In March I left the sleet torn skies of Ireland to find myself in Sydney Harbour

with its striking juxtaposition of colonial buildings and modern architecture

 I immediately stumbled upon Munn’s Slipway

which is a stone shoreline designed to reflect a 1820s industrial slipway found during an archeological dig

made from beautiful pink and orange banded sandstone

In Melbourne I met up with Realene Marshall of the Dry Stone Wall Association of Australia who very kindly took me on a tour.  A rarity in these parts is Overnewton Castle built by a Scottish colonist

where can be found some restored dry stone walls built from local volcanic rock

In surrounding fields there are vast stretches of low walls with posts and wire

The goal of DSWAA is to survey these walls & legislate for their protection – a massive undertaking but one which they are well placed to see through, given the academic status of core members.

In sharp contrast to Ireland there is a lack of manually skilled stone masons here, to carry out the actual building skills.

I caught a train to Wagga Wagga –  a place which has retained its Aboriginal name meaning ‘lots of crows.’

I visited stonemason Wayne Fox whom I first met when he turned up in Donegal to take part in our Stone Festival

We did some stone work together – tough work in the heat!

Below is one of Wayne’s schist walls at his stone yard.

I didn’t have time to visit these seriously ancient and sacred dry stone fish traps built by the indigenous people of Australia

In a whole wonderous league of its own is Australian wildlife. Behold the tawny frog mouth owl.

I did not get to meet, or even see any Aboriginal people during my stay.

But in a wildlife park in the Yarra region I found this little shelter –  a Gunyah – made from the bark of the eucalyptus tree.

An information plaque states this shocking fact:

” In Victoria by the 1860s only 2000  Aboriginal people remained from a population of 60,000…”

Meet Barak – leader of the Wunundjeri people – who said:

‘Yarra is my father’s country. Me no leave it, Yarra my fathers country.’

Puts me in mind of this character – Aodh Ruadh Ó Domhnaill – and of the continual waves of invasion which plague our world

Australia – a terrain so incredibly vast – impossible for indigenous people to have held more than a very fragile foot hold

Then back home – just in time for a very special Easter Sunday.