I remember Kununurra. An oasis township in the Kimberley of North Western Australia, an exciting town home to our most voluminous inland water body, Lake Argyle, Argyle diamond mine, fertile tropical soils, northern tourism........ keep an eye on Kununurra. It is a frontier, and one might predict that it will become Australia’s next big civic centre.
I remember Darwin. More of a town than a city, teeming with wartime history, still flooded with a rare cultural blend of modernity and outback spirit. And I remember Bowen, nestled in Queensland’s north coast, symbolised by the mango fruit. We camped just out of town on the water’s edge. The sprinklers went on at the strike of twelve at our (possibly illegal) campsite. I wait for the bursting water spout to spin away from my tent fly before I escape for a night time toilet run. It involves no running, nor a built toilet facility. I trip on a cane toad, and the sprinkler hits me from behind, of course, I remember Bowen.
“I personally wanted to know more about my country.” – You might guess that this quote came from either of the four of us, but it comes from Baz Luhrmann. Yes, I’m talking about the film Australia, and I’m remembering my own experiences of the rural filming sets. “For me it was a very personal and very enriching journey” says Baz as he describes his directing experience. Despite the fact that the $150 million dollar movie will be seen by millions across the world, he describes it as a personal adventure where one must become lost in order to find oneself. Baz camped alone some nights on the escarpment of the Kununurra set.
It would be wrong to draw too many parallels with the making of the movie Australia, although we did pass through all the film locations at a similar time to filming, and reading the “Tourism Australia special edition magazine celebrating the movie and the country”, I can relate to experiences of place and emotion described by Hugh and Nicole.
I remember once complimenting our good friend and lyricist of the MyPOWER soundtrack Paul Appelkamp on his music. I said to him that if I could convey my emotion and ideology through song, or through acting like Nicole and Hugh, I would not have to ride my bike so far. There would be another outlet. Alas I have been given useful legs, while puberty left me with a vacuum between vocal chord and earlobe, and an innate ability to act the fool only.
I reflect on this morning’s perfect four hour surf with the boys from Sydney at Crescent Head: an experience so familiar to my past but so different to the bicycle and the endless highway that symbolise our life in 2008. I can say I have already seen Australia, but I can’t wait to see “Australia”. It will be very different from the country that I have come to know so well. Set in the 1930’s and 40’s, it is a story of love, and a story of fiction. Tonnes of red soil were dumped in Bowen to make the set look like Old Darwin. Nicole Kidman isn’t a young English girl. Hugh Jackman is married! Apart from these little cinematic falsities, I expect the film to exhibit a culture and a landscape that will pluck at the heartstrings of we old English convicts and boatpeople.
I really think I know how Baz wants us to feel when we leave the cinema. I hope some friends in Sydney will await my return to watch it with me. In the meantime there are thousands of photo’s on our website that will give you a backstage glimpse of the Australian set. Whet your appetite and be filled with a sense of awe – Australia includes you!
Action of the day
#7 – Make your next holiday and Australian adventure. Explore our island first! (I suppose we never specified that your next holiday can’t be cinematic.......just this once)
Quote of the Day
“Today’s songlines are called into being by travellers who take the time to discover the diversity and wonder of Australia and its people. Some people call this going “walkabout”, where you lose yourself to find yourself. Wander the countryside, explore the red desert, swim in a waterhole, spend time among the vineyards, plunge into the surf. May the journey never end.” – Geoff Buckley, Managing Director Tourism Australia
Mereki@mypower.org.au