The original CANC
Cycle Against the Nuclear Cycle (CANC) was primarily an anti nuclear protest
CANC had three other objectives:
- to raise awareness about Jabiluka and the Australian Nuclear industry as
a whole;
- raise money for the Stop Jabiluka campaign;
- to visit sites relevant to the nuclear cycle;
- to meet with local aboriginal communities and environmental groups and
listen to their experiences of life with the nuclear cycle.
Cycle
Against the Nuclear Cycle left from head office of North Ltd in Melbourne
with about 15 cyclists on the 20th of June 1998. We were accompanied for
the day, by many others cyclists who were unable to take time off to join
the trip. From Melbourne we headed west through rural Victoria visiting
small towns and running information stalls.
For many of us, CANC was the first chance to experience different aspects
of the Australian landscape, culture and people. For me it helped me fully
understand the significance of the anti nuclear fight and of reconciliation
issues.
As we travelled through Victoria and the eastern parts of South Australia
, the Uniting Church supported our campaign by allowing us to stay in their
local church halls and the ministers listened to our stories and told us
their perspectives on the campaign.
In
South Australia we visited Camp Coorong, an aboriginal community/cultural
centre and met with Ngarrindjeri people who told us about their native
title claims and about reconciliation. We went to the site of the Wild
Dog Hill uranium mine (which supplied the uranium for the British nuclear
tests in the fifties) and witnessed the mining company's disappointing
idea of cleaning up after itself. In Adelaide we spent a week running information
stalls and did a puppet show about the construction of the Jabiluka mine.
We stayed with a group of people while we were in Adelaide who were heavily
involved in environmental issues and alternative transport activism.
Five more cyclists joined CANC while we were in Adelaide and five members
of the Cycle took a four wheel drive to see the Honeymoon "in-situ leaching"
Uranium mine and the site of the old Radium Hill mine.
We left Adelaide with a large group of cyclists who rode with us for
about half of that days journey.
In Port Augusta we stayed with Mary a woman who had campaigned against
Western Mining's Olympic Dam uranium mine who put all 18 of us up in her
tiny little 2 bedroom flat and spoke to members of the local aboriginal
community at the NADOC week rally.
Travelling up the Stuart Highway we talked with many people: travellers;
truckies and locals, some of whom agreed with what we were doing and some
who didn't. At Pimba (a road house near Woomera) we talked with a few workers
from Olympic Dam and heard their perspectives on the nuclear cycle. Some
of the truckies we talked to had worked on the construction of the Ranger
Uranium Mine in Kakadu all of which added to our understanding of the issue.
On our first day in the desert, about 20 km from Pimba the second support
vehicle (that had been with us from Adelaide and carried all our possessions)
broke down so we had to reduce our luggage and become more independent
as cyclists.
Many people we met thought our efforts were futile (especially the truckies)
but supported our process if not our objectives. The conversations we had
with the people we met were not always easy or positive but they were invaluable
for clarifying our positions and helping us understand the multiplicity
of views held by the people we spoke to.
The
day before we arrived in Coober Pedy it rained heavily and all through
the night almost all of the Cyclists got very, very wet but we all survived.
In Coober Pedy we met with the local anti nuclear activists who were concerned
about the proposal for radio active waste dump and stayed in the mining
association hall which added a nice sense of irony to our day.
The day we left Coober Pede our first support vehicle that carried our
ALL food broke down (Hungry Day 1) but was fixed well enough to make it
the rest of the way and all the way back to Melbourne and then back to
Sydney.
After the rain the desert became lush and green, not as I had imagined.
It rained on and off for the next couple of days, occasionally very heavily.
At one point the desert looked like a lake and all roads except the Stuart
Highway were closed.
At Marla we stayed with Yammi Lester an Aboriginal Land Rights activist
and who had been blinded by the first British Atomic Bomb tests at Emu
Crossing in 1950. He told us of his experience of the tests and of how
he had become sick and then blind shortly after.
We camped by the Highway as we rode up through the desert and enjoyed
the magnificent stars and camping out and the beauty of the landscape as
we passed at a human speed, a landscape that is missed in a car.
In Alice Springs we were billeted by members of the Arid Lands Environment
Centre and spent a morning at Yipirinya, an Aboriginal School talking with
the kids about life in Alice and about their thoughts on uranium mining
and land rights. We also had a chance to carry out some much needed maintenance
on our bikes and to prepare some foods for the next part of our journey.
We also ran info stalls in the centre of Alice Springs every day. As with
leaving Melbourne and Adelaide we left Alice with a large group of people
for the first part of the day.
The trip from Alice to Tenant Creek was mostly cycling and talking
and enjoying the landscape. Once a fortnight the bus to Jabiluka went passed
and dropped off food. The brought us the few chances we had to see friends
as they headed up to Jabiluka. If the buses heading home from Jabiluka
passed at the right time of day we got to hear stories about the Jabiluka
camp and the actions at the actual mine and to hear how everyone at camp
was waiting for us.
The closer we got to our destination the more polarized peoples opinions
were, which often made our discussions very challenging. Also the longer
we rode along the Stuart Highway the greater our renown. Everyone on the
highway knew who we were and what we were doing.
After Tenant Creek the weather became hot and we were forced to split
our ride into early morning and late afternoon sessions with a four or
five hour break in the middle of the day where we talked, prepared the
evenings meal and discussed the what was happening up at the blockade.
Our fitness had improved such that we were able to pick up rest days every
few days and thus had rest days at the Devils Marbles, Mataranka hot springs
and at Katherine Gorge.
We
arrived at Jabiluka on the morning of the 12 of August 1998 to a warm welcome
from members of the Mirrar clan and all of the blockaders having travelled
for 53 days, talked with countless people, raised $14,000 for the Stop
Jabiluka Campaign and gained a greater appreciation for our country and
for all the people who live in it.