Hully on the ABC

[Zondrae]

G'day all,

I was on my way to Church this morning and, as I always have my radio tuned to ABC, I was lucky to catch an interview (including poem) with one Mr Andrew Hully. I am presuming this is our hully. He was talking about some work he is doing relating to collecting the 'river' stories from along the Darling and her tributaries.

Hully if you read this, the interview was a very good one. You managed to give lots of information and a stanza of a lovely 'river' poem. I particularly enjoyed it because you were taking about the same area that I wrote about in 'Rivers On The Rise' which earned a HC in the Bronze Swagman a few years back.

Good luck with your project. OOOww.. do you want my 'river' story from when the Barwon and the Narren flooded in 1976?

[Hully]

Hi There Zondrae,
thanks for the comments - glad someone else was awake !!
Its a fantastic project that I am very excited to participate in - worth keeping an eye on I reckon www.oneriver.com.au
Would LOVE to get your flood story - any way we can record it.? - there is a big Audio component to the project...or do you have it written down?? - what about your poem? - can we use that also??

cheers and happy new year.

h

[Zondrae]

Thanks Hully,

You are welcome to use my poem. It is posted here I think "Rivers On The Rise". ( if not I'll pm it to you.) It is fairly long and detailed. The story is quite the opposite, I will jot it down and pm it to you. It's not too exciting. Thanks for the opportunity to get involved.

About recording.. I haven't had any luck with recording any of my poems. Not even in the 'garage band' app of my Mac. I will admit I haven't tried very hard. I have read on the phone, ABC with Helen Claire a couple of months ago. I came second in a FNQABC poetry comp. And I am often on with Nick Rheinberger (our local am ABC presenter.) He has me in the studio about three times a year. and also our local community radio VOXFM.

All the best for the New Year and good luck with the project.

PS: The poem isn't there so I will post it now.

[Stephen Whiteside]

Hully,

Do you know much about the early stories of seals in the Murray? I read a comment about them in Ian Mudie's "Riverboats" book (I think it was there) and wrote a short poem about it, which caught Jim Smith's imagination to the extent that he took the trouble to memorise it so he could recite it. He asked me about the source of the information. I've leafed through Mudie's book again a couple of times and can't find it now, which is very frustrating.

I assume the seals came in on the high tides. I believe there were reports of them as far upriver as Echuca. They would then be trapped in billabongs as the river level subsided, and may well have played a role in the formation of the bunyip myth.

Of course, the locks put an end to them.

[Vic Jefferies]

G'day Stephen,
I googled Murray River Seals and found amongst other sites http://pool.abc.net.au/media/seals-observed-inland which was very interesting indeed.
I remember hearing or reading similar reports but never connected seals with the bunyip!
Makes a lot of sense however on the above site there are reports of other seal like creatures being found in lakes.
Happy New Year,
Vic Jefferies

[Stephen Whiteside]

Amazing resource, Vic.

I've since found out that I originally read the reference in a book about Bogong Jack by Eric Harding - it wasn't Ian Mudie at all.

Incredible to think there was a whole school of seals in the Murrumbidgee - and also all those reports in the Great Lake in Tasmania - 2,000 km from the sea!

Also amazing to read about the fellow who was only able to identify it retrospectively after seeing one in an aquarium!

Thanks for this, Vic. I've tried Googling it before myself, and didn't come up with much. I wonder if this has been posted fairly recently.

[manfredvijars]

there was a whole school of seals in the Murrumbidgee - and also all those reports in the Great Lake in Tasmania - 2,000 km from the sea!

Is this a correct quote Stephen??

[Stephen Whiteside]

It's not a direct quote, Manfred, but I think it's a pretty accurate summary of the reports I read.

[manfredvijars]

OK, just looks like the Great Lakes in Tasmania are attributed the "2000km from the sea" comment ...

[Stephen Whiteside]

Yes, I see what you are saying. No, I didn't mean that. I'm a bit confused now! I think it was a reference to the Murrumbidgee. That sounds about right, doesn't it? Would have to have come up all the way from the Murray mouth.