Wednesday, August 05, 2009

Nepabunna - the first day

I have just spent a wonderful week on a school camp. 25 Year 5/6/7 students, 3 teachers and 5 parents travelled up to the Northern Flinders Ranges (just over 600 kms from home) to spend a week at Nepabunna, a small aboriginal community about 60kms east of Leigh Creek in the north of South Australia.

I have been to the Flinders before, but this time was special as we spent time with the local Adnyamathanha people, traditional owners of this land for many thousands of years. Nepabunna is very small and quite isolated. There are around 60 people living there in a very close knit community. They are proud of their land and their traditions and we are so grateful that they shared their lives with us.

My principal, Garry, was principal of the Nepabunna school in the nineties and he has maintained close ties with the community - they love him. We were made to feel very welcome and the locals were so friendly and hospitable. We visited traditonal sites, walked and climbed through amazing country, heard wonderful stories, shared food and songs and had a marvellous time.

We took literally thousands of photos. The kids all had access to cameras and they became snap happy with so many brilliant photo opportunities. Hurrah for digitasl cameras!!! Here are a few of the photos I took of the amazing scenery.

The Flinders Ranges through the bus window


These two peaks represent the two moiety groups in Adnyamathanha society - the Matheri and Arura. Every one belongs to one of the groups and traditionally a person could only marry someone from the other group. This area is called Yorrumbulla and there are a number of caves and old cave paintings here.


The view from the main cave





Near Yorrumbulla caves


The waterhole at Nepabunna. A favourite spot for the local kids. Unfortunately they are in the middle of a drought and the swimming is not very good at the moment. Nepabunna has very little water and the community has to rely on tanks and a very salty bore.

That's your lot for now. I hope you have enjoyed this glimpse of a very old and very beautiful part of the world. More later.

Liz

2 comments:

  1. Stunning. I have driven through th Flinders on my way up to Birdsville and would love to get back and spend some time there.

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  2. Glad you liked the scenery. It is an amazing part of Australia and one I love to visit.

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