A light mist of rain had preceded us on that luminous, numinous November afternoon as we made our way back to camp from Girrakool on foot via the plunging Piles Creek Loop track. Earlier in the day we’d gathered with Darkinjung cultural leader, elder and artist Kevin ‘Gavi’ Duncan to listen and to learn a little about this ancient coastal country, its indigenous and settler histories, its rock carvings, scar trees and edible plants. Above a roaring cascade Gavi had sung us songs which (generously) welcomed us (white hiking-folk) to this special place [see video below]. Subtly, incrementally enriching our receptors, Gavi later performed a short and most-moving farewell in the picnic-area carpark, breathing visceral throbbing depths into the afternoon on his didgeridoo. Despite the unsettling drone of the nearby M1 motorway which drifted on occasion through the angophoras, thanks to Gavi Girrakool (‘place of still waters’) brimmed with story and possibility, alive with knowledge, respect, fondness and beauty. We plan to meet up with him again further north in Darkinjung Country, as we inch our way towards Newcastle on the Great North Walk.

Darkinjung cultural leader, elder and artist Gavi Duncan (right) sings Naiyi Nayawa (welcome) to our walking group above the falls at Girrakool (Darkinjung Country, NSW Central Coast), 1 November 2020 [video Janette Willett]

The traditional boundaries of Darkinjung land extend from the Hawkesbury River in the south, Lake Macquarie in the north, the McDonald River and Wollombi up to Mt Yengo in the west and the Pacific Ocean in the East.