¤ ¤
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I'm standing nine miles
from Gundagai, a town famous for
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the dog on the Tuckerbox.
There's a statue here of, well,
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a dog on the Tuckerbox. This old
Australian word Tuckerbox means
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a lunchbox only bigger.
During the Back to Gundagai
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celebrations in 1932 this famous
statue was unveiled by the then
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Prime Minister Joseph Lyons.
It's a tribute to the pioneers
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and bullockies who worked
in the Riverina District of
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southern New South Wales. More
than 3000 people attended the
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ceremony in 1932. The government
Tuckerbox is part of Australian
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folklore and comes from a poem
that dates to the 1890s. It was
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later reworked by Jack Moses.
This poem is the inspiration for
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the statue which has captured
the imagination of the nation.
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Now a bullocky is an Australian
term for the driver of a bullock
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team that transported timber,
wool and supplies through the
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country. They faced rough tracks
river crossings, floods and
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extreme weather. Jack's poem
captured their difficult lives.
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The last lines of the poem refer
to the bullocky's dog going on
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strike and refusing to work.
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Apparently a teamster names Bill
the Bullocky was on the road to
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Gundagai in the 1850s. While
leading his bullock team and
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wagon across a creek nine miles
from Gundagai, Bill's wagon got
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hopelessly bogged in the creek.
While he was trying to drag the
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wagon out of the bog, one
of his bullocks then broke the
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wagon's yoke. Well that was
enough for Bill. He gave up and
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went to have his lunch but
here to top off his bad luck, he
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found his dog sitting, or worse
on his Tuckerbox. The other
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bullockies or wagon masters felt
the incident was a great joke
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and supposedly one of them wrote
a poem about it that became the
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legend of the Dog on the
Tuckerbox. It's basically a
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humorous take on all of the
troubles that the early pioneers
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endured and it's a typically
Australian thing to make light
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of difficult situations. Because
the dog going on strike and then
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sitting on the Tuckerbox wasn't
the worst thing to happen in
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Gundagai. You see, there's
another story to be told here
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and it really is about
the worst thing to have ever
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happened in Gundagai. But it's
also a story of great heroism.
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The reality is that in its early
years Gundagai was the scene of
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one of the worst
natural disasters in Australia's
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history. And the heroes were
two local Wiradjuri men. Let's
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investigate this forgotten story
from the annals of Australian
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history and it's a story that
carries a special message for us
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today. ¤ ¤
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Gundagai is a classic Australian
country town situated in rural
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New South Wales just four hours
drive southwest of Sydney and
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five hours north of Melbourne.
Locals consider it to be the
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most picturesque rural area
in the Riverina and agricultural
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area in southern New South
Wales. Gundagai sits beside the
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second longest river in
Australia. The Murrumbidgee
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River flows through the
Australian state of New South
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Wales and the Australian capital
territory to where it joins the
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mighty Murray River. The great
Murrumbidgee flood plain at
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Gundagai is crossed by the
historic Prince Alfred bridge
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and a railway viaduct. They are
timber truss bridges that were
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built by the early settlers.
There are over 800 meters in
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length and are a spectacular
lattice work of wooden trusses
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and are wonderful examples of
early engineering solutions to
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crossing a major flood plain.
The Prince Alfred Bridge was
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completed in 1867. It was named
in honor of Prince Alfred, Queen
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Victoria's second son. He was
the first member of the British
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royal family to visit Australia
touring in 1867 and 1868 when he
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was 23 years old. His visit was
very popular and well publicized
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Unfortunately, he was shot
in an unsuccessful assassination
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attempt in the Sydney suburb
of Clontarf in March 1868. The
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railway viaduct was built in
1903 and connected Gundagai to
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the main Sydney-to-Melbourne
mail line at Cootamundra. It's
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the longest timber truss bridge
every built in Australia and
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today it is heritage listed. Now
one of the first stone buildings
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in the town was the Gundagai
courthouse. Gold mining and
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agriculture in the district
had made Gundagai a prosperous
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little town and it soon became
a center for bush rangers, an
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Australian term for robbers who
stole and then sought refuge in
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the bush. Here in this
courthouse was the site of the
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trial of a famous bush
ranger Captain Moonlite. Captain
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Moonlite's real name was Andrew
Scott. He was born in Ireland in
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1845. When he was 16 he
moved to New Zealand and then to
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Australia. He became the leader
of a gang of bush rangers. They
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robbed the Wondabadgeree
homestead farm near Wagga Wagga
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in 1879 and took 35
people hostage. Before the final
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shootout with the troopers
took place all the hostages were
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released unharmed but in the
confrontation a local policeman
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was shot dead. Moonlite's
accomplices and friends, James
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Nesbitt and Augustus Wernike
were also killed in the siege.
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The surviving bush rangers,
including Moonlite, were
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captured and tried
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at the Gundagai Courthouse
and then retried in Sydney for
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killing the policeman. Moonlite
and his second in command were
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sentenced to death and hanged.
They were buried in Sydney's
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Rookwood Cemetery in unmarked
graves. But as he faced the
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hangman's noose on the 20th of
January 1880, he made one last
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request. He asked to be buried
beside his friend and fellow
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bushranger James Nesbitt who
had been killed earlier in the
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farmhouse seige. It took 115
years to grant his last wish but
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on the 13th of January 1995
Captain Moonlite's remains were
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exhumed from Rookwood Cemetery
in Sydney and finally laid to
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rest at Gundagai next to the
outlaw's friend James Nesbitt.
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Well, with all this and more
going on at the time Gundagai
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developed a romantic bush appeal
that resulted in it becoming
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iconic in Australian folklore.
Many outback stories, songs and
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poems refer to Gundagai.
Even the famous Banjo Paterson,
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Australia's much loved bush poet
wrote of the drovers, bullock
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teams and bush travelers around
Gundagai. Today in the very
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heart of Gundagai there's a
monument that's a tribute to one
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of Australia's most popular
radio programs of all time, Dad
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and Dave. Australian author
Steele Rudd's famous Snake
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Gulley characters, Dad,
Dave, Mum and Mable have
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been immortalized in
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copper. The radio show Dad
and Dave was first aired in 1937
00:09:01.67\00:09:07.34
and ran for 16 years. The series
is based on the stories in
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Steele's book On Our Selection
an old term for a farm. These
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11 minute comic soap operas of
the adventures of the folk from
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Snake Gulley became legendary
and can still be heard on radio
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today. The radio program's
connection with Gundagai comes
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through its theme song Along
the Road to Gundagai, written by
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Jack O'Hagan in 1922. It really
captures the spirit of this
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town. It's catchy tune reflects
the attraction of the Australian
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bush for many
people. It goes like this:
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But there's another famous poem
My Country written by Dorothy
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Mackellar when she was just 19
that captures not only the harsh
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beauty and splendors of the
Australian bush but it's also
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its unpredictable dangers.
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Now the original inhabitants of
this land the Wiradjuri people
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two of the largest aboriginal
group in New South Wales
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once occupied a vast
area on the plains west of the
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Blue Mountains. They were people
of the land. This was their
00:11:15.24\00:11:19.17
country. They lived here for
centuries and knew the cycle of
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droughts and flooding rains that
Dorothy Kackellar wrote about.
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And when the first European
settlers arrived in the district
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in the 1820s the local Wiradjuri
people repeatedly warned them of
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great floods that swept
the Murrumbidgee. They strongly
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advised them not to settle on
the low-lying ground around the
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river. But the settlers ignored
their advice. They built a small
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settlement on the rich river
flats of the Murrumbidgee River.
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And so it was that the township
of Gundagai was officially
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gazetted in 1940. In 1943, the
first Gundagai post office was
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opened. The town grew and
prospered oblivious to the
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dangers that lay ahead. On the
night of Thursday, the 24th of
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June in 1852 the river burst
its banks and rose to a height
00:12:15.20\00:12:19.83
of 12 meters. A wall of
water raced through the small
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township and completely
overwhelmed it. And that was
00:12:23.64\00:12:29.41
just the start of the
disaster that became Australia's
00:12:29.44\00:12:32.95
deadliest flood. As people clung
to their rooftops many were
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thrown into the darkness by the
raging torrent. Over the next
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two days 89 people out of
the 250 European residents are
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known to have drowned. That was
more than a third of the total
00:12:47.40\00:12:51.07
population who died in the town.
And that number doesn't include
00:12:51.10\00:12:55.87
the isolated settlers and
travelers in the wider district.
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Seventy-one building were
destroyed. The Old Mill is the
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only building of the original
town left standing today. The
00:13:05.11\00:13:09.15
rest of the town was
engulfed and swept away. It was
00:13:09.18\00:13:14.06
completely destroyed. Though
little known, this remains as
00:13:14.09\00:13:18.86
one of Australia's worst natural
disasters. A newspaper from the
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time described the scene as the
floodwaters continued to rise.
00:13:24.00\00:13:27.74
On Friday morning about nine
o'clock, the boat came from the
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other side of the river
to relieve Mr. Thatcher whose
00:13:32.61\00:13:36.14
family had taken to the loft.
In recrossing the river the boat
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was swamped and five children
were drowned. From the fearful
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current and the enormous logs
that it was carrying down it was
00:13:44.15\00:13:47.59
impossible to attempt to take
any more that day. As night drew
00:13:47.62\00:13:51.99
in the unavailing cries for
assistance all-around became
00:13:52.03\00:13:54.60
fearfully harassing Crash after
crash announced the fall of some
00:13:54.63\00:13:58.97
house and the screams that
followed the engulfing of those
00:13:59.00\00:14:02.27
who clung to the water attained
its greatest height about 11
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o'clock at night. Up to this
time about 34 houses had been
00:14:05.57\00:14:10.75
washed away and 60 lives lost.
00:14:10.78\00:14:16.79
However, almost another third
of the population, 69 men, women
00:14:16.82\00:14:22.99
and children would also have
perished had it not been for the
00:14:23.02\00:14:27.10
actions of a number of the
Wiradjuri men and in particular
00:14:27.13\00:14:30.00
two of them, Yarri and
Jacky Jacky. Yarri was a local
00:14:30.03\00:14:36.81
Wiradjuri man
00:14:36.84\00:14:38.21
who'd been working as a
shepherd. He was the first to
00:14:38.24\00:14:41.51
plunge into the raging river
in his bark canoe to begin the
00:14:41.54\00:14:45.21
rescue operation and he was
soon joined by Jacky Jacky and
00:14:45.25\00:14:50.09
then by two other indigenous men
who's names have been sadly lost
00:14:50.12\00:14:54.32
to history. To put you in the
picture, by now the Europeans
00:14:54.36\00:15:00.46
who hadn't already drowned were
on the roof tops of houses or
00:15:00.50\00:15:04.97
clinging to trees or floating
branches. And over the course of
00:15:05.00\00:15:08.77
the next 48 hours Yarri
and Jacky Jacky repeatedly
00:15:08.80\00:15:13.38
launched their
00:15:13.41\00:15:14.74
bark canoes up river and then
paddled down in and around the
00:15:14.78\00:15:18.21
trees and houses in the raging
flood waters searching for
00:15:18.25\00:15:21.92
survivors, plucking them from
the water and helping them into
00:15:21.95\00:15:25.95
their canoes. Then they would
deposit the rescued settlers on
00:15:25.99\00:15:30.83
the banks of the river. Then
they would pick up their canoes
00:15:30.86\00:15:36.87
and walk up river and do it
again and again until they had
00:15:36.90\00:15:41.70
rescued everyone they could find
all that could be rescued. For
00:15:41.74\00:15:51.71
three days in the great flood of
Gundagai Australia's deadliest
00:15:51.75\00:15:56.12
flood Yarri and Jacky Jacky
proved that their traditional
00:15:56.15\00:16:00.26
canoes were both stable and
maneuverable. The bark canoes
00:16:00.29\00:16:04.49
were also immune to the large
logs in the water because they
00:16:04.53\00:16:08.66
had such a shallow draft and
were made of flexible material.
00:16:08.70\00:16:14.70
Their heroism and compassion
saved almost a third of the
00:16:14.74\00:16:22.04
township. Yarri and Jacky Jacky
were given an engraved brass
00:16:22.08\00:16:27.05
breast plate each and then
they were quietly forgotten. And
00:16:27.08\00:16:35.06
that's probably why most people
have never heard this story
00:16:35.09\00:16:38.86
before. So the Dog on the
Tuckerbox became the much more
00:16:38.89\00:16:45.30
important story for the town of
Gundagai. In fact, the way that
00:16:45.33\00:16:50.94
Yarri and Jacky Jacky were
forgotten and the struggle to
00:16:50.97\00:16:54.61
remember them are as much a part
of the story as their heroism in
00:16:54.64\00:16:58.98
June 1852. Over the years some
of the descendants of people
00:16:59.01\00:17:04.62
saved by the two heroes helped
to erect some plaques to the
00:17:04.65\00:17:08.79
rescuers and eventually a few
people began to be interested in
00:17:08.82\00:17:13.26
the story. In 2006, a poet and
songwriter, John Warner, heard
00:17:13.29\00:17:19.80
the story and wrote a ballad
called Yarri of the Wiradjuri.
00:17:19.83\00:17:23.87
In the ballad, the people
say to Yarri after the rescue:
00:17:23.91\00:17:27.81
But when Yarri rejects
their money, the people say:
00:17:33.21\00:17:37.42
And Yarri responds:
00:17:42.96\00:17:44.29
At the end of the ballad, the
people reflect in these words:
00:17:55.50\00:17:59.67
The local aboriginal people
applied to have Yarri and Jacky
00:18:22.06\00:18:26.13
Jacky honored posthumously with
bravery awards and in 2017 a
00:18:26.17\00:18:32.37
magnificent sculpture by
renowned Melbourne artist
00:18:32.41\00:18:37.38
Garrian Pullen was unveiled in
the main street of Gundagai. The
00:18:37.41\00:18:42.62
sculpture shows Yarri and Jacky
Jacky and their canoe and these
00:18:42.65\00:18:46.86
interpretive panels alongside
the sculpture tell the story of
00:18:46.89\00:18:50.19
the great flood of 1852 and
the heroic actions of these two
00:18:50.23\00:18:56.26
brave and skillful men. And in
2018 Yarri and Jacky Jacky were
00:18:56.30\00:19:02.87
granted their bravery awards
more than a century and a half
00:19:03.10\00:19:07.28
after their courageous
and compassionate deeds.
00:19:07.31\00:19:09.34
Awarded the bravery medal the
like Mr. James Yarri McDonald
00:19:09.38\00:19:14.42
and Mr. John Jacky
Jacky Moley to be accepted by
00:19:14.45\00:19:18.15
Miss Sonya Parker
and Miss Rosalyn Bells.
00:19:18.19\00:19:25.29
Although most people have never
heard of it, the great flood of
00:19:25.33\00:19:31.87
Gundagai was one of the worst
natural disasters to ever hit
00:19:31.90\00:19:36.30
Australia. Yet it illustrates
a much bigger disaster, the
00:19:36.34\00:19:40.71
biggest disaster to ever hit our
world. Just like the people of
00:19:40.74\00:19:47.02
the Wiradjuri had warned the
first European settlers not to
00:19:47.05\00:19:51.65
build on the river flats so
too one who was older and wiser
00:19:51.69\00:19:56.19
warned our first parents against
leaving God's protection through
00:19:56.22\00:20:00.93
disobedience. That's what
the story of Adam and Eve is all
00:20:00.96\00:20:05.10
about. The Lord said this to
them in Genesis chapter 2 and
00:20:05.13\00:20:11.07
verse 17:
00:20:11.11\00:20:12.71
By the way, the Bible doesn't
say that the fruit was an apple.
00:20:22.32\00:20:25.82
We actually don't know what the
fruit was. But we do know that
00:20:25.85\00:20:30.93
God set this up as a symbolic
test as tangible evidence for
00:20:30.96\00:20:35.36
Adam and Eve that they always
had free choice and that they
00:20:35.40\00:20:39.60
could choose to either stay
in the safety of God's care or
00:20:39.63\00:20:43.04
choose to leave God and his
protection. Faced with God's
00:20:43.07\00:20:49.21
command not to eat of the
fruit of the tree, Adam and Eve
00:20:49.24\00:20:52.85
thought they knew better and
so by not listening to God they
00:20:52.88\00:20:57.35
brought disaster to the world.
They opened the flood gates of
00:20:57.39\00:21:01.99
sin that raged into the world.
And sin always brings death
00:21:02.02\00:21:07.30
because sin separates us from
God, the source of life. That's
00:21:07.33\00:21:12.53
why the Bible says this in
Romans chapter 6 and verse 23:
00:21:12.57\00:21:17.27
Countless millions have perished
in the flood of sin that came
00:21:20.88\00:21:26.41
into the world. Like the victims
of the great flood of Gundagai
00:21:26.45\00:21:30.29
who tried in vain to cling onto
their rooves and onto trees and
00:21:30.32\00:21:33.86
floating branches. Millions have
tried to cling onto things like
00:21:33.89\00:21:38.39
material possessions, fame and
fortune in order to avoid the
00:21:38.43\00:21:43.26
results of sin, but there's no
escape. The waters of death have
00:21:43.30\00:21:48.70
carried them away. And
then when we least expected it
00:21:48.74\00:21:54.08
someone appeared to save us.
The last people that the early
00:21:54.11\00:21:59.71
settlers of Gundagai would have
expected that they would need
00:21:59.75\00:22:03.25
were Yarri, Jacky Jacky and
the Wiradjuri friends. After all
00:22:03.28\00:22:08.56
they thought they didn't need
them. In the same way, to the
00:22:08.59\00:22:14.00
world, Jesus was the unlikeliest
Savior. He was the one who
00:22:14.03\00:22:18.53
owned the world, but the
world had rejected his claim and
00:22:18.57\00:22:22.44
rejected him. In fact, Jesus
was treated as the worst of
00:22:22.47\00:22:28.18
criminals, judged as worthy of
death and tortured and executed
00:22:28.21\00:22:32.11
in the cruelest possible ways.
He was considered unworthy of
00:22:32.15\00:22:38.22
our respect. Why would Jesus
come to rescue the world. After
00:22:38.25\00:22:43.22
all we had rejected him and
turned our backs on him, but
00:22:43.26\00:22:47.50
still he came because of his
compassion and love for us. By
00:22:47.53\00:22:52.63
accepting the guilt of the world
upon himself at the cross, he
00:22:52.67\00:22:56.54
stopped sin at its source. By
rising from the dead he overcame
00:22:56.57\00:23:01.28
it forever and then he offered
salvation and eternal life to
00:23:01.31\00:23:07.82
everyone who would accept his
gift. You'd think that now all
00:23:07.85\00:23:14.72
would be well for people
everywhere, but you see, there
00:23:14.76\00:23:18.06
was a problem. Just like
we forgot about the heroes
00:23:18.09\00:23:21.30
Yarri and Jacky Jacky,
00:23:21.33\00:23:23.77
so too, the world has
forgotten about Jesus. Not only
00:23:23.80\00:23:29.24
has the world forgotten
about Jesus but many don't even
00:23:29.27\00:23:34.28
believe that the story of his
heroic rescue at the cross is
00:23:34.31\00:23:37.65
true and they don't believe that
he's coming back again to finish
00:23:37.68\00:23:42.25
what he started. Instead people
everywhere spend their days
00:23:42.28\00:23:47.66
their energy and their money on
things that are nowhere near as
00:23:47.69\00:23:52.79
important as entering into and
sharing the story of Jesus. We
00:23:52.83\00:23:57.27
spend our lives fiddling around
the Dog on the Tuckerbox while
00:23:57.30\00:24:02.14
all the time there's a much more
important story to be told. It's
00:24:02.17\00:24:07.74
the greatest story of courage,
compassion and hope. It's a
00:24:07.78\00:24:11.81
story that says that the hand of
God is still extended to us in
00:24:11.85\00:24:16.85
the person of Jesus Christ and
that if we will just believe and
00:24:16.89\00:24:20.89
take his hand we will be saved.
You can be part of the greatest
00:24:20.92\00:24:27.00
rescue ever. Eventually the
people of Gundagai remembered
00:24:27.03\00:24:34.50
what Yarri and Jacky Jacky had
done to save them. Eventually
00:24:34.54\00:24:38.71
they built a monument to their
heroism so that they would never
00:24:38.74\00:24:42.51
be forgotten again. I don't know
what kind of challenges you're
00:24:42.54\00:24:48.42
facing right now but I know
this You don't have to face them
00:24:48.45\00:24:52.72
alone. There may be things
that keep you awake at night and
00:24:52.75\00:24:56.89
stress you during the day. You
may feel that you're about to be
00:24:56.93\00:25:00.93
engulfed and swept away. But
it doesn't have to be that way.
00:25:00.96\00:25:04.83
There's a way out. There is a
rescuer, Jesus, the one you may
00:25:04.87\00:25:11.17
never have known about or have
ignored or forgotten. Or perhaps
00:25:11.21\00:25:15.44
even rejected all your life.
He's extending his hand to you
00:25:15.48\00:25:19.55
inviting you to accept it. He's
offering us safety and security.
00:25:19.58\00:25:25.69
He's offering true inner peace
and happiness. All you have to
00:25:25.72\00:25:30.43
do is reach out and say yes and
take hold of his mighty hand.
00:25:30.46\00:25:36.03
Recognize that in the flood
waters of life you cannot do it
00:25:36.06\00:25:40.30
alone. Recognize that you need
help and invite Jesus into your
00:25:40.34\00:25:44.64
life. He will build you up and
strengthen you and grow you into
00:25:44.67\00:25:49.18
the person you will always meant
to be. So if you'd like to reach
00:25:49.21\00:25:54.45
out and take the hand of Jesus,
if you want true inner peace and
00:25:54.48\00:25:58.25
happiness, if you want eternal
life, then I'd like to recommend
00:25:58.29\00:26:02.52
the free gift we have for all
our Incredible Journey viewers
00:26:02.56\00:26:06.96
today. It's the small book,
The One and Only. This book will
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take you just 20 minutes to read
but it could change your life
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forever. This book is our gift
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I guarantee there are no costs
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have a copy too. So make
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opportunity to receive the
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Phone or text us at:
0436333555 in Australia or
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Don't delay. Call or text us now
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If you've enjoyed today's
journey to Gundagai and the
00:27:20.14\00:27:24.57
story of Australia's deadliest
flood along with our reflections
00:27:24.61\00:27:28.51
on the greatest rescue of all
time, then be sure to join us
00:27:28.54\00:27:32.45
again next week when we will
share another of life's journeys
00:27:32.48\00:27:36.28
together. Until then may God the
great rescuer keep you safe and
00:27:36.32\00:27:41.96
give you peace. Let's pray:
Dear Heavenly Father, thank you
00:27:41.99\00:27:47.30
for the bravery of Yarri and
Jacky Jacky and their commitment
00:27:47.33\00:27:51.37
to rescuing all those people.
Their story reminds us of the
00:27:51.40\00:27:55.64
greatest rescue, your offer
to rescue us from the challenges
00:27:55.67\00:27:59.51
of life and from the sin and
guilt that often seem about to
00:27:59.54\00:28:03.01
engulf us and sweep us away.
Please grant us forgiveness,
00:28:03.04\00:28:07.08
peace and happiness and eternal
life. We ask this in Jesus' name
00:28:07.12\00:28:12.92
Amen ¤ ¤
00:28:12.95\00:28:25.07