Day 2-3
Monday 25th September
There’s a bit of a mix-up with Chrissy who’s organising today’s short-sails. She has been away and thinks it’s next Monday week. We decide to run her group in the final weekend. An unexpected lay day gives me the chance to introduce Ross to the Hope Vale Community, so we jump in his 4WD and go in via the back route along the fence line of the 1000 acres, including 300 acres of lush red soil. The Hope Vale airfield runway runs along the dirt road on its final kilometre into Hope Vale.
We catch Des just as he’s about to leave. Des and Ross sit down and start dreaming up ideas of how the bank can assist Des and this Community to create real, sustainable work opportunities. Their 3-hour conversation that includes a tour of small properties that have all the infrastructure in place to live, grow, water and sell vegetables, fruit, run cattle or whatever. It appears to me that there is real potential in the air for where this could go, especially as ANZ has made a commitment to assist this Aboriginal Community, starting with this project.
Back onboard Pelican a huge amount of food and camping supplies are delivered and the crew are finishing off the final touches of stowing it away and waterproofing it on deck. The starboard toilet and half the galley (kitchen) are stacked with food for the Lizard Island camp.
Tuesday 26th September
An early start for the crew, as we receive our Bama project mates onboard with heaps more personal gear for the first trip to Lizard. Quite a few are Council work party members who are helping set up the campsite. Tomorrow the second and third groups will come from Cape Flattery 20 nautical miles away. The challenge of sailing in these consistent south easterly winds is that going down wind towards Lizard is a beautiful sail with following seas but coming back is a hard slog against the prevailing conditions hammering against sea and swell and often the current. To make the return journeys easier we’ll operate from CF after this first Cooktown to Lizard trip.
Brenton Bowen, the Cowboys winger or fullback, is on board with his Fiancée Stevie. He’s played 32 games for the Cowboys and plays in the same position as his cousin Mattie Bowen, another Hope Vale Bowen who has gained great respect as a Fullback.
Lindy with our first fish of the project on the way to Lizard Island.
I give an intro talk welcoming everyone onboard Pelican 1. I tell the story of Garry, team and boat by way of focusing on your dreams to create what you want in life. I also apologised about our shameful history with Indigenous people in this country. Ini gives a safety talk and we’re away.
Des and Estelle are on the wharf waving us goodbye. It all started when their daughter saw a TV program and decided to write. It’s funny what happens when you are called to action and the ripples go out and out and out……..
There’s a bit of a mix-up with Chrissy who’s organising today’s short-sails. She has been away and thinks it’s next Monday week. We decide to run her group in the final weekend. An unexpected lay day gives me the chance to introduce Ross to the Hope Vale Community, so we jump in his 4WD and go in via the back route along the fence line of the 1000 acres, including 300 acres of lush red soil. The Hope Vale airfield runway runs along the dirt road on its final kilometre into Hope Vale.
We catch Des just as he’s about to leave. Des and Ross sit down and start dreaming up ideas of how the bank can assist Des and this Community to create real, sustainable work opportunities. Their 3-hour conversation that includes a tour of small properties that have all the infrastructure in place to live, grow, water and sell vegetables, fruit, run cattle or whatever. It appears to me that there is real potential in the air for where this could go, especially as ANZ has made a commitment to assist this Aboriginal Community, starting with this project.
Back onboard Pelican a huge amount of food and camping supplies are delivered and the crew are finishing off the final touches of stowing it away and waterproofing it on deck. The starboard toilet and half the galley (kitchen) are stacked with food for the Lizard Island camp.
Tuesday 26th September
An early start for the crew, as we receive our Bama project mates onboard with heaps more personal gear for the first trip to Lizard. Quite a few are Council work party members who are helping set up the campsite. Tomorrow the second and third groups will come from Cape Flattery 20 nautical miles away. The challenge of sailing in these consistent south easterly winds is that going down wind towards Lizard is a beautiful sail with following seas but coming back is a hard slog against the prevailing conditions hammering against sea and swell and often the current. To make the return journeys easier we’ll operate from CF after this first Cooktown to Lizard trip.
Brenton Bowen, the Cowboys winger or fullback, is on board with his Fiancée Stevie. He’s played 32 games for the Cowboys and plays in the same position as his cousin Mattie Bowen, another Hope Vale Bowen who has gained great respect as a Fullback.
Lindy with our first fish of the project on the way to Lizard Island.I give an intro talk welcoming everyone onboard Pelican 1. I tell the story of Garry, team and boat by way of focusing on your dreams to create what you want in life. I also apologised about our shameful history with Indigenous people in this country. Ini gives a safety talk and we’re away.
Des and Estelle are on the wharf waving us goodbye. It all started when their daughter saw a TV program and decided to write. It’s funny what happens when you are called to action and the ripples go out and out and out……..
1 Comments:
col said...I read day two blog and saw the vision of Des and Estelle waving from the jetty. I know also the sense of pride they would have felt running through their veins as like you said the ripple effect has and is still reaching people. Des rang me excited about the fight back plan we were working on and how it may be getting financial backing for the farms and then after reading the Ross factor it does look promising. You say ripple being a seadog but call it butterfly or domino affect that letter you posted on the net reached me and affected my life and directly resulted in Des having something to show someone a piece of what he can’t say. In my humble attempts to assist des I have forwarded it to a few politicians as a bomb for under their chairs. I’m sorry personal commitments have kept me away but I look forward to get the chance to meet you guys one day as it is refreshing to see true shoot from the heart actions from a society that has become aggressively self preserving and increasingly discriminative against different values of thinking or living.
All the Best
Col Davies
gullyhead@bigpond.com
(friend of des)
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