Chapter 3

Steve, Janice and Jane had all been right. By the end of the first week I’d “lost” at least 15 students – all of them female, as near as I could tell. I also gained two auditors: two graduate students one in paleontology, the other aiming for medical school and parasitology, who wanted to he “another slant” on things. I announced office hours. One over-mascara-ed lass appeared, noted that another desk was occupied and vanished. I think she was among those who dropped the course.

February passed with me covering the basics of evolution, including anecdotes of Darwin in Argentina and, months later, in the Andes. I talked at length about mollusks, bivalves, gastropods, cephalopods, devoting a day to mollusks as a food staple since prehistoric times.

Shell middens are found in coastal or lakeshore zones all over the world. Consisting mostly of mollusk shells, they are interpreted as being the waste products of meals eaten by nomadic groups or hunting parties. Some are small examples relating to meals had by a handful of individuals, others are many metres in length and width and represent centuries of shell deposition ... Shell middens created in coastal regions of Australia by Indigenous Australians exist today. Middens provide evidence of prior occupation and are generally protected from mining and other developments. Wikipedia

“We’re interested in the animals themselves. But archaeologists examine these heaps of shells to glean all sorts of information. In some instances, estimations can be made about the size of the group that used the site, how long they occupied the region, and whether it was a regular campsite or the product of a single event. Charcoal samples may be tested to determine the age of each layer of occupation, and pollen samples may provide insight into past vegetation within the region.

“Middens are a valuable archaeological resource not only for what they reveal about Aboriginal dietary habits, but also the technology that was utilized in gathering and processing food, seasonal trends of species exploitation, and also how humans adapted to environmental changes.”

I found that I was actually enjoying lecturing and enjoying my weekly review and question sessions even more.

In February the Canberra Theatre Centre reopened and I went to see a concert performance of Fascinating Aida, which was less than overwhelming and in March I attended a fascinating piano recital by Roger Woodward of the score for the movie Cinema Paradiso. I also went to a dance recital by an Indian group.

But the piano recital was a kind of grand finale. On Monday, 23 March, I finally met the maimed hiker. He was bearded and was walking with the aid of a stick. We went for coffee and I told him what I’d done and what I was up to in the two books.

“Sounds good.”

“Thanks. When do you think you’ll relieve me?”

“How about next Monday? We can both show up for the lecture.”

We agreed. I walked over to Black Mountain and went to see Janice.

“You need to talk to Kevin,” she said.

So I told Kevin that I’d be done with my stint at ANU “next week.”

“Hmmm. Why don’t you take some time off? Easter’s coming up. Why don’t you take off til Easter Monday? Back here bright-eyed and bushy-tailed on the 14^th?”

That’d be great! I’ll visit my parents.”

Despite the fact that I’d purchased a (nearly) new car, I had been depositing a part of my salary into a savings account. So paying for flights to Roma via Brisbane and return was no pain. I also bought gifts for mom (from the Easter bilby [In 1968, the Easter Bilby concept was introduced for the very first time by a 9-year-old girl named Rose-Marie Dusting. Her fictitious story known as Billy the Aussie Easter Bilby influenced generations to engage in saving the bilby. The story was eventually published as a book in 1979.]).

I spent nearly two weeks in Mitchell – in Queensland, anyway. I spent a few days with my parents and rode over to visit the band. My old friend Jacky was there and he was about to go to Cherbourg. [Cherbourg was founded as a settlement for Aboriginal people in the early 1900s under a policy of segregation being pursued by the Queensland government. It has a population of about 1000 from a variety of tribal groups.]

“You come, too, Gordy!” He laughed. “Lotsa sheilas. We have a great coupla nights!”

“How far is it?”

“I drive? Four hours. You drive six hours. C’mon! We’ll go tomorrow – on Friday -- early, come back on Tuesday. You can spend the Easter hols with Holliman an’ your mum!”

“I’ll see if my dad’ll let me take a ute.”

“Deal?”

“Deal.”

So by eight a.m. on Friday we were on our way in the oldest ute we owned, with me driving for about three hours, to Chinchilla, where I bought two cases of stubbies. Jacky took over for what should have been two more hours. But we stopped for lunch, so it was after 14:00 when we got to Cherbourg Road in the midst of what appeared to be some tin storage shacks in a state forest.