Being a woman who grew up on the North-West Coast of Tasmania I loved having the opportunity recently to sit with other women who have similar connections to the place. The conversations called me to a place of deep inquiry about where I feel I belong.
I haven't lived on the coast since I was 19-years-old, 25 years ago. Sometimes I wonder if I will ever return to live there. Zoe Grey grew up in Marrawah, on Tasmania's remote, rugged far North West Coast, and I just love the way she speaks about her connection to that part of the world, "Connection to place shifts and changes as you grow and change, and comes in waves, I guess like any relationship. A relationship to place is like a relationship to a person, and that’s how I feel about Marrawah and about the far North-West, it feels like a friend, I feel a love for that place like I do for my family… I think a relationship to place or a connection to place grows and changes as you do... maybe sometimes you pull apart from each other and then other times you’re closer, you may go away but always come back… it’s given me everything I am today."
When I was younger I definitely pulled away from the North-West Coast, like a relationship I had outgrown. I needed to leave so that I could see and experience it with fresh eyes, eyes that had seen other landscapes and places, and ears that could now hear the timeless and transient stories of the relationship between us.
This audio piece was produced as part of a project for Ten Days on the Island called Here She Is. The project was the grand vision of local artists Jessie Pangas and Anne Morrison. I recorded conversations with nine women about their connection to the North West Coast of Tasmania on a stunning property in the upper forests of Spreyton overlooking the bright blue waters of Bass Strait.
Photo credit: Lauren McKinnon
Music credits: Claire Anne Taylor
