Hello,
I went up river 25 years ago. I was a single mum (3 year old daughter
at the time) living on a community near Nimbin. I had a passion for
forests and adventure so off I tottled with my daughter, hitching to
Melbourne, catching the Princess of Tasmania and hitching down to
Strahn (spelling?). After a day of non violent action training I met
up with some NAGs (Nimbin Action Group) and we caught a boat upstream.
The camping area was nestled in the forest amongst trees, ferns and
moss with little windy paths joining up the different areas. It was
surprisingly organised in a feral kind of way. Plenty of other kids (I
was with the nimbin group after all!).
Things changed when a law was invented to ban camping on the Gordon
River so all us parents took our kids out, got them looked after (my
daughter flew to Melbourne with a friend to stay with her
grandparents), and then we went back up river....an amazing feeling of
freedom as a single mum who hadn't had a break from mothering in
nearly 3 years.
I was dropped off on the river bank somewhere with another Nimbin
woman (a singer ) and we were to follow the river upstream until we
came to the landing. It became dark before we got there and we
couldn't even see where the river was...a bit scary for a while as we
didn't know what way we were going, but all of a sudden we found
ourselves at the landing (phew!). The next day I made about a hundred
chapatis and swam naked in the Gordon River during an
action...incredibly cold water.
The following day a group of us NAGS went bush....a long and arduous
walk eventually settling in a little glen between two little streams.
We stayed there for 2 days, singing, massaging, resting, eating,being
in the beauty of it all. Then it was action day.....we walked out of
the forest into the clearing where stunned, we watched a 3000year old
Huon Pine being chain-sawn down. The police began their chase and I
remember how easy it was to run bare foot through the soft,mossy
floored, gentle forest. Then suddenly I was caught, hand cuffed and on
my way downstream on the police launch with large numbers of other
protesters. The trip back was long and peaceful with not much to do
except gaze at the wall of forest which embraced the rivers long
trail. The forest seemed to pulse with energy, and I began to hear the
most glorious music which was coming from the pulsating trees. I've
never experienced anything like it before or since, but it was
blissful at the time. The bliss soon changed. We were taken to
Queenstown where many red necks were there to greet and harass us. We
spent the much night there and then were released. The charges were
dropped because there were too many to process.
Just prior to leaving Tassie, I went to an election party to enjoy Bob
Hawkes win, and the win for the Franklin.
Twenty five years later I am still a passionate Tassie Wilderness
supporter, and still singing .
On May 22, 10:42 am, adam.burl...@aph.gov.au wrote:
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