On Tuesday 28 October, 10 Clonard students from our Tjatjarrang (first nations) team, joined 33 other first nations students from St Joseph’s College, Iona College, Sacred Heart College and St Ignatius College for a 2 day trip to Warrnambool and Budj Bim.

We stayed at the Warra Gnan coastal camp near the beach in Warrnambool and spent Tuesday afternoon exploring the local area. We were lucky to have Lisa Couzen’s with us from Iona who is from Warrnambool and could share first nations stories of the area with our students.

On Wednesday 29^th October we headed out to Budj Bim and were able to tour the Tae Rak area with a local guide, Jaiden, who told us about the intricate system used for thousands of years to trap, smoke and store kooyang (short-finned eel).

Tae Rak is one of 3 components as part of the Budj Bim Cultural Landscape and is classed as a World Heritage Site. This is the famous series of eel traps belonging to one of the oldest and most extensive aquaculture systems in the world. This land is now under the management of local Gunditjmara people so that the stories, language and culture can be preserved and passed on.

One of the students said that they enjoyed the connecting to land/country and meeting the students from other schools.

Clonard is proud to support our First Nations students to enhance their knowledge and connection to their heritage and culture.

Lisa Armstrong-Rowe
Student Services & First Nations Case Management