Description

So this piece started when we were up in Cooktown on the Tiggy Puggenheim world tour around Australia. We noticed on the town jetty three or four boys leaning over with bits of fishing line dangling them in the water. We asked, ‘What are you doing?’ And they replied, ‘The town groper is here.’ ‘Yeah. What’s that?’ The boys told us, ‘It’s a big fish that’s been here for absolutely ever. Everybody knows him. He does this great thing – he’ll come up to the back of boats and you can just about pat him. What we’re trying to do is to get him to jump out of the water.’ Then all of a sudden this enormous big fish like a giant dark coloured goldfish came out of the water and we all screamed and jumped back. The kids pulled their ropes out of the way quickly and jumped back. We all got wet from the splash as this thing landed back into the water. So it was fortune telling fish of sorts. The villagers watched his activities to know how the day was going to turn out. Whether they we’re going to catch more fish on today or a different day. The villagers knew if the climate was going change because the fish was doing this and that. So he’s a legendary figure and he’s protected by everybody in the village.