Costa’s Arnhem Land Odyssey

This is your first trip to the Northern Territory. Costa, are you able to describe how you felt when you were welcomed in Arnhem Land?

By way of backdrop, the humidity on the first morning really starts to take it out of you. We drove to Mt Saunders (Nhulun) which is the high point overlooking Nhulunbuy and the rangers and elders were painting up and preparing for the welcome. I was feeling jaded by the heat but when I walked up the last section of Mt Nhulun and I heard the first sound of the yidake (didgeriddoo) I suddenly felt like my fatigue melted. Watching the elders dance and listening to the beat was both hypnotic and also energising. I became entranced by their moves, the sound and the backdrop of the bush colours. As it went on the feeling was like the ground opened up, reached out and gave me a big embrace… a hug like I’ve never felt before. Trying to explain it for the camera I started to cry… it was overwhelming how safe and welcome I felt. This was a true first.

As a gardener, you feel and know the earth. Was there a different connection to the land there, than you have experienced previously?

Yes… no question about it. It is not easy to explain and the word connection is a little overused I feel. And without sounding cliched, it is more than just visual indictators that capture the Yolngu people and their connection to the land. The land is part of them and they are part of the land… It’s not about analysis using the mind up there, it’s all about feeling. As I learnt more I thought less and just felt. Sitting in the back of the troop carrier at the end of the day and looking at the sun setting over the rich red landscape I was there… totally in the moment, in the landscape.

Did you feel a different connection to the earth with bare feet?

As healing lady Gulumbo says during my visit to the wetlands the landscape accepts you when you are barefoot… That may sound a bit unfamiliar or extreme, but when I walked barefoot, there was a threshold that you had to get through… a pain you had to experience, and then after that you didn’t think about it anymore. You were not worried about the ants or thinking about the twigs or the hard rocks, your mind moved to a different place. It actually takes you out of the usual mindset of caution and concern and into one of letting go and being in the place where you are… no texts, no phones, no being somewhere physically but mentally being miles away. It’s liberating actually.

Can you tell us about the environment, the ecosystem, the seasons?

The landscape up there is such a big contradiction… it’s dry and harsh, yet wet and subtle… the plants are rugged and hard, yet they are sensitive indicators and carers of the people, warning them of danger, luring them to treats and bounty. On the one hand the dry season is extreme yet everything grows so readily in the soil there if given a chance.

The ecosystem is abundant. When one scratches a little beneath the surface, there is a rich diversity of flora and fauna. Edible and medicinal plants can be found everywhere you go. The ecosystem serves as both supermarket and pharmacy, and there is no need for expensive marketing and packaging to lure market share… it’s all available wrapper and package free.

The seasons are very distinct and the locals know and work around 6 seasons… the additional seasons are the build up to the wet season and the build up to the dry season. Each season is an indicator to the locals of different produce and harvest.

What is Bala Ga Lili and what did it mean to you in this community?

Bala galili means “we teach each other.” So what that meant to me was that I was going up there with certain experiences from my life and the children and local were coming to me with the experiences of their life and we were just putting the two lots of experiences together. I wasn’t going there as a Landscape Architect (our western title) to tell the locals what I know (or more so what I don’t know). We were coming together to share time both on and in their landscapes. As I learnt at the Cycad ceremony, to the Yolngu people the bush is their university. And the elders are the professors who pass on all the knowledge and experience to the children who begin university from day one and actually live within the university everyday.

Costa did you discover any new food? What was your favourite and why?

I was exposed to so many new plants I can’t begin to list them all here. It was a whole new encyclopedia of information. The tamarind tree with its sticky fruit was a refreshing tangy treat but probably the best was the Billy Goat Plum. It is known as Murrngga or Mamanbu in Yolngu or Terminalia Carpentariae in Latin or botanical speak. Very few people would know about it but its a plant whose fruit contains up to 50x the vitamin C of an orange. I loved that the kids just know the plants like city kids would know their latest game options for a computer. They live and breathe it.

Do you enjoy dancing?

Dancing is something that sets me free. Watching the Yolngu dance was inspiring for me… to see the way that they feel the beat, feel the music, feel what they are dancing about and express it. The children have the rhythm in them. I loved watching them dance. It was a joy to see the way that the children have just absorbed their ability through observation and then action. My friends and I have a band called the More Please Orchestra and we play a mixture of funk and disco. It is such a treat to play music and see people dance. You can not buy that feeling.

And how did you enjoy the gardening in Arnhem Land? What was your favourite experience?

Gardening in the top end takes on a whole different perspective. The temperature, the humidity, the intensity of the heat. I suppose the big difference is that everything just grows so quickly up there… put it in the ground and chances are it will be growing before you put your shovel into the ground to dig the next hole. And the plant palette is like nothing else. I feel like I have barely scratched the surface… There is something really wonderful about going to a place and being exposed to a whole new opportunity for learning. I want more.

As for my favourite experience, the bush massage was amazing, but I think it was more of a general experience that stuck the loudest chord. I was totally absorbed by the way that the young children are incorporated into everything that goes on… be it a ceremony, music , dance, song: the youngest of children are there watching and observing the event… copying, trying, being taught through the power of observation. Watching the elders, their older brothers and sisters. It is the bush University without the formal lecture theatres, and it is open 24/7.

Did the trip change you in any way?

It’s still all just sinking in. It has inspired me to want to know more about this landscape that we all move across but have little connection with. I have come back hungry for more. I want to get back there and spend more time in the landscape and with the people. Everyone I met made me feel so welcome, I got a real sense for the family bonds that exist in Yolngu culture, I was exposed to the way that the people really do have a bond with their land and the land has a bond with the people. The trip has reinforced all my beliefs about how important our landscapes are and how we need to fight to protect them before they are buried beneath urban sprawl or dug up by the mining frenzy that is spreading across the very precious landscapes that feed and medicate us.

Thank you Costa,  for sharing some more of your experience. Even just previewing the show was really moving, and your sheer joy translates at least in some way to the screen. This chat has added depth and resonance.

Costa’s Arnhem Land Odyssey goes to air on Australia Day, 26th January 2011 - 7.30pm on SBS ONE.