PERMIT REQUIRED, PERMIT REQUIRED says the map at the CLC (Central Land Council). In reality permits are not required and the ongoing battle between community and Policy is fought somewhere in the tangle of red tape. The small indigenous community is only 117km from Alice Springs, down a ‘dead-end’ road, at the edge of the sand hill country and nestled into the red face of the James range. A once strong town caught metaphorically and literally in-between a rock and a hard place.

The in-between, just as crucial as the destinations or stops. Through slowness we are fully emersed in the place, people and stuff (architecture). It is through engaging with the broader Australian condition and all it comprises that we are learning the most and blowing many preconceptions to smithereens. Having an in-depth understanding of the value of how place influences in-habitation is crucial to 'good' architecture for people and place.

Wham! Bam! Slick tourist operations churn caravans into cash, shop attendants near the end of their three month stint talk easily with locals and tourists alike. Just out of town lies some of Australia’s most fascinating architectural heritage and one of Australia’s great multicultural stories.

Birdsville, population 115 (+/- 7000), a place of dynamic flux existing for tourism. Long affiliated locals manage the role of local, tour guide, advocate and pastoralist with apparent ease and have a significant place in the community and surrounds. Stone and masonry buildings were prolific and notably novel compared to the other towns we have been. Our first glimpse of the Sturt’s desert pea, was a graceful sight in contrast to the red blushing earth. 

The smallest town, yet some of the biggest thinking. Indigenous elders active teachers, people as usual wearing many hats, playing many roles. The stark white ghost gums seem unique to the place, a beautiful contrast to the blushing red earth.

Red dirt and dust, the piercing sun beams. Flies a menace. Water always a part of the conversation. Average annual rainfall is around 12 inches, average evaporation is 18 foot. Sitting upon the artesian basin though, “there are no water restrictions”. A baffling contradiction. 

A whirl wind to say the very least. A scheduled week turned to two quite quickly, cutting out the next stop Charleville. The Mandandanji chair person, Darren, with overwhelming enthusiasm and persuasiveness about the work going on and was able to convince us to play a part in their dreaming celebrations. It's Gunyah get wild!!

Imagine fertile lands covered in dense Brigalow scrub, bottles trees and prickly pear; Low ranges ringing the horizon. The subtropical and sub-humid climate, with variable rainfall, provides relatively pleasant conditions year round. At the junction of two water courses, The Dawson River and Castle creek is a fertile junction abundant in nourishment from both the land and water, we were told by a local elder this was a special place to the Wulli Wulli people. Being the traditional owners of this land; their country covering an approximate 8300sq km area, they would have fished and hunted porcupine, living off the banks of the Dawson River and within nearby caves. Significant cultural and burial sites including caves with a four fingered hand print and bora grounds (a male initiation site) exist in the local area where many artifacts, such as grinding stones, rock axes, and flake and core stones continue to be unearthed, the local elders their custodians.

Sleepy Woodgate, yawn and you’re moving too fast, blink and you’ll miss it. However, If it’s not your destination you won’t have heard about it.
A part of the traditional land of the Kabi Kabi people, the local Dundaburra tribe is noted to have resided here for last 50,000 years. Indicated by the many middens along the Burrum river, their diet was varied with large amounts of shellfish. Local history states the Dundaburra would partake in the Bunya nut feasts on the Bunya mountains, some 220kms away (close to Toowoomba). In researching though, their presence is a miss.

Stop one on the Grand Section - Fraser Island