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Magazine article February 1987 Written by Richard Gordon Cover Photo: Rob Tucker. All other photographs by Richard Gordon Reproduced with permission from METRO Magazine
Subject to copyright in its entirety. BARRIER GRIEF
After 20 minutes of ear-crushing roar from two engines just a few metres from our heads, the silence on the ground at the Claris airstrip is just as deafening. A faint breeze rustles the grasses and flax choking the swamp around the green airstrip, but otherwise there is no sound. We stand in the sunny silence trying to gain our bearings while the pilot opens the rear hatches. There is nothing to be seen except a small building used as an office by the airline and a few empty cars in the gravel car park. As well as six adults and their packs, suitcases and boxes of supplies, the plane has been carrying a heavy load of goods for the island's shop and hostels, so we are asked to help unload the heavy damp cold boxes of frozen chicken and ice-cream. We stack them in the shade of the office building and then sit on a log to watch the plane load up again with a Barrier family and their possessions heading for the mainland. Already we can feel ourselves slowing down in the emptiness. We are waiting for a lift to Medlands Beach but feel after being on the ground for only half an hour that we could wait all day. Time doesn't seem to matter any more. Reproduced with permission
from METRO Magazine - Subject to copyright in its entirety. |
