Going Bush didging is indescribably fun and rewarding. The creative process of didgeridoo begins. Aside from going home with new hollow logs, it is a creative reset and a top up in a deeper sense. Time in the bush on walkabout I get to reflect on life, what has been and the next phase ahead on return. This time out, or time inward, is the go between. Switching off from worldly drivers, with time around a fire, the simple rhythms of sun rising and setting, and the simplicity of doing, changes everything. The challenges at home and in the world start to solve themselves. Being active on the search for another primo hollow log, food tastes better. Sitting on the dusty earth, back against a tree in the dappled light of leaves and sun, reminds me I am part of it all. Night time under the stars is sweet and sleep is well earned. Exhaustion and skin dry from a days sweat and dirt feels normal, I drift into my dreaming. Ants crawl over me and I don’t care. Each day I feel more healthy and alive. Out here I am hunter and take what I seek, with gratitude and presence. Connection with the land grows. I know I will give back! The spirit of the tree and I aligned in this act of apparent destruction, and yet in reality, a giving from the earth, tree and elements. I’ve seen these cycles over and over and over again, and trust the process, trust it all. Even in a hollow tree cut and cured and still waiting 26 years later to be made, there is only a deepening of wonder , trust and knowing in the gifts that the bush, and this tree is giving, and yet to give as a Yidaki.
You can ask Heartland to custom make your didgeridoo, and we will go looking specifically for your didg and provide footage from when it was found, right through to the process of it being completed. This will increase the cost a little, and the time wait may be a chunk longer but as the saying goes, the wait will be well worth it. From experience, this will significantly increase the connection you have with your didgeridoo. The purpose, spirit, or energetic you seek instilled in your didgeridoo, comes from the energetic match in the tree we seek, and the way we approach the making and the art if desired, and you get to experience that whole process. This conscious attention from us both, builds on its qualities and gifts and thus its power or presence. With this option, you are not physically right there with me, but via pics, vids and phone chats and the reflecting that it generates, it all gets in and it feels like we are together while it evolves. Refer to the Custom Didgeridoo page for more information,
This second option, gives you the opportunity to come bush over a given weekend and find your own didgeridoo. We clarify together prior, exactly what you are looking for and we specifically seek that out. In this option you are seeking the experience of finding your own didgeridoo and are happy to do most of the making side of things back home, in your own time. You will experience the search, the find, the connecting in, as well as the basic prep in debarking, shaping the inside and some outside work. This will all come with many stories shared of the journey of didgeridoo playing and making. My preference is taking one person at a time and maximum 2 or 3. This is a quality experience that treats what you learn, as much as what you find, as valuable. The cost options for this weekend experience range from $1800 >$3000 depending upon the didg you seek. A good didgeridoo that Heartland finds, completed is worth $1500- $3000+. You will do much of the work but we will be giving you an experience and knowledge that is decades in the making and worth double the value of the didgeridoo plus. This pricing is low as to real worth. This weekend is about you, even though some Heartland focused didg finding occurs while we search for yours as a by product. That said taking someone new to this journey, totally changes everything about what we do over the weekend. Where we go and how we do it is very different and there is a larger cost to us to make this service available, than you would imagine. In this option it is your responsibility to meet us at given location that will generally be half to one days drive from the coast.
This is the complete immersion, connecting to land, self and purpose, as guiding principles to finding and making two didgeridoos one extra special and one a smaller didgeridoo. Amidst the doing and the adventure, we will take the time to explore the conscious and the deeper dreaming elements of didgeridoo playing and making, as connected to land, culture, and connection. Didgeridoo is an instrument of enjoyment and power, and we will get to play with both aspects, such that your connection to your purpose and your true self is strengthened. This is a 5- 6 day journey, travelling to and fro the coast with 4 days being in the bush. It includes also 6 -part to full days, once back at the didg shed working on your instruments. These 6 days can be spread over weeks or month’s in 1 or 2 days blocks. This process has a time commitment over 3- 6 month’s that can be structured to suit you. The cost of this experience is determined by what you seek and how you structure the making work and what you are trying to achieve. We can help you fulfil a dream that includes completing one or more didgeridoo’s of high end quality that are collectors items. To give you a basic idea as to the cost of this experience and to make two didgeridoos as detailed above is $3800 for 2 didgs, $2500 for the bush experience and $200 per day x 6 days attending shed & includes materials needed and use of tools= $1200, Total $7500. There is a maximum of 2 people included on this trip. This can be paid for over time in steps that reflect the outcome.