Description
Cousins, Ron Heinemann and Ron Gardiner, talk separately about their memories of growing up on the Paroo River. Both men owned properties along the river and were fishers. Ron Heinemann was an especially keen fisher and has an intimate knowledge of the changes that the system has undergone.
First interview with Ron Heinemann, in three parts.
Ron Heinemann was born in 1922, and grew up on a sheep property in Springvale, west of Eulo, on the Paroo River. Ron’s parents moved to the area in the 1920s. He was taught to fish by his mother and cousins’ family.
Ron Heinemann talks about: 1942 and 1964 floods; Aboriginal knowledge of vegetation and floods; a black flood in 1935 which killed fish in the local water holes; how fish spawn before they die (before a flood); kangaroo and emu shooting; the 'diaries of Caiwarro Currawinyahere', written 1860-1950s, from a sheep and cattle property; siltation in Warrego River; restocking Warrego River with Murray Cod fingerlings in 1985; artesian water and basin; introduction of European Carp 1950s (originally brought to clean irrigation channels); bird life.
Mentions 'grunter' fish, however species unspecified. Also mention of: Cane grass, Mitchell grass, Flinders grass, Yapunyah tree, Hyacinth, Duck weed, Didgee tree, Lucerne.
Second interview with Ron Gardiner, in two parts.
Ron Gardiner, the cousin of Ron Heinemann, was born in 1918 in Cunnamulla. Ron learned to swim in the Paroo River. In 1980 Ron moved from Paroo to Clifton, on the Condamine River.
Ron Gardiner talks about: history of the Eulo bridge, built in 1928; history of families and people in the area; abundance of Yellowbelly fish at Caiwarro; black flood at Five Mile hole; abundance of crayfish yabby and shrimp post-flood; saving sheep stock; two times the Paroo River reached the Darling; how vegetation requires rain to survive after a flood to remove silt; salty and freshwater bores; mud springs in Eulo; introduction of European Carp; concerns about irrigation; the relationship between the Warrego and Paroo Rivers.