- 13 hours ago
Restoration Australia Season 8 Episode 4
Category
🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:03you'll see them in countless pockets across country Australia churches representing a
00:08multitude of faiths of all types and sizes some grand some small some still active others long
00:16abandoned each church is a chapter in the story of a community but not all chapters are rosy and
00:23uplifting for indigenous Australians many of these churches represent a grim legacy of ill
00:29treatment repression and dispossession so why would a family of First Nations Australians with
00:35no affinity for the religious order that built a place of worship on their clan country want to
00:42buy the little church and restore it I'm Anthony Burke a professor of architecture really is passionate
00:55about buildings of the past this is incredibly impressive and what they can tell us about
01:01better ways to live in the future this is very confronting it's a ruin it is join me as I
01:06travel
01:07the country meeting homeowners embarking on the challenge of a lifetime restoring homes from the
01:131800s to the swinging 60s looking to balance our rich cultural heritage with life in modern Australia
01:34out under a crusty cap of far western Victoria
01:41the Molyneux family is wandering deep down into their past and it's so cold in here
01:49with their boots and torches they might be a mining crew heading into these subterranean spaces
01:55for a long shift and in a way they are keeps going all the way down you can see to
02:01the left
02:01the Molyneux dad Craig mom Ros have a look up here you see all the sparkling it's amazing and sons
02:11Tom
02:12Nick and Lou a fossicking for connection to country and clues to how their ancestors hid and survived
02:20here and elsewhere under colonial siege at a time when Aboriginal people women and children being rounded
02:27up Susanna my great-great-grandmother came into a cave with her two children Alfred and Hannah and
02:34lived here for a time just surviving on the bird life and plant life that she could collect around here
02:41these dramatic spaces lie beneath what's now known as budge Bim National Park about three hours west of
02:49Geelong where most of the Molyneux live keeping an ant for koalas this is Gunditjmara country and
02:57this family is very much a part of the landscape I felt an instant connection when I came here
03:04something that I'd never felt before in other places but for a very long time they didn't know
03:11about the profound family connection to the majesty of budge Bim dad was separated from his family when
03:19he was an infant and didn't really grow up with his indigenous heritage at all and he didn't really
03:27learn of it till later in life I didn't really have a lot of that knowledge till I was probably
03:33in my
03:3420s so for me coming back here is is reconnecting because I didn't grow up with that traditional
03:41knowledge in unearthing and unraveling his family story Craig discovered a grim chapter of it played out
03:53here all aspects of Aboriginal people's lives were controlled by the Church of England the then Church
04:02of England's Lake Condor mission for indigenous children is now crumbling ruins near budge Bim but
04:08the brutality and deprivation at what was a reluctant home to Craig's great-grandparents and grandfather
04:15remains a deep scar I have no forgiveness for them over what they did like they made life miserable for
04:22people and if you did try and practice your culture or speak your language then you're punished it's
04:31hoped one day this site will be redemptively transformed into a Gunditjmara community center
04:37just as the Molyneux have transformative ambitions for this little building nearby
04:46the family could view St Philip's Church as a blight on the landscape an indelible scar a terrible
04:52memory instead in 2023 they bought the Church of England church and the acre it sits on for a
05:00hundred and forty five thousand dollars and they're going to give it a very new and different life
05:05as a weekender and a celebration of Gunditjmara heritage this was a Church of England property the
05:13mission was run by the Church of England I'm not overly fussed about saving the building because
05:20it's something that needs to be saved but I think what we can do is actually improve the building for
05:26the local community not really celebrate the church so much but try and some bring some of
05:31our culture into the building it's a really lovely little building it's very typical of churches that were
05:36built in that time very simple and a little bell tower which is probably the one of the nicest features
05:42this restoration will be an adaptive reuse of the church and a very personal reconciliation project
05:49one that tries to face down the ghosts of the past redress the legacy of the church and honor
05:55Aboriginal culture Craig wants to share what he's learnt in recent years with our friends and our extended
06:00family too so there's a really good opportunity for people to come down and stay with us and experience
06:06the church is over here and budge beam is over here so that's about 20 kilometres as a cartographer a
06:17mapmaker Craig knows better than most the importance of place the nature of terrain and precise coordinates
06:25of country working in childhood development and education Ros knows the importance of story right
06:33got the agenda but this will be a cultural mission involving the whole family it's mainly this space
06:41here that we kind of need to decide how best to use it they all have a slice all have
06:46full-time jobs
06:47and all plan somehow to play a hands-on role in the restoration and reinterpretation of the church
06:54maybe it's worth investigating whether we can find matching cladding lose the most useful on the tools
06:59that's for sure Nick and I have a bit of catching up to do when it comes to being handy
07:04yeah I think
07:06it'll be a really nice way of sort of spending time with with the boys because they're sort of in
07:10their 20s going into their 30s now and you know getting off into their own independent lives so I'm
07:14really looking forward to this time where we can just spend time together hopefully we don't end up
07:19hating each other and don't attend Christmases together again but I think we'll be fine yeah this is
07:26something pretty special such a big country so much time so many stories in this landscape perhaps
07:43more than any other project we followed this restoration is as much about saving and readapting
07:48a building as it is about rebuilding a family's heritage and restoring a relationship to the land
07:53itself I think the fact that it's a religious building is it is a complicated part of the story
08:00for us but it's also a great opportunity here to say what could it have been like if there was
08:05an
08:05attempt to engage with Gunditjmara spirituality and customs when those first settlers actually arrived
08:11down this part of the world instead of doing what they did there they are g'day Roz g'day Craig
08:22hello how are you going oh thank you nice to meet you Anthony welcome to Gunditjmara country thank
08:28you very much it's a very special welcome and it's a very special place yeah isn't it look at this
08:32beautiful countryside is quite amazing really isn't it yeah lovely this is just pretty as a picture
08:39yeah very special yeah already the re-theming of this site is on display Anthony this is Aunty Eileen
08:47Albert's Aunty Eileen hi hello Anthony lovely to meet you great to meet you too Gunditjmara elder Aunty
08:54Eileen is leading the smoking ceremony I want to say nothing wa and nada nada is g'day thank you so
09:04much this is so special it's a solemn experience and a sharp reminder of the contradictions confronting
09:11Craig Ros and the family how can this church and all it represents become a celebration of
09:18Gunditjmara tradition I totally understand the idea of turning it into a home but it does seem like
09:25you're setting yourself up for a very challenging project to transform or to I guess release yourself
09:31from that history the church history so you can build your own history again that is a challenge yeah
09:36well and how we do that we we have some ideas to celebrate that culture within the building but
09:43whether we do it successfully or not I guess that remains to be seen there's a lot here to unpack
09:49yes
09:51and we haven't even started talking about the building really yet I mean if I can see it's in
09:55pretty dire condition in some elements yeah yeah we need to re-roof it for a start there's no services
10:01to
10:02the site so new plumbing new septic aluminium siding how are we feeling about that we don't know what's
10:09underneath and it's a cost factor as well so that's something we're still sort of talking about all
10:14right that one's in play then yeah what won't be in play is all the church iconography the family has
10:20decided it will be removed carefully and respectfully Gunditjmara art motifs and stories will take pride of place
10:29well the plan is to put um a beautiful piece of art behind us on this this wall so when
10:34you walk in
10:35the door this will be the first thing you see and this window here yeah we would like to um
10:41get a
10:42beautiful indigenous design of some sort that sort of tells the story of our cultural history i think
10:48there's a inherent history of the building that we can't lose so we don't really want to erase it
10:55completely but just have a nod to the history of the building okay should we join the rest of the
11:00congregation yes please come through okay as you can see we've made a bit of a start um there's a
11:06bit
11:07of crap in the area uh which we have to tidy up it's actually in much better condition than i
11:12thought it
11:12might be yeah and it's quite lovely in here the light coming through the windows you know all those
11:17churchy things yes the cross bracing up there the ties on the ceiling yeah you got a lot to work
11:22with
11:22there's a lot of charm here which is which is a good starting point yeah and i don't really want
11:28to lose the volume of the place like it's got a beautiful high ceiling and we want to keep that
11:32i don't want to put mezzanines or anything like that in there so we're sort of thinking about we're
11:37dividing it into those four different living spaces yes it's the simplicity of the church's internal spaces
11:44that make its transformation into a family getaway deceptively difficult how to make it comfy
11:50useful and in parts private without losing the big appeal of it the open volume so no new walls in
11:58the hall itself the spaces will become self-evident through furnishings and cabinetry a decent functional
12:05kitchen and an adjacent dining area on one side of the space and over the other side two living areas
12:11delineated by a bookcase not so much a bedroom but a bed space is set for the alcove at the
12:18end of the
12:18hall a bathroom will take over the existing side entrance and the bottom of the bell tower will
12:24feature storage and a new access to a deck and paved outdoor area beyond there are plans for a yarning
12:31circle a venue hosting the venerated indigenous tradition of storytelling here with a fire pit at
12:38its heart and part hedged by bush tucker plantings interestingly the family plans to celebrate rather than
12:45silence the very thing that used to summon the faithful and herald special occasions the bell and
12:51its mechanisms in the bell tower will be restored it will ring again sounds extremely churchy even as
12:58the rest of the building is dramatically rebranded this is really what it's all about yep being here
13:06isn't it yep connecting back to the country yeah and it's country that poses another big question here
13:13how to park lumbering off-grid equipment like solar arrays water tanks and a battery shed softly and
13:20sympathetically on this hallowed ground this is a kind of a challenging space to be working in
13:26i think particularly the solar yes you need to think about where it goes and what vegetation is around
13:32it obviously you need to be able to capture the the sun but we also want it to be a
13:36little bit bit
13:37hidden konnish mara people always lived in a sustainable way and we plan to do the same thing it's just
13:42how
13:42we pull it off yeah um is is the trick yeah so this project presents a swag of tricky balancing
13:50acts
13:50not the least carefully managing the family partnership we've started having family meetings
13:56which has been really great making sure that we're all on the same page with things too
13:59not rushing ahead without making sure that everybody's comfortable with the decisions that
14:03we've made it's a robust conversation oh yeah oh yeah yeah a few bottles of wine we actually get
14:09stuff done yeah okay we'll get a bit more interesting as we go along
14:14the amount of money that you're going to spend on this what are you thinking
14:19our budget started off small it's gone a little bit higher um probably in the 200 000 mark landscaping
14:28is probably something we haven't kind of budgeted for as to because we don't really know what that's
14:34going to look like yet as far as plants and stuff and whether they're expensive or cheap but um
14:39expensive thanks yeah i mean it's april now but let's set a target for the end of the year which
14:47is
14:47milestone birthday 60th birthday just before christmas so oh if we could get in by then
14:53have it habitable that would be great oh that's a deadline yeah that one's not moving no it's not
14:59moving yes i tend to probably have a quite a realist hat on when we have these discussions but i
15:04don't
15:05want to be yeah i don't want to be discouraging because it'd be fantastic if it can get done in
15:08that time frame okay yeah look you've got an extraordinary project here and i think you've got a
15:13very fine sort of nuanced pathway to tread here the significance of the church versus the cultural
15:20significance of country and you're finding the positive space between those two realities and
15:26looking for that future project it's a remarkable and ambitious undertaking i'd have to say yeah
15:31which is terribly exciting this is going to be amazing to watch you do this i'm very excited for
15:36you thanks yeah we're excited we're excited about the project like when we when we bought the property
15:42we thought right let's dive in and do it and um fabulous that you're following us on the journey yeah
15:48i can't wait yeah great
15:54a big part of the journey here is the journey here it's a six hour round trip from geelong and
16:01given
16:01that everyone has weekday work there would be weekender is going to be a weekend effort a project
16:07tackled in their spare time and once you subtract all the traveling that doesn't leave a lot of spare
16:13time on site to get the job done they're all pretty green skills wise except for lou the youngest who's
16:19a
16:19tradie so that end of year timetable is looking like it's going to be a big stretch
16:35it's the thick of winter and the weather is rolling through a kaleidoscope of moods
16:41as the family working bee gets cracking
16:47this will eventually be the bathroom we'll remove this door put it to the other side of the building
16:54as you enter the shower will be here and um small hand basin in the corner and a toilet on
17:00the other
17:01side
17:03so craig nick and lou are punching a new side door through the little bell tower
17:13some of these boards are also up under the eaves the ones that aren't broken we can replace the
17:19missing boards that are under there because that's where the birds and the possums are getting in
17:24this new doorway will lead out to the new timber deck the array of bush ducker plantings and craig's
17:30highly anticipated yarning circle well i have a horrible suspicion
17:37that these might be nailed on yeah underneath here
17:44but opening up this new thoroughfare also exposes a split in the family ranks about what to do with
17:51the aluminium cladding like you can see the weather boards are actually fine they're not rotten
17:57the cladding's actually protected it so well splits probably overstating it don't need to convince me
18:06it's craig alone who's keen to strip the cladding and return the church to its authentic and original
18:11weatherboard
18:16there we go what's the verdict on the weather board actually it's solid as a rock they seem
18:24they're in good nick they're not rotten is really no that's rotten there but we could fix that
18:31maybe that's been repaired i don't know it's a little like picking at a loose thread
18:38once you start it's hard to stop and all of a sudden you've unraveled the whole garment
18:48maybe that's craig's plan to de-clad by stealth we'll end up taking all the cladding off
19:17the work site is the campsite and midwinter it's as unaccommodating as you might expect
19:25a 130 year old bathroomless kitchenless unheated timber church to be it's really cold so yeah this
19:34is where it becomes a little bit challenging with no facilities here but this family is determined
19:39to make the best of it proper coffee proper wine yeah pretty good as long as we've got wine bearable
19:49do we have enough coals
19:52freezing
19:58oh i feel it yeah i feel the cold yeah bracing yeah
20:04uh so we're all up this end together we've got nick over here on the little camp bed
20:11lewis here on the air mattress and then up here in the altar craig and i on the air mattress
20:20too
20:20so under there we've got double sleeping bags doona a couple of blankets because i really feel the cold
20:26the problem actually is that there's like nails and stuff sticking out of the floor so when you put
20:31down an air mattress and it sticks a hole in it that's uh not ideal no bathroom facilities in here
20:37so um yep got a little camp toilet out the back um in a tent that's it and just you
20:44know hand washing
20:44that's it so it's pretty basic yeah it's fine like we're used to camping camped all my life so happy
20:53to
20:53do that it's more important that we progress the project than uh sit around for six months waiting
21:00for winter to pass we want to get it finished so yeah we'll do what we have to do
21:07smells good if that means coming down here through winter and
21:11you know the weather's not great then that's fine you know it'll change it'll pass and you know
21:17we'll get stuff done good a new day breaks and there's a breakthrough in the bell tower
21:41this flipped doorway will significantly alter the dynamics of the church turned weekender but it's
21:48a relatively small job occupying 60 of the family membership craig nick and lou it's nice to have a
21:58hole in the wall get some light into the place with so much to do i'm not sure this is
22:05a workflow model
22:06that'll strike the completion deadline five months away and that doesn't include the time and labor
22:14equation for craig's quiet and determined personal crusade against aluminium well it'll be nice to get it
22:22back to looking like what it was the cladding if we could remove that would um improve the looks but
22:29anyway let's uh yeah see if i can win that argument
22:46at least another key church modification is being managed by just one molyneux hello oh
22:54hello you must be torben good to meet you tom great meeting you okay come inside thank you
23:00eldest son tom is overseeing the stained glass showpiece planned for the entry vestibule
23:06and specialist glazier torben will be bringing it to life currently the the window is just plain
23:13colored glass and it's been like that for quite a while it's a bit damaged as well and our thinking
23:19is we really want this to be a statement piece for the family we were talking about to what are
23:24some
23:24of the critical design elements that we wanted and dad was the one who ended up with the hot potato
23:28here
23:29and was able to make the things that we talked about from a design perspective into reality on the page
23:35and i think he's done a great job with the birdies they look fairly straightforward and the beaks i mean
23:40i think there's some detail in there that we were a bit worried about after consulting gundichmara elders
23:45the family has fixed on three totemic creatures to star in this vitally important feature of the
23:52redefined church building he got pink eyes hasn't he he's a black cockatoo they've got a beautiful
23:57colored eye yeah yeah great so we've got kurakich the white sulfur crested cockatoo and we've also
24:04got willan the yellow-tailed black cockatoo which for us in this part of gundichmara country where the
24:10church is uh is a really significant totemic bird as well and the eel uh he's an interesting little
24:18fella and then also kuyang uh the eel which is a really substantial and significant food source for
24:24gundichmara peoples so what i'll do is i'll just take that off and i'll make the eel probably a little
24:29bit bigger okay to get more impact yeah great uh lots of detail in there for you yeah so we're
24:36going
24:37for something that's got some really bold colors uh that's going to cast that light into the room
24:42on top of all of the meaning and story that's in the work oh the yellow yes oh wow here
24:48we are
24:49look at that actually looks like it's got sort of feathers in it in a way it does
24:56actually it's oxides and so on yeah how they make it that's very cool it's a simple but very powerful
25:04idea taking stained glass such a time-honored medium for church imagery and iconography
25:10and readapting it for their own time-honored spirituality this one here for the eel yeah right
25:18ah okay it looks a totally different color when you hold it against the line i know it changes in
25:24one
25:25beautiful vibrant frame the family is expressing the very essence of their mission taking a place
25:31representing so much historical woe and pain and transforming it into a place of aboriginal
25:37wonder and healing this idea it's been a sort of important part of the project conceptually so
25:44hopefully fingers crossed Torben's going to be able to bring this design into reality for us
26:05so that little grass there yeah um that one's native so that's wallaby grass yeah right yeah
26:11of course this project is not just about recasting the church it's about resurrecting and honoring
26:18country it's got a long spike that's an awn and then like two little legs which if you think of
26:25it
26:25looks like a wallaby tail yeah and two wallaby legs oh yeah this one's just a really great ground cover
26:32really good for butterflies yeah um and lots of other insects and things so yeah great grass to have
26:39native flora expert jody is on hand for a sort of stock take of surviving species and to help out
26:45with the family's plan to reintroduce lost plants and raise bush tucker yeah the she-oaks obviously are
26:52important yeah yeah so you can see this one's got the nuts yeah so these are the females yeah so
26:58that's the fruit that'll have the seed in it but one of the lovely things with she-oaks is how
27:02they
27:03self-mulch so you don't tend to get lots of high grass that you have to maintain it's self-mulches
27:08and
27:09yeah and no weeds either no weeds yeah which is brilliant yeah it's hoped key plantings will also
27:16encourage native wildlife back to the block the she-oaks are fantastic because they bring the
27:21black cockatoos yeah and we want them here i haven't seen one since we've been here if we can
27:26encourage the bird life reptiles um small mammals if we can get them back to the side it would be
27:32fantastic the she-oaks are a great food um and the same with the where have you got it uh
27:37black waddles
27:38like they don't live terribly long maybe 40 years or so but then they just get riddled with grubs
27:43and the cockies will come and just tear them apart to get the grubs out so yeah they're a
27:49fantastic food as well some of the introduced species like this old pine that grew up alongside
27:54the church will go it's huge yeah it's nearly well he's pretty much dead well they've had a look at
28:00it
28:00and said it really has to come down yeah that's a big job yes yeah with the yarning circle at
28:07the
28:07center of it all jody will draw up a plan to redeem the native landscape screen out the new off
28:13-grid
28:13infrastructure tame the elements can be quite windy through there too so yeah and id the plants and
28:20bush tucker species that have historically thrived here try and combine all that to come up with
28:25something that that might work with with how you want to use the place yeah as well yeah that'd be
28:31great
28:31because it's got to work with you yeah like it can have all the grand ideas in the world but
28:36if it's not
28:36practical um yeah so we'll try and come up with something yeah that'd be awesome yeah oh well
28:42thank you no worries so much thank you learned a lot already today it's a really good project
28:48yeah really interesting my brain's buzzing
29:05the neat little portal to that comprehensive outdoor makeover is just about complete
29:11but the grand opening and shutting of the new bell tower door has hit a last minute snag
29:19unfortunately i need a hole sorted to drill the hole for the lock which i left at home so
29:25that's three hours away that's a fail from me for getting the hole saw but anyway that's a minor thing
29:30we can fix that so far the cladding removal remains limited but craig hasn't given up on his dream quite
29:38yet touch wood the rest of it's okay but we'll see what the boys think and whether i can change
29:43their mind
29:44about taking the cladding off
29:52on other fronts there is family consensus about what does have to go
30:02the craggy old pine tree that dominates a big corner of the acre block and perhaps as old as the
30:07church
30:07itself is coming down all part of the native restoration program
30:14and in what's one of the biggest line items in the restoration budget
30:22the old iron roof is coming off
30:27the little church might not have bats in the bell tower but there's been plenty of wildlife in the
30:34roof space uh a lot of uh possum poo but yeah no it's all the timber's good it's all nice
30:40hardwood
30:41roofer tim and his team are contending with a precarious 45 degree rake here so re-roofing in
30:48wet weather or during blustery winds is off the cards back in geelong craig is keen to keep the momentum
30:56rolling um if you can get a one side done today that's amazing um how long do you think for
31:03the
31:03entire job yeah oh there's still yeah there's still plenty to go like we're gonna have a good day today
31:09but i think the rest of the week's yeah raining and sort of back to shitty weather again but we'll
31:16have
31:16a good crack at it today and yeah we'll probably come out and do these smaller parts tomorrow just
31:22so it's not too much hassle in the rain and whatnot thanks for that thank you cheers bye
31:31just making sure it's all nice and square with everything and make sure it all runs
31:35nice in the gutter line and we should probably have most of it on in five hours or so
31:42this simple timber and iron structure has endured some pretty punishing conditions over its 130 years
31:50but its chapter here is a blink
31:57this is very special getting a private tour of this you know world heritage place yep yeah it's an
32:02amazing place you're gonna love it in the grander scheme of things a century and a bit is a nanosecond
32:09in the slow turning clock of this country i mean the sense of scale in this place is incredible there's
32:15the geological scale of all this but then there's the time scale we're talking a thousand plus
32:21generations of of family that have been connected to this location since discovering his deep connections
32:27here at budge bim craig has immersed himself thoroughly into the layers and legends of indigenous folklore
32:35well the the creation story was um there were four great giants that walked across the landscape
32:42and one of them lay down and uh spat his teeth and his blood across the landscape and the teeth
32:50is the the rocks that you see around us yeah so we call this stone country um or tangat miring
32:57yeah
32:58and tangat literally means teeth so it's budge bim's teeth that spat out across the landscape
33:06and created this amazing vista that you see before you yeah
33:10the retelling of these creation scenes has spanned a world record time scale they discovered an axe
33:17head under the lava flow and they dated that to 36 900 years so that story has continued on from
33:25generation to generation those thousand generations and academics think that that's the oldest story
33:31known to humanity oh my god so it's it's a precious landscape and it's not just an ancient landscape it's
33:39it's it's it's loaded with this fantastic history yeah so it's it's incredibly special for us yeah
33:49this storied volcanic country holds a labyrinth of caves and is scored with crater lakes ponds and
33:57canals that brought a wildlife wonderland and sparked ingenuity among the gundichmara so this is where
34:05the um holding ponds were and and the the weirs where the eels were caught the network of waterways was
34:13the scene of thriving aquaculture this was a traditional eel basket um this is a replica of
34:19one but right um they would have been a bit larger than this and this would have been placed in
34:24the rock
34:25weir at the opening and eels would swim up in here yeah and get trapped yeah so that was the
34:32way of
34:33harvesting the eels but also if they didn't want to use the rock weir they'd let them in and the
34:38eels
34:39would swim into the holding ponds would block off the holding ponds yep and the eels would um stay in
34:45there yeah and they could be harvested as you wanted them yeah it was bountiful subsistence farming that
34:51sustained an array of clan groups including craigs my ancestors were the kerip jamara or kerip gundich clan
35:00that lived on the lake so they had a very settled existence here how do you feel when you walk
35:06back
35:06on country like this ah it's you know uh brings life to your soul doesn't it like um you know
35:14it's
35:14there's so much beauty around you like you feel that connection with nature but also that spiritual
35:19connection back to your country and back to your ancestors yeah it's pretty profound isn't it yeah yeah
35:25now we find ourselves with an old church of england yeah church how do we reconcile that but this is
35:31a very different restoration story isn't it it's not really about the architecture as such it's much
35:36more about the landscape and the depth of those stories that you're returning to and that spiritual
35:59yeah restoration yeah
36:00and we'll cut your fingers to pieces if you try to work with that so we don't use that
36:06the stories and skills parlayed over millennia live on in gundichmara elders like auntie eileen
36:13is it okay to take a lot from one yeah it'll help grow this needs to be cut back okay
36:21eileen considers it an honor and a duty to practice and teach her knowledge the weaving she learned as a
36:27young girl has been honed over a lifetime i don't just teach aboriginal women or gundichmara women
36:36i'll teach anyone who wants to know how to weave because without that
36:43it's going to be lost this is really special i'm really feel very privileged that auntie eileen has
36:49agreed to spend some time and and teach me this skill
36:54in eileen's clan group weaving is a craft taught by women only to women only
37:02it's a skill that the women obviously used to do way back and then it was really pretty much
37:07outlawed when the women were at the mission so there was no sort of culture practiced including
37:13weaving so it was something that was almost lost so it's really terrific that they have actually
37:18managed to continue this tradition i think you've taken to it so quickly oh thank you
37:24definitely not as neat as yours but that's to be expected yeah yeah i mean i've been doing this
37:29for a lot a long time absolutely once she's weaving confidently ros will complete a piece
37:36that can take pride of place in their little weekender i'm thinking um we'd like to have some
37:41weaving in the church to bring back that that extra bit of culture and a bit of country so i'm
37:46thinking
37:46maybe a lampshade of some sort that's um perhaps um got a nod to an eel net so possibly a
37:53long thin shape
37:54that um represents the eel net and hanging from the ceiling so that's my my plan um i can see
38:00i've done
38:00this much already so it could be quite a long project it will be worth it in the end absolutely
38:19understandably respecting and nurturing country remains a dominant focus of the church project
38:26it's not just painting an object on the paper it's actually feeling the shape of the land as
38:33you're making the marks native flora expert jody is putting the finishing touches to her planting
38:39plan so i've taken into account craig and ros's sort of desires as far as how they want to use
38:46the
38:46space but then it's really been anchored back to to what the country will support what plants will
38:52survive in that place the native regeneration of the church block is guided by fact and history
38:58raised from a conscientious research effort jody's dug deep for detail unearthing colonial surveys and
39:05more recent botanical modeling to tell her precisely what should be there and to help her decide what
39:11might prosper once again the information here's come from an old parish plan if you get a good surveyor
39:18they'll put in notes about the native vegetation that was there but the very cool thing here through
39:23the middle is where the surveyors actually recorded the type of trees that they've
39:28seen and they've said undulating land of good quality with gum light wood she oak cherry and honeysuckle
39:38these notes can be really important so that honeysuckle the banksia shows that there were actually
39:44banksias in this landscape right where the church is so that's a lovely sort of affirmation that putting
39:52the banksias back in there is the right thing to do for that site
40:02jody's backyard has become a seed bank and nursery for the natives bound for the church block
40:09so this is the lovely vanilla lily so we're going to be planting these in the
40:14the kind of wildflower beds and if they want to once the plants become established so you know bigger
40:20like this they'll be able to dig these up like this take the the tubers um and they'll be able
40:25to eat
40:25that traditional food um which is kind of i reckon pretty special the family's ambition is for the
40:34property to be a multi-generational project held deep into the future and that will suit some of the
40:40lumbering elders of the re-established native landscape just fine to restore plants in a kind of self
40:47sustaining way will take a long time the banksias might take 15 to 17 20 years to mature before they
40:55start setting seed so it could end up for the tree species you know for them to actually start
41:01regenerating themselves and spreading out onto the roadside could take 100 maybe 200 years
41:20back at the church time has rolled on relentlessly
41:26crashing right through craig's hoped for birthday deadline in december whizzing on past christmas and
41:32new year and landing here in the thick of a saturday morning as summer fades into autumn
41:39with not a lot to show for it well i think dad was always a bit ambitious to begin with
41:47the future yeah decision making between the five of us sometimes means things get held up or we don't
41:52make a decision or we can kind of keep it down the road a little bit it is far away
41:56so getting down
41:57on a weekend actually is not the easiest there are some milestones to be marked the solar array is in
42:05gobbling up that summer sun and the battery shed is humming so at least now there's power to drive and
42:12charge tools and run appliances but there's no sign of a kitchen no sign of a bathroom and the little
42:22church remains not much more than a shell of its former self i guess what we didn't allow for were
42:29you know delays in planning applications we had to get the batteries and the solar panels in place
42:35before we can do other things so it's just sort of that working out the progression of tasks that
42:43needed to be done
42:48and tasks that couldn't be anticipated in the original schedule
42:54continue to chew into the timetable
42:58like clearing a network of beehives out of a hidden corner of the bell tower
43:07oh that's delightful i've always wanted to have bees but um not in a bell tower
43:16dripping funny all over me oh you're gonna smell nice
43:21oh all over my nice new door too if we spend a day doing things like this then that's a
43:26day we don't
43:27spend sanding or painting or getting other structural things done so losing a day out of your schedule
43:34yeah compounds things a little bit at this rate another birthday and christmas threaten to fly by
43:43before this is done oh yuck
44:08they say democracy is a messy business well it's even
44:13messier and more time consuming when it's your governing strategy for restoration there are five
44:19in this family all with an equal say in how it goes and that has put an enormous drag on
44:25progress this is a
44:27simple building it shouldn't have taken this long and yet here we are with as predicted another christmas and
44:34birthday in the rearview mirror still democracy can produce stunning progress and real results and now
44:43the people have spoken and the results are in
45:10hey guys
45:13Yatwa, Anthony. Welcome back.
45:15Hello.
45:15This place is looking amazing.
45:18Thank you so much.
45:19It is positively glowing.
45:20I tell you what, coming over the hill as I drove up here,
45:23seeing the bright tin on the roof there,
45:25again, just a little lantern.
45:26Yeah, it's lovely. Yeah, we're really happy with it.
45:28You should be. I can tell already you've brought the life back to this place.
45:31Yeah, I think so. I think we've saved it.
45:33Yeah, it looks good.
45:34Absolutely. How are you feeling?
45:36Very relieved.
45:38Relieved? Yeah.
45:38I feel like we've finally got there.
45:39Relieved and tired.
45:40Bags under the eyes, but we got there, yeah.
45:42Yeah, we've got there in the end, and we're all pretty happy, I think.
45:45So tell me, though, about the cladding,
45:47because I know that was one of those moments
45:49in this very democratic design process that you've been running here,
45:53where there was a little bit of tension.
45:56Yes.
45:56How did you resolve that?
45:58Oh, look, you win some, you lose some.
46:01We've kind of got a compromise, which worked out OK,
46:04like some areas have got cladding, some don't.
46:07Yeah, there was a bit of negotiating to go, but no, we've done well.
46:11Well, I mean, standing here, you can't really tell.
46:13Very much, yeah.
46:15I don't think it takes anything away from the impression that one gets
46:17walking up to the church here.
46:19Yeah, I think from a distance you can't tell.
46:21Yeah.
46:21It's only when you come up and scratch it that you...
46:24That you really know.
46:25You know, yeah.
46:26There's no doubt about the little church's gleaming new operating system.
46:31The solar array and battery shed are all but on show out front.
46:36Ros and Craig hope some strategic planting
46:39will eventually soften their presence.
46:41So, Anthony, welcome.
46:43This is the foyer.
46:44This is where the story starts.
46:45This has come up beautifully, hasn't it?
46:47Thanks, yeah.
46:48Now, you were going to do some work here on the glass, right?
46:52Yes.
46:52The foyer window was going to be a stained glass celebration
46:55of Indigenous imagery.
46:57That was the intention, but we changed their mind.
47:01We thought we'd focus more on the main window
47:03and just keep the coloured glass for this window.
47:06OK.
47:07To be fair, the planned window might have overwhelmed
47:10these other powerful tributes to culture.
47:13Son Nick's created this mixed-media rendition of nearby Lake Condor
47:17from acacia wood and lava rocks.
47:20And then there's a poignant gallery of family
47:23this country's dispossessed.
47:26So, we have my great-grandfather, Alfred McDonald,
47:30otherwise known as Boppo.
47:32Uh-huh.
47:32And in his memory, we're calling this property Boppo's Mirring,
47:36or Boppo's Country.
47:38It was the country that he never got.
47:40And on the other wall is his son, my great-my grandfather, George.
47:44Mm-hmm.
47:45And below that is Dad and his siblings.
47:48Oh, I love this.
47:48So, it's becoming kind of a little bit of a gallery for you.
47:52Yeah.
47:52But it's also setting up the story
47:54as just before we kind of enter into the main space.
47:57Yeah, and it's our sort of recognition or celebration
47:59of our connection to this place.
48:01Yeah.
48:01Yeah.
48:10So, here we are.
48:12Please come in.
48:13Oh, the hard work has paid off.
48:16Yeah.
48:16This is amazing.
48:17What a transformation.
48:19The old, cold, stark church hall
48:22has been transformed
48:23into a warm, expansive, open space
48:26of creature comforts,
48:28inviting living spaces,
48:29a sharp, modern kitchen.
48:33The kitchen actually is a bit bigger than I imagined.
48:36This is quite committed.
48:37Probably a little bit bigger
48:38than we imagined initially, too.
48:40All without crowding or closing off
48:42the big, beautiful feature here,
48:44the open volume.
48:46Love the detail of the black bracing up there
48:48and these beautiful, big ceilings.
48:50Like, you haven't lost any of the drama
48:53of this beautiful space.
48:54Yeah.
48:54I mean, my absolute overarching sort of impression here
48:58is that you've made this home.
49:01You've brought home home.
49:02Yeah, we think so.
49:04We really like it.
49:05You know, it's a comfortable, warm, inviting space
49:08that, yeah, we want our family and friends to enjoy.
49:11And, Ros, you're the centrepiece of all of this.
49:14Thanks, Sydney.
49:14It was actually a really beautiful experience to do that
49:17and it's inspired by the Eel Nets,
49:19obviously, down at Lake Condor
49:20and I learnt quite a bit doing it.
49:22Yeah.
49:22I think I've got quite a bit still to learn
49:23but, you know, it was my first big project.
49:25Do you think there's more of this kind of work to come?
49:26I hope so, yeah, definitely, yeah.
49:28And I'm growing the grass out here, yeah.
49:30So I've got the punya
49:31so I'll be able to have a supply to keep weaving.
49:34I personally love it.
49:36I think it says everything about this project, you know.
49:40Ros's Eel Net Light is another important nod to culture
49:43but, undeniably, stealing most of the limelight here
49:47is the spectacular stained glass feature window
49:50lofted above the bedroom.
49:55Look at these two beautiful birds.
49:58Yeah.
49:58Yeah?
49:59They're amazing.
49:59Yeah.
50:00Stunning, isn't it?
50:01The black cockatoo and the white cockatoo,
50:03the two moody symbols of the Goodnichmara people
50:06and the eel, which is significant for our culture, obviously,
50:10you know, with the fish traps and, you know,
50:13it provided and sustained Goodnichmara people
50:15for six and a half thousand years.
50:17Yeah, so, you know, beautiful story behind it all
50:20but it's just so striking in the space, isn't it?
50:23It does and it draws your eye.
50:24It's got a real wow factor.
50:26All those icy, stumbling trips
50:29to a canvas-shrouded camp toilet are over.
50:32The church finally has a bathroom
50:34and it's pretty luxe.
50:38The church has always had a bell
50:40and hanging high in its de-beehived,
50:43re-timbered and freshly painted tower,
50:46it's now ready to positively peel across the treetops.
50:51Well, maybe not.
50:54Did you hear it?
50:55Yeah.
50:55Yeah?
50:56Yeah.
50:57Wasn't as dramatic as I thought it might be.
50:59No, no, sadly not.
51:01But anyway, we'll get there.
51:02Work in progress, eh?
51:03Yeah, yeah.
51:04It needs a little tweaking
51:06but the bell is really all that remains
51:08of the church's functioning former life.
51:11The Church of England iconography is no more
51:13and the renewed spiritual centre of the place
51:16is now the sprawling, yarning circle,
51:19still awaiting seating.
51:20It's the reflective point of the grounds,
51:23freshly replanted with local flora.
51:26It's that connection with your country
51:27and being outside, having a yarning circle
51:30where we can sit around and talk to each other.
51:32Yep.
51:32Share stories.
51:33Yeah.
51:34So this is a very important space
51:36that we're standing in right now.
51:37It's kind of almost the heart of the whole thing.
51:39Yep.
51:39Yep, it is, yep.
51:40I think you'll be naturally drawn to this space
51:42because we've got all the native plants
51:44that are all really would have grown here
51:46and only in this specific area.
51:48So it's been great to sort of get to know those plants.
51:50And just standing here,
51:51I can hear the wind in the trees over there.
51:54Mm-hmm.
51:54Yeah.
51:54Yeah, the wind as it whistles through the she-oaks,
51:57that's the ancestors talking.
51:58Yeah, it's beautiful.
52:03The reclamation of this small patch of country
52:06is powerfully symbolic,
52:08way beyond its size.
52:10Bopo's mirroring is an inspiration.
52:14Congratulations on doing all of this.
52:16Thank you so much.
52:17It's probably one of the most difficult things
52:19I've ever tried to do.
52:23But I think because we've done it as a family,
52:27that's more important than anything.
52:29Really happy that the boys all bought into the concept.
52:33Mm-hmm.
52:34Really were so pleased that they wanted to connect
52:37back to where their ancestors are from.
52:40It's really certainly enriched us, hasn't it?
52:42It's been amazing.
52:43We feel very connected.
52:44Yeah.
52:45You know, I look at this as a renewal, really.
52:49You know, we've built this or renewed this place.
52:52We like to think that we've reclaimed it.
52:54We've reclaimed this little piece of land for us,
52:56for our family.
52:57Mm-hmm.
52:57That whole process of decisions that we've made
53:00and the effort that we've done to bring us down here
53:04actually builds that connection to country.
53:07It's been a great process.
53:08It wasn't always hugely enjoyable.
53:11In fact, we had a bit of a list of the most least enjoyable tasks
53:14and I keep adding new things to it.
53:16What was the least enjoyable?
53:17Oh, there was a few of them.
53:19Yeah.
53:19But, you know, on your back, on a scaffolding,
53:21up under the roof painting was one of them.
53:23Oh, yeah.
53:24Yeah, many unpleasant jobs.
53:26Yeah.
53:27Eight months, I think, you've given yourself to do the project,
53:30which has ended up being about 22 months.
53:32Mm-hmm.
53:32We were ambitious, probably naive, I think,
53:35in what it was going to take.
53:37A lot of people would think, buying a little old church,
53:39oh, how hard could that be?
53:40We'll put a coat of paint on it.
53:41It's all going to be good.
53:42Your advice to them would be?
53:44Challenge yourself.
53:45Do it.
53:46Oh, do it?
53:46Yeah.
53:47Doing the hard thing is what makes you a better person, I think.
53:52Yeah.
53:52The budget, $200,000, that's where you started.
53:58How much did that end up costing you, the whole thing?
54:00Yeah.
54:00I think we're up to $280,000 plus the landscaping,
54:06so we're probably closer to $300,000.
54:09Does it worry you?
54:10Because, I mean, that's $200,000 and it became $300,000,
54:12so that's quite a percentage overage.
54:15No, I think it's good value.
54:18Yeah.
54:18And we'll pay it off over time.
54:19Yeah.
54:20It's only money.
54:21Oh, there's an off to you saying that, you know,
54:25you don't own country, country owns you.
54:27So, yeah, whilst we have this little bit of land
54:32that our ancestors were denied and, you know,
54:37we own the title to it, but really, you know,
54:40we're just here to be part of the country.
54:43Yeah.
54:43Because that manages us.
54:45Yeah.
54:46Absolutely extraordinary stuff.
54:48Congratulations.
54:58The plants look fantastic
54:59and I've still got a few chocolate lilies and things like that.
55:04They weren't big enough when you came,
55:06so, yeah, I'll bring them up when the rain comes.
55:08Hey, folks, I've just got a message from New York.
55:10It's the long-lost brother, Nicholas.
55:13Oh, nice.
55:14Here we go.
55:15Let's have a look at this.
55:16Congrats.
55:17Exciting to see it all come together.
55:19I'm disappointed I can't be there.
55:21It's a shame.
55:22So are we.
55:23I managed to time my leaving for right
55:25as we finally got a workable bathroom.
55:29I'm excited to see how it's all come together.
55:32You guys have done such a great job.
55:35Thanks, Nick.
55:36There we go.
55:38Shame he couldn't help with any painting.
55:40Well, especially the last little bit, yes.
55:42He left at a very good time, like he said.
55:44Yeah.
55:52While it might have dragged on,
55:54the amount of time it took Craig, Roz and the boys
55:57to reshape this place
55:59and imbue it with a new spirit
56:01is infinitesimal in this craggy old landscape
56:04and the greater scheme of things.
56:06And in that blink of an eye,
56:08they reimagined something that was emblematic
56:10of a hostile past
56:12and spun it into what they hope
56:14will be a haven of cultural identity
56:17and pride into the future.
56:19For a little building and a humble patch,
56:22what an achievement.
56:50It's so good.
Comments