| I am Marek Rygielski from Brisbane, member of the Association of the Polish Community in Queensland. 29 years ago, when I was three year old, I climbed Mt Kosciuszko for the first time. Strictly saying I wasn’t exactly climbing. It was my dad who was climbing with me in the sling all the way from Charlotte Pass and back. All I remember is that it was a long way on the sunny, spring day and we did not meet anybody at all. It was a great relieve when I was allowed to use my own feet at the summit of Australia and claim the ascent.
Seventeen years later, in company of former deputy Prime Minister Tim Fisher and some other dignitaries as well as media and Olympians paraplegics, upon my father’s request, I was carrying the Polish flag to the top of Mt Kosciuszko. There, it emphasised the link this mountain has with Paul Edmund Strzelecki and the Polish community. The flag was vastly used as a photographic element by a number of participants of Tumbatrek.
On another occasion, under parental supervision, I extended my knowledge of the Snowy Mountains by undertaking a small expedition to Mt Jagungal – the legendary mountain located in the rarely visited, northern part of the highest Australian range, which Strzelecki surely had seen from both Mt Townsend and Mt Kosciuszko.
To supplement my interests in Paul Edmund Strzelecki’s achievements and again being supervised, I climbed Strzelecki’s Peaks on Flinders Island. On the same day my father invited me to a farmer living on the island. There we went to a barn where a small plane was waiting for us. The farmer turned into a pilot and flew us above rocky crags of Strzelecki’s Peaks, arising vertically from the Tasman Sea.
Today I will have an opportunity to add to my links with Strzelecki’s traces in Australia another great experience. To fly together above Mt Kosciuszko with a representative of the native people who helped Strzelecki to find the highest mountain of this continent and even saved his life earlier, during exploration of the Blue Mountains.
I believe that Aborigenes and Poles, who never participated in any conflict against each other and never harmed each other may help together in protecting heritage of this mountain as close as possible to the Dreamtime.Our young generation would play an important role in it.
Marek Rygielski
PS. Explanation given by Janusz Rygielski about the historic photo. "Przesyłam zdjęcie Marka na szczycie Mt Kosciuszko w styczniu 2000. Miał wówczas 20 lat.
Na lewo od niego, w białej bluzie John Hockey, wówczas minister sportu, obecnie minister skarbu w gabinecie Abbotta. Pierwszy na prawo od Marka – Gary Nairn, wówczas poseł, później minister stanu d-s specjalnych. Opowiadał mi, że jego ojciec walczył razem z Polakami pod Tobrukiem.
Następny w prawo – Tim Fisher.Siedzą głównie paraolimpijczycy. Burmistrz Tumbarumby George Martin schował się."
Marek on Mt Kosciuszko in November 1983. From the archives of J. Rygielski |
Marek holding the Polish flag. From the archives of J. Rygielski |
Exactly the same flag displayed during K'Ozzie Fest 2012 in Moonbah. Photo Puls Polonii |
Marek with Ngarigo friends: Matthew & Evan at the Jindabyne Aero Club. Photo Puls Polonii |
Marek at Moonbah. Photo Puls Polonii |
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