Adventures in Outback NSW

Four Days in the Outback of New South Wales, Australia

Mitch and I were pleased to be asked to accompany a delightful group of eight children from Beaumont Road Public School on their "Leadership Trip" over the past four days.  These students are the School Leaders for the school and are currently in year six.  They were elected by their school-mates for this honor before school ended last school year, and consequently, they have been looking forward to this trip for several months.  We were booked to attend the "Mungo Youth Project Leadership Conference" to be held in Mungo National Park, but torrential rains hit the area over the past week, and the roads into the park were closed.  As a result, the conference was cancelled.  Over three hundred students were scheduled to attend.  Several Sydney North Shore schools were already planning to attend the conference.  These are year six students, and so if we did not go on the trip, the students would not have had their leadership trip that they have been looking forward to since this is their last year in the primary school.  So, we decided (as did most other Sydney schools) to go ahead and go, and create our own agenda of learning and leadership opportunities.

Tuesday, 30 August 2016

On Tuesday (30) the eight children, Malcolm McDonald (principal), Mitch and I flew from Sydney to Mildura, Victoria, Australia.  Mildura is just over the border of New South Wales and Victoria.  We then traveled the short distance back over the Murray River (separates the two states) to the small country community of Gol Gol.  Here are a couple maps of the area where we were:

Here are some photos of Mildura and Gol Gol:

Mildura Airport

Our School Leaders with the Gol Gol School Leaders

Beaumont Road and the Gol Gol Primary School have a special relationship with each other.  Several city schools in New South Wales have been paired with a NSW country school for collaboration initiatives.  For several years our students and the students at Gol Gol have participated in weekly video conferencing where a class from our school will meet with a matched grade level at their school.  These live conferences give students from each school the opportunity to share the learning that has been happening in each location.  We also share special events, art projects, the weather, etc.  It is a great opportunity for sharing between the schools!  Our students have had video conferences with the students in the photo above, but until this week they had not actually met each other.  They enjoyed getting to know each other, and found out that they had much more in common than they had differences between themselves.

Here is the crest for the Gol Gol Primary School:

Several other schools from the Sydney area joined together at Gol Gol school that evening for pizza.  We then made our way to a small motel for the night because the next day we were headed to the Outback!

Wednesday, 31 August 2016

On Wednesday at 8:00 sharp our bus driver arrived at the motel.  We loaded our things (including borrowed tents from Gol Gol school) in a small trailer in the back of the bus and headed out - our destination for the day was Menindee, New South Wales by way of Wentworth and Broken Hill.

Waiting for our Bus at the Gol Gol Motel

Here are some photos of our journey in what is considered the Outback of New South Wales.

There were emus and wild goats everywhere!  When I got home I did some research on emus and wild goats in New South Wales, and here is some information that I discovered:

Feral Goats

Feral goats are an invasive animal species in Australia. First arriving in the 18th century with European settlers, feral goat populations originated from escaped domestic individuals. Today, feral goats are found across Australia, where they cause economic and environmental damage through overgrazing and competition with livestock and native marsupials.

Feral goats are found in all states and in the Australian Capital Territory but are rare in the Northern Territory. They are at their highest densities in the arid and semi-arid rangelands, where they are considered a significant agricultural and environmental pest. People, through supplying water and controlling predators to improve sheep production, have modified the natural habitat favorably for feral goats.

Emus in New South Wales

The emu is a large, brown, soft-feathered, flightless bird. Emus grow up to two metres tall and have three toes and long legs that allow them to run very fast, up to 50km per hour. The female emu is larger than the male and lays up to 20 large, dark green eggs. The emu appears on the Australian 50 cent coin and alongside the red kangaroo on the Australian Coat of Arms. It is also a recurring figure in Aboriginal mythology. The emu avoids populated areas and feeds on grass, leaves and small insects. You'll see emus in grasslands, sclerophyll forests and savannah woodlands all over Australia. You can see them in Outback Victoria and New South Wales as well as Southern Queensland.

The distances between the very small towns in the outback are quite long with not much in between.  We did see several kangaroos, but they were too far away to get a good shot of them with my camera.  After lunch in Broken Hill (which I will tell you more about later in the blog) we headed to the very small community of Menindee - our campsite for the night.

Here is just a little bit of information for you on Menindee:

Menindee, frequently but erroneously spelled "Menindie", is a small town in the far west of New South Wales, Australia, in Central Darling Shire, on the banks of the Darling River, with a sign-posted population of 980 and a 2011 census population of 449.

It is the oldest European settlement in western New South Wales, and the first town to be established on the Darling River. The first European to visit the area was the surveyor and explorer Major Thomas Mitchell in 1835. He was followed by Charles Sturt in 1844 and the town was the advance base for the Burke and Wills expedition in 1860.

We went straight to the school where we were met by Daniel Fusi - the head teacher of the school.  Here is Daniel with a few of the students at Menindee:

Our students spent some time in a couple classrooms and then on the play equipment prior to unloading our gear and setting up our camp on the grounds of the school!

Menindee Public School is a small school with a high percentage of students from Aboriginal descent.  They are very proud of their heritage, and in conversing with some of the teachers, I discovered that they are doing some very good work with their students.  When we left a class of kindergarten students they gave us a parting greeting of "Ya Minyah" which is goodbye in their native tongue.

The area is highly dependent on the water of the Darling River, and it is slowly drying up.  Consequently, the Barkindji People of the area are concerned:  Here is a news article about the dilemma:

Barkindji Concerns About Darling River

The Stolen Generation and "Weeping Cloud"

That evening we were treated to a school/community production of Weeping Cloud, which is a story about one of the long time elders of the community named Isobel Bennett who was removed from her mother at a young age and placed in a church sponsored institution through a program of the Australian government called the Aboriginal Protection Act.  Ms. Bennett, who is now in her eighties is one of an estimated 100,000 Aboriginal children removed from their homes between the years of 1905 and 1969.  This group of people is now known as the "Stolen Generation."  There is a magnitude of documentation on this program, and it is still a source of controversy between the indigenous Australians and the Australians of European descent.

First - here is some information about the "Stolen Generation."

The Stolen Generations (also known as Stolen Children) were the children of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent who were removed from their families by the Australian Federal and State government agencies and church missions, under acts of their respective parliaments. The removals of those referred to as "half-caste" children were conducted in the period between approximately 1905 and 1969,althou gh in some places mixed-race children were still being taken into the 1970s.  Documentary evidence, such as newspaper articles and reports to parliamentary committees, suggest a range of rationales. Motivations evident include child protection, beliefs that given the Aboriginal people would die out, given their catastrophic population decline after white contact, and the belief that full-blooded Aboriginal people resented miscegenation and the mixed-race children fathered and abandoned by white men.

A few historians dispute that substantial numbers of mixed-blood Aboriginal children were forcibly taken from their families. They contend that some children were removed mainly to protect them from neglect and abuse. They note that in this period, the state also removed white children from their families as part of protection programs, often placing them in foster care or institutions.

In 2008 a formal apology was made to the Indigenous Australians for these practices.  Here is the text of the apology:

At 9:30am on 13 February 2008, Kevin Rudd presented the apology to Indigenous Australians as a motion to be voted on by the house. The form of the apology was as follows:

I move:

That today we honour the Indigenous peoples of this land, the oldest continuing cultures in human history.

We reflect on their past mistreatment.

We reflect in particular on the mistreatment of those who were Stolen Generations—this blemished chapter in our nation's history.

The time has now come for the nation to turn a new page in Australia's history by righting the wrongs of the past and so moving forward with confidence to the future.

We apologise for the laws and policies of successive Parliaments and governments that have inflicted profound grief, suffering and loss on these our fellow Australians.

We apologise especially for the removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families, their communities and their country.

For the pain, suffering, and hurt of these Stolen Generations, their descendants and for their families left behind, we say sorry.

To the mothers and the fathers, the brothers and the sisters, for the breaking up of families and communities, we say sorry.

And for the indignity and degradation thus inflicted on a proud people and a proud culture, we say sorry.

We the Parliament of Australia respectfully request that this apology be received in the spirit in which it is offered as part of the healing of the nation.

For the future we take heart; resolving that this new page in the history of our great continent can now be written.

We today take this first step by acknowledging the past and laying claim to a future that embraces all Australians.

A future where this Parliament resolves that the injustices of the past must never, never happen again.

A future where we harness the determination of all Australians, Indigenous and non-Indigenous, to close the gap that lies between us in life expectancy, educational achievement, and economic opportunity.

A future where we embrace the possibility of new solutions to enduring problems where old approaches have failed.

A future based on mutual respect, mutual resolve and mutual responsibility.

A future where all Australians, whatever their origins, are truly equal partners, with equal opportunities and with an equal stake in shaping the next chapter in the history of this great country, Australia.

Kevin Rudd, Prime Minister of Australia, 13 February 2008, at a sitting of the Parliament of Australia.

There was some controversy over the apology, but it ultimately passed the house unanimously.

Here is a link to a news story about the production of Weeping Cloud at the Menindee Public School:

Weeping Cloud

It was such a moving presentation, and we could see that the people of Menindee are very proud to be able to tell this story to several audiences each school term.  They also served us a delicious meal which we enjoyed with students and families from the community and other Sydney schools who joined us for the camping and the meal.

After a fun bonfire with the other campers, we went to sleep full of new knowledge and appreciation of the Outback way of life!

Thursday, 1 September 2016

On Thursday, we rose early and started our day of more learning and adventure!   We made our way back to Broken Hill seeing more emus, kangaroos, and an unusually green landscape due to all of the recent rains.

We made our way out to the Day Dream Mine for a mine tour.  Mining was the reason that Silverton sprang up in the first place, and its still possible to experience what life was like for men working in its heyday.

The Day Dream Mine is located northwest of Silverton and about 20 kilometres outside of Broken Hill.

Established in 1882, the mine attracted a sizeable settlement which, while short-lived, boasted 500-odd residents at its peak, as well as the district's first smelters.

While the settlement gave ground to Silverton and then Broken Hill, mining continued up until 1983.

These days, visitors are invited to walk into the mine - and history.

This is the "scared look" shot!

Here we go - down into the mine!

History of the Mine

The mine is in the Appollyon Valley and was founded in 1881. By 1884 there were estimated to be 500 people living there. When you visit you will wonder how they survived - the arid lands are so very harsh, there is no water and the heat in the summer killed many babies and youngsters. One woman suffered terribly - 15 of her 19 children passed away due to the cruel and unforgiving conditions.

Water was carted in by wagons from the Day Dream Dam - about 5 kilometres away. The life of the Day Dreamers was unimaginably difficult.

The Miner

Day Dream was mined by Cornish men and boys - some as young as eight years old. They all worked 12 hours a day, 6 days a week. Work was done by candlelight, picks and shovels, all of which the miner had to supply themselves. The average miner lived to just 40 years of age with most passing away due to respiratory diseases. 

And all of this to mine the lead, silver, and zinc!!!

We were certainly glad to see the sunlight and be above ground again.  I have a tendency to get claustrophobic, so this was a challenge for me.  I decided not to give in to my fears, and after a few moments of focusing on my breathing, I made it down and out without incident!

After turning in our hard hats and miners' headlamps, we headed for lunch in Silverton, NSW.

Our afternoon schedule holds two more opportunities for learning - the Silverton Gaol (Jail) and the Royal Flying Doctor Service!

The Gaol was quite a comprehensive museum for such a small community!

Broken Hill, NSW

The rest of our afternoon and evening was spent in Broken Hill.  Here is information on this interesting little outback town:

Broken Hill is an isolated mining city in the far west of outback New South Wales, Australia. The "BH" in the world's largest mining company, BHP Billiton, refers to "Broken Hill" and its early operations in the city.

Broken Hill is located near the border with South Australia on the crossing of the Barrier Highway (A32) and the Silver City Highway (B79), in the Barrier Range. It is 315 m (1,033 ft) above sea level, with a hot desert climate, an average rainfall of 235 mm (9 in). The closest major city is Adelaide, the capital of South Australia, which is more than 500 km (311 mi) to the southwest and linked via route A32.

Broken Hill has been referred to as "The Silver City", the "Oasis of the West", and the "Capital of the Outback". Although over 1,100 km (680 mi) west of Sydney and surrounded by semi-desert, the town has prominent park and garden displays and offers a number of attractions, such as the Living Desert Sculptures. The town has a high potential for solar power, given its extensive daylight hours of sunshine. The Broken Hill Solar Plant, which was completed in 2015, is one of the largest in the Southern Hemisphere.

Unlike the rest of New South Wales, Broken Hill (and the surrounding region) observes Australian Central Standard Time (UTC+9:30), the same time zone used in South Australia and the Northern Territory. This is because at the time the Australian dominions adopted standard time, Broken Hill's only direct rail link was with Adelaide, not Sydney.

The Royal Flying Doctor Service - Broken Hill, NSW

Each student has an I-Pad and is creating a comprehensive video of their leadership experience in the NSW Outback!

The Royal Flying Doctor Service in Broken Hill was fascinating!

The Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia (RFDS, informally known as The Flying Doctor) is one of the largest and most comprehensive aeromedical organizations in the world. It provides emergency and primary health care services for those living in rural, remote and regional areas of Australia. It is a not-for-profit organization which provides health care to people who cannot access a hospital or general practice due to the vast distances of the Australian Outback.

Here is a very interesting video about the RFDS and the amazing work they are doing in the Outback!

Royal Flying Doctor Service

After a short stop at the top of the mining mound in Broken Hill, we made our way to our destination for the night - the Convent!

On top of the Broken Hill Lookout

The old convent where we were provided accommodation for the night

Friday, 2 September 2016

We headed out early again on Friday, 2 September headed back to Gol Gol to turn in the tents and to make our way to the airport for flights from Mildura to Melbourne, and then from Melbourne to Sydney.  Expected arrival in Sydney at 9:00 pm.  It is looking like we will get these students home to their parents in one piece!

Visitor Center in Broken Hill - the students are donating to an animal welfare charity

We stopped in Wentworth at the confluence of the Murray and Darling Rivers - very interesting to see the two rivers coming together into one.

Saying thank you to our bus driver, Graham, for a memorable trip and for keeping us safe on the roads in the Outback!

We made it home by 10:20 last night, and are glad to be home!  It was a very interesting, thought provoking, and enjoyable trip.  Here are the top five things I learned over the past four days:

1.  This country is VERY large with very diverse topography and people!

2.  There were several places along the way in the NSW Outback that looked a lot like West Texas - just with fewer populated places.

3.  The Indigenous Australians have an amazing story to tell - if we will just listen.

4.  The availability of a reliable water source is mandatory for people to survive - we must do all we can to preserve it!

5.  It is possible to take eight year six students on an extended excursion and have a wonderful time - these kids were incredible!  Thank you for allowing me the honor of accompanying you! 

And now let's hit the road for three more weeks of Term Three!