Chapter 35

On Thursday Rachel phoned Winnie, who told her that she could come in on Monday, but as she was a student intern she wasn't required till classes started at the beginning of March. Rachel told her she'd be in on Monday to talk and set up a schedule. They decided [? agreed?] that Rachel would take January off, but would appear twice a week in February, most likely Mondays and Thursdays.

Tuesday's mail, much to my relief, brought a fat envelope from the Law School. I was admitted! There was new student orientation in February and we both had fees to be paid, but I was in! We danced around the room in a frenzy for about ten minutes.

"Wow! It worked!"

"Your nungungi-sense must have known."

"No. I'm no good at what's going on in my own life."

"Dinner out? Festive dinner?"

"Where would you like to go?"

"Toko, in Paddington. I've been told it's got the best sushi/sashimi."

"Okay. You phone for a reservation. I'll go get some cash."

Dinner was great! We also drank a small bottle of sake. It was very celebratory.

"You never said what you wanted to do the rest of this month," I remarked.

"Well, you're free till February, too. When's our first opera?"

"Friday the eighteenth. Pirates of Penzance."

"So we've nearly 10 days and then two weeks after our sole commitment. What would you like?"

"I'd like to see some of the NSW aboriginal sites. We've only been to the cave."

"What's near?"

"The nearest is Bobbin Creek area just north of Sydney. About a 40 minute drive."

"Can we do that as a day trip?"

"Of course. How about tomorrow?"

So we did. We got to Bobbin Creek before 11:00 and went along the mangrove boardwalk. There were aboriginal engravings along some of the bushwalk trails. There was nothing that sang or said anything to me. Too many years and too many people overlay the dreams.

"This is all inert," I said.

"Inert? That's a strange word to use."

"It's not dead. I don't know – it's sort of embedded in plexiglass. It's lost its spirit. Let's go and have late lunch in town."

"Okay."

At lunch Rachel asked: "Let's got to a few other sites. I know you want to; and I want to reawaken something inside you. What's possible?"

"Well, I'd like to go to Cuddy Springs and to Lake Mungo, but they're both pretty far. The springs must be nearly 700 klicks from here and Lake Mungo's around a thousand."

"Don't we have a map at home?"

"Sure."

"Well, let's work it out."

Cuddy Springs is the site of an ancient lake between Marra Creek and the Macquarie River. It is the site of the oldest evidence of bread-making in the world, estimated at 30,000 years BP.

Three sets of human remains dating from 56,000 to 68,000 BP have been found at Lake Mungo in south-western NSW. Footprints in the clay-bed of Lake Mungo have been estimated at 23,000 BP.

We did. We planned to drive from Sydney to Dubbo to Cuddy Springs; then to Cobar and Lake Mungo; and to return via Wagga Wagga. It'd be an adventure.