For many parents the school holidays are finally over, but for the kids in Brewarrina these holidays are unfortunately over.

The last two weeks in Brewarrina have been packed with so much fun for the entire community including a rare opportunity to get on the ice at a local rink.

The first week of the July school holidays is a very important time for Indigenous people as this is their NAIDOC Week.

This starts with the annual march up the main street of Brewarrina which started at the Brewarrina Local Aboriginal Land council and up the main street and making their way the Community Hall for all sorts of fun activities. This year many services collaborated to put on a great event all on the one day. [Taking NAIDOC to the streets in Bre]

The Brewarrina Shire Council's popularity skyrocketed when they provided Stars on Ice for the whole week.

This was a very magical experience for all and was the first-time ice skating for many of the people who came throughout the week. On average there were around 600 people coming through the gates daily from Brewarrina and all surrounding towns.

Hazel teaching her brother Noah how to skate.

Stars on Ice is run by Sean Carlow who is a very successful competitive skater. Sean won a bronze medal in the 2003 Merano Cup and was a competitor in the 2003 Four Continents Championships along with many other accolades.

“We take mobile rinks all around the state, but this is the furthest we’ve ever come inland,” said Mr Carlow.

Who would have ever thought that you would drive into Brewarrina and see an outdoor ice-skating rink in the middle of town. The effort this would have taken is astonishing.

“The logistics are considerable, because we have to bring up generators and pipes, which came up on two semi-trailers and a tilt tray truck," said Sean.

The last week of the school holidays was filled with some fun activities and craft with the finale being on Friday with Blackfit Fitness.

Blackfit is an Indigenous-run organisation that focuses on fitness, health and wellbeing.

Joshua 'Thurston' Toole is the founder who has community ties to Bourke after spending most of his younger life there, but his family are originally from Coonamble (Gamilaraay country).

He finished up his weeklong trip around our region with a day in Brewarrina.

Josh is passionate about running cultural and fitness programs during the school holidays in outback communities and has done this for 6 years now.

“This is my first youth activity in Brewarrina as I’m usually in Bourke. It was good to come out here, I loved it. I’ve been talking to David Kirby for a while now about coming out here. I’d love to come back out because I love the kids out here,” says Josh.

Back row: Charles Hardy, Joe Shillingsworth, William Peters, James Shillingsworth, Deaken Boney Jnr and Kiah French

Middle row: Nyleigh Frail, Josh Thurston, Benson Barker, Derek Eyre, Brandon Hardy, Charlie Sue Shillingsworth, Taloulah Moore, Phoenix Moore and Lewis Barker

Front: Sharee Morris 

Joshua’s trip this time started in Dubbo on Tuesday 11 July, Gulargambone on Wednesday 12, Coonamble on Thursday 13, where he spoke about cultural dancing on the riverbank, and Brewarrina Friday. Each holidays the trips and places will change.

Josh’s main focus and outcome is to teach kids about fitness and eating healthy to build them up and help them into the future.

“Health for me is everything, at the end of the day it’s all we have – so why not invest and cherish that," he said.

"Fitness and physical activity have helped me through some dark times that have shaped who I am as a person. I also hold tight to a healthy lifestyle as I have witnessed how devastating life can be when we walk away from it – especially in my family and communities growing up.”

Below: Phoenix, Kiah and Sheree make sausage rolls for all the people at the Youth Centre during the holidays.