THE NAKED CITY – with Miss Death, Jay Katz and Coffin Ed
The Wetlands of Woolloomooloo
The sign outside the East Sydney Hotel said it all. “This is the pub with no poker machines (and no tree!)” The day before a magnificent old Celtis Australis, that had stood guard on Crown Street for probably hundreds of years had broken off from its roots, crashed onto the road and ended its life at the hands of council chainsaws.
A leakage of underground water beneath the pavement was blamed for the catastrophe and whilst the relevant authorities investigated the cause, an even stranger and largely unobserved phenomenon was happening just down the road.
Whether the water stream was from the same source remains uncertain, but during the same leakage period, thousands of litres had emptied into a large vacant building lot directly behind Cathedral Street. Overnight a series of small lakes suddenly appeared and within hours the city’s wildlife had laid claim to these miraculous new wetlands.
Ibis, cockatoos, seagulls and even a solitary pelican had all responded to this unexpected oasis as a cacophony of bird calls echoed around the normally bleak concrete and graffiti daubed wasteland. Shrouded from the public eye by large, “Keep out” style walls, this amazing scenario continued for three to four days as more and more birds discovered this amazing new environment.
Where was David Attenborough, where were the busloads of Chinese and Japanese tourists and where was the quirky Charles Wooley and the film crew from 60 Minutes? Even Clover Moore missed a golden photo opp by not hastily convening an on-the-spot press conference and announcing, “I now declare the City Of Sydney Wetlands open!”
That such a remarkable event went largely unnoticed is typical of the attitude of Sydneysiders to our urban wildlife. The Gardens Trust wants to get rid of the bats, cockatoos are vilified for their high decibel screeching and the ibis is seen only as a vulture like scavenger.
And so – like the seasonal changes on the Serengeti and the endless cycle of drought and flood on Lake Eyre, the supply of life giving water soon began to dwindle (i.e. somebody found the leak!) and sadly the terrain soon assumed its dry and dusty, desert-like surface. The Wetlands of Woolloomooloo were no longer and the ibis had all returned to the garbage bins of Hyde Park and the Fitzroy Gardens.
If you believe that climate change and rising sea levels will eventually swamp this city then this tiny vignette of the post apocalyptic future should weigh heavily on all our minds. The meek may not inherit the earth but the ibis certainly will!
THE HIT LIST:
Jandek at the Mu-Meson Archives – Friday 19 March 7.00pm –A rare screening of the 2004 doco Jandek on Corwood plus a performance from the remarkable Jandek himself. Since 1978, Jandek, from Houston Texas, has self-released over 60 albums of dissonant and often emotionally dissolute folk/blues through his label Corwood Industries. The doco details Jandek’s mysterious history and the small number of people that initially had contact with him. Up until 2004 nobody had been certain of his identity! $30, all tickets at door, enquiries – ph: 02 9517 2010 www.meson.org
