Aboriginal Camping Trip

We flew back to Byron Bay early last week and almost immediately set of to Mynumai, an Indigenous Protected Area. We met up with Doug (the traditional owner), Russell (an elder from Queensland), Pete (who is a Bunjalung member because he married an indigenous woman), and Ian, another elder from Queensland. We camped there for 4 days, 3 nights. It was SO AMAZING. I learned to throw a spear and boomerang, learned about the area and wild edibles, and learned about the culture and history of Aboriginal peoples in Australia. The only downside was that yesterday a GIANT brown snake came into camp. Doug tried to scare it off and yelled at it in his language but it kept coming, so Pete ended up killing it with a stick. It was about 5 and half ft long! Everyone said it was the biggest brown snake they’ve ever seen. It creeped us all out! But luckily no one got bitten and it was dealt with. The leaders were great people and really funny. Pete and Ian especially say hi, Lindsey! We were each given an Aboriginal name by Russell, and mine is Gubara, which means songbird. It was so sweet. I brought my ukulele and Laura had brought various instruments, and everyone on my trip always tries to get me to sing, which of course I enjoy doing. I was the first to get my name, the very first night. So then every night partway into the camp fire, Russell would say “Where’s our songbird?” and pass me the guitar for a few songs. It was such an amazing experience and really difficult to describe but suffice it to say we all got teary on both sides when it was time to get on the bus and leave. Peter emailed us later this afternoon and said that both Russell and Ian (who have been with SIT Australia for 18 and 23 years respectively) said that this was their favorite group to work with of all time. Really touching stuff! (no pictures were allowed, so imagine it in your minds!)