Desert Yarning with Don Rowlands

Driving into Birdsville after many kilometers filled with endless azure sky, red sand and glittering gibber desert, a rude awakening awaits the weary traveller when they are confronted with an empty fridge lying in the middle of this pristine environment.

It would be bad enough if someone had simply dumped the fridge and left it to pollute this gorgeous landscape, but at least the Council could be engaged to come and take this eyesore to the dump. No, the worst aspect of this situation is that the leaseholder of this land has left it as a marker to their driveway and Council are powerless to remove it which means that until they can be persuaded to move it this ugly whitegood will continue to confront travellers as they approach Birdsville.

This is just one of the pictures you will see in the film The Storey Players are creating together with Don Rowlands, an Elder of the Wangkangurru People near Birdsville as Don answers questions about Munga-Thirri posed by young people attending the Big Red Bash in July.

Don weaves the Wityikura (whirlwind) Creation Story into his answers and talks about the fragile desert environment and how we can all work together to preserve it while still travelling through during the winter months.