Garidja (canoe) making

Aboriginal students from Narooma High School build a Garidja from the bark of a tree. When collecting bark from the bush, it is important that the tree is preserved, so the bark must be removed in a particular way. Once all of the bark is removed in one piece, the stringy sections of the bark are removed by an axe, then the ends are heated to make them flexible. The canoe is finally tested on the waters of the Wagonga Inlet.

We would like to give special thanks to the Southern Rivers Catchment Management Authority, Kevin Campbell, Ben Burgess, Khallum Parsons, George Campbell, Mr Van Weerdenburg, Paul Carriage and Aaron Williams.

Contributed by Narooma High school published in 2015