Year 7 Budj Bim Excursion

On Thursday the 16th of June, all of the Year 7’s and Teachers travelled to a small place called Budj Bim. To start off with the day we met our guide, Ben. He was our guide for the day. Once we had arrived and had a bit of lunch/snack, we made our way to the main area so Ben and his crew could talk to us about our land. He started by speaking and explaining the different parts of our land and which group of people lived or live there now. After he explained all that, he taught us some facts about his culture and the smoking ceremony he would put on for us. He then put on the smoking ceremony, and we all took turns putting our leaves in the fire.

Once the smoking ceremony had finished we split up into two groups and our tour guides took us on a walk around their area and spoke to us about it. Everyone enjoyed the experience and the group with Ben even got to see a wedge-tailed eagle and a koala. We all learnt about how tough it would have been trying to survive in the challenging conditions as all these people did. We learnt about the huts they lived in, some food they ate and the things they wore, some tools they used and some native animals.

By the end of our experience at Budj Bim, we all walked out with more knowledge about how lucky we are in these generations and how tough and challenging it was for those back then. We all would like to thank Ben and the crew that work at Budj Bim and the Teachers who came with us.

Chelsea Abrahamson

Year 7

Last Thursday, all of Year 7 went to the Budj Bim World Heritage Site in Tyrendarra for an excursion. Once we got off the bus, we had a quick introduction followed by a smoking ceremony to welcome us to country, which was very cool. We split into groups and went on a walk around with a Ranger who told us about many things such as the history of Budj Bim and their revegetation program. We also learnt about things such as fish and animals in the area, the ancient stone huts that are there, and hunting techniques that the Aboriginals used, such as eel and fish traps. We even got to try a bit of bush tucker! 

It rained lightly on the walk, but once we got inside it wasn’t so light anymore, so we sat down and listened about the Gunditjmara land and some different place names and significant creeks and rivers. The Ranger also told us about the Aboriginal flag and its meaning. 

Overall, it was a very enjoyable and fun day for everyone.  I would like to thank the Teachers who organised the day, and the Rangers who kindly shared their knowledge with us. 

Sophie Dixon

Year 7