Thursday - Day Five

On Thursday morning we were fortunate enough to visit the sheep shearing shed of Haley O’Connor, who very generously invited us onto her property. On the farm they had 9,000 sheep (something us city girls couldn’t comprehend!) and a total of five shearers in the shed. As an all-girls school,  we were even more amazed to discover that one of the shearers (Emma) was female, which was great to see as it is evidence of more women entering a previously male dominated workforce. Emma can certainly hold her own against the boys, with several shearing awards under her belt. At the farm it takes a total of nine days to shear the 9,000 sheep – that’s an astonishing 200 sheep per person per day. After a quick tour of the shearing shed where we got to see the shearers and wool sorters at work, we were able to talk to Emma, who gave us the insider info. Haley (the owner of the farm) also donated some of her time to us, answering all our questions about life on the farm. We covered everything from buying and selling sheep (look for a ram that stands on its toes!), to the shearing process, growing and harvesting all sorts of crops. She also gave us an insight into government policies, such as the new incoming carbon tax, and how they affect her, as someone who makes their living working on the land. It was really interesting to hear her perspective on these issues, as she was qualified enough to have an informed opinion that we could take in. She also gave us some great information about farming, inspiring some of us (Gabi!!) to consider the farming lifestyle.

We then jumped on the bus and headed straight to the Culgoa River, to meet up again with the whole student body of Goodooga Central School, where they were continuing their NAIDOC Week celebrations at the local river. As true Loreto girls, we headed straight for the food and were not disappointed – we enjoyed Mindy’s amazing Johnny Cakes (damper cooked on the fire), and a delicious sausage stew. With that out of the way we were able to mingle with all the kids and make some new friends. We enjoyed a range of activities as we roamed around the riverbank. Emily and Mil C got to help some of the boys finish a cubbyhouse they had made out of leaves and sticks, a typical Goodooga leisure activity. Mia and Liv were on the hunt for some witchedy grubs, having made a bet with two girls that should they catch some we would eat some. They did catch one, but luckily for us Ms O’Keeffe talked some sense into us, and we didn’t end up eating the grubs. A few more of us headed down to the river to have a fish, with Andie enjoying some success as she caught a European carp. After an afternoon of fun we headed back for some much needed downtime in our library home, where we were interrupted by the news that Gabi’s sister, Emily, had gone into labour, eliciting many squeals from all the girls!

Olivia Adamo and Mil Carrozi

To end the day we were given a once in a lifetime opportunity – blowing emu eggs. This was an incredible experience and, knowing us, became very competitive. After blowing the eggs we enjoyed delicious Bolognese cooked in the fire. To conclude the night we had a talent quest and played games. We experienced a range of skilful performances; of particular note was the “Leader of Pack” performance by our beloved teachers!  We also got to witness the rapping crew LEO: Laura, Eliza and Olivia. After all this fun we finished the night with Ooga Booga in which Ms O’Keeffe initiated some lucky members into the Gibbs clan and frightened the living daylights out of them in the form of a wet sponge.

Before bedtime we had a relaxing astronomy lesson as part of our evening reflection. It was a truly fantastic opportunity to saviour the beauty of the stars without the lights in the city. We then did some reflective drawings of our week and concluded with a prayer;

Heavenly Father,

You guided the three kings all the way to Jesus
and you guided many Aboriginal tribes to food,
both through the stars.
Guide us all to the end of the journey of this enlightening experience we have been gifted with.
Allow the good spirits, Mikey brought to us, to stay with us and allow the dancing to create a natural rhythm in our lives.
Put Goodooga in a star that shines so brightly in Sydney so that when we look up in the night sky, we see the place that has very much, impacted our lives.
The cemetery, the school kids and Aunty Patsy all grew our cultural knowledge. Allow the spirits of these people, past and present, to guide our actions back in Sydney to share this knowledge with those who did not enter this experience.
At Brewarrina, we were touched and educated through Brad’s knowledge and past experience. Keep him in our minds and spirits as we journey through the rest of the week and in Sydney.
And today, doing the activities with the children, we all achieved their youthfulness and eagerness to tell their story and join in. The sheep shearing gave us a more rural experience on this immersion that we will never forget.
As we look to tomorrow, let us think of each other.
We have bonded like never before through the course of this week, so-much-so, that we have created a constellation.
A constellation that is versatile and filled with many gifts that everyone can see as it shines so brightly.
A constellation never separates so let us hold these bonds with one another on our return.

Amen

Mia and Ali

Wednesday - Day four...

Today, we woke at 6:30am to a pleasantly fresh day and wrapped ourselves up to a hot breakfast at Mindy’s. As with every other morning we were greeted with a smile by the younger Tyjarna and Alicia. After sitting around the fire and preparing ourselves for the day ahead we headed onto the bus to start our journey to Brewarrina. We predicted the trip to take one hour, but due to unforeseen circumstances (dirt roads and wildlife and stops) it took closer to two hours.  One of these stops was to an enormous clay pan. We tried to chase cows, but they ran away so instead we had running races, photo shoots (even on the road) and screaming contests.

After reaching our destination at Brewarrina we met Uncle Brad and proceeded onto the local fish traps. First Uncle Brad told us to sit in complete silence and observe and take in the beauty of the river. The river was dotted with many stones, which Brad told us were older then the Egyptian Pyramids. After taking in the beauty of the fish traps and the local area we hopped back on the bus hoping to visit the Mission however due to road works we were unable to do so. Instead we had the opportunity to visit the little-known Hospital Creek Massacre Site. Once we all had gotten off the bus and Uncle Brad told us what the site actually was, we all suddenly felt a cool but cold still air, almost as if the Aboriginal Spirits were surrounding us. Although Uncle Brad told us that over 200 Aboriginal people had been shot by Europeans in the 1800s, this event was never recorded in history books nor was anyone involved in the murders ever persecuted.

Later the surreal event at the Hospital Creek Massacre site and more of Uncle Brad’s engaging and interesting stories from his life we went to lunch at Four Mile Creek. Here Uncle Brad told us about more dreaming stories which we all listened intently to. Being surrounded by nature while eating lunch really gave us time to take in the depth of Uncle Brads knowledge he so willingly shared.

Getting close to 4:30pm it was time to get ready for the much anticipated school Disco organised by Loreto girls at Goodooga Central School. We all donned our red, yellow and black attire ready to dance the night away. At 5:30pm we began the night with a shared dinner of a traditional Aboriginal Stew with all the local children and teachers. Once dinner was over the real fun began. The lights turned off, the strobe light turned on and the music was blaring! We opened the night with a collection of Loreto musical items including a saxophone solo, a beat box and the school song. Then the school children treated us to We call Australia Home in their local language.

The MCs, Bridget and Andie kicked the night off with a couple of rounds of groovy games. Which all children k-12 enjoyed. The younger children especially liked having us there because it was a new experience for them and many of them enjoyed dancing with the latest tunes.

It was sad to have to say bye to all the children once it was time to go home, especially after having danced with many of them (some on our backs!) but it was nice to see them so happy and also drained of energy.

Emma and Lizzy F

The dawn of day three…

The morning air was chilli, fresh but it was all worth it to step out into open plains, and clear blue skies. The Goodooga scenery never ceases to amaze Sydneysiders with the splendours of country living. After three breakfasts consisting of toast, cereal, bacon, eggs we set out for our tour around Goodooga. Although we were back in 15 minutes, this is not to understate what is on offer from this small town. After hearing from Auntie Patsy, we were exposed to history and the rich character of the town.  Aunty Patsy told us about her life growing up on the reserve and the joys it brought her, and how Goodooga has changed from a population decline from 600 to 200 today. We learnt about the factories including a cordial factory, and businesses that sold out, to now virtually no general store, just the town’s post office. She talked about the problems amongst young people living in the town – the loss of culture due to lack of interest.

Again well fed after a short recess, we crossed the town to Goodooga Central School where we were welcomed into the primary students’ classrooms to participate in crafts. We had the opportunity to paint traditional Aboriginal symbols and paintings on the schools tent which was an activity for NAIDOC week and symbolised the tent embassy. We then exercised our creativity in helping the children design white hats with fabric markers which they can wear at school. We were also given the opportunity to create our own, a keepsake that we can all take home, that will not only be useful but meaningful. To burn a bit of energy we grew closer to the kids through skipping games. The school was a great opportunity to mingle with the local kids, which we found to be an enriching and energetic morning.

After lunch, we went straight to the school hall to decorate it in preparation for our NAIDOC disco. Team Balloons vs. Team Streamers vs. Team Posters battled it out to produce a scene worthy of the occasion.  The final product was something we were truly proud of and we are looking forward to the disco on Wednesday night.

The most touching part of the day, was our visit to the cemetery. Half hours walk to a remote spot, where we silently walked through the headstones.  The experience highlighted the cultural division in the past through observing the differences of the elaborate marble headstones, to the simple wooden crosses. The experience at the cemetery was one we will always remember. As Cassie was with us, we used gum leaves to brush off our legs and feet and to ask the spirits not to follow us out of the cemetery.

Our final destination for the day was the Goodooga bore. All 17 girls hopped onto the bus, swimmers on and ready to get out of the cold and into the hot water coming from the artesian springs. We all jumped into the tub, which comfortably fits 12 and uncomfortably 18.  Everyone got out their shampoo and conditioner and washed our hair in the natural spring waters. This experience was better than we expected and this was clear on the bus home with our smiles and energised singing. In reflection we were also gifted with bumper stickers – “where the bloody hell is Goodooga” which I’m sure all parents will be ecstatic to put on their cars.  

Eliza and Laura

Sunday- Day One

After all the suspense and preparation the day was finally here. We all arrived at school at 7.30, (although some just skidded in the door in the nick of time!). We were all looking like clones in our LK trackies, uggboots and new immersion hoodies. While the trailer was being loaded and seats were being nominated on the bus, farewells to our parents and family began. At 8:04 exactly (a few minutes behind schedule!) the bus rolled out of Kirribilli and we began our journey to Dubbo.

The hype and excitement in the bus was off the record with cheering and songs blasting us through Sydney. However within half an hour we had already experienced travel sickness in the worst form. Teachers immediately took action and the bus pulled over for the first of many seat shuffling’s to occur. The winding blue mountains came into view too soon and the trip began to pick up its pace as we slowly crawled up the mountain side.

Once we had passed over the Blue Mountains we passed through Lithgow and travelled on to Bathurst to pick up lunch. We stopped to eat at a rest stop on the road and ate some great packed sandwiches. The toilet was not the usual standard we are used to as it was a deep and dark pit in a  tin cubicle. Continuing on for another few hours we passed through the country towns of Orange, Carbonne and Wellington.

Finally at 4.30 we got into Dubbo and were met by Mickey and Ryan two young Aboriginal brothers at the Big 4 caravan park. Mikey and Ryan were there to take us to a personal smoking ceremony in the bush. As we arrived there was a bundle of stick awaiting us. Mikey lit the sticks and after the fire had burned through all the wood and twigs gum leaves were thrown onto the fire creating a strong smokey incense. We were invited to take our shoes off allowing the smoke to rise up through our body from our feet. We each walked to the fire and wafted the smoke towards us and placing our feet above the smoke allowing us to be cleansed of bad thoughts and feelings, while Mikey sang an unidentifiable song in local Aboriginal language.

When we left the smoking ceremony we went to mass at St Brigid’s, still in our smoky clothes. It was a nice contrast as we went from an unfamiliar tradition to a tradition that we have been a part of our whole lives.  Sister Janet Palafox a Loreto nun met us at mass and joined us for dinner. For dinner we had the choice of steak or pork. Mikey and Ryan had come for dinner too and afterwards they showed us three traditional dances, the emu dance, the williwagtail and the Brolga. It was a really unique experience being able to take part in the smoking ceremony and Aboriginal dances on out first day of immersion! After our first reflection we all headed quickly to our warm beds and after some talking and reading fell straight asleep – it was a big day!

Monday – Day Two

Rise and shine, its 7am and time to start a brand new day! After being woken up by the teachers, we struggled out of our warm sleeping bags into a crisp, frosty morning. After eating a hot breakfast some of us decided to run outside onto the air trampoline and test our coordination on it. Covered in frost, it left us slipping and sliding all over it! Our hearty atmosphere was somewhat dampened however when during our morning reflection we discovered the news of Aunty June Barker’s passing at 5:30am this morning. We were due to meet her on Friday and she was a great loss to the Aboriginal community around Australia.
Once we had boarded the bus and left Dubbo the next place we travelled through was Gilgandra and we then continued on through Coonamble. Our next stop was Gulargambone where we visited the central school in which some girls from year 10 LK were working for the week. We then celebrated Olivia Adamo’s half birthday with cake, courtesy of her mum Kaye. Reluctantly boarding the bus again we continued our journey and were soon at Walgett. This town was a unique experience in itself as it is under constant camera surveillance. Ms O’Keeffe explained the long story behind the camera surveillance as we entered into the town and after a short drive through the town we stopped for lunch. Finishing this with a stroll down the main street, where we met with Brother Bill a Christian Brother, we again ascended the steps of the bus and settled down for more hours of driving. It was after leaving Walgett that we got our first sightings of EMUS! From there onwards we started an intense emu/kangaroo spotting competition which meant all eyes were glued to the surrounding country, ready to spot for points. Our final stop before reaching our destination was the memorial sight for the naming of Lightening Ridge.  The story, as written on a plaque in a rock, said that a shepherd, his dog and 600 sheep were struck dead on the ridge from a powerful bolt of lightning. After a quick leg stretch and toilet break we were ready to be on the road again to get to our destination.
Then finally! As our bus drove past the green sign that had the magic name on it: Goodooga – we were finally here! It was incredible pulling up into the town for the first time. It was everything and nothing like what we expected at the same time and the excitement and tangible relief in the bus was huge. Getting off the bus we were greeted by Cassie, her daughter Tjyarna and son Maliyan, Leah and her daughter Alicia and the famous Mindy, Cassie’s mum! We got a tour of the school, settled into the library and walked in the pitch dark with the stars above us 500 metres back to Mindy’s house for dinner. We had chicken pies and salad which were absolutely delicious and sat around the bonfire. Once we were all around the bonfire Julie-Anne and Tjyarna told us the rainbow serpent and emu in the sky Dreamtime Stories. After this we went back to the library, informed of the adventures awaiting us tomorrow, before evening reflection. Reflecting over the day using the Ignatian examen, we then went outside to write a word or prayer in the sky to God using sparklers. With a sense of deep appreciation we settled in for our first night sleeping in Goodooga J

From Bridget and Gabi!

The day before departure

After three preparation meetings, countless emails and phone calls we are ready for the experience of a lifetime. In less than 24hrs twenty two passionate, energetic and just minded citizens will commence the journey to Goodooga.

Day 1: Sydney to Dubbo
Day 2: Dubbo to Goodooga
Day 3: Bush foods and cultural workshops - Goodooga
Day 4: Goodooga to Brewarrina
Day 5: Goodooga Central School + Youth Centre
Day 6: Lightning Ridge
Day 7: Goodooga to Dubbo
Day 8: Dubbo to Sydney