PLACE and OPPORTUNITY

Its 2AM and my two dogs have informed me clearly that they need a run and a pit stop. So I open the door and they spill out onto the veranda. They are reluctant to leave it unless I’m standing by.

I lean on the corrugated iron fence - its about 5 feet high and I survey the velvet sky above with its brilliant icy moon and our own constellation shining in the Southern Sky - the Southern Cross.

Extend the long axis of the Cross down several times until it meets the perpendicular bisector of the two pointers, Alpha and Beta Centauri, and where these two lines meet is the South Celestial Pole. To travel towards it is to travel South.

To me the constellation is an exquisite natural phenomenon. Unless distracted by clouds the Cross will appear faithfully, nightly. At night I always look for it in the night sky and am satisfied when I know where south is.

It is on school camps that students can be shown the wonders of the Cross and the importance of finding South-we don’t always have a GPS with us! I was introduced to the story of the first documenting and drawing of the cross by a European, Andrea Corsali(1487-?) by a great friend and supporter of the school, Dr Bruce Reid. He presented the school with a copy of Corsali’s drawing of the Cross from a voyage from Lisbon to India complete with his written description of the Southern Cross. It was very special for the school to receive this.

Corsali was actually an Italian whose patron was Giuliano di Lorenzo de’ Medici a member of a very powerful family from Florence. He also worked for Lorenzo Il de’ Medici Duke of Urbino. He wrote to Giuliano saying: “the crosse is so fayre and beautiful that none other heavenly signe may be compared to it.”

Being the first to describe the five stars as a cross that pointed to the South Pole because they were “in the part of the heaven contrary to the North Pole.” This then helped locate the South Pole.

The chief curator of the NSW State Library, Maggie Patton observed that Corsali’s identification of the Southern Cross “enabled navigation across the Southern Ocean, ultimately leading to European Discovery of Australia.”

Damien Webb, who is the NSW State Library’s Indigenous

Engagement Manager, notes: “It (The Southern Cross) is a point of convergence in that it has significance regardless of your cultural or religious background. When Aboriginal people look at the constellation they may see the head of an emu, whereas the Europeans see a cross.”

The Southern Cross over the years has been such a powerful symbol for a range of Australian causes.

Of course, on the Ballarat Gold Fields which I believe were poorly run, a mob of Diggers assembled at the Eureka Lead to protest and rebel over the oppression. Their flag under which they gathered was the flag of the Southern Cross. Patti Smith and Lenny Kaye wrote the memorable song “Beneath the Southern Cross” which was immortalised by the Australian Band, the Bushwackers excellent presentation. I’ve taught my two oldest Grandchildren the song and how to play it on the guitar. Two of their ancestors were diggers but were fortunately on the Bendigo and Fryerstown Gold Fields which were run so much better.

The diggers were overrun at Eureka in 1854 but the rebellion under the Southern Cross triggered major political and democratic reforms in Victoria.

The Southern Cross has pride of place on the Australian Flag and is a very powerful symbol.

I don’t mind getting up for the Dogs at 2 AM even though during the winter my feet get pretty cold. I always love to see the Southern Cross and marvel at its power, and I always show youngsters, when the occasion arises, how to find South!

 Such valuable times are on School/Outdoor ed camps. I used to be an Outdoor Ed teacher and the experiences which are available for students and also staff are transformational. In the early 1980s I did my Bush Walking And Mountain Craft Leadership Course in Victoria even though I had run camps for years. The education Department wouldn’t allow teachers to take students into the Alps unless they had that certificate or equivalent. Even though, at that time I was working in an Independent School, the writing was on the tent walls! With some degree of resentment, I enrolled and headed off for a selection weekend. I quickly developed a positive attitude and the next 3 years sped by. As a teacher it is best to always “Lift your game and get positive.” There is nothing to be gained by being negative.

I think of those wonderful school camp times where some of my best teaching was able to be executed. The following poem is dedicated to the magic of the campfire, a central poignant experience on any good camp.

The mystery of the campfire as it dances in the dark,

 It creates a scene of mystery which invites a reflective spark.

It is motion, it is poetry and summons up the distant passed,

While the bush air is eased by the howl of a dingo moving past.

The dance is quickly fading,

As the embers grace the stage.

And glow and twinkle gently,

And tell stories from another age.

It is time to yarn so softly,

About life and all it holds.

But the glow is fading quietly,

And deep yarning seems to cool.

But as always, the fire has lit new thoughts,

That will travel into bed.

As the joy of sleep dusts over me,

And ideas are washing through my head.

Written by Chris Tudor