Fishing. Listening to Country.

“My brother-in-law, he was married to my sister. He used to work up in the bananas. As soon as he went to work, I said, ‘I’ll bring you some fish home for tea.’ So, he’d go to work, I’d get my fishing gear ready and walk up the beach. Up Middle Head they call it. I’d take a little spear with me. That is what I got the crabs with. That is the only bait I’ll use. I won’t get bait from shop. I was only using a handline, that is what my people used to use.  

I continued up, sat on my little perch, there was a rock behind me too. I was sitting. You could see the brim [a fish species] right around the rocks. I caught about four big ones but I kept going. Next minute I hear the stones rattling, coming down the hill. I thought it must just be loose stones up on the hill. I turned around, fishing again. Same things happened again. I looked around again. It was really steep behind me, a cliff. Guess what was up there, a little padymelon [wallaby, small kangaroo]. I thought, ‘How did he get up there? No one can get up there?’ I didn’t take any notice, kept fishing. This was another sign from Grandfather. Next thing, I heard a bump, a stone hit right where I was sitting. The padymelon was stunned, knocked out.  

I thought, ‘Ahh here, I got something big for tea for me and my brother-in-law.’ I put the fish in my bag, I am ready to grab this kangaroo that was knocked out. I went over, it opened its eyes. I thought, ‘I got you.’ I was about to grab it by the tail. Then where I was about to go, the path, it started wobbling. I am chasing it, I am. I seen it, it went up the water course at the back of the beach. I am right there, about to grab it by the tail and next minute I got all this hair on me, the tail slipped away from me. I said, ‘I’ll get you.’ I was determined to get it. It got strong and stronger as it got to the waterhole. It stood up, it looked at me, and I looked at it. It stood up, started scratching its chest, just like that.  

I got worried. I thought, ‘Look out, I might be in trouble here.’ I went into the water. I walked back, it followed me the whole way. I was watching it, it was watching me. It must have been a spirit, sent by my Grandfather.  

I got cut as I was leaving. Guess who turned up, my eldest sister and my brother-in-law. She said, ‘Oh we gotta get this fella to the hospital.’ Everything was alright then.  

So that was strange. I cut myself when I jumped off the rock to get the wallaby. I was using a bottle with a line on it. The bottle cut me. Bleeding or not bleeding, I was determined to get the wallaby take it home for tea.  

The message was from my Grandfather that I got too much fish. And I shouldn’t have been there on my own. That was the only way he could warn me to get away from there. I was such a stubborn little kid.”