Outback Memories

Memories as long as the distances between outback towns are embedded in the desert. Has the landscape forgotten what we have forgotten? Who remembers what occurred before we were alive to the rusty soil and shimmering heat?

There has been a concerted effort in recent times to preserve history. New voices and new stories are being amplified. All around us are markers that link us to the past: a sacred site, or old building ruins, overlaid with time and memories, keeping within their fibres the stories of those who have come before.

Ruins at Eucla, Western Australia (Photo credit: Lea Pearson)

Modern life in the outback looks different for different people. Some find connection to the past by leaving the towns and going out bush on country. Others find their past in the ruins left by settlers, so-called pioneers who tried, sometimes failed, but often persevered to build a life in such a harsh environment. We can reach out and touch the crumbling bricks, run our hand over the disintegrating walls, and yet realise that we will never know the full story of the people who laid their foundations in an unforgiving land.

Landmarks also yield the same significance. Uluru and Kata Juta are deeply spiritual places in the Northern Territory. Rising towards the sky, they capture the lineage of people for many generations. Today they are also tourist attractions, but beneath the uniqueness of seeing a huge monolith lies their cultural importance to their traditional owners.

In present times, life whirrs on at a cracking speed. However, one day we too will evaporate, leaving remnants of our own presence behind. Those who come after us will try to understand and feel as we do now, but our secrets will never be wholly revealed to them. Such is the veil of the past; such is the ethereal nature of memory.