abounds with greenery, including weeds that are thriving on the weird weather climate change is dishing out. However, osteoarthritis and osteoporosis conspire to make gardening days shorter and the ‘to-do’ list longer – almost rivalling my unfinished writing projects.
The poems and doggerel I posted regularly on Instagram and Facebook became repetitive as I focused on being positive or uplifting during the pandemic. (Plus Meta PLatforms Inc., the American multinational technology conglomerate is proving to be an increasingly ‘non-social’ and quite devious media.)
Posting anything challenging or confronting became a rarity and yet social justice and giving voice to those often voiceless were my core aims for starting a blog a decade ago.
Writing helps me understand the ideas that swirl in my head. When observations, feelings, opinions, and imagination are put into words it helps me work through thoughts, helps me ‘join the dots’. The challenge, of course, is to shape them into formats relatable or interesting to others! It’s a constant struggle to proofread, edit, write and rewrite – never mind follow the advice to ‘ignore your inner editor’ and just get on with it!
The media thrives on the power of attention-grabbing news and most of us have personal mobile devices and some form of social media. We suffer a bombardment from Google and other search engine algorithms the moment we activate a device. Even in public spaces giant screens broadcast images and/or sound: in medical waiting rooms, major transport hubs, shopping centres, and government buildings, outdoor billboards… but, how much do we absorb, critically think through, challenge, or ignore?
Some take all news as gospel, others take it with the proverbial pinch of salt, some go down the rabbit hole of conspiracy theories, and others choose to avoid most of it. Journalism in the most dominant media quarters in Australia is at an abysmal low – I admit to being an ex-political and news junkie now. Surviving and coping with everyday challenges and changes takes priority.
This last fortnight my daughter was extremely ill with the current strain of the virus after being diligent with COVID-19-safe behaviour and managing to avoid it for so long! We are seeing an upswing of the new variantbut although there are antivirals to ease the effects on someone like her with an auto-immune disorder she was deemed ‘too young’ and her problem not severe enough. It was day eleven before she tested negative.
Our two-tiered health system where most GPs and clinics are businesses leaves a lot to be desired to deliver equity and Medicare still needs fixing to make it serviceable for everyone’s needs – the ten years of neglect and interference from the previous Coalition government has not been sufficiently rectified.
‘So many people are broken’ my daughter whispered when we reflected on not just the last year but the accumulative effect on health and social relationships of the restrictions and lockdowns when the pandemic raged, and the fact COVID has not gone away. The first community transmission in Australia was recorded on this day four years ago.
Actions designed to keep us safe robbed many young people of the important social activities that nurture relationships. Comparable to a destructive world war, the global pandemic plus the ravages of climate change have altered not only our world but the global landscape.
Communities and families struggle to regain what was lost – people suffer from those lost to COVID and all its variants, plus deaths from other causes during the lockdown periods when restrictions often meant no physical farewells or ‘normal’ funerals.
Long-Covid is now confirmed and those afflicted hope it may not be a lifelong burden. Our medical system and exhausted clinicians play catch-up with a backlog of patients who delayed or couldn’t get access to treatment during the height of the pandemic… populations have had their equilibrium shaken – advanced technology means the world has never seemed smaller, yet individuals feel powerless.
I hear my father’s voice reciting the Cynic’s Song:
’twas always thus since childhood’s hour I’ve seen my fondest hopes decay I never loved a bird nor flower than the darned thing died or flew away!
Not really the response to soothe my anxious daughter who is an intelligent, compassionate adult and was commiserating with me after we received news of the death of a longtime family friend. The bereavement added to the steady flow of troubling news.
It is a small consolation but sharing our stories might help towards more understanding between generations. In living memory, some parts of the world have always been in crisis, sometimes the events touched domestic politics and citizens. For most of my life, social media and the Internet did not exist and there was a filter as well as a timelapse, plus misinformation was not as easily spread, but turmoil and generational despair are sadly, not new.
When I think of the people we elect to make decisions about how we live I wonder what legacy they think they are leaving for future generations. Do they think about how they will be remembered? If they have children or know others with children you’d like to think the health and safety of future generations is first and foremost in their minds but when we look at where mankind is at the moment nothing seems further from the truth. Truth-telling Commissions are a necessity for every society and not just to examine the distant past!
In one of the last anthologies I prepared from my Life Stories & Legacy writing class, I wrote in the foreword:
In writing class, we discover a lot about ourselves as well as glimpsing the lives of others. What will our legacy be? Do the significant people in our lives know what we have valued most? What we thought was our purpose? What we have achieved? What we learned about life as we lived it?
Do they know how we navigated life’s challenges? Celebrated life’s gifts or simply enjoyed beauty every day? Do they know we have found benefits from challenges as well as from blessings? Do they know how we used moments of reflection to make life-course corrections or appreciate joy?
We discover answers rooted in stories of the past or life stories of significance in the present, touch emotions, engage as all good writing should.
The desire to leave wisdom, knowledge and love for generations now and those to come, a great motivator to write and the camaraderie in class keeps the pen moving. It isn’t only celebrities and public figures who wish to leave a legacy—many people want to reflect on life, share how they have made a difference, perhaps influenced someone, whether children, grandchildren or friends.
To record our stories is important and in class we learn various creative writing skills and techniques to make what we write as interesting and unique as possible. Poetry and prose, adding graphics –– all make writing varied and appealing to readers. Triggers can lead to ideas for fiction too.
I have been privileged to help some of my ex-students and others publish their life story or a memoir and have blogged about some:
Memory is a complicated thing, a relative to truth, but not its twin.
Barbara Kingsolver, Animal Dreams
So as the first month of the new year is almost over I’ll try and emulate the many wonderful creative people who have remained productive through global and domestic upheavals and attempt to reinvigorate my own writing desires and dreams. I hope reviving this blog is a useful first step towards the need to write regularly to improve my craft.
I acknowledge the Boon Wurrong people of the Kulin nation as the traditional custodians of the unceded lands and waters where I live. Always was, always will be Aboriginal land
We are seeing and hearing a lot about The Voice in the media. In a few months, Australians will be voting in a referendum to enshrine a Voice for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander First Peoples in our Constitution, a document created at a time when Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, the traditional owners of this land, were not just ignored but deliberately excluded! Our Constitution needs to be changed to recognise this historical flaw – just as theMabo decision overturned the absurdity, terra nullius.
The fiction by which the rights and interests of Indigenous inhabitants in land were treated as non-existent was justified by a policy which has no place in the contemporary law of this country.
Sir Gerard Brennan, Justice of the High Court of Australia, 1992
The Voice is an opportunity to ensure First Nation Peoples are consulted, listened to, and their voices heard. They need to be involved in the delivery of services to ‘close the gap‘ effectively, in health, education, social services and particularly, the justice system. A gap that despite well-meaning attempts has not been closed, and in some instances outcomes have worsened.
Words as a communication tool are significant and powerful. Perspective and context are essential. We tell stories, create memes and social media posts, deliver podcasts, read newspaper articles, listen to radio and television broadcasts and write for screen, stage, YouTube… Various methods to communicate. The voice, style and point of view determine the story’s effectiveness – ask any writer or storyteller.
In Memoir and creative non-fiction, even certain journalism – a robust personal voice in writing resonates because the element of ‘self’ is an integral part of creation ensuring readers connect with the emotion expressed. This emotionally rewarding experience is what storytellers and writers give to readers and listeners when their stories engage and are memorable.
Word choice is crucial, as is delivery. (News readers, talkback hosts, celebrity presenters – a lot of dollars invested in delivery!)
Sadly, facts, misinformation and propaganda are not labelled; for some writers/presenters, they seem interchangeable. It is reader/listener beware!
Now, more than ever, with the 24-hour cycle and ‘instant’ news where many people’s livelihoods depend upon the number of clicks their story gets, we must check the source of information, the accuracy of a claim, and definitely make the effort to research when it comes to the media outlets where spin and outrage, and shock headlines seem preferable to substance.
The request for The Voice emanated from a National Constitutional Convention of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples in 2017 when they issued the Uluru Statement From The Heart. ‘A generous andpoetic‘invitation towards a better future for ALL Australians according to Mark Dreyfus (I thought this a lovely choice of words delivered with sincerity):
Mark explained the mechanics of the Constitution, why the change is necessary, why the question is straightforward and simple and ‘the detail’ so many critics are requesting is not needed, it doesn’t belong in the Constitution. There are no details about what type of Defence Forces we have except to say we need to have them. Parliament is the mechanism to decide on detail, monetary policy, the set up of committees, and advisory bodies, provide services, whether we deploy troops, trade with certain countries, build infrastructure etc. etc. The wording of the change to the Constitution regarding The Voice has been discussed and debated over many years until a consensus was reached:
“Without bipartisan support – when one side of politics politicises the issue along party lines, often for base electoral opportunism – a referendum is usually doomed to fail, even when the question appears wholly innocuous.“
Dr Paul Williams, Associate Professor of politics and journalism at Griffith University’s School of Humanities.
There has certainly beena lot of politics, grandstanding and misinformationso far but as a glass-half-full person, I sincerely hope this referendum will pass and providing my health doesn’t deteriorate further, I will be volunteering when and where I can to promote it.
I hope the voting community will take the opportunity to seek information and attend forums like the one the City of Kingston organised, read any information supplied carefully, and be aware Australia still does not have a truth in political advertising law. However, we have free public libraries and more Internet search engines than Google, plus seek information from First Nation People – have the conversations needed and listen:
Derrimjut Weelam Gathering Place (a resource for the broader Kingston community to learn about Aboriginal culture, to promote Aboriginal cultural heritage and to strengthen community connections and connections to Traditional Owners. )
In the distance Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags fly alongside the Australian flag by Mordialloc Yacht Club. These flags are commonplace outside many publlic buildings and the sky hasn’t fallen in.
Just as in the wider Australian community, not all First Peoples agree on every issue. Truth-telling, listening, and consensus are needed among themselves. They have made good progress in Victoria and even held a meeting in the State Parliament when it was not sitting. These significant acknowledgements of First Nations People are happening without fanfare and without negative effect on non-indigenous Victorians.
The Voice to Parliament Handbook is available at BigW and various bookstores. It is a well-explained, easy-to-read guide worth purchasing or borrowing from the library. Here are some extracts:
Rachel Joy’s presentation was confronting. She spoke quietly and clearly with the authority and detail of years of academic research and recorded facts. There will always be debates in academia, different perspectives and arguments over word choice, but even if some research is deemed controversialthere is ample evidence of not only massacres but other damaging inhumane government policies.
She referred to the research undertaken by the University of Newcastle and their website containing an interactive map of frontier massacres, 1788-1930. Be warned there is a lot of distressing information, but it is a part of Australia’s history we must acknowledge to understand the intergenerational trauma and put in place the services and support needed for us truly to be the much touted egalitarian nation proudly singing, “Advance Australia Fair’!
” Only frontier massacres for which sufficient evidence exists and can be verified are included. The map also includes information about frontier massacres of non-Aboriginal people such as colonists and others in Australia in the same period.”
A horrific massacre in Victoria Rachel described in detail occurred in 1921! The date is shocking – that was the year my mother was born – it challenges the dismissive attitude of many people about the horrors of colonialism being a ‘centuries ago‘ or ‘in the distant past‘. This is as immediate as the parents of most of the people who attended the forum!
The ‘war to end all wars’, (1914-1918) remembered every year on Anzac Day may have finished overseas, but senseless killing on home soil and discrimination against Indigenous Australians continued.
Over the next few weeks, there will be an increased information about The Voice with arguments for and against delivered to our mailboxes. I found The Australia Institute interview with Thomas Mayo and Kerry O’Brien discussing their book (excerpts above) on The Voice insightful. You can also download the transcript.
Whatever way you choose to vote, please be informed and do so with the same generosity of spirit extended by The Uluru Statement from the Heart. As Reuben said in his presentation, First Nation Australians don’t even number 900,000 people, they are not a threat. The referendum gives all Australians an opportunity to accept Makarrata and begin the journey to build a country we can be proud of despite the horrors and mistakes of the past and present.
Over the years I have used my poet’s voice to express my feelings about my adopted country, the past and present. I have always been a keen history student as well as aspiring to be a creative writer. I’m forever seeking the words to use and the context helps me make sense of the myriad of thoughts that swirl in my head at any given time and what I should write.
Here is a poem I wrote in the 80s remembering an encounter with the man himself when I visited William Rickett’s Sanctuary as a teenager:
SANCTUARY’S SOLACE
Mairi Neil
(a tribute to William Ricketts Sanctuary, Mt. Dandenong, Victoria)
Chiseled faces of our indigenous race
carved with love and full of Grace
their warrior past and pride displayed
in the sanctuary Ricketts made
the daily visitors invited to wander
along mossy paths, perhaps to ponder
why cruel colonial customs wreak
heartless havoc when conquerors seek
a land that is not theirs to take,
and then a soulless prison make
now generations down the track
struggle to separate fiction from fact
yet amongst these shadowy trees and ferns
one man’s dream did easily discern
that Aboriginal caretakers of this land
needed a sanctuary so others understand
their journey of loss to invaders’ goal,
the attempted subjugation of their soul
expressive eyes of each sculpted head
celebrates a living race, not forgotten dead
And after a trip to Northern Territory, I wrote this
The Red Centre
Mairi Neil
Namondjok and Namarrgon*
of The Dreaming
birthed this land
a sunburnt country
with rivers of sand
ochre painted tales
rock wallaby trails
ghostly gums sigh
under cobalt sky
orange dunes shimmer
minerals glimmer
by wet season lake
jagged rock mosaic
ecosystem fragile
don’t let greed beguile
protection needed
First People heeded…
Australia’s heart
a nation’s soul
*Lightning Man and the Rainbow Serpent
And finally a more recent poem after one of my daily walks in Mordialloc
Elusive Beauty
Mairi Neil
I often try to visualise Mordialloc if I had a time machine
the bay a deep, deep blue, greeting trees of dusty green
First People gathering to feast, shell middens littering sand
ancient Red River Gums dotting pristine landscape grand…
BoonWurrung settled by the Creek enjoy freshwater supply
to hunt, gather and grow crops beneath star-studded sky
alas, their sustainable living in harmony with this place
shattered by invasion - and what transpired still a disgrace
axes chopped, chainsaws whined, bulldozers gouged and rumbled
habitat destroyed, wildlife fled; Boon Wurrung killed, dispossessed
centuries may pass and healing begun, but so much has been lost -
land degradation, species gone and fractious debates about cost
different lifestyle benchmarks exist; concrete smothers tender shoots
freeway tentacles devour land - sadly, few voices challenge routes
often mistakes not realised until no hope of effective restitution
our future children deserve commitment and better resolution
listen to lorikeets tweet, kookaburras laugh, magpies warble and trill
raven and wattlebirds caw, a wagtail nightly song offers a rare thrill…
voices that must not be lost, a reminder to nurture land with care,
weave nature’s scattered strands and recoup beauty rich and rare!
I acknowledge the Boon Wurrong people of the Kulin nation as the traditional custodians of the unceded lands and waters where I live. Always was, always will be Aboriginal land.
One of the five Excavator sculptures by Greg Johns at Waterways
Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
It is a new year and yet like many I feel I have lost a swathe of time since the onset of the pandemic declared by WHO three years ago on March 11, 2020. The absence of this blog for over a year, and many other activities I used to enjoy, concrete examples of how discombobulated life became and how life changed.
It’s like emerging from a time warp and no doubt there will be plenty of science fiction lovers who’ll agree and writers already penning work to add to the existing plethora of novels and films about evil viruses and zombies!
The last three years meld and become easily confused when recounting or remembering events, particularly outings, yet these were normal occurrences pre pandemic. I’m in my 70th year, but the confusion is not all down to ageing or the brain tumour diagnosed in late 2020 and now my constant companion with unpredictable and unsettling effects.
Covid-19 and the variants still developing and circulating a global problem, creating an historical ‘era’ much the same as the two twentieth century world wars or the 60s and 70s Vietnam War. Many of us experienced dramatic changes to routine, lifestyle, family and friendship circles with some changes becoming permanent. History will record and label it!
The cliched tide may have turned, people may be in denial the virus is still deadly, or are too tired to push against the policies and acceptance of ‘personal responsibility’ replacing behavioural rules put in place for the common good. Suffice to say, authorities (and most in the community) have accepted the roller coaster ride ofactive cases and deathsmuch greater now than during the ‘lockdown years’ and the inconveniences of higher than average ‘sickies’, cancellations, and staff and material shortages.
I too move out of my comfort zone more often, accept invitations and attend events when I can, and look forward to catching up with friends. Ironically, any recent cancellations have been due to Melbourne’s mercurial weather and the necessary but often disruptiveBig Build.
Days of extreme heat discourage travelling too far from home or negotiating replacement services and the extra time involved. Even the daily walk with my beloved Josie has had to be cancelled in deference to her poor paws suffering on hot concrete paths, and her permanent fur coat.
Climate change is the other global disaster we have to live with and sadly, a disaster ignored for too long and not fixable with a vaccine, wearing a mask, or socially distancing. But, I digress because this post is an appreciation of still being alive and healthy enough to celebrate the area I’m lucky to live in and enjoy and spend a few hours with a dear friend!
Living bayside has enabled me to use walking and nature as a therapeutic balance to the misery of Covid and climate change and adverse health news!
Another of the five Excavator(2008) sculptures by Greg Johns at Waterways
The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new.
Socrates
The weather and health smiled and my good friend Lisa Hillwho organised the outing I wrote about in my last post, researched and organised another fabulous day. On Thursday, we explored some of the public art in the City of Kingston.
Kingston aims for their public art program to reflect and celebrate the area’s history, stories and cultures and sense of place. The public art they fund/commission can be ‘ephemeral, temporary and permanent’. They receive advice from the Arts and Cultural Advisory Committee (ACAC) which is made up of community members with experience and/or expertise in the arts and cultural sector, as well as City of Kingston councillors.
I was a foundation member of Cultural Arts Reference Group, City of Kingston (2004 – June 2005) the forerunner to ACAC so I’m glad to see there is still some form of input from community members involved in the arts – although most people think of visual artists and not writers when you mention public art, evidenced by the Council’s website and map suggesting a tour of twenty ‘easily accessible’ sites; all are murals or sculptures.
As we planned what sites to visit, Lisa said there was a suggestion you could explore the trail by bicycle, walking, or car. I’m not sure whoever put the map together tested the suggestions. Individual pieces are accessible to the public who live in that suburb – some highly visible like the one in Mordialloc that welcomes people if they enter via Nepean Highway, but we could not have looked at the handful of art work we chose without the car. If using public transport, walking or cycling, it would be a long day indeed like one of those tours you pay for shuttling from place to place with brief, timed stops.
Updated suggestions on tackling a tour of the twenty listed on the map could provide information or links to the various routes if walking, cycling, or travelling by train and bus.
Pompeis Boat(2010), one of three sculptures by Julie Squiresat Mordialloc
On the Trail of Public Art
From Mordialloc, we set off for Moorabbin to seek Horscroft Place Pocket Park, home to the impressive Butterfly Renewal murals and The Monarchs sculptures, a project completed last year. Pocket Parks are being developed throughout Melbourne under the Victorian Government’s Suburban Parks Program. Kingston Council received $700,000 to develop Horscroft Place Pocket Park and the final concept developed in consultation with the Moorabbin community who opted for an environmental theme mural for the brick walls along the northern side of the site, a seating area, shady trees and a homage to the Monarch butterflies often seen in the area.
While we were exploring and taking photographs, a man stopped to chat. He shared how much he liked the butterfly theme because ‘you see plenty of them in the area’, but he thought they were called Painted Lady, a species of butterfly mostly found in Australia. It is a similar colour, as is the Red Admiral butterfly too, and both are often confused for the Monarch, which is larger.
Artist Mike Makatron and assisting artists and Damien Vick , the sculptor
Lisa’s car is fitted with GPS, which is just as well because neither of us knew that part of Moorabbin well and the pocket park is a small area, connected via a pedestrian and cycle thoroughfare, to the much bigger and more obvious Moorabbin Reserve, home of St Kilda Football Club. There is also access to a shopping precinct and other facilities on South Road.
We parked in the carpark at the Reserve and a lovely local lady directed us to the art work we were looking for – ‘a short walk away‘. It was out of sight from where we were standing and with the art trail map info fluttering in my hand, we set off!
Horscroft Place is mainly a street of small businesses and factories and there is the ubiquitous high rise development being constructed. The park will be a boon for the workers and new residents – a place to rest, sit, meet for a chat, perhaps eat lunch or morning tea. Once the vines grow on the colonnades it will be an even more pleasant and attractive walk to enjoy.
Perhaps too it will encourage people to value and appreciate indigenous flora and fauna and the importance of breathable, open green space.
Every moment is a fresh beginning.
T.S. Eliot
Bundle of Sticks(2008) by Elizabeth Weissensteiner, on wall of Clarinda Community Centre
Our next stop was in Clarinda to see the Bundle of Sticks on the wall of Clarinda Community Centre that is co-located with Clarinda Library. The Centre opened in 2005 and the Library 2004. The 2008 work by Dr Elizabeth Weissensteiner commissioned and is based on an Aesop’s Fableto illustrate we are stronger together than being quarrelsome and going our own way.
“The design represents the strength of a community that has a shared identity and purpose. The work celebrates the values of the people of the area, multiculturalism and unity.” It is on the wall at the Viney Street entrance and less visible than the photograph on the website suggests because trees and shrubbery have grown.
Thank goodness Lisa had been to an author event held at the library and knew to check all sides of the building!
The art work is visible to passersby in the residential street. There is a parking area at the front of the library and in the nearby shopping centre and the Viney Street entrance an easy stroll. I hope locals and visitors take the time to pause and ponder the timeless message of the artwork and the fable. Aesop’s Fables have a moral behind each tale and were a staple part of my primary education in Scotland in the 50s and early 60s. I have a picture storybook given to me either as a birthday present or a school prize.
The purpose of art is to lay bare the questions that have been concealed by the answers. James Baldwin
We had decided before heading out that with the time available, and expected weather change, we’d make art work neither of us had seen a priority, with a plan to end up at Waterways housing estate to enjoy a late lunch and the lovely view lakeside from The Nest Cafe in Waterside Drive.
Waterways is 8 minutes in the car, and 23 minutes on the bus, from Mordialloc but I’ve only been there a handful of times. Apart from the lovely lake and the super popular restaurant, it is a housing estate with attractive homes but narrow streets. Parking, like everywhere in Kingston is a problem. I visited a friend by bus years ago. She was one of the early residents and for a long time regretted moving from Parkdale to Waterways because she had to rely on her car for work, shopping and medical appointments. Access and exit to the estate, in her opinion, hazardous. I’m hoping the new freeway and extended bypass and intervening years have improved this situation, but I doubt the parking has improved.
C’est la vie, and the story of so much modern development when the demand outpaces delivery and developments go ahead while infrastructure and thoughts on the future, seem an afterthought. However, I’m a water viewing junkie and to me the lake, birdlife, trees, shrubbery and parkland are beautiful, well worth a visit, regardless of the art trail. Location is the selling point for the estate!
Ironically, the last time I visited Waterways was with Lisa in 2019, when pandemic fears were a whisper in some media circles. My breast cancer returned December 21, 2019, but fortunately, after the lumpectomy I bounced back enough to enjoy a delayed Christmas lunch with Lisa at The Nest.
We sat at a table overlooking the water, and could see some of Greg Johns Excavator series, but I paid more attention to the antics of the ducks and moorhens and other birds. This return visit we were taking a closer look at the sculptures, but also seeking new art work and will stroll away from the cafe.
Greg Johns was commissioned in 2002 by the Waterways residential development ‘to create a body of sculptures that responded to the development’s wetland environment.’ He created 5 birdlike creatures, ‘excavators‘, referencing the diverse and plentiful bird-life in the area. He used Corten steel, his signature material because it is a stable, rusted surface that continues to develop as the sculpture ages.
I photographed 3 of the 5 metal ‘birds’ on Waterside Drive in close proximity to The Nest, but snapped some live ones too. The moorhens, ducks and swans friendly and relaxed around people. There have been 105 different species of birds recorded in this area, much valued by Bird Observers Clubs.
We walked to the Westbridge boardwalk further down Waterside Drive to find the Waterways commissioned art work by artist Ken Blum. The 4 carved wooden sculptures reflect the wetlands and history of the local area, acknowledging the Boon Wurrung as the traditional owners of the land.
There are two carvings of birds representing the ancestral spirit of the indigenous custodians and two portait carvings revealing faces of two indigenous people. The portraits are placed as sentries to the wetlands and are primarily carved from cypress logs with chainsaws, axes and chisels.
Large stone platforms sit atop the sculptures to prevent water from rotting the trunk of timber. These 4 sculptures were my favourite – visually striking yet blending into the environment naturally. They belonged but stood out!
When I saw the first portrait I saw resilience through tears of grief and pain, and Lisa commented on the fracturing of indigenous society. We both had a visceral reaction, which I believe is an important purpose of public art, not just to decorate or please.
Art can be subtle, overt, confrontational and nuanced. Woven naturally into the tapestry of our day to day lives, it helps build a culturally rich, tolerant, diverse and respectful society. Not just of people but the natural environment – from my first visit over a decade ago, it is heartening to see how native flora has thrived at Waterways.
Waterways (2008) by Ken Blum
Stories are the secret reservoir of values: change the stories individuals or nations live by and tell themselves, and you change the individuals and nations. Ben Okri, Nobel Prize for Literature
The two birds I believe are an ibis and an eagle but we couldn’t find a plaque. I have read about Bunjil (Bundjil), the Ancestral Wedge-tailed Eagle, the creator and Waa, the Ancestral Crow (Raven) the protector, they feature in many indigenous stories. They are Moiety Ancestors of the Kulin Nation.
The chances of disinformation, propaganda or downright fantasy/lies much more frequent with the changed media landscape. The plethora of social media sites often the ‘go-to’ for information, but not the most reliable. Local libraries are still free and much more trustworthy!
The ambience of Waterways and the boardwalks and paths around the lake made us forget the closeness of the freeway and that at the last census the estate recorded a population of 2,422 because there were so few people about. We had the paths to ourselves.
In order to create, we draw from our inner well. This inner well, an artistic reservoir, is ideally like a well-stocked fish pond… If we don’t give some attention to upkeep, our well is apt to become depleted, stagnant, or blocked…As artists, we must learn to be self-nourishing. We must become alert enough to consciously replenish our creative resources as we draw on them — to restock the trout pond, so to speak. Julia Cameron
The time spent with Lisa exploring some public art in Kingston is a lovely memory day and it has helped me attempt to return to blogging, a pastime I enjoyed because I do love writing and sharing information if I’ve been lucky enough to travel or participate in something special.
However, this first post after a long absence has been a challenge to remember how to format and upload, plus learning and navigating changes and updates to WordPress. Apologies in advance if there is a blooper and well done if you’ve made it this far.
I’ve been writing regularly and posting form poetry and photography on Instagram and Facebook but more often than not it is doggerel or random thoughts needing a lot more work to shape into what I hoped to say but ‘practice makes perfect’ another instruction I remember from childhood and it is lovely to write for pleasure rather than deadlines or to teach.
I wish I had visited Butterfly Renewal & The Monarchs before my last Instagram post because it would have been relevant. I’ll finish with the poem and a wish we all learn to self-nourish and nurture the ability to enjoy replenishing our creativity!
Fleeting Thoughts
by Mairi Neil
Sweltering heat each breath an effort
yet like a floating scrap of paper
buffeted by the hot north wind
you flit, flutter and dance from flower
to flower. Pirouetting from geraniums
to agapanthus, to lavender and rosemary …
a sip of iced water gives me relief, but
my computer screen demands words,
a deadline squeezing joy from a task
begun with passion – before today’s heat.
Time more your enemy with a lifespan of
a week, or months if you are lucky…
with minimum effort you flit and flutter
quenching your thirst, supping nectar
your drinking straw provided by nature –
oh, little butterfly, do you ever flutter
for pleasure in this topsy turvy world of
global warming and indeterminate seasons?
are you constantly searching to lay your eggs
and propagate – diligently seeking perfection?
Some humans become prisoners of work or greed –
but your timetable imposed by Mother Nature…
your exotic, colourful Monarch cousins travel
2000 miles from Mexico to California to breed
the timeline of their migration a line of dead
as farming, pesticides and global warming
extract a toll that you, fluttering in pale anonymity,
I haven’t posted since July 2020, but it is a new year and notwithstanding the recent outbreak of COVID19 in my local area, I am hoping 2021 will be better.
This is actually a reworking of a post from several years ago and if you read to the end, my choice of updating and reposting should make sense. (It’s not just laziness although it is an effort to overcome a lack of enthusiasm and feeling of irrelevance!)
The last six months have been the definition of hell for so many people despite some (including me) attempting to find the glass half full.
I’ve read of achievements, new hobbies, friendships, educational courses, diets and exercise regimes, technology, books, films, music, imaginative recipes and discovery of local environmental gems… there were also plenty of negative impacts from panic and fear, lockdowns, isolation, shortage of goods and services, lost jobs and homes, broken relationships and health issues.
A relieved thought (or unvoiced fear) was how lucky can one person be!
It wasn’t the immediate end of the world but I would be lying if I said thoughts of death didn’t loom large. I checked finances and discussed plans with my daughters for ‘no funeral, just a big party’; ensured my will, plus medical and financial power of attorney up-to-date.
In the last decade, many health scares, so déjà vu for the Neil household at this regular event!
However, the discovery of a brain tumour and the fear it was metastatic cancer shocked the GP who has cared for me for over 25 years. We both fought back tears, our trembling lips hidden by masks, social distancing forgotten as she squeezed my arm in sympathy and murmured about unfairness and not to lose hope because it could be a meningioma.
I’m 67 years old, ironically, the same age as my husband when he died in 2002, (John was 18 years older than me). Whether it is the Highland genes or just my Mother’s Irish superstition, this coincidence played on my mind and also worried my daughters.
Survival rates for cancer vary from person to person but the milestones of 5 and 10 years are always at the back of a patient’s mind when diagnosed. The longer you can go without a recurrence is something to celebrate.
However, survival rates for a tumour in the brain, poor and if an operation required the risk of stroke high.
I was disappointed when breast cancer returned after 9 years but my breast cancer surgeon inspires confidence and he acted quickly and decisively and this time it was a lumpectomy rather than mastectomy.
The recovery from the melanoma and skin graft during severe lockdown, and in the middle of winter, took a little longer with travel permissions to worry about and more stringent rules for clinicians and patients. These restrictions lasted well into the next health surprise.
By the time I went through all the tests and consultations for the brain tumour, it took a lot of energy to even pretend to be positive about the future. I thought back to the deaths of family and friends I’d witnessed or been involved with in the last stages of their life – hence revisiting this post about my friend Margaret.
Will I be calm and accepting? Do I want to prolong the inevitable? What are my priorities and is there any point in a bucket list?
I almost forgot to breathe when the neurologist decided it was a meningioma and not metastatic cancer. In the words of my breast surgeon on my annual visit in December, ‘You dodged another bullet, Mairi!’
How long I can keep dodging is a mystery but I’ve decided to turn the page on 2020 and try ‘business as usual’ along with my mantra ‘this too will pass’.
Digital Distraction
I spent July to December posting photographs and haiku on Instagram after joining at the suggestion of a dear friend in Japan who posts about Bonsai.
We have stayed connected and she returned any perceived favour by inspiring me to learn a new digital platform (with daughter Mary Jane’s help), indulge my love of photography and the environment, and write haiku, a favourite poetry form!
Naoko’s Instagram is #bonsai_sana and mine is #mairineil
Walking the dog each day around Mordialloc, I focused on everyday sights, let my imagination and thoughts wander and in the evening, inspired and guided by the demands of the form, I wrote haiku.
The anxiety, fear and dark thoughts about health and death receded as once again my passion for writing became therapeutic and a distraction. It gave me a focus and a project.
Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure — these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.
Steve Jobs
And for many, death comes too soon…
Farewell To A Friend
The telephone call came out of left field. Tragic news to wreck quality time with a dear friend, yet it is also a dear friend on the other end of the mobile. My eyes sting with welling tears, but remain focussed out of the window of the Malt cafe in Beaumaris.
I watch two young mums chat animatedly on the footpath. Relaxed and smiling they are probably enjoying the freedom of the first day of the school year; the little darlings who kept them busy all the summer holidays tucked into classrooms. Another couple on an outside table feed their Golden Retriever tidbits from their plates.
I’m surrounded by chatter; the cafe almost filled to capacity. The aroma of fresh muffins, fruit toast, and homemade jam mingles with my skinny latte and Lesley’s extra strong cappuccino. However, normality dissipates as I absorb the details of the call. Body trembling, I feel as if I’ve been punched in the stomach and as usual Tamoxifen blesses me with a hot flush as anxiety peaks and emotions rage.
The day takes its first lurch into the surreal.
I’m on my way to celebrate a friend’s retirement from decades of teaching. She’s treating several friends to lunch at Sierra Tango, Cheltenham instead of us paying and hosting the celebration for her! The generosity of the invitation indicative of her warm, supportive personality and the venue a tribute to her knowledge of gastronomy, appreciation of fine foods and wine, and a commitment to support local businesses.
Determined not to spoil Lisa’s day, I seal my tragic news into an emotional compartment to be dealt with later…
I remember a poster I had on my wall at Burgmann College in 1971, when I lived on campus at ANU; my first year away from home. A poster long since eaten by silver fish when it was consigned to the garden shed, but here’s graphics with the same message – a sightly more colourful way of describing “left field”:
The telephone call from Canberra, from a friend from those university days. She can’t keep shock and horror from her shaky voice. A mutual friend, someone I shared a flat with in the 70s, is dying. She was the first non-family member I lived, worked, and studied with – we even shared the double bed that came with the one-bedroom apartment – and thought nothing of it! She’s now on borrowed time.
How could this be?
A voice laced with tears explains that a late discovery of inoperable breast cancer, treated with letrozole, has metastasised to the groin and brain stem. The condition kept secret for two years, while Margaret spent time travelling overseas and going through her bucket list. Now, in palliative care, her lifespan numbered in weeks rather than months – or days, if she experiences a seizure or rapid deterioration of the brain.
A picture of all of us at the Harmonie German Club in Canberra in 1973, was shared in a recent post. Tall slim Margaret centre stage.
She can’t be dying – and not of breast cancer. This news, too confronting and scary. I think back to the apartment we shared, and shiver. That old house divided into three and this news means all of the women living there, including me, have breast cancer: one double mastectomy, two single mastectomies and now Margaret with metastatic breast cancer! Bad luck? Coincidence? A cancer cluster?
A problem for another day…
Bad News Travels Fast
During Lisa’s celebration lunch I receive another phone call with news that a European friend who had stayed with me early January had to have an emergency eye operation in Sydney because of a detached retina. There’s a danger she’ll lose her sight.
This super fit friend, a world-renowned marathon swimmer, came ninth in the Pier to Pub swim at Lorne this year. She’s supposed to be leaving Sydney for her home in Italy with a stop in one of Thailand’s resorts, but is now delayed in Australia until doctors allow her to fly.
The day has taken its second lurch into the surreal.
On my way home, I have the Serenity Prayer playing in my head as I try to put the sad news into perspective and decide on a course of action.
The next day I’m in Canberra and over four days catch up with many old friends from university, make some new ones, and spend hours with Margaret as she adjusts to the effects of radiotherapy and the news of having limited time.
She copes well with the steady stream of people who want to help in some way, as well as saying goodbye. The adage ‘bad news travels fast‘ proving true.
The busyness reminds me of husband, John’s last days – the irony of our busy vibrant house, constant comings and goings, laughter and noise, feasts, and endless cups of tea and coffee surrounding someone dying.
We share meals with Margaret, laughs and stories. I spot photographs in an album – and snap copies with my camera.
Cooma 1973
Lake Burley Griffin 1974
‘Those indeed were the days my friend,’ I say, ‘we had a lot of fun!’
Margaret agrees. I listen as she describes the highlights of her overseas trips and of her intention to travel again.
Deep down we both know another trip will never happen.
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
Before I leave, I water the plants and pick flowers to brighten inside. Margaret manages to negotiate back steps with some help and watches me water the garden, pointing out several special plants that came from other people’s gardens, or were received as gifts.
‘This can’t be happening,’ she whispers and I know she isn’t talking about my watering efforts. She alludes to her parents’ longevity, father ‘Digger’, dying a few years ago aged 93, her mother living into her 80s.
Her head shakes slightly, ‘I thought I had 23 years before I had to worry about all these decisions … what to do with things … ‘ Her voice trails off as her eyes drink in the beauty of flowers flourishing from the effect of an unusually cool Canberra summer providing higher than average rainfall.
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
I help her back inside wondering if this will be the last time I will feel the weight of her arm. The last time I brush fallen hair from her shoulders as her scalp reacts to the radiotherapy.
Why is the sun still shining? The magpies trilling? Laughter drifting from nearby apartments…
I recall a speech from one of the many Aboriginal women in our friendship circle. She thanked Margaret for all the books she bought her children over the years, the encouragement to access education. ‘One son got his PhD last year, all my girls have tertiary qualifications – thank you from the bottom of my heart.’
Others repeat similar sentiments. ‘You may not have any children of your own, but what you have done for our children means they are yours too!’
The seeds we sow. A wonderful legacy indeed, but I wish Margaret had another 23 years to sort out her life…
I wanted the last few days with her to be surreal and someone to wake me up and say it was all a dream. But of course I faced the reality of saying goodbye and dealing with my grief.
Now, with the reality of declining health I’ll hopefully adjust with similar dignity as Margaret when the inevitable must be faced – with luck still in the distance.
Then again, 2021 may hold bigger surprises than 2020 and they could be good!
That (wo)man is successful who has lived well, laughed often, and loved much, who has gained the respect of the intelligent men (and women) and the love of children; who has filled his(her) niche and accomplished his (her) task; who leaves the world better than he (she) found it, whether by an improved poppy, a perfect poem, or a rescued soul; who never lacked appreciation of earth’s beauty or failed to express it; who looked for the best in others and gave the best he(she) had.
A good way to learn about the region’s First People is to take a vintage tram ride on the Dja Dja Wurrung Tram – a moving celebration of their cultural heritage that navigates the past and present of the changing environment since colonisation.
For the second year, the City of Greater Bendigo opened its doors and partnered with Open House Melbourne to host Open House Bendigo on the last weekend in October. Supporting partners were Creative Victoria, DELWP, Heritage Council of Victoria and the La Trobe Art Institute.
I was thrilled to volunteer again because Bendigo is a place you can easily fall in love with and being part of a volunteer crew hosting a building for Open House, I indulge my love of history and heritage and chat with a host of interesting people sharing a similar love or just satisfying their curiosity about buildings they pass every day or had a connection to in the past …
Whatever the reason, the air comes alive with stories, characters and settings and for a writer – to paraphrase our PM – How good is an Open House weekend!?
The crew of volunteers at the end of a busy weekend.
In a thank-you email received yesterday (and the wonderful crew who run Open House nurture and always thank the volunteers!) the statistics have been collated:
over 10,000 visits across 27 buildings and 9 special events
a clear demonstration of continuing public interest and engagement in the city’s architecture and heritage.
as expected the Beehive was the most popular building with over 2,123 people taking advantage of walking through the door
The cooperation and enthusiasm of building managers, owners and architects also make the program possible and local volunteers from a variety of community or educational organisations keen to showcase on this extremely busy weekend for Bendigo.
There is an annual Cycling Classic plus a Sustainable Living festival and lots of cross-pollination between events. I even paused to enjoy the excitement of one of the cycling heats:
Bendigo is only 90 minutes by train from Melbourne and although the weather wasn’t as pleasant as last year visitors were not deterred and not only the Beehive Complex saw increased numbers.
People queued patiently outside and inside the building to be allowed a walkthrough of half an hour – 15 minutes downstairs and 15 minutes upstairs and volunteers kept the numbers moving by ensuring the time limit strictly adhered to.
My teaching voice came in handy as I herded those on the upper floor, as did the timer on my mobile phone and the response from a good-natured crowd.
Why was the Beehive so busy?
The Beehive Building is a Bendigo landmark and dates back to 1872 when it was the Bendigo Mining Exchange. The building has been through many manifestations since then and therefore holds a variety of memories for the people of Bendigo.
Last year, Open House Bendigo allowed access to the construction site and the interest generated resulted in queues wending around the streets with waiting times of more than two hours – hence the timed viewing and entry this year!
The exclusive ‘sneak peek’ of ‘never-before-seen restorative works’ and the opportunity to hear from the Developer, Craig Lightfoot, a golden opportunity few locals wanted to miss.
Craig in deep conversation with one visitor and always the queue of others waiting…
I’ll own up to being critical of many building developers, especially those who seem to want to get rich quick and bulldoze and build rather than restore and redeem but after meeting Craig and seeing the efforts to beautifully restore the Beehive to its former glory I could become a fangirl!
His enthusiasm and passion for retaining heritage aspects obvious. Parts of the restoration will show the history of the building to spark interest and discussion but also as a reminder of the various tradesmen who applied their skills over the 147-year history of the Beehive. Where it is safe to do so, the history of the building and restoration work will be exposed.
In many of the rooms, you will see traces of past occupiers – paintwork, wallpaper patterns, ornamental plaster, brickwork, fireplaces…
Similar in style to Melbourne’s Royal Arcade and by the same designer, Charles Webb, the building’s original uses include a hotel, a mining exchange, a restaurant, offices and function space. The current development uncovers the rich layers of use by removing most of, if not all of the 1920s’ and 1950s’ changes, revealing key features of the original building. Visitors had access to the ground level construction site during the 2018 Open House Bendigo program, and this year visitors will access the newly completed arcade including the second story, revealing the intricate beauty of the glass ceiling not seen for decades.
Behind a still-to-be renovated staircase there will be a quirky memento. Workers have written their name and date they worked on the building, the earliest entry legible is 1939.
Craig assured me he’ll be adding his signature to the wall and that piece of plaster will be made stable and remain as is!
He laughed when I said his commitment to retaining so many historical details reminded me of Kevin Mc Cloud closing many of the episodes of Grand Designs with praise for the builders who retained the ‘autobiographical details’ of a building!
The Beehive Project has been several years in the making and started five years ago. After four years of planning, lots of compliance hoops had to be jumped: Heritage Victoria, CFA building regulations and health and safety issues as well as local building regulations. Times and expectations have changed since 1870.
To ensure disability access, a lift will be installed, modern toilet and plumbing, and most voids had to be removed because of health and safety requirements. Craig managed to keep the centrepiece that gives those downstairs a view to the floor above and the magnificent glass ceiling by widening the walkway on either side.
To remind people the voids were once there he reversed the fill-in floorboards and although the centrepiece had to be narrowed, the cast-iron railings remain, albeit they are replicas. Craig said the original railings were removed and sold off or are languishing somewhere in Bendigo.
Craig duly noted the suggestion and added it to a list of snippets he’d gleaned since opening the building for the public to view. Never underestimate the value of local knowledge!
The building has had many reincarnations – Craig’s plans are for the food and beverage industry. A function centre, with retail and pub or cafe downstairs and intimate and cosy private dining rooms and two larger reception areas upstairs, ideal for weddings and other celebrations like corporate functions.
Coincidentally, both weekends I stayed in Bendigo for Open House, I witnessed a traditional wedding party posing for photos – this year the group was on the steps of the Art Gallery.
I hope Craig gets plenty of bookings and if the response from locals is an indication the building will get plenty of use, people love it and regard it as a Bendigo icon, pleased that it will once again be a place to visit.
A young man dressed intypical tradie gear came through with his mum, grandad and other assorted family members. His first reaction was to retie a striped plastic ribbon cordoning off one of the no-go areas, ‘I’ll get into trouble if this isn’t tied tightly and people go in…’
‘If anyone cops criticism it should be me,’ I said, ‘ part of my job is to ensure people stay to designated areas and don’t go into rooms closed for safety reasons or because equipment and tools are stored.’
He took a bit of convincing from his mother and me that it was okay, it was not his responsibility and it was his day off!
I later saw him explaining to his family in great detail, how he stripped the old paint off, what he’d been instructed to leave, how he scraped, sanded and carefully applied new coats…
Careful, painstaking work, but often rewarded by treasures hidden beneath.
I’m sure he is learning a lot about past painting practices and the type of paint used. Most paints were lead-based and not the healthiest of products so I’m glad he is taking health and safety seriously!
A Cat Through The Roof!
As mentioned, Craig was noting a lot of the stories people told him about how they interacted with the Beehive Buildings. He intends to have a ‘Story Wall’ or some kind of archive where people visiting can learn about the building’s past.
The builders have uncovered ‘historic gems’ and some of these discoveries were on display for Open House – artefacts as well as building features like previously boxed-in metal columns, hidden plaster arches and a steel strongroom door thought to have once blocked the public from gold stored on the premises.
Last year, people got access to the ground floor, but this year they could venture upstairs and one story stands out – in fact, both Craig and I agreed we’d probably dream about it!
There was a staircase leading to ‘offices’ upstairs – the staircase where the tradies had left their marks. People were curious:\ ‘what is up there?’, ‘what will it be?’
A lady said her Uncle Bob and Aunt Win Woods owned the Dad and Dave Cafe and ‘lived up those stairs.’
She became quite teary talking about them and remembering childhood visits when she was around 7 or 9 years old. She recalled Uncle Bob built a clothesline for his wife and placed an extended wooden walkway above the glass ceiling so she could walk out and hang her clothes.
One day, the Siamese cat that used to follow Aunt Win fell through the glass! How narrow and dangerous was that homemade path to the clothesline?
Craig and I both agreed we couldn’t get the image of a falling cat out of our mind and I kept having surreptitious peaks upwards until the end of my shift.
Perhaps the story influenced my reaction when a young mum carrying a baby leant over the cast-iron railings to stare below. Stomach lurching, I moved closer as the much-criticised scene of Michal Jackson dangling his son from the balcony flashed through my mind.
Thankfully, an anxious friend accompanying her spoke up and the young mum moved away. I didn’t have to declare my nervousness or fear of heights.
Another lady told the story of coming up the back stairs and into a shop to get her wedding dress made. The tailoress specialised in wedding dresses and discreet fittings. Craig has chosen to leave the etchings of past occupants on two of the upstairs columns and restore the various staircases.
I hope Craig meets his deadline for March 2020 and that Bendigo will be host to Open House again because I know where I’ll be going to have a cup of coffee or ice cream or just a wander through the restored arcade because as I’ve discovered curiosity does not kill the cat!
Up the Creek with a pen ... 