Back to Nature: Aug 17

This week on Back to Nature Aaron Pedersen & Holly Ringland are in Kosciuszko National Park, the birthplace of the Snowy River, long been sacred to Ngarigo people.

They walk to the Ramshead Range where three of Australia’s most iconic rivers are formed in these Alps: the Snowy, the Murray and the Murrumbidgee.

Each summer, millions of Bogong Moths find their way here to the granite caves, navigating using the Milky Way. Aaron tells Holly about the festive ‘Bogong ceremonies’ long enjoyed by First Nations people.

At Charlotte Pass, we see twisting, intensely coloured Snow Gums. Descending, Aaron and Holly cycle along the Cascade Trail to Cascade Hut. Local writer Elyne Mitchell once sheltered here: famous for her childrens’ books, she was also one of Australia’s earliest environmental writers. Further down in altitude is the Lower Snowy River. River Guide and Wiradjuri man Richard ‘Swainy’ Swain shows Aaron and Holly how to introduce themselves to Country. They kayak on the river.

Back on land, Country opens up. We see a large wendai (canoe scar). Swainy explains that the tree from which the bark was taken is still thriving because the people who cut the bark would have sought permission from the tree. Around a campfire, Swainy shares that Country is crying out for all of us to listen to it.

8pm Tuesday on ABC.