Sunday, May 18, 2014

Yamakarra

**Waterfall located within the Rockhampton Botanical Gardens
 
            I'll start off this week's post with pictures from last week, as promised! Jim burnt me a disc with lots of photos from our Sunday adventure to the Heritage Village, zoo, and botanical gardens but I'll only include a few today.
 
 **Restored fire engine from the Rockhampton Fire Brigade. It was used from 1925 until the 1940's- it was then used as a farm vehicle for many years until a firefighter "rescued" it and returned the fire engine to it's original glory!
 
 **Jim said that I should try writing my blog using this "modern" technology... I think I'll pass :)
 

**Tea time at the village!
 
 
            So now that we're all caught up, I suppose I'll get started on this week! The title of this post is "yamakarra" which is an aboriginal greeting in this part of Queensland. I thought that this was appropriate because on Friday I visited the Dreamtime Cultural Centre here in Rockhampton! It's about a 10 minute walk from campus along the Bruce Highway so my friend Julie and I made the excursion! (Sidenote: even though it was only a 10 minute walk, I still managed to have my first Australian near-death experience on our way back). But more on that later!
 
           The cultural centre reminded me a lot of the Indian Prehistoric Village in Mitchell, SD. The different buildings/ exhibits were spread out across a couple acres. There was a very natural feel to this place as the buildings were all constructed to look like caves or huts. We started our two hour tour with a video that told of different stories and facts about the Aboriginal tribes that were once prominent in the Rockhampton/ Yeppoon area. Because of archeological findings, we now know that the Aborginal people have been around for around 50,000 years. They are known as the Original People here (hence their name). In the past, there was a very large population of Aboriginals in this area because of the Fitzoy River. Also because it was close to the coast as well. Aboriginal tribes usually consisted of between four and eight families but the tribe located here had 21 families. The Aboriginal culture strongly resembles the Native American culture in terms of their respect of the land as well as other customs.
 
          Next on our tour, we walked to the next cave-like building that was about the size of a small auditorium (like the size of the old Hanson School gym). Here, there were many different displays of cave paintings, art, stories, and the history of invasions on this part of Queensland. After walking around this building, we journeyed to the next one where our tour guide played the didjerido for us! I have a video of this but I'm not sure if videos will work on this blog but I'll add it just in case. The didjerido is a long wooden instrument that basically looks like a large, hallowed out stick. Because that's basically what it is haha. The one he played for us was as long as me almost. A tree branch is first naturally hallowed out by termites and then chopped down. The inside is cleaned out and is smoothed out on both the inside and the outside. Then, they are painted on with traditional designs. It makes the weirdest noises! Apparently it's similar to blowing into a trumpet but also using your voice to make different sounds! Hopefully this video will work on here!  
 
        
 
 
**This was on one of the cave walls and I thought it was something that is worth thinking about!
 
         The tour guide next showed us all how to properly throw a boomerang! This was a pretty fun part of the tour. I don't know what I thought boomerang throwing was supposed to be but it was not what I expected! You throw the boomerang using the same motion as if you were throwing a football almost. The boomerang is supposed to fly straight and then make a wide arc back to where you are. I, of course, didn't do too well on this haha. We each got three tries. My first two were completely awful but my last one at least made a noticeable turn! I had to buy one because I really want to practice it when I get home haha. They're pretty lightweight but larger than I expected. The returning boomerangs that we were using were about a foot and a half long.
 
        Our final stop on the tour took place in a small hut. Inside, a woman from the Torres Strait Islands greeted us and proceeded to tell us about her home, people, and culture! This was my favorite part of the tour because this lady was very personable and had so much knowledge to share! The Torres Strait Islands are located in between the northernmost tip of Queensland and Papua New Guinea. There are over 270 islands that compose the Torres Strait Islands. I forgot what our lady tour guide's name was but she was from the island of Badu. She told us about popular customs on her island and with her family, what they ate/ how they cooked, transitioning from island life to Australian life, as well as many other facts. She got somewhat emotional at times because it had been a few years since she had seen her family and one could tell that she was incredibly homesick.
 
       She also talked about the history of different islands. To this day, there are a few islands where very few people venture to because they are believed to be cursed. Also, up to the 1900's, cannibalism and head-hunting was common practice on most of the major islands. Because of that, I can see how these people have retained so much of their culture and ways of life for thousands of years! If I was an invader, I would stay as far away as possible from people who were notorious for head-hunting! Our tour guide assured us that most of the Torres Strait Islands were now friendly towards newcomers and visitors haha.
**The Torres Strait hut- where our tour concluded!
 
**The traditional/ original names of the largest islands versus the ones given by the British in the late 1700's. The British were so creative, ya?
 
**A traditional shield and spears once used by Torres Strait Islanders. This shield is about four feet tall and made from a sea turtle's shell!
 
 
        Once the tour had concluded, Julie and I explored the grounds a bit and revisited a few of the buildings. Of course we stopped at the gift shop because I simply had to get one of those boomerangs! I think it'll be pretty fun for everyone to try back home!
 
 
      So... my near-death experience... Julie and I were walking along the highway. There were no sidewalks or anything on this stretch of the highway and there was a steep drop-off a few meters away from the edge of the road so we were walking real close to traffic. You know how it's kind of customary, if you're able, to get into the lane that's farthest away from walkers or bicyclists if you come upon them on the road? Yeah, not here. People will not slow down or move away from people on the side of the road so pedestrians have to be 100% aware of their surroundings at all times! Anyway, Julie and I were walking along this road and were passing a sign. Out of the corner of our eyes we see the biggest spider/ tarantula that I have ever seen in my whole life hanging between two sign posts! This thing (legs included) was as long as my forearm with legs that were the width of my thumb! I swear that it was black and white but Julie thought it was brown and white. For those of you that know me well, you know that I am terrified of spiders and I reacted as such. Without thinking, I jumped as far away as I could from it. Right into oncoming traffic :/ Luckily there was only one car and it moved out of the way pretty easily, no worries! But between that and that nasty spider thing, I feel like this whole episode qualifies as a near-death experience! My heart is racing just writing this haha. Also, when I got back to campus, there were animal catchers getting rid of an apparently very dangerous snake. Not sure what kind it is? I'll have to ask around to see if anyone knows what kind it was! Let's just say it's time for Tina to go home now haha.
 
**Photo courtesy of Heather Gosnell

 
          I think that's all I know for now! This week is our last week for classes! After this week, we have a break "study" week before finals and then finals week. And then I'm coming back to the heartland! See you all soon!
 
Ya minyah,
 
Tina
 
 
 




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