The long way home

Aboriginal culture - come on Australia

themaccas — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 09:00:00 GMT

It was heartbreaking as we walked the children through the stories of early Cooktown (Nth Queensland) and for the first time, even though they had spent years supposedly learning about Aboriginal history in their classrooms, for the first time they didn't move and were facing a different truth about colonisation.

Travelling across the outback we were faced by ignorant comments, total disregard in some circumstances for the disconnectedness of a whole group of Australians from their traditional culture and we, yes we have all been a part of this.

In Katherine the children came face to face with the issues confronting so many Aboriginal communities, the unemployment, the alcohol and substance abuse, the disempowerment, the sense of self and purpose. We don't even need to look at history, we can address theories of human development, each of us needing a positive self-esteem, sense of belonging, safety, love and empowerment to reach our full potential - For goodness sake Australia stop ignoring the truth and step up to the plate and start cleaning up what we have ignored for way too long.

The ignorance of people we would meet along the way and their comments reflect how uneducated they are and how easily it is to stereotype, that I can't even repeat what we were told.

I can recommend taking your children to every history museum in the country and other than a true focus at the James Cook Museum in Cooktown and the Museum of Western Australia in Perth, I was disappointed at the lack of celebration for Aboriginal History.

Most of the museums around Perth, are free - only place in the Country and yet the best museums we visited - you can make a small donation, please be generous they are so worth every donation.

To find my children after losing them in the Perth Museum, mesmerised by a video transcribing the sadness and experiences of stolen generation survivors, completely at a loss as to what they were hearing and then spending more time in this area of the museum than any other, with so many questions, quietly moving with respect and a sense of sadness and disappointment, yet them amazed at how strong and courageous the people were and resilient.

Why do we not have a Museum of Indigenous History? A National full scale Museum? a full history of Aboriginal history, languages....Oh which reminds me in Ceduna Sth Australia we found a culture and art centre doing amazing work in supporting the Aboriginal community. We were invited to watch talented artists at work, the children spent time in the language centre, where the University had put together a program which has documented the local languages, to be preserved for future generations, the children type in a word or browse the dictionary and then a voice over translates the word in both English and either language - it was just brilliant, in addition to flash cards for classrooms and books - why are we not providing this in every single community around the country and every single classroom - why are we not celebrating, not just identifying, but really celebrating Aboriginal culture, the birth of our nation we are priviledged to travel and share?

Services - oh I could be here all day telling you about the lack of services in remote and isolated areas - Why are we not all, every single Australia afforded the same basic services? Health care, education, transport, community support? Is it any wonder we are witnessing as General Sanderson suggests in his report the loss of a whole culture, if we do not stop now and do something about what as a nation we have done for too long.

Get out there, experience Australia, every corner and share the truth with your children.

Bundy to Airlie

themaccas — Sun, 28 Oct 2007 07:17:00 GMT

Well we survived the long haul from Bundaberg to Airlie beach, worth every "are we there yet" and millioneth pit stop along the way. That stretch from Mackay to Prosperpine reminds me of my days outwest, lots of nothing in between and the constant feeling this will never end. It did it took sometime to set up. Had we maybe not had several...no thousands of "can we go for a swim" "can we go to mini golf" "can we go play tennis" "what's to eat" "he's teazing me"....well it goes on, maybe it would have happened sooner. Jim tells me the minimum 4 day stay we agreed upon is now at least 14 days and he is not looking forward to packing up in a hurry.

We found a great stop, the BIG 4 Adventure Park on Shute Harbour Rd/Drv. Central to shopping centres, minutes from Airlie Beach ...which reminds me, taking Lu out for a drive yesterday - "peace" was what was asked for and well I was only to happy to oblige. I always believed those photos of the Whitsunday had been the work of a clever graphic artist, after witnessing it with my own eyes I can tell you I have never seen water that blue before (yes I mean including the Greek Islands for those who have been blessed to visit those as well), it is just truly beautiful and well I will be giving lots of peace to everyone and more than happy to take Lu down to the huge Lagoon off the main street, popular and perfect for swimming with toddlers. It comes close to the huge lagoon like pool where we are staying and it worked wonders last night as we finally relaxed before dinner, I think that was relaxing when the kids and Jim came screaming down the waterslides ?

I love it....no I looooooove it. If you are looking for somewhere to wind down and very cost affordable, this works out as cheap as camping at Hat Head for our trial run a few months ago and hey why not throw in several painfully beautiful islands, fantastic weather, great entertainment for the kids...oh I forgot to mention that. The park has an outdoor movie theatre, mini golf, tennis, outdoor pillow (bouncy thing)....it goes on.

Then there was the night - first night have to expect a few ups and downs and well I felt like we were more up with Lu than down. Jim is having a much needed sleep in while I watch the sun come up and catch up on mail - once again...who is missing out ???? Not sure if it was the heat and yes if you come in summer you can expect a lot of heat, sweaty, uncomfortable even if you live too far Sth, so block out and block again and drink heaps. I had a few dizzy spells yesterday and then realised by 3pm had not had a drink or food most of the day - so keep your strength up.

Will catch up more soon. lol The Maccas

1770

themaccas — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 21:23:00 GMT

The rain one minute and sunshine the next becomes a little boring after a while, yet with kids in tow there is no time to sit back and wait for it to pass. We headed off to the town of 1770 yesterday, gateway to Lady Musgrave and Elliott Islands, but be prepared to be up early and since I usually rise with the sun, I mean early to leave Bundy to catch the trip across. If you miss it, don't hold back, get out and check out the sites around Bundy. It was a good hrs drive, yet worth getting there. The lookout (see pics) full of flora, a great spot for the kids to make notes in their journals and catch up on geography/science work. Not that we documented as well as Banks in his early travels aboard the Endeavour, nor were as adventurous as Lieutenant Cook (yes...that's right he wasn't yet a Captain), however we did take in the gorgeous surroundings for what they offered, relaxed at Agnes Waters by the beach, time-out in the park, a little disappointed the Noosa look seems to spreading further north and one can see Agnes Waters certainly appealing to the upmarket traveller, although still plenty of affordability and quiet retreats for families and the backpacker wanting time out from the hustle of much more busier cities. A little North east of Gin Gin and on heading out this way, if you like your fishing and don't mind catching up to a 2m long Barra (or so I am told from a week ago in the local comp) check out the tranquility of the Frank Haig Dam, turn off from the Bruce Hwy nth of Gin Gin. Plenty of camping, limited cottages and make sure you take your essentials and supplies, a bit of drive back to pick anything up. Popular fishing spot and appears to be well known for its Barra!!! out of the 4 maps we had of the local area, not one actually matched the other and together with Jim's co-ordination, we took a detour to the letterbox of a local property before realising no...it didn't go towards the highway. My advice would be to invest in a great Hema or well-documented map and stick with it. Any doubt 'Google' it!! Would have liked to drop in on the Boolboonda tunnel, yet three of the four maps didn't actually document it at all and by the time we worked out where and how to get there, we realised how long it would take and gave it a miss. Jake's leg looking pretty good, stitches out tommorrow hopefully. Lu can't get enough of the swimming pool or was the "wimmie pool" and after no nap today by 6pm had plenty of volunteers to help her get off to sleep. Em has been great company for everyone all around, her wacky sense of humour never goes astray and keeps us amused with her jokes and stories, amazed by the visit to the museum at Agnes Waters, where Em learned the Aboriginal healing techniques as documented by Cook. Also as her favourite movie of all time is none other than 'Pirates of the Caribean' counted all 84 listings of each ship wreck documented on the Discovery coast map.

Not impressed at all with our 'fantastic' Next G network, the new phone we gave Jake only a few weeks back has died, supposedly the battery, yet Telstra informs us they are only covered up to 7 days from purchase...are they kidding? A nearly $300 phone worthless after 7 days? Big lessons to be learned here!!! Have done most of my uploads and networking via my parents internet connection, which has been more reliable than my wirelss. What has peeved us the most is that although there are 3 bars indicating a signal and it says "connected" we cannot load a page because a little message says the signal is not strong enough...but hey get this....we are using our hourly usage by the bucket load even though we cannot load a single page? Will keep you all posted on my well expressed letter to the TIO (telecommunications ombudsman)

We are what I believe feeling the first signs of spending every waking moment with each other for the past few weeks. Trying to work as a team 24/7 is just not possible as a family (if you know its possible please post tips!!!), and recall the comment in 'the Grey Nomad' book not to forget to take time for each other, still do those things which gave each other respite...we would need it...Hope to keep that in mind more over the next week, with moving on north Friday, with trying to work out a loose plan for the next 7 days (mostly due to budgeting rather than being structured) Hope this has been the best decision we will make in our lives and bring us closer?????

Posting a few pics again - feeling like I could share more, say more and debrief more, a little worn out and needing an early night. Catch you all again soon.

Nth from Brissie to Bundaberg

themaccas — Sun, 21 Oct 2007 09:07:00 GMT

OK what can we say other than we never not enjoy our time in Brisbane. Can highly recommend hiring a few bikes in the city gardens and hitting the fantastic cycle-ways of Brisbane, well organised, plenty of room and ease for non-experienced riders. It was Lu's first baby seat experience and tells us the investment of new bikes, seats and helmets will be worth it along the way.

Grab yourself a pair of Teva's, no I'm not working for the company, these are the most comfortable walking shoes so far. Well worth the cost, the manipulation with your teenagers who claim they are not "cool", but believe me after the arguments, within a few hours of a warm day they will realise as jake did they are in fact "cool".

keep plenty of change handy, Brisbane has little or no free parking, not that we could find. I hear you can get discounts if you eat and park in the big parking centres, we didn't find any, the street parking is at least $3.20 per hour, which adds up for a full day out and worth parking out of the city and using public transport, travelling cities is never cheap, but shop around for alternatives.

The petrol was worth keeping a track of. It varied in locations by over 10c per litre. We managed to find 1.08 at Enoggera if you buy milk and bread, staple with a family !!! and as we have headed nth to Bundie it has been pretty cheap, especially when you compare it to NSW. You can't do without it, but why waste money better spent on memorable experiences than spitting out the back of the car?

Kids are hanging in there, late night trips don't work well - permanent note, need to be more organised. Being able to stop whenever to sort out minor disagreements and find "lost forever" items helps, as well as setting a few ground rules.

We invested in seat organisation packs for each of their seats, which seems to give everyone a little territory of their own and keep things together. We are yet to purchase another digital camera, which I believe will aleviate the "sharing" of the cheap digital camera for the kids. I know sharing is all part of this trip, but there are some battles we can win and some we just can't and sibling rivalry has been widely accepted for thousands of years, we are not going to evolve that far in one trip around Australia - oh...yeah...pray as well who knows it may help?

Keep handy a few fuses for the car and who knows what else could blow when someone forgets to turn off the power converter in the car to power up the small things (eg Mum's laptop !!!), it gives off a nice bang and shorts out the cigarette lighters and dashboard lights.

whilst the containers were annoying previously, I can now see why I thought they would be a great idea and unloading at Bundaberg was with great ease, then finding what we needed, the school work box, which seemed to be hidden towards the back etc and much easier to keep track of everyone's things.

we finally found a cheap trailer lock - Bunnings just under $30.00 to keep the trailer secure, as well as a few padlocks, chain for the basket on top etc, feel better now jumping out for a few rest stops and knowing everything will be as safe as we can get it.

time- out - take it when you can get it. I'm still the early bird and take this time to catch up with everyone. Not sure how this will change after we leave behind friends and family who are great support and company.....

We called into Oz Zoo and whilst it took us 5 minutes to decide to spend nearly $150 for the entry for a family of 5 (under 3 for free), we would do it again in a second next time around. The message about conservation and lessons for children about wildlife were well worth every cent. Especially for those heading up north, the safety tips regarding those species at the top of the food chain gave the kids food for thought. I have never seen a Zoo which looked less like a Zoo, so clean, well thought out, the inspiring landscaping and imagination into the presentation and lay-out of the entire complex requires a whole day to enjoy the best. We arrived a lunch and wished we could have stayed longer and will certainly return in the near future.

I gather the wet season is on the way, we've had nothing but drizzle, then sunshine, then drizzle, then rain since arriving 3 days ago in Bundaberg. Will venture out a little, get down to Fraser, get off the road a little and take in a few sites. Will probably stay now until Thursday which will be time to have Jake's stitches checked and hopefully taken out, then take it easy until he is back to his normal self (does that happen?) then who knows where...stay tuned

Gallery: The best Zoo..not really a zoo

themaccas — Sun, 21 Oct 2007 08:12:00 GMT

Gallery: Friends & Family

themaccas — Sun, 21 Oct 2007 07:38:00 GMT

What matters most of all

Gallery: Lu turns 2 on the road

themaccas — Sun, 21 Oct 2007 07:37:00 GMT

Our gorgeous girl turning 2 in Brissie

Gallery: Home to Bundaberg

themaccas — Sun, 21 Oct 2007 07:06:00 GMT

Brisbane never better

themaccas — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 08:26:00 GMT

How we love coming back to Brissie time and time again. Maybe its the unreal shopping, the mega centres you need a scooter and a packed lunch to get around (so Jim suggests), or possibly the awesome sight of Brisbane at night from the heights of Mt Cootha even on a cool night with 3 kids in tow. Though with the risk of being melancholy, I would bet its the fact that this is where we began, our life, our family, us. The places we shared, we argued, we were lucky to make it home from, the serene surroundings of the Botanical gardens we were first married in (yes first...we are on our second time around), then there are the places we ate, the places we lived and loved to live at, but most of all the memories with the friends we shared our lives with.

Brisbane is as close to a non-city as a city can get. Its roads are so easy to maneouvre you could practice on your L plates. There are enough trees and gorgeous architecture to make you forget you are even in a capital city, but then again this is Queensland, beautiful one day, perfect the next and no its not the weather they are talking about.

Affordability definitely helps when you are travelling with kids and there are plenty of places, parks, bikeways, swimming scenes to adventure to without having to use a credit card. If you can pull yourself away from the city, the mall, the gardens, the casino, the galleries, the museums, Southbank even (there is a day on its own) then drive out to Redcliffe, climb the cotton trees, get your teeth into the best fish and chips, browse a few shops at Samford, take a day out to Tambourine, you can come to QLD and miss the Gold Coast (the vegas with a beach of Australia for its lights and fake tans) and realise you really didn't miss it at all.

Jake has survivied his injuries, healing well, Em is realising that being acutely organised and structured doesn't always work on holidays and Lu....well babies they either go with the flow or they are the flow. Battery running low will catch you all again later.

lol The Maccas

Finally on the road

themaccas — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 13:19:00 GMT

A week ago we had planned (no.1 lesson. leave the plans in the storage bay with all the other unnecessary "things"), to leave. One severe nappy rash on baby Lucy (changing Lu definitely needs to be considered as an Olympic sport?), feeling unwell with constant nagging/throbbing head pain (or was that just the week?) and then Jake arrives home from his camp only to trip and gouge a hole across the front of his tiba seconds before we drove out the driveway. An ambulance trip to A&E, many stitches and tears later, we decied to try again!

There are lessons everyday to learn, some I truly believe we ignore and believe we can do better, others we put down to inexperience (much the same thing) then there are those like the one we are embarking on together which will change you, move you, stress you and leave memories you can never forget.

Only a day into our trip and we have memorable memories. Whilst moving out of the house was never going to be easy, considering the "stuff" we had acquired, ridiculous amounts of "things", too many, then leaving pets, saying goodbye to friends, working through the proceses of packing, what do we need to take, what we don't need (more importantly), the extras we had never considered, the tips, making lists and notes and more lists, then tossing them and learning to get in touch with our instincts more. What ever happened to those all those thousands of years ago (must be the budding anthropologist in me always tapping into our roots), we push them all aside for logic, reasoning, planning, organisation. We stop living and starting existing, surely it was never mean't to be that way.

So we have just made no 6 stop only 3 hrs into our trip. Stop to say goodbye to Ben, our son who died nearly 10 years ago from a brain tumour at 3 and half years, stop to pick up school work, put a stop on our junk mail at the post office, stop for food, stop for toilets, stop to plug in the power adaptor to the PC (how I love this technology driving and tapping into the wide world at the same time), stopping to change drivers, stopping to sort kids arguments (I wonder if I should keep a tally?) oooh...maybe that was more than 6 stops. Must go I am changing to driver.

Already missing friends, a little anxious, where will we go, can we get there without putting anymore cracks in our sometimes fragile relationships (as families are). I can only hope we will laugh, we will learn, we will live and create the best memories of our lives after feeling like we have lived through so many moments we wish we could forget, moments we wanted to have more of, people we dream of meeting up again with one day. Life is truly so short, we never know how long we will get, what we can do is choose the way we live it and what better way than taking a drive to visit a friend, family, and deciding to take the long way home?