By Finn Marshall
Special thanks to David Plumb for working with Finn to create this article and publish his recount of the Indigenous Immersion.
In the last week of the school holidays, a group of 28 students in years 9, 10 and 11 embarked on an Indigenous Immersion in Cape York, Cairns.
We woke up extremely early and had to get to school at 3.15am. We were met with many tired faces, a hangry Miss Brady and a very stressed Miss Burke who was making sure we had everyone. We said goodbye to our families and then tiredly filed onto the bus. As soon as we stepped foot in the airport disaster struck. One person fainted and we were told she couldn’t board the plane, another person was not registered on the jetstar ticket list so we were told she couldn’t come with us either and someone lost their ID before check in. Luckily everyone got through but our flight was called early and many of us chaotically scrambled with maccas in hand to the gate where we met Miss Burke with another red earth member who had lost their boarding ticket. Some people also had to let their precious hot drinks go, chugging it before boarding the plane.
Fortunately we all got on the plane safely and after a scenic flight we landed in Cairns and met our leaders, Matt, Emma and our busdriver Bruce who had an endless supply of snacks. We loaded our bags into the bus and drove a long 6 hours that consisted of mostly singing and sleeping. At the conclusion of our bus ride we arrived at our first homeland Gurriill.
Gurriill was a cattle station owned by couple Richard and Lilian having cattle, horses, dogs and kittens. While we were at Gurriill we got to experience acticities such as a hike witnessing the local environment, trying native bush foods, swimming in the local creek, whip cracking, weaving with dry grass, a language lesson, leatherwork and playing footy with Richard and Lilians grandchildren. Some of the grandchildren we connected with names were Bondi, Wendell, Shaylin, Colt, Bayou and Payton. One of the bush foods we tried was wild bush chilli’s, Richard and Lilian advised us to just try a seed but some of us were feeling courageous and ate the entire chilli. After 4 large glasses of milk, many bottles of water and puking our courageous whole chilli tasters felt regret. Additionally we sampled some green ants which involved picking the ant up and licking its butt which tasted sour. We also got to listen to many stories from the Richard and Lilian about curses such as what happens when you burn barramundi bones, The dooku sisters, stories about when natural disasters would occur and many more memorable tales. The amenities at Gurriill were a shower which was a bucket of hose water and a luxurious hummus tub as a scoop. Instead of a lock we used an empty peach tin that was on a stick Also the toilet was a bin used as a pit toilet inside of a tent. There was one rule of using the pit toilet don’t look down. #We said goodbye after three nights there and hopped on the bus and made our way on the bumpy unpaved road to the next homeland called Melsonby. On the way we stopped off at Isabella Falls and had lunch there.
On arrival, we met Bula who was our tour guide whilst we were camped at Melsonby. We participated in a variety of activities like making spears for fishing and preparing a huge Kup Murri feast to thank the traditional owners and their spirits. We had to help dig a knee deep hole and set the fire for the Kup Murri and then covered it with bark and light layer of soil to retain the heat and the smoke to cook the pork, beef and vegetables. Bula also took us to some ancient rock painting sites and told us all about the images and symbols on the walls and the stories that they told about Captain Cook, the European settlers and the native plants and animals. Our guides told us that we were one of the first student groups to visit the Melsonby site, and that meant we were now part of the first one thousand non-indigenous people to see those sacred artworks. We helped with a community project, building outdoor picnic tables for the rangers and future visitors to the use at the site. We also helped to upgrade the lights in the donkey showers with new lights that were activated by movement sensors and powered by solar panels.
For the last three days of the immersion we got to experience Carine's life, which from the 72 hours we spent there, seems to consist largely of karaoke, and snorkeling. After the long 6 hour bus ride, we arrived at our camp grounds, in which we quickly caught wind of the park's famous karaoke night. To which we got a deserving round of applause and cheers from our growing number of fans. For accommodation the 28 of us slept under a singular tarp. However, as Luke and Oscar discovered that night, there was not enough room for all of us, and as such the two of them had to sleep out and under the stars, which in the early hours of the morning, turned be sleeping under the developing rain clouds, and then sleeping in a puddle that filled their stechers. However, this didn't turn out to be a problem, as only hours later, we were back in the water. However, this time on the great barrier reef.
In this amazing experience we got to see our local world wonder, having the opportunity to get up close and personal with the incredible natural sea life the reef had to offer. In this we had guided tours with both a marine biologist and a Traditional owners of the coastal region, in which we learnt all about the traditional uses of coastal flora and fauna as well as getting to further experience the deep connection the Tradition owners have with the land and sea.
Overall, this trip was the most amazing experience, that I could not recommend more for anyone that is able to participate in the coming years. Not only did we make so many connections with the most incredible people, but we all got to experience a once in a lifetime opportunity that allowed us to develop a closer connection within ourselves, others, and the land around us.
I highly recommend this trip to everyone.
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