Reading—A beer with Baz Bazza sat on the stool at the end of the long bar in the pub at Tibooburra and removed his mask as a cold schooner greeted him from the young Irish bar a:endant. VolAbove 16 September 15th 2017 him, was imposing self portrait mural of the ar8st CliHon Pugh 28 April December 7th,an 2017 Vol 48 27th 2018
pain8ng a reddish brown landscape. Pugh used to own the pub and, other murals, by fellow ar8sts such as Russel Drysdale could be admired whilst having a beer. There were no labels highligh8ng the significance of the ar8sts and the security of the artwork was guaranteed by the brick wall ‘canvas’. It was all odd, unassuming but highly appealing. He took a long drink and scanned the bar. The locals were weather beaten but were outnumbered by the tourists, many on a la:e tour of western NSW, but all pleased to be away from the lockdowns on the east coast. Bazza reflected on his own travels.
From Broken Hill he had cut across to Menindee and appreciated the near full lakes with bird life and desert blooms rejoicing the rare event. The Darling River in its pure wonder had delivered life from a journey of thousands of kilometres at walking pace, taking many months, from the channel country in Queensland. The na8onal debate about the Murray Darling basin was about as clear as his understanding of Bitcoin, un8l a farmer provided some insight. It was more than just too many water licences beyond the capacity of the river to deliver constantly each year, but the seeming innocuous building of a levy bank here and there to divert and hold the water for longer. Mul8ply those levy banks by the thousands and the course and volume of the river changes, with all the impact that some8mes grab the nightly news. He soothed his thoughts with a sip from his schooner. Like every other tourist he ba:led the dust and corruga8ons in the road for the trip from Tibooburra to Cameron’s Corner. The absurdity of driving for near three hours to have a look at three imaginary state borders mee8ng, pre:y much symbolised a lack of understanding of the spiritual pull this land must have to Indigenous Australians. The building of a pub on the spot pre:y much capped it off. On the way back he stopped for a long apprecia8on of the vastness and colours the fading sun caressed, holding genera8on upon genera8ons of stories, some remembered, many untold. This day trip was very much a case of the journey outdoing the des8na8on. Bazza picked up the pamphlet for NAIDOC Week on the bar and read the theme; ‘Heal Country - calls for all of us to seek greater protec8ons for our lands, our waters, our sacred sites and our cultural heritage from exploita8on, desecra8on, and destruc8on.’ Have a beer with Baz at john.longhurst59@gmail.com beagle weekly : Vol 215 July 9th 2021
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