by Michael Menara

You come from a rural town in Queensland called Esk; what was it like growing up in a small country town?
Mourne: Well, it was nice. We had llamas and cows around, and deer as well. We used to check the rabbit traps. Our mother always sent us out to check the rabbit traps. She had the men visitors. We weren’t allowed to stay inside; men have sensitive eyes, she said.
Eve: We had to weave blinds.
Mourne: We had to make blinds, so the sun wouldn’t come in, she said.
Eve: Because the men had sensitive eyes to sunlight.
Mourne: We never got to see their sensitive eyes.
Eve: No.
Mourne: The countryside was nice though. It’s nice around Esk, we've got nice trees, and the animals were nice. We had kangaroos in the back yard sometimes; we used to feed them the left-over porridge that we cooked the night before.
Eve: There's one street of shops.
Mourne: One street of shops. On both sides!
Eve: We had to leave school, didn't we?
Mourne: Yes, we left school when we were in grade 5 and 6. I was in grade 6, and our mother told us that we had to go and do the work around the house.
Eve: Mourne had to go and work in the egg farm.
Mourne: I worked at an egg farm.

What was it like working at the egg farm?
Mourne: It was nice. I didn't break the eggs very often. Sometimes it smelt bad if you broke eggs, and your shoes would stink. Our mother would make me leave the shoes outside the door.

It almost sounds like you had a tomboyish youth as girls?
Eve: We had to wear skirts.
Mourne: We had to wear skirts, yes. We weren't allowed to wear slacks. We still don't wear slacks. Slacks are for men only.

What are the main tourist attractions of Esk?
Eve: The deer farm.
Mourne: Yes, the deer farm.
Eve: The ostrich farm.
Mourne: The ostrich farm. There's a nice ostrich farm, and the symbol of Esk is a deer. Our neighbour, Mrs. Spinx, has a llama. We feed it the scraps. That's nice. When we pat him he spits.
Eve: There’s a historical walk. There’s the dam, but it's nearly empty.
Mourne: Yes, the dam's always empty. I think the llama's been sucking at it.

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