DOK'KU Candle Event - Come and Light a Candle for Mary !!

Art for Earth Candle Installation outside Parliament House Canberra earlier this year.

Various groups from the Mary River area will converge at Tandora Homestead on the banks of the Mary River on Sunday 1st June to participate in creating DOK'KU, a spectacular illuminated artwork of a Mary River Cod using 4000 candles.

The Queensland Government, through Arts Queensland, has provided $14,446 to Art for Earth, a non-profit group, to create the display. The funding was provided under the regional partnerships category to support a collaboration between an internationally-renkowned artist (Jorge Pujol), indigenous community members, regional conservation groups, and volunteers from the general public. Over 4,000 candles will be used to create a 50 metre long Mary River Cod which will then be lit in a moving ceremony at sunset.

Jorge Pujol is well known for his candle installations around the world, including the "Sorry the First Step" event in Canberra for indigenous reconciliation, in collaboration with Getup. This latest project aims to celebrate the Mary River and Great Sandy Strait, and to raise awareness about the threat both now face.

'Dok'ku' is the local indigenous Butchulla word for Cod fish. The Mary River Cod is an endangered species and is an excellent visual symbol of not only river fauna in general, but the connection between the river and the sea and all the rare, vulnerable, threatened and endangered species that depend on the estuary, including dugong, indo-pacific humpback dolphins and loggerhead turtles.

Guest speakers at the event include representatives from Greenpeace, the Australian Conservation Foundation, and Steve Posselt, the cross country kayaker who recently completed a marathon journey along the full length of the Mary River to help expose the folly of the Traveston Crossing Dam (see blog entries below). Representatives from the Greater Mary Association and Save The Mary River Coordinating Group will also be there to participate in the candle lighting ceremony at sunset.

For those travelling from the valley, a free bus has been arranged from the Kandanga Save the Mary Info Centre and can pick up at Gympie. Ph 5488 4800 to book a seat. If you are arriving independently, you can find Tandora Homestead by turning off the Hervey Bay-Maryborough highway at Dundathu into Prawle Road and following the signs to the banks of the Mary River.

COME AND HELP CREATE DOK'KU! - TELL THE WORLD YOU CARE ABOUT THIS FRAGILE, THREATENED ECOSYSTEM!

Light one of 4,000 candles - no skills required.

Arrive 9am to help create the installation, or arrive 4pm to watch the candle lighting ceremony at sunset.

This event is guaranteed to raise national attention for the plight of the Mary River and the Great Sandy Strait. Footage of the installation will travel to Spain for the Zaragosa Expo on Water and Sustainability in July.

Learn more about Art for Earth at http://www.artforearth.net/

Media contact and further background information: Erica Neate Admin Coordinator Art For Earth ph 4128 7225.

On Day 17 (April 26) of his 861 kilometre epic paddle, kayak adventurer and anti-Traveston dam campaigner Steve Posselt arrived at River Heads, and after a short break, continued down the Great Sandy Strait and out into the open sea to make his way back to Brisbane.

Among the crowd present to welcome him were Member for Wide Bay and Federal National Party Leader Warren Truss, and a very thankful Dewy the Dugong.

Later, as he travelled down the Strait, Steve wrote in his diary:

“Down near Boonooroo (about half way down the Strait) life is not as abundant as up near the mouth of the Mary … It has been suggested that this abundance of life is due to the influence of the Mary and it makes a lot of sense. To think that anyone would place all of this at risk is very saddening. One can only hope that it is due to ignorance but even that is no excuse when these people have access to information if they care to listen.”

Steve completed his epic journey up the Mary River in Brisbane on Saturday (May10) – well done Steve and crew!!

Go to http://www.kayak4earth.com/ for more information.

Mary Kayaker on Home Stretch!

“Don’t Murray the Mary” kayaker Steve Posselt has now paddled the entire length of the Mary River, through Great Sandy Strait in the lee of Fraser Island and is due to reach Noosa, days ahead of schedule, on this coming Saturday, May 3rd.

His return to West End in Brisbane ( between Boundary St and Jane St) will take place a day earlier than anticipated, on the following Saturday, May 10 at 11am, four weeks after his departure.

Steve was able to take part in the second anniversary “Floatilla” at Traveston Crossing last Sunday, where he was joined by around a hundred other canoes, kayaks, rowboats and even an inner tube, in a colourful show of opposition to the proposed Traveston Crossing dam.

He has attracted considerable media attention on the trip, understandable given his national profile following his four month walk and paddle along the Murray darling last year and given that he is a past president of AWA, the Australian water Association.

Coinciding with Steve’s trip, and effectively underscoring his “Don’t Murray the Mary” message, Federal Climate Change and Water Minister Penny Wong delivered an inspirational and far-sighted address to the Australian Water Summit in Sydney on Tuesday. A copy of her speech can be downloaded from:

http://www.environment.gov.au/minister/wong/2008/pubs/sp20080429.pdf

It is well worth a read and describes a water future that is quite at odds with that proposed for the Mary.

Come and join the crowd celebrating his return and help by raising your voice for Mary. Buses are organized from Hervey Bay, Maryborough and Kandanga. The Hervey Bay bus leaves at 5.30am and will stop at Maryborough on its way to Brisbane.

For bookings contact Beryl Suttcliffe on 4121 6383 or leave a message on 0416169467, or send an email to http://au.f656.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=sutty53@lizzy.com.au

Follow Steve's Journey! Go to http://www.kayak4earth.com/