Tim Bach

International Mountain Day on December 11 celebrates the importance of mountain landscapes around the world. It is an official United Nations day, celebrated since 2003, to increase awareness about the importance of mountains to life, to highlight the opportunities and constraints in mountain development and to bring positive change to mountain peoples and environments around the world.

The Great Dividing Trail Association (GDTA) in collaboration with Dja Dja Wurrung Traditional Owners (DJAARA), Outdoors Victoria, Federation University, Hepburn Shire, Mt Alexander Shire and Central Goldfields Shire are coordinating a week-long celebration of the mountain landscapes of southern Dja Dja Wurrung country in the lead up to International Mountain Day.

The week will culminate with the launch on December 11 of Professor Barry Golding’s recently published book, Six Peaks Speak: Unsettling Legacies in Southern Dja Dja Wurrung Country. The book tells the story of the many legacies associated with six mountains on Dja Dja Wurrung Country: Gurutjanga (Mt Kooroocheang), Nyaninyuk (Mt Beckworth), Mt Greenock, Dharrang Gauwa (Mt Tarrengower), Liyanganyuk banyul (Mt Alexander) and Lalgambuk (Mt Franklin).  The launch is on Wednesday, December 11 at 2.00pm at the Visitor Information Centre in Castlemaine.

Celebrating International Mountain Day on Dja Dja Wurrung Country provides a way of “thinking globally but acting locally”, of telling the story of mountains on Country. In the process of celebration, it also provides an opportunity, in an era of truth telling, to expose many of the uncomfortable and lesser known legacies of how “things came to be like this”, and find ways in Australia of healing Country together as a community.

Each day from December 6 to December 10, a morning walk featuring one of the local mountains will be followed by an evening presentation in a nearby community. The walks and talks will explore insights and evidence from diverse historical sources, including First Nations, geological, ecological, community, and reserve management. The peak specific stories illustrate how many ‘taken for granted’ aspects of mountains may not be as they seem.

On December 11, Dja Dja Wurrung Traditional Owners will host a celebration of International Mountain Day at Lalgambuk/Mt Franklin with a smoking ceremony, storytelling and guided walks around the mountain.

Registration is required for each of the guided walks through the GDTA website because number are limited. Registration is free for GDTA members or $10 for non-members.  The evening presentations are free and open to the public.

The schedule of guided walks for the week includes:

  • Fri 6 Dec: 9.30am-2.00pm,  Gurutjanga / Mt Kooroocheang GDTA Cultural Landscape Tour & Walk;
    8.00pm, Gurutjanga Speaks presentation at Commercial Hotel, Kingston.
  • Sat 7 Dec: 9.30am-2.00pm,  Liyanganuk / Mt Alexander GDTA walk;
    8.00pm, Lalkambuk (Mt Franklin) Speaks presentation Daylesford Neighbourhood House.
  • Sun 8 Dec: 9.30am-1.00pm, Dharrang Gauwa / Mt Tarrengower GDTA walk;
    2.00pm, Dharrang Gauwa Speaks presentation, Community Centre, Maldon.
  • Mon 9 Dec: 9.30am-2.00pm, Mt Greenock (plus Mt Glasgow & Merin Merin) GDTA Tour & Walk;
    8.00pm, Mount Greenock Speaks presentation, Maryborough Library
  • Tues 10 Dec 9.30am-2.00pm,  Nyaninuk (Mt Beckworth) GDTA walk;
    8.00pm Nyaninuk  Speaks presentation, Esmond Gallery, Clunes.
  • Wed 11 Dec: 9.30am-1.00pm: Caring for Country Caring for People, DJAARA IMD Celebration Lalkambuk / Mt Franklin. Registration is required for the December 11 even at Lalgambuk/ Mt Franklin through the DJAARA website.

 

Tim Bach is the President of the Great Dividing Trail Association and the Editor of The Wombat Post.