25 Jul (day 22) – back on the road

Jandamarra's last hideout

(L): Jandamarra had been disowned and banished by his people – the Bunuba – as a young man, for sleeping around, a severe crime within his society. He had taken up with the white men, and using his unmatched skills in tracking and wilderness craft he assisted the white men in tracking down and capturing aboriginal people. These aborigines were sold into slavery, and were treated appallingly. On one day, in 1894 Jandamarra assisted in the capture of a group of his own Bunuba people. They were in shackles, and he asked Captain Richardson – the white man he had been working with for some time – for a rifle, in order to hunt a kangaroo to feed the captives. When Richardson gave him the gun, Jandamarra turned it on Richardson and shot him dead. Jandamarra freed the Bunuba captives, killing the other guards, and led his people in the first aboriginal uprising. For ten years the Bunuba (many hundreds of them) hid in the hills around Tunnel Creek. Jandamarra consistently frustrated the white men with his night time raids to steal guns and supplies. Rasputin-like he survived numerous attempts on his life. He became legend; the youngest man ever to lead his people; a guardian of the land that bore him. It took one of his own kind; a aborigine tracker from a far away land in the employ of the white man, to finally find and kill Jandamarra. And with his passing the resistance of the Bunuba people ended.

(G): Yep, Jandamarra was a bad boy slag turned good, who inspired, and led, the first aboriginal uprising against the white oppressor way back when. But much more importantly – we got good seats on the bus. This was a major concern, coz if you’re last on, you might not get two seats together and have sit next to a wanker for the next nine days. And Jandamarra thought he had problems…

Seriously, the new gang is good; a really nice English couple (Ann & Tom) who’ve been living in Melbourne, lovely Barbara from the Netherlands (but also living in Melbourne), a big farmer lad (Leon, also from England) who’s been driving REALLY BIG TRUCKS down in the south west, a fun older French couple, Martine (she) and Michel (he), and a cheery Canadian called Pattie who has the washing-up down pat already. In fact the only suspect one is a stroppy German woman called Doris who looks like she has the potential to be a real pain in the ass.

For an early exercise in group bonding, we splashed through dark, forbidding Tunnel Creek, Jandamarra’s last hideout, in the threatening glare of some fresh water crocs.