Giving voice to a silent witness
Neil Walker neil@baysidenews.com.au
A LONE pine tree has inspired Chelsea author Lyn Duclos to ensure the history of Norfolk Island, a remote Australian island in the South Pacific Ocean, is remembered for generations to come. Her new children’s book While I Can Still Remember ... Norfolk Island has a neat conceit as its central story idea. Duclos decided to write from the point of view of a 650 year-old Norfolk Island pine, situated on a limestone cliff on Norfolk Island to recount the island’s history including the former British penal colony located there in the late 1700s and early 1800s. “I realised it was a really, really old tree and each time I went there I thought to myself ‘if only you could talk – you’ve seen Captain Cook sail past and you’ve seen the penal settlements and everything else happen in front of you and yet you can’t talk about it’,” Ms Duclos said. “The reason I picked that tree is it is in a watercolour painting painted in 1835 in the book and it’s always been there – it’s like a sentinel almost. The point that it sits on is at the point of a very safe bay where most people swim. It’s striking because it’s out there on its own and it’s a survivor whereas the British settlements almost decimated all that area of trees.” The lone pine must pass on its knowledge of history on Norfolk Island to a young sapling because its memory is failing and the future of all pine trees is at stake. The author teamed up with illustra-
Leafing through history: Author Lyn Duclos has written a children’s book about Norfolk Island’s history from the perspective of a lone pine tree. Picture: Gary Sissons
tor Zozie Brown who sketched out 16 colourful illustrations published throughout While I Can Still Remember ... Norfolk Island. “We did it all by email and a couple of Skype sessions. I met her about a month ago. She was great and the illustrations are excellent.” Getting into character as a tree made some think she may be barking mad, Ms Duclos admits. “It was really hard because I realised I had to use the voice of a tree. I picked a moment when there was no-one around and put my arms around the trunk. I was a tree-hugger and I don’t normally hug trees. “I was standing with my head against it trying to feel anything and a blasted bus came up with tourists so I sort of pretended that I dropped something.” The author interviewed several islanders to research the island’s his-
tory for the book including a direct descendant from the mutiny on The Bounty. While writing the book she forwarded completed chapters to a Brisbane school for feedback from her target reading audience. Students at the school drew pictures based on historical events portrayed in the book. Ms Duclos hopes the book can be read in schools across Australia and has entered While I Can Still Remember ... Norfolk Island for possible inclusion on the Victorian Premiers’ Reading Challenge list. “It fits really neatly into the nationwide year 5 history curriculum which is ‘colonies of the 1800s’ … so I am hoping to get it into schools,” she said. See lynduclos.com.au for further information. The book is $29.95 in print and $9.95 for the ebook.
Time to fix stopped clock THE long-neglected Nylex clock in Mentone is still switched off with little sign of progress in attempts to have it restored. The Nylex sign, built in 1967, remained at its highly visible Nepean Highway located after the textile manufacturing factory closed its door but has not been maintained near the Bunnings store it sits alongside today. Mordialloc and District Historical Society member Dorothy Booth says she has been speaking to development company H. Troon about restoring the sign at a cost of about $38,000. “I’ve been lobbying them to get that clock up and fixed,” she said. “In the overall scheme of things it’s not a lot of money.” Ballarat-based H.Troon sold the 12,500 square-metre Mentone retail
centre last month to syndicator The Property Advisory for $40 million. H.Troon development director Tom McInerney said the firm was still in talks with Kingston Council about the Nylex clock. “We have still have an interest in the land,” he said. Council planning and development manager Jonathan Guttman said council has been involved in discussions about the clock “over many years”. “As the clock is not located on Council land, nor is it a council asset, there is currently no budget allocation for restoration works.” Ms Booth agreed council should not have to pay for the Nylex clock’s restoration. Neil Walker
Detox begins at home The free Detox your Home household chemical collection is coming back to Cheltenham on Sunday 6 March. If you have any unwanted or outof-date household chemicals around your home take advantage of this safe, free and easy-to-use disposal service without harming your health or the environment. The Detox Your Home program is provided by Sustainability Victoria and funded by the Victorian landfill levy. The service collects potentially dangerous and unwanted household chemicals that are subsequently recycled for recovery and diverted from landfill. Household chemicals can harm your family and your pets, add extra
fuel to a house fire, release toxic fumes and pollute the environment for future generations. Chemicals should not be poured down the drain as they pollute our waterways, harm animals and vegetation, contaminate our drinking water and make rivers and beaches unsafe for swimming. Detox your Home will be in Cheltenham 8am-4pm on Sunday 6 March. The site address will be provided upon registration. See sustainability.vic.gov.au/detoxyourhome for a full list of accepted items. Register now for this free service at sustainability.vic.gov.au/detoxmobile or by calling 1800 353 233.
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