DURING THE LONG winter of 2020, and due to fortunate happenstance, I found myself locked down in a somewhat ramshackle cottage in the forest in the Otways off the Shipwreck Coast of south-­west Victoria: leaky roof, windows that wouldn’t shut, red-­gum wood fires, beanies, long johns, scarfs and old jumpers for warmth all the hours of the day and night. 

The tin-­roofed, mudbrick and timber house looks down through a valley to the ocean 500 metres away. This is Gadubanud King Parrot country, a substantial but neglected part of Victoria. I’d never heard of the word ‘Gadubanud’ until moving down here, was not familiar with the people or the land name. Ridiculous considering that the Otways host one of this state’s great national parks. It is also the wettest part of the state. I tallied rainfall figures daily as part of my new regime: solar power, tank water, slightly frustrating wi-­fi and minimal phone coverage. After living in marvellous (slightly smug) Melbourne for over fifty years, my time was up. This was a long-­desired move.