Welcome to 2012

It’s traditional to offer some homilies and reflections at the end of one year, and at the beginning of a new one, and being a bit of a traditionalist I am happy to add my few words to the millions that have been written already, or to those that are being uploaded across the Internet as we speak.

Last year was not the best in my extended family, coming as it did with the loss in May (at age 70), of an older brother, George. There was also the untimely passing of a brother-in-laws much loved mother, and family matriarch, Maureen (who lived a long and fulfilled life of 91 years). Of course, all deaths are untimely, when it comes down to it, but Meg, as she was affectionately known by one and all, passed away just a couple of weeks before Christmas, and any death close to Christmas seems to have more impact than if it had occurred well before significant events that are normally celebrated by most families, or the larger community.

There were other deaths along the way, all of which served to remind me that I am not getting younger, and that if I am going to make the most of the rest of my life I need to focus my time and attention where I can get the most benefit out of the years ahead. Of course, life marches to its own beat, and it has a way of getting in the way of our best laid plans – no matter how carefully we have made our arrangements.

So for myself, the new year begins with much reflection and the hope that last year’s farewells will be the last I am going to see for some time. The new year also begins with the promise – and planning – of new journeys. Next week I head to Melbourne for a five week house sitting stint, and in July and August I should be apartment sitting in New York City. Then there is a much anticipated return to my ancestral home on the Greek island of Ikaria – and another stay in Paris, France would not go amiss either.

Dear reader, life is finite. The clock is ticking.

Travel blogs are filled with comments from readers wishing that they too could embark on journeys they have been daydreaming about, in many instances, for years.

If this sound like you, take heart. You can have your cake and eat it too – but you will have to decide on your priorities. You will almost certainly have to sacrifice something to make your dreams come true. And you will again, almost certainly, have to overcome many doubts and fears to bring your dreams to fruition. You will also encounter naysayers, sceptics, and critics who will argue that the world is filled with dangers lurking around every corner – as if watching an hour of the evening news doesn’t reinforce that time and time again.

Then there are others who argue that you need to knuckle down and focus on finding a life partner, or family, or career, or homebuilding, or making a fortune, or [add your own inner nagging voice].

Ignore them all. Travel blogs are also filled with articles from people – young and old – who have decided to live the dream they have been nurturing for many years, and who have left the 9-5 rat race behind to travel the world, in many instances for years at a time.

Some work their way from country to country, others busk or perform on city streets and subway station platforms. Travellers can join a wide variety of networks and organizations filled with friendly people that are happy to offer accommodation and advice for the passing traveller. All this information and more is available online via the monitor or portable device you are reading this post on right now.

Make a plan. It doesn’t matter if your plan is to travel in five years instead of five months. The important thing is to make a plan and stay focussed on it. Nurture it. Feed it. Grow it. Read, research, make notes, make plans, make contact with fellow travellers, and aim to put some money aside each week until you reach your ultimate goal – and departure date.

I say again – life is finite. The clock is ticking.

So, Love The Life You Live – or change it – and may all your dreams and more come to pass in 2012.

Colebrook Reconciliation Park

The Grieving Mother figure at Colebrook Reconciliation Park

Colebrook Reconciliation Park in the Adelaide suburb, Eden Hills, was established in 1998 as a memorial to those Aboriginal children who were removed from their families and housed at Colebrook Home, a "United Aborigines" mission which had originated in Oodnadatta in 1924. Later, the mission moved to Quorn, before it was finally relocated to Eden Hills in 1942. The home was finally closed in 1972 and demolished in 1973.

"My baby, my baby..."

"My baby, my baby, please give back my baby."

A mother's words fall upon the deaf ears of authority.

Hearts break, tears fall, fear cries out

from the wrenched hands and arms of a mother and child separated.

Feel the pain, touch the ache, caress the tears.

Through ignorance and indifference came the disruption and destruction of family life.

~ AVIS EDWARDS, FORMER RESIDENT OF COLEBROOK HOME

For a brief period of time during the 1990’s, I was involved with the campaign to turn the site of the former mission (or home), into a permanent memorial to a generation of children who became known as the ‘Stolen Generation’. By 1998, following the success of the campaign involving a local reconciliation group and the Tji Tji Tjuta (former residents) of Colebrook Home, the Colebrook Reconciliation Park was born. In consultation with former residents of the home, a local artist, Silvio Apponyi, was commissioned to create a number of statues to install on site.

The finished works are the Pool of Tears, created in 1998, and Grieving Mother installed in 1999.

One of the figures on the Pool of Tears memorial

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Background information on site at Colebrook Reconciliation Park

It is important to acknowledge that while Colebrook did house children who had been forcibly removed from their families by government officials, not all native children who passed through the institution were ‘stolen’ from their families. Some were placed there because their parents were unable to care for them. Other children had been taken from their families by non-Indigenous people as workers, and then abandoned when their services were no longer needed.

Sadly, over time, many children eventually lost most, if not all, of their language, culture and identity. When some of these children finally met their parents many years later, it was almost impossible for parent and child to bridge the language and culture gap. Tragically, some children never saw their parents again.

"We are the stolen children..."

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A montage of former residents of Colebrook House

Thanks to the ongoing work and support of the Colebrook Tji Tji Tjuta, the Blackwood Reconciliation Group, the Aboriginal Lands Trust, and other groups and agencies, the Colebrook Reconciliation Park is now a permanent memorial to these children and their families.

Former residents hold 'campfire' gatherings for adult groups and for school and university students, where they share their stories and achieve reconciliation through creation of compassion and empathy.

Another view of the Pool of Tears

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More Information
~ Admission is Free
~ Visits can be self guided or can be arranged for group
~ Guest speakers can be organised for a fee

Getting There (see map below)
On Shepherds Hill Road (next to Karinya Reserve), Eden Hills.
Bus 728 or 729 from the City to bus stop 29B, Shepherds Hills Road, Eden Hills
Off-street parking available

Enquiries
Tji Tji Tjuta, Mandy Brown
Email: mandy.brown[@]countryart.org.au

The Blackwood Reconciliation Group Meets on the first Wednesday of Each Month
Contact Dennis Matthews via email: deebeemat[@]adam.com.au

Online:
Colebrook Blackwood Reconciliation Park…
Colebrook Home…

Here is a short video I shot of the Colebrook Reconciliation Park

Music is by the Aboriginal artist, Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu. The song is Bapa (Father), from his debut album Gurrumul.

Google Map showing location of Colebrook Reconciliation Park:

View Larger Map

Monday Movie – The Longest Way

Christoph Rehage set out on November 9th, 2007 – his 26th birthday – to walk from the Chinese capital Beijing to Bad Nenndorf in Germany. One year (November 13, 2008) and 4646 kilometres later he ended his walk – still in China – at Urümqi, a couple hundred kilometres shy of the border with Kyrgyzstan.

His website, The Longest Way, documents his walk in great detail, and the film he put together of the walk (embedded below), has received over 1.1 million hits on YouTube.

Christoph states that although you can see images of him sitting on a plane or riding in a boat in the video, those were shot during breaks from walking, “…either to sort out bureaucracy issues or to take care of some personal things.”

A year in the planning, Cristoph writes of the walk that “…getting as far as I got was an experience for which I am very grateful.”

It is interesting to see Rehage’s transformation from a “clean cut, beardless, lean, mean, fighting machine,” into the weather beaten, long-haired, bearded, adventurer he became by the time he ended his mammoth walk.

Christoph Rehage now studies in Berlin, and has no plans to embark on other extended walks. He is however, writing a book about his walk, and while I assume its initial publication will be in German, I would be great to see it translated into English.

Until then, enjoy Rehage’s year-long walk and growing beard via this time lapse video.

More information

Homepage: www.thelongestway.com/
Facebook: www.facebook.com/CRehage
Music: The Kingpins, and Zhu Fengbo.