Ngan Girra is an indigenous festival held each year at Mungabareena Reserve located on a horseshoe bend in Murray River at Albury on the Victoria/NSW border. It is easy to see how this would have been a popular spot for gatherings and celebrations of the local Wiradjuri. The bend of the river defines a circular area about 500m across. At this point the Murray is swift and provides an excellent natural semi-circular moat.

It is run by Koories primarily for the benefit of the local Koorie community but it is open to all and an excellent opportunity to immerse yourself in contemporary Aboriginal culture as well as for the Koorie community to focus on the preservation of their heritage.

There was a wide range of stalls selling tucker, some indigenous, some not. The Green Man found the crocodile burger an interesting experience. It has been described as a cross between chicken and pork which turned out to be a fairly accurate description. It has the look of chicken but it has a lot more texture to the flesh, as you would expect from a larger animal. It has to be said, of course, that the word indigenous has been used fairly loosely in this instance since the nearest live crocodile not in a zoo is approximately 2,000 kms away. But then the term "burger" was used pretty loosely too. It was essentially a large chuck of crocodile between two slices of white bread.

As well as food there yidaki making and playing. (That's a didgeridoo to those of you ignorant of Wiradjuri.) Yidaki were not traditionally made in this area, they are a central Australian instrument however native traders introduced them and over the years they became incorporated into the culture of the Koories. There were many yadaki to be found and a number of eager students for the yidaki master class that was being conducted under the shade of a large Murray River Red Gum by one of the dance troup that had come down from Arnhem Land in Northern Territory.

It is a simple instrument and easy to play badly but to master it is a significant challenge as the students attempting to follow along were discovering.

The Green Man hypothesised that his musical ability on the yidaki would probably be equivalent to his musical ability on western instruments and accordingly did everyone a favour by not even attempting to play one.

There was also an area where flint knapping was being taught and this was much more to The Green Mans inclination however it never seemed to be happening at a convenient time. Never mind, next festival perhaps.

If this had been organised whites the place would have been marked out and stall holders would have been organised into where they were supposed to go and what facilities they had etc. Here everyone seemed to arrive when they felt like it, set up where they wanted to and help themselves to whatever facilities they could lay their hands upon. There was no stress, no tempers, everything seemed to get set up and the whole thing ran at least as smoothly as a more "organised" event. This lack of angst was perhaps the most striking cultural difference. Even though there was a large number of people in attendance the whole event had a languid relaxed feel, everyone had time to stop for a chat. It makes such a pleasant change from existing in a highly organised society that is bristling with rules and expectations.