We continued our road trip, heading toward Ongerup, off the beaten track to my used to be family farm "Bamarook". It was like I had driven there yesterday. All gravel road turn left at the tree, past the bend turn left at the fridge, past the break away then to the t'junction and another left...
The farm had changed so much, the new owners have cleared the land bare. I was shocked, my Dad and neighbouring farmers had secured government grants back in the day and spent years, planting trees to help prevent salt contamination in the soil and to protect the creek system and stop the harsh winds from ripping up the top soil in the paddocks.... gone..... the lot...... gone
I felt like the land was crying. it's windy, dry and hard to grow anything out there (& that's on a good year), without the trees to protect the soil it's whipped daily by a brutal wind. It gave me a new and elevated admiration for my Dad, the incredible farmer he was and how organically in tune with the country he still is. My Dad had nursed every micro organism that lived in the soil here, he had nurtured the creek like it was the life source of the farm and the veins running through our place and out into country, he was an incredible farmer & I felt an instant pride to have been on the land when it was cared for with such compassion and understanding. He has given me so much knowledge and an incredible spiritual connection to country. I will be forever grateful.
Despite the initial shock, there was a lot the same & it was a glorious step back into childhood memories for me. A truely magical place and I'm one of only three in the entire world who was lucky enough to call it home, grow up carefree, spiritually connected, supported by family love and the land. I think I maybe the most fortunate human of my generation.
I've gone back over photos from the days when we were on this land and compared. It's been so fascinating. Photography is such an incredible medium. Long after something has changed over the years, long after we have aged and even passed, our photographs continue on. I wonder what my children's children will think of the way I have lived and left my mark on this earth. I will most certainly leave a legacy of prints so that they can refer back and compare.