Chapter 73

"Why is the opera doing so much Puccini?" I asked Rachel.

"Sorry?"

"Next season. I'm repelled by the programme." I waved the brochure. "Boheme, Butterfly, Tosca, and Turandot!"

"And?"

"Three Verdis! Aida, Traviata, and Don Carlos; two Mozarts: Magic Flute and Figaro; Faust; and Cole Porter's Anything Goes!. And they're starting out with The King and I!

"Don't be such a snob! I think that most of the Puccini we've been to is sentimental and insincere. But they're tuneful and you don't have to think hard about them."

"Well, I loved the Ring in Melbourne. And we both really did think about it. Joseph Kerman, the American musicologist, calls Tosca a 'shabby little shocker'. And Benjamin Britten looked down on Tosca."

"Well, I'm not interested in King, but I'd like to go see the Cole Porter."

"So would I. But Opera Australia did wonderful Gilbert and Sullivan productions. Remember, we got Sarah that boxed set of DVDs. And they did a lot of bel canto. But look at the Verdis: they're all from the middle period. And no sane music-lover would think of King and Turandot and Cole Porter as representing the twentieth century! I'm really unhappy about it."

"Might we just get three or four?"

"Sure. Which?"

"Actually, five. Don Carlos, Magic Flute, Faust, the Cole Porter, and Figaro. Wouldn't that make you happy?"

"I guess so. But I feel cranky anyway."

"Why don't we go to the Sydney Symphony?"

"Seriously?"

"Yes. I saw a brochure at the Gallery. I'll bring one home tomorrow or the next day. We'll broaden our music-going." Rachel looked at me. "Now, why are you cranky? Or, why are you nettled today, rather than your customary peevish self?"

"Now who's being snarky?" Rachel stuck out her tongue at me. "Well, I've been reading historical stuff at the Review. And I hit a group of articles about the colonies in the nineteenth century and the legacy."

"And?"

"Well, for instance, Sir John A MacDonald, the father of Canadian Confederation, not only introduced the head-tax on Chinese immigrants, but rejected Chinese citizenship exactly because, he said, the Chinese immigrant 'has no British instincts or British feelings or aspirations, and therefore ought not to have a vote.' Then I read that the rajahs of India could not understand how the men Britain sent them could be so scrupulous in points of personal honor and then tell outright lies when it came to their treaty obligations. That's still true! Look at Julia and now Tony Abbott! Look at the way treaties get twisted or disregarded in the US and in Canada! It all got to me."

"So. Do you want to move to Tuvalu? Or Oodnadatta?"

"We should definitely go to Oodnadatta! It's part of your family history."

"True. My great-great-grandfather mapped the waterhole. But I've no urge to go." Rachel was quite for a few moments. "But I know something. You need to go."

"What?"

"Oh," she laughed, "Not to Oodnadatta. But you need to go walkabout. Not really far, but somewhere. You need to talk to your snake. You need to calm your agitation and still your disquiet. Go for a day or two or three."

"Where did that come from?"

"Inside. Maybe Biami. You could go back to the cave. It's not far."

"No. That doesn't feel right. More southwest." I felt an internal pointer. "Waterfall!"

"A waterfall?"

"No! The town of Waterfall. There's a park near there. Do we have a state map here?"

"Yes. I know where it is in the kitchen drawer along with the Sydney map." Rachel got the map and also a pamphlet on 'National Parks of New South Wales'.

"Heathcote! That's it. And it's an ancient site. You really think I should go?"

"Yes. It's a bit chilly, but that doesn't matter. Do you work tomorrow?"

"No. I'll take a few bottles of water."

Heathcote National Park is part of the traditional land of the Dharawal Aboriginal people. There are engraving sites on sandstone outcrops throughout the park and shelters with pigment art occur mainly along ridgelines. Grinding grooves are common, sometimes in association with engravings, though more often these are in creeklines and near waterholes.

The land and waterways, and the plants and animals that live in them, feature in all facets of Aboriginal culture - including recreational, ceremonial, spiritual and as a main source of food and medicine.

Rachel was reading: "It says 'There is access at Waterfall from the northern end of Warrabin Street and from the Woronora Dam Road, which leads off the Princes Highway 3.5km south of Waterfall.' Does that help?"

"Yes. I'll just drive down A1 towards Wollongong. It shouldn't be hard. Under an hour."