If you follow me on instagram and Facebook then you'd probably already know that I have been taking bush walks in my backyard aka the
Booderee National Park throughout my summer holidays. I grew up walking through the bush with my Uncle Barry in and around
Wreck Bay.
So this is how my life played out on the last day of 2012. Woke up, exercised, ate breakfast, out to lunch with my family, watched the Hobbit, packed our bags and brought last minute supplies before we left town to go to Wreck. Arrived, drove off to the fireworks at Huskisson and then back home to dance with more family members. Slept at 3:30am. Woke up at 6:00am to leave on our little expedition.
We initially wanted to go on an 16km hike but we thought about the amount of sleep we had, the heat in the bush and our families (especially the nieces and nephews) waiting at home to go to beach. So with all that, we decided to take the 6km total route to Whiting Beach instead.
I hadn't been there since I was a child and I think I had only ever been there once before.
I remembered this beautiful green isolated haven with clear waters. I remembered the adventure of making a fire with my friends, finding witchity grubs and eating them for the first time. This was the 8 year old me; off trying not to be worried or scared because there were no adults around and I had wandered off a lot further than what my Mother would ever have permitted. I remembered thinking that it was the best place on earth.
As I took the last few steps down off the bush track and onto the rocks I was immediately taken back to that time and to those exact feelings. Here I was again, at the dawn of another new day and another brand new year with my sisters Theresa, Sia and Moala. We promised ourselves we wouldn't waste the night with the cliche "I'm so cool" party scene. We wouldn't sleep the new day away. We would get up and start another new adventure.
When he was alive he would take thousands of people through the bush and teach them about the local bush tucker and Aboriginal way of life in our local area. Since his passing I have never felt more drawn towards the bush because that's where I feel most connected to him. I can hear his voice and I can see him walk vividly in front of me. Thanks Uncle for taking us wandering again. Thanks for igniting our childhood feelings of discovery and awe. Thanks for bringing me back home.
Big Love,
Falala Mele
