A Dirty Little Secret

Staring out over the sparkling water, I never would have guessed. I’m still struggling to believe it; how something so ethereally beautiful could be hiding such a dirty secret. In hindsight, the lifeless timber carcasses were a hint, their desolate branches stretching out in soundless despair to anyone and no-one. I know now that they were murdered, by the very swamp that first gave them life. But Mother Nature is not to blame here, this death lies entirely on our shoulders.

I almost missed it, just passing through the small farming town on my way deeper into the Australian Outback. But as I glared out the car window at the darkening sky, my eyes were drawn to a break in the tree line; an expanse of crystal water and barren branch silhouettes claiming the space… I was transfixed.

Powerless to my burning curiosity, I turned down the bumpy sand track that lead to the water’s edge. The surrounding area was normal enough: lush greenery, abundant bird life, a tangle of wild flowers. But it was the stark, eerie contrast between the leafy vitality of the trees outside the water and the lingering death of the ones within it, that had my eyes narrowing and forehead creasing in concern and anticipation, eager to unravel the veil of mystery shrouding the Forbes Gum Swamp.

I was not prepared for what I discovered; for the guilt I would face even though I had played no part.

The swamp is an unwilling home for the town’s treated sewage, the gum trees trapped within an unescapable toxic prison of human waste. The footprint of man has left an imprint here and I realised I was looking out at a graveyard, the birds singing celestial hymns of mourning for the sacrificed trees.

Horrified, I whispered an apology, knowing it could not undo what had happened. My eyes filled with sorrow as they absorbed the town’s hidden massacre. Yet I was surprised to find I could still appreciate the beauty in nature’s silent demise. A battle was waged here and the trees had lost, but ironically what emerged from the ashes was something more magically captivating than if we had left the place alone.

Driving out of town I couldn’t shake the lingering sadness from my bones. As a traveller, you witness the very best of nature and the very worst of mankind. Yet we continue to passionately explore the wide world in which we live, finding beauty in all it has to offer, should that be a snowy mountain range, a crumbling ancient temple, a vibrant bustling city, or even a scummy sewage swamp.