Welcome to another Pleasant Sunday Afternoon.
New South Wales has the highest number of indigenous people in Australia. Many are in rural areas. Most of Australia’s rural areas are in decline, some in particularly severe decline due to drought and also as Australians move to the cities, making us one of the most highly urbanised populations in the world.
One area in severe decline is Wilcannia. It was once a thriving town. A recent comment to myself described an old man in tears when he revisited the area at the end of last year. It is not hard to find comments from people on the internet about avoiding the area as they have heard only bad stories. Unfortunately many of these are based around the aboriginal population which make up the majority of the population.
There is another side to the story. In November 2008, The Age newspaper’s Traveller section had a small article on Wilcannia that starts with:
The image of Wilcannia that most travellers along the Barrier Highway have is of a town with a lot of Aborigines standing around in the main street. It is a very racist preconception but one which nearly everyone who has travelled through the town enunciates. It is also fuelled by the bigots of Broken Hill and Cobar who are only too eager to divert travellers to their own centres.
There are a few gems. And many of them are the people. You just need to stop and get out of the car.
Here’s a tour of Wilcannia:
Listen to some of the kids from the Barkindji mob of Wilcannia perform their version of M.I.A.s “Mango Pickle Down River”
Watch some parkour outback (or parkOUrTBACK!) in Wilcannia and other areas of outback NSW.
Some people from the Central Darling area have put why they love the area on YouTube including this by Barkindji man Murry Butcher who states:
I just love the place because it is part of us.
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say g’day to my cousin Garry Harding who is a teacher at Wilcannia Central School, if you’re passing through!
Love this Robbo. When people tell me to not to visit an area for whatever reason, I do just the opposite. I’m always game for the road less traveled and misunderstood.
It may be a couple of years before I am back there
Having been warned of rock throwing youths and wild drunks in the street I deliberately stopped at Wilcannia for fuel and walk along the river. The locals were friendly and helpful when asked about the road to White Cliffs. Unfortunatley ignorance and fear are imbedded in many Australians.
G’day Chris
Unfortunately I have to agree. Especially when these stories fit in with the unfair and even racist stereotypes of aboriginal people that are circulated by those who should know better