hope vale: hot chips, fresh fish and healing

Two weeks ago I logged off here and we headed to Hope Vale, a remote Aboriginal community 46kms north-west of Cairns.

The plan was to stay about six days, but as I explain regularly to River and Sol on this trip, plans change. Especially on the road.

Six days in Hope Vale turned into twelve. And in one week we will be going back for more. There was a timelessness as days rolled into nights and we settled into the home of our friends Uncle Des and Aunty Estelle Bowen getting to know their family and community.

The kettle never stopped boiling. I drank more cups of tea in twelve days than I have my 39 years. I loved every cup because with tea comes a yarn, seemingly endless yarns, at the kitchen table or around a campfire. (For readers wondering why you would have yarn with tea, in this instance yarn is another word for story not wool!)

A deep friendship was born between our families or as Aunty Estelle said to my mother-in-law on the phone one morning “they family now”.

Uncle Des and Aunty Estelle are such beautiful people. Their strength, humility, pride and commitment to their family and community inspire me greatly.

It is hard for me to find precisely the right words to paint a picture of life in Hope Vale to you. 

There is so much to say. This post is a beginning.

 

Adventures to local beaches to catch fish and mudcrabs happened every couple of days. Despite the heat there was no swimming of course because the waterways here are home to crocodiles.

(Aunty Estelle fishing with a handline, her great great grandaughter playing by her side)

While the fresh seafood was wonderful, the dominant diet in the community is white bread, hot chips, ice cream, weet bix, sweet biscuits, soft drink, cordial and convenience food bought from the small supermarket/convenience store.

Kids not eating enough nutritious food is not unique to Hope Vale of course, what is unique is the remoteness which limits access to top quality fresh produce and also that before the introduction of sugar, salt and grain based diet Indigenous people lived with health and strength on a natural diet.

If you are interested in the work my husband Pete is doing with Elders you can read more about it at Culture is Life and Be Part of the Healing.

We are back in Mossman for a week where I have internet access so I will post more soon. 

Thanks for reading! x

wholefood mama & family are hitting the road...

I've been meaning to post about this for a while but somehow life got full busy as it does and now Thursday, our departure date is almost here.

This trip has been brewing for a while. I think I've resisted writing about it here because it makes it real! I am excited about travelling up the east coast of Australia with my family but I'm also a bit dare I say, anxious. I'm a Virgo, we do anxious and calm well.

It will be a work trip. I will continue to write both here and the plan is to foray into some travel writing. And Pete who some of you know is a photographer and author will be working in remote Indigenous communities www.bepartofthehealing.org and also doing some photography workshops and book presentations along the way.

I will be homeschooling River and Sol. I'll just write that again so it sinks in, I will be homeschooling River and Sol. Yes ok, I'm a bit nervous about that. Feels like a big thing for them to be missing almost two terms of school and kinder. I trust I am completely capable of making sure that they read, write, count and be creative every day, but then my irrational brain chimes in and reminds me how happy they are at school and kinder, how they (& I) really like the rhythm of our days and that life on the road is going to be, a bit well, unpredictable.

Despite working as a freelancer for the last 13 years I actually really like routine or rhythm whatever you prefer to call it. I know I will find our new rhythm on the road, but I also know it will take some adjusting to.

Before I start sounding like a completely neurotic woman and you click over to another blog because you wish you were going on a road trip and you can't bear to read another word of my fretting, this post is also to let you know that the frequency of posting may change a bit too. I am hoping to regale you with wholefood travel tales but if I disappear for a few days its because there's no WiFi!

What I am looking forward to is time with friends in Bermagui, time with beautiful Jay and her family in Bellingen, time exploring Sydney with the boys while Pete works, and time in Byron our home away from home. After that, no dates and places are set yet. Oh catching up with the girls from Confetti Mag when we reach Townsville. My mind hasn't made it past Byron yet. Past my comfort zone. Perhaps I will get to meet a few more of you at farmer's markets and health food stores along the coast...

While we are away River will turn 8 and I will turn 40. And we will have our eyes peeled for our potential new home in the warmer northern climate...watch this space xxx

Have you ever been on an extended road trip with children? Tell me the highlights and lowlights. Or do you dream of doing it but haven't worked out how to make it happen. I'd love to hear.