Kalkarindji, NT 2019 - Day 5

What a day, Big Shady number one is UP! I’m covered in concrete dust and pretty tired, but it is exhilarating to build something. It changes the park, and adds to the shade of the tree. There is a clear connection between the built and the natural.

Today was all about finishing Shady 1, and getting Shady 2 into position, with some local help. Workers from Gurindj Corp came over to give us a hand, and Riley from the school joined us to put some concrete in the foundation holes of Big Shady two and Tek screw some of the structure.

The guys from Gurindji even gave us some tips: “don’t look down, keep your eye on the screw”.

We had a couple of beers at the club, some of the locals came up to talk to a few of us. It’s great to be able to begin a dialogue with the community and start to place the groundwork for discussions about housing.

Tonight we are camping at the base of Possum Hill, it’s beautiful, but I still have to set up my tent and blow up my mattress. We really started to get into a routine, the Bower machine has warmed up and I’m really looking forward to getting back into it tomorrow.

Brett Luke and Bowen Ma