Thanks to Michael Lyons from Sandhills Artefacts and Glenn Currie for a great time on Saturday the 26^th May 2018.

Michael is a very lucky bloke, he has two sheds which he very kindly guided us through, showing us in the first shed how he takes raw wood and turns them into magnificent didgeridoos (Boomerangs and Coolamons) by soaking the branches in water, debarking, hollowing it out on his lathe where required, sanding, polishing and painting.

Michael treated us to some tunes on didgeridoo’s he had made, including Waltzing Matilda as well as bird calls such as the Boobook Owl, a Rooster (white man alarm clock) and Kookaburra.

Behind the first shed on the river flats Michael showed us some plants including “Old Man Weed” (Common name: Sneeze weed: Centipeda cunninghamii) this is a medicine plant for a wide range of health problems including eczema and arthritis. There was a tree carving of the goanna which is the Wiradjuri totem as well as a scar tree where a Coolamon had been made from the bark of the tree.

On the way to Michael’s second shed we saw winter and summer humpies, the second shed was a treasure trove of old and new artefacts including grinding stones, fire starting stones, hunting boomerangs, fighting shields, payback (law enforcement) shields, message sticks, soap stone, emu eggs, possum skins, kangaroo skins made into a rug which would be good for the footy, which Virginia tried on. Michael made a phone call on his Bull Roarer, we assumed he rang Betty Bradney, as she knows how to make these out of school rulers.