Martin’s great-grandfather Ted has asked him to come and stay on his property – in fact he has made an offer. If Martin comes to stay and can walk the boundaries of the land, then he will inherit all ten thousand acres. Martin didn’t even know he had a living great-grandfather, and now he is going to be alone with him on his remote property. Martin’s parents, although divorced, are in agreement that Martin should go, as they believe the land is worth a lot of money and want to sell it. Martin’s father had tried to walk the boundaries when he was young, but hadn’t made it.
The first morning there, Ted gives Martin a pack and precise directions for where he is to walk. He must go to particular landmarks and travel in a particular direction. A few hours in, Martin starts to get hot and dizzy. He lays down to sleep and when he wakes up, the gorge is in a flash flood. He is rescued by Meg, who is walking the same way as he is. Slowly it dawns on him that while he slept, he slipped through time, and has gone back into the past. As he and Meg continue walking the boundaries, they slip further back and gather other companions who are also walking the boundaries – Wullamudulla, a young Indigenous man, and a prehistoric marsupial based on Zygomaturus triilobus. Martin starts to learn about the history of the country where his great-grandfather lives, and begins to understand the importance of preserving it. By the time his journey is complete, he knows he will never sell the land, but instead ensure its protection for generations to come.
Ted’s land is based on Jackie French’s real-life property in the Araluen valley. Most of it is now a Conservation Refuge for the many rare and endangered species of the area. The character of Wullamudulla speaks the local language of the people in the Araluen valley, as far as Jackie French could reconstruct it. The language is no longer spoken and she researched heavily in primary sources to find words. Some words had to be borrowed from neighbouring peoples. [N.B. Jackie has not stated which people they were but from looking at the AIATSIS map of Indigenous Australia, it seems likely they were part of the Ngarigo clans. Possibly the name of the language has now been lost.]
Bronwyn Bancroft has provided some stylised black and white illustrations, and the map at the start of the book. Jackie French is not Indigenous. Bronwyn Bancroft is a Bundjalung woman.
Aboriginal and or Torres Strait Islander Resource
