Bunjil

Towards the end of May, the Bureau of Meteorology was again forecasting a weather “Armageddon”… an increasingly frequent habit when faced with any significant front, cold or hot. This warning, coupled with a couple of moderate rain showers, cleared all remaining beachgoers and allowed me to wander the beach at the George with Blighty, my feisty border terrier. Thus, on this beautifully cold and wild day, we had it all to ourselves.

The summer crowds were happily [and, for us, thankfully] hunkered down in their cities far away. The travellers had largely dwindled to the nomad young in their smaller vans, their older retiree counterparts having already set the compasses of their palatial mobile palaces to ‘north’ and crossed the Murray. Even the press of tourist buses parked at the bottom of BT’s roo-paddock seemed to have thinned.

There’s a spiritual feel to a deserted beach. Whether leaving the first footprints of the day in the sand, paddling barefoot as an encroaching swell sweeps and funnels up-river, or watching the kangaroos munch, spar, or mount on BT’s paddock, the grey and blissful solitude of winter on the southern coast offers the best of the best … but don’t tell the cut-and-paste Internet travel writers in their plush metro tourism offices, most of whom have clearly never been near the Great Ocean Road. Let them misname and misdirect to their heart’s content, for in winter at least, the locals know better. Lorne winters are our time—when the locals have Lorne largely to ourselves—so let us hope the tour writers and GORCAPA never stumble on a way to stuff it up.

But back to this windswept, rainy and beautiful day … for none of these musings provided the main attraction. Soaring in lazy circles above the river mouth—not a flap, not a beat, just a perfect understanding of the thermals that split land and sea—soared a solitary Wedge-tailed eagle. It was on the hunt and was magnificent to watch.

For a heartbeat, I wished that Michael Prideaux had been there to capture one of his incomparable photos of this magnificent bird. He would have needed his telephoto lens to do it full justice but, backdropped by the few last slanting rays of a pale winter sun knifing through the gathering clouds to the stone-grey sea, it would have made a classic Prideaux photo.

 

The eagle—its characteristic tail confirming it was neither petrel nor albatross but a solid-gold ‘wedgie’—was truly magnificent. Suddenly jealous of this singular moment … Blighty was busy chasing minnows and was oblivious to the eagle above … I was glad I could deny even Michael ‘a share’.

‘Wedgies’, as we like to call them, are also often referred to as eaglehawks [see: https://tinyurl.com/2fw8tbpx]. Australian geography and folklore are dotted with ‘eaglehawks’… think Eaglehawk, the suburb of Bendigo, Tasmania’s Eaglehawk Neck on the Point Arthur peninsula, and especially Banjo Patterson’s iconic verse: “T’was Mulga Bill, from Eaglehawk, that caught the cycling craze …”.

Without dispute, the Wedge-tailed eagle is the Monarch of the Australian skies. It is a truly massive bird with a maximum reported wingspan of 2.84m (9 ft 4 in) and a body length of as much as 1.06m (3 ft 6 in) … [see: https://tinyurl.com/srnjnvvs].

While their numbers were once sharply in decline, it appears the wedgie is making a numerical comeback since the reversal of a 20th century ‘shoot to kill’ and/or poison policy severely culled their numbers. Though sheep graziers may not entirely welcome this resurgence as wedgies do pose a significant threat to newborn lambs and are thus not a ‘farmer’s friend’, even hard-hearted farmers must pause to admire their majesty, even as they load their rifles. It seems that the days of chains of dead wedgies adorning country fences have gone—and I, for one, am glad that they have.

Closer to home, wedgies can often now be spotted wheeling in lazy circles as they hunt between Freshwater Creek and the Bellbrae valley, out over the farming lands to the west of Dean’s Marsh, or over the lower reaches of the George River near Lorne. Wherever they are sighted, watching one can be a powerful emotional experience.

Importantly, the Wedge-tailed Eagle occupies a central, spiritual place within Indigenous Australian culture. In Western and Central Victorian Aboriginal cultures, the Wedge-tailed Eagle symbolises Bunjil. As a creator deity, cultural hero, and ancestral being, Bunjil is believed to have created the world and all the people in it. With keen eyesight and infinite wisdom, Bunjil circles above, watching over all in the lands beneath. He is our ‘safety blanket’, our protection. Bunjil imparts a breathtakingly beautiful and powerful imagery.

I recall when, as a boy, my parents would take me to Bunjil’s Cave, an ancient meeting place featuring a stunning Aboriginal rock art image of Bunjil in the Black Range, located between the Grampians to the west and Ararat to the east. The image in Bunjil’s Cave [or Bunjil’s Shelter] imparts a strong sense of the sacred—like that which I felt at Gulgurn Manja [The Cave of Hands] under Hollow Mountain near Mt Zero. Sadly, it is uncertain whether the currently visible image of Bunjil in his Cave has [or has not] been ‘enhanced’ by a white man’s hand. To sort fact from fiction … or fake from the original—though it seems ‘unfortunate’ that such a study was thought to be needed … “a scanning electron microscopic [SEM] analysis of Bunjil was performed in 1983 to authenticate the site’s Aboriginal origin. This study confirmed that the site had been painted with authentic ochres but later “touched up” with European paints” [see: https://tinyurl.com/yv9ykhdu].

Bunjil’s Cave is known to have been a central meeting place for the several Aboriginal tribes of Western Victoria, including—the verbal histories of the post-colonial-named ‘Eastern Maar’ tell us—the Otway Gadubanud who were known to have occasionally visited the Black Range for trading, corroborees, and would have connected with Bunjil while there.

As an extension of this thought and given that the Gadubanud would have thus been exposed to the techniques and ochres used in rock art, I have always wondered why no Aboriginal rock art has ever been discovered in the Otway Ranges. After all, rock walls abound in the Cumberland Valley, the Canyon behind Allenvale, and many other mystical, spiritual places. Even if ochres were not locally available, it would have been a simple matter to trade Otway herbal medicines for ochre substrates, so I still harbour the hope that there is rock art out there in the forests behind Lorne, just waiting to be discovered.

With this as a background, and as the two of us, Blighty and me—well, maybe just me as he was fixated on seeking minnows in the shallows—watched Bunjil soar his thermals at the George, I felt suffused with privilege that I was there, and at that moment.

Thank you, Bunjil.

John Agar
Feature Writer

A word from the chairman

Hello

5.45am Monday, tree down on Mountjoy Parade (Great Ocean Road).  Who are you going to call?  Treebusters, also known as the local SES unit.  When most of us hear the rain lash and the wind howl, we hit the snooze button and pull the blankets over our heads, whilst our brave SES and CFA volunteers lie half-awake, waiting for the phone to ring, and when it does, they respond immediately, jump out of bed, grab their chainsaws and go to work.  By 7.00am on Monday, the job was done and this vital artery to the coast was open again, and our volunteers head off to their day job!

Volunteering is the lifeblood of our community, and while many of us volunteer in some way, it is surely our SES and CFA who have the toughest gig.  These volunteers are, to us, faceless men and women, but they are members of our community; they have families, they work or are retired, and they are few and far between.  Lorne SES currently has about 15 active members including locals and visitors.  They mostly range in age from 40-70, the work they do is physically demanding, and the working hours are not of their choosing.

We thank them for keeping us safe and we encourage more of our locals to volunteer. You may think you have nothing to offer but you might be surprised!

*****

What is Lorne?

Lorne is a place of natural beauty, a favourite holiday destination, a magnet for day-trippers and a wonderful place to come home to.

It is also a mecca for sports including cycling, running, swimming, surfing and lifesaving.

It is a culinary destination with a range of fine and casual dining options and some great places to meet and relax.

But it is also a place of culture with its famous sculpture biennale, photographic exhibitions, artists in residence at Lorne Community Connect and of course our own special and unique gallery and studio in the bush, Qdos.  It is a place of live music at many venues in town, and our very own amateur singing group which meets on a weekly basis and is growing in numbers and virtuosity.

Last week we were privileged to have a visit from radio broadcaster and writer Jacinta Parsons who spoke about her book, “A Wisdom of Age” and lessons on living.  Congratulations to Caroline Hirzel Bryant and Lorne Books for hosting Jacinta’s visit and providing such an inspirational speaker.

*****

Now that wasn’t very neighbourly! Last Saturday the Dolphins paid our neighbours in Apollo Bay a visit and left them with a few bruises as both the netball and football Seniors came away with emphatic wins.  In the football, Lorne Reserves won 92-28 and the Seniors won 179-21 with Charlie McCartin kicking 11 goals.  Both teams sit on top of the ladder, with the Reserves 3 games clear and a percentage of 533%. Not to be outdone our netballers won 70-23 with Sade Stafford scoring an amazing 67 goals. Well done to all our players and support crew.

Cheers and stay warm

Lorne Ward Events Calendar

July

6 – LAAC Winter Comp No 2. lines down after 6am, weigh in at the Lorne Aquatic and Angling Club at 12:30 followed by BBQ lunch.

8 – Bugs Life Interactive Session, learn about what’s in your garden followed by film ‘It’s a Bugs Life’1 at Deans Marsh Community Cottage -2.30pm $10 per child. Bookings: https://www.deansmarshcottage.org.au/events-1/bugs-life

19 – Lorne Dolphins Football and Netball V Otway Districts at Stribling Reserve, juniors match from 8:45am, seniors at 2pm

August

3 – LAAC Winter Comp No 3. lines down after 6am, weigh in at the Lorne Aquatic and Angling Club at 12:30 followed by BBQ lunch.

9 – Lorne Dolphins Football and Netball V Western Eagles, at Stribling Reserve, juniors match from 8:45am, seniors at 2pm

16 – Surfcoast Wonderfalls Trail Run, Starting at Cumberland River/Lorne. Distances: 6km 13km 25km 42km 52km

23 – Lorne Dolphins Football and Netball V Simpson, at Stribling Reserve, juniors match from 8:45am, seniors at 2pm