Ice water has never tasted so good ...

Year 10 student Jack Burgess - Pincini head out with our Environmental Heritage and Social Impact (EHSIS) team on work experience. And it was hot !!
I’ve just spent 6 days in the Kimberley studying Aboriginal culture. Well, completing work experience on a heritage survey. What?? I worked for EHSIS, an environmental & heritage survey company, investigating the cultural significance of country in the care of Traditional Owners. We were assessing the land to protect culturally significant sites within a mining proposal. This involved heading out into thick bushland with Traditional Owners and an anthropologist to map the heritage sites within the land mass, and accurately create a topographical map of the area. It was very hot. 41 degrees every day! But it’s the humidity that can get ya! Ice water has never tasted so good. Each night we would return to base camp with our recordings of the day’s work. My worst moment was the loss of the G.P.S . . . momentarily. It was enough for sheer panic to set in. By retracing my steps up a rock wall I found it blazing hot in the sun. Phew, that almost stuffed it! It was quite an experience--camping and then working each day, so removed from “civilisation.” The map and identified sites we produced over the 6 days now plays a significant role in protecting this area for the future for the Traditional Owners and the broader community.  It was learning about the balances between mining and indigenous interests that I found so fascinating.