National Museum of Australia

Luann Bennett

Luann Bennett enjoys spending time in the local bush and admiring its creatures. She is interested in visual and textile arts and archaeology.

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Each cod caught is an occasion for us and Dad has a happy knack of catching them on Christmas Eve, New Year's Day or Easter Sunday. Murray Cod has a venerated place in our family mythology; part of us as much as a relative sitting with me on a riverbank.

Dearly departed, Goulburn River

Often, when we're camping, thoughts turn to my grandfather and his amazing cod adventures or the camping trips of my Dad's younger days and our dead come to life, almost sitting right beside us, stoking the billy to boil and urging the story on.

The steps, Goulburn River

When we first came here 15 years ago the Goulburn was regarded as little more than the backwash of the Murray. Dad cut steps into the bank to make fetching water safer and now regular campers make sure the steps never erode or wash away.

The root, Goulburn River

Riverbanks wash away with flood waters, and trees become rotted and break, their root systems providing homes for birds. Under the water though, Murray Cod are lurking in homes just like this and Yellowbelly love the broken clay banks the trees fall from.

Learner driver, Goulburn River

This trip, Dad taught me how to drive the boat. He did this very calmly as I worried about hitting one of the logs with which the river is littered. I didn't, but left/right coordination proved a bit of a problem for me.

Adam's tree, Goulburn River

As a young child my brother adopted this tree which lives in our campsite. He tried to fashion a kangaroo trap with the tree's exposed roots and one year buried a letter to himself to dig up the following year. He never managed to trap a kangaroo though.

Luann Bennett

Luann Bennett

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Fish head portrait, Goulburn River

Dearly departed, Goulburn River

The steps, Goulburn River

The root, Goulburn River

Learner driver, Goulburn River

Adam's tree, Goulburn River