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