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We took Sonic Territory's (link: http://www.sonicterritory.com/hungryghost/) invitation and went to explore the mystery of The Hungry Ghost in Surry Hills. The Hungry Ghost is a theatrical walking tour in Surry Hills supported by City of Sydney's Art & About. Great idea! 

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On a glorious day in late November, we went to explore The Society for Preservation of the Artifacts of Surgery & Medicine, or The SPASM Museum, at Gladesville Hospital. For the past fifty years, SPASM have collected and preserved artifacts from all areas of health care, such as psychiatry, pharmacy and surgery. This collection is an excellent record of the changes in medical treatment in NSW over the last 150 years.  

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On a glorious Sunday in November, Jane and our intern, Maddy, took Against The Tide to the World Parks Congress. We had a fantastic day testing a prototype of the app, and it was an excellent opportunity to gain valuable feedback on our progress so far. Plus, we couldn’t really complain about the beautiful views of our lovely Parramatta River!

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#againstthetidesydney recording in Sydney. A reminder of the talent of great actors, Rupert Reid, @laststop4miles, Mandy McElhinney! Iain Sinclair, Bob Scott, @strattonjane there too!@latergram (at Studios 301)

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On a sunny Tuesday a few weeks back Jane and Louana took to the water with Rhoda Roberts, Head of Indigenous Programming at the Sydney Opera House. Rhoda has thrown her support behind Against The Tide as one of our project ambassadors and we were thrilled to take her out on the water, share our progress and hear her thoughts and insight on experiencing the work in situ for the first time.

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We just closed more than a week's work from the writers, Duncan Graham/ Jada Alberts, and dramaturg, Martyn Coutts, together with our producers to bring Against the Tide one step closer to public presentation. We explored madness and the myriad stories connected to it...amongst many other things! 

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Rivendell Open Day, 27 July 2014 - we had a rare peek inside the Thomas Walker Convalescent Hospital, part of the old Yaralla Estate, and a guided tour thanks to the City of Canada Bay Heritage Society. Thank you! This is a place aching with stories. Today, it is used as a Family & Adolescent Mental Health centre.  

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Upriver: Sydney's first highway

In Upriver, we take to the water and head west of Sydney's famous harbour, along the length of the Parramatta River to discover the rich human history of a beautiful drowned valley.

Go on the ride upriver with Catherine Freyne, our collaborator and ABC Producer. On air now! Or you can stream it at your leisure.  Catherine produced Upriver based on the Against the Tide team's research, and we enjoyed contributing interviews too. It's always a joy to be allowed inside the memories of others. 

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Where's the night gone?

Veterans of Sydney’s early rave scene recall all yesterday's parties.

A first sneak peak into some of the stories Against the Tide will bring to life, in collaboration with ABC RN Hindsight's producer, Catherine Freyne.

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What now?

Well, alot has happened since our last creative development closed in early May 2014.

We have a prototype! Bursting with great content made by our team and from the lips of people in the community, and relying on a platform built by our technology collaborators, Lightwell, we think it's looking pretty good.

Now, with the help of development funds from Screen Australia and support from the NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service, we are focused on building our web platform, an immersive trip through the landscape the app describes. Our film partners, the very talented women of Media Stockade, are creating visual treatments. And our creative team is bringing it home, to the end of the River.

Exciting times!

Join us - if you have a story to share connected to the Harbour and the Parramatta River that feeds it, get in touch!

Contact:

Jane - [email protected]/ 0410 539 853

Louana - [email protected]/ 0410 135 862

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Against the Tide has been accepted as part of this once-in-a-decade gathering to talk about how to protect and conserve important places around the world, and to connect people better to them. We have been asked to contribute to thinking about how to inspire the next generation. We've got a few ideas about that! 

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Look what we found at the State Library of NSW! A cycle of Sanskrit Stanzas on each of the "dependencies" of Queen Victoria, including Australia. The song chosen to represent Australia, "extensive and containing mines of precious coal, lead and gold, Australia treasures up thy feet at her breast [sic.]"? 

Kangaroo-Dance of the Australians, first noted by Freycinet, the French explorer.

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Catherine Freyne, our erstwhile ABC colleague, in action with Bob Leo. Bob was tug boat master on Sydney Harbour and the Parramatta River from the 1940s until recently. He began working on the water in the age of steam and knows every nook, every shoal of the River and its tidal ways.  

Listen out on ABC Radio National's Hindsight program for Catherine's unique take on rhythms and stories of the Parramatta River over time, coming to your wireless or smart phone soon! 

You can find ABC Radio National frequencies near you here. 

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We are so active, these photos are blurry! From the top, Against the Tide writer, Jada Alberts, with composer, Kelly Ryall, and Mr Jasper Whincop who did some voice over recording with us at the ABC in Ultimo.

Also the very gracious Mr Alan Cheung who voiced an early Canontese speaking trader as we tripped back to 1878. 

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A Yarn With Aunty Edna

Last week we visited Aunty Edna Watson, a Darug elder, to sit down for a cuppa and talk about her experience growing up on country, unearthing hidden family histories, learning her language and sharing the culture of her ancestors with her children, grandchildren and community.

Aunty Edna is an artist and story teller, a keeper of knowledge and culture of the Darug people. She grew up in Western Sydney, with strong connections to the Deerubbin River.

With an Aboriginal mother and white father, Aunt Edna recalled how she became conscious of her Darug identity and the significance of this in finally knowing who she was and deepening her connection to county.

Aunty Edna features in Against The Tide as one of our storytellers.

Aunty Edna at her home in Oakville

  Another Darug woman, our Community Producer, Louana Sainsbury, compares stories and shares some family photos with Aunty Edna.

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Sound Bites From The Quay

We took to the pavements down at Circular Quay last week to capture the sounds of the precinct. Can you imagine the fantastic plethora of noise? The chatter of commuters and tourists, kids laughing and crying, ferries blasting their horns, the rumble of trains and traffic, music from local buskers, impatient seagulls, the purr of the wind, the water lapping against the sea wall.

This is the starting point of our journey west and upriver.

Here, Catherine and Duncan leant their voices to a few characters who will appear in the work and invite you to hear their stories and follow them on this journey. Of course, this was a test run! Our writers are currently finessing the script and we’re excited to be working with talented professional actors to bring these characters to life.

Check out these pics of the team recording content for our prototype app!

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While we worked in the Rocks in April - May 2014, we began to thread together events from the past, like the Green Bans that succeeded in preserving the built environment of The Rocks and Sydney CBD, with current events. Our mode of interactive storytelling will let you see how these stories connect for yourself.