A week or so ago some Jobfind CDEP participants and fellow CDEP employees were given the opportunity to fly over to Bickerton Island for the Milyakburra summit.
In short it was an event to open the new office spaces/accomidation they have built there.
They were built for out of town service providers as a way of making travelling to there to work and stay easier.
Thus enabling out of town workers to get more done.
It is even more remote than the already remote Groote Eylandt where we are currently based.
Wayne and Ralston were the lucky participants who were able to join us that day. These are all mainly Wayne and Ralston’s photos with a couple by Sylvester who is a Jobfind CDEP mentor originally hailing from Bickerton.
Enjoy!
Ralston gets snap happy out of the window of our Cessna
this is the second time i have been privileged to see Groote and its surrounds from above, there is a related post here
the criss-cross patterns you can see in the trees is caused from mining and its subsequent re-vegetation
Ralston on left and Wayne on the right, Wayne recently got a job working for CDEP, congrats Wayne!
The township on Bickerton or, as the locals call it Milyakburra
Happy faces, the general vibe out on Bickerton is a happy one. It felt happier than Groote in a way.
Does it seem happier out here because there is no mining or destruction of the land for purposes of what boils
down to greed and overconsumption? Is there even a way to answer that?
Lets just say some traits of the modern world aren't that great.
Three brothers and a son.
Wayne, Zachariah with strategically held balloon held by Ramson and then Ralston on far right
Ramson again
A few more happy faces…
The general store, the only shop to my knowledge on Bickerton. It got pretty busy about a minute after this
Below, the new office spaces/accommodation with chairs and balloons ready for the opening
There was about half an hour of speeches talking of the pride and happiness shared by all to have the new facility built.
The school came down to listen in too… a lot was said about the children, the future of these areas lies in their hands.
After all that it was back to the tiny airport, a red dust runway with a few planes waiting for the many visitors Bickerton had that day.
Back into the air for the 15 minute flight yielded epic views which are pretty much the norm up here!
Ralston with a selfie to finish up…
Thanks for tuning in!
