Our principal producer and Soundtrails founder Hamish Sewell is currently out in Miles. Without giving too much away Hamish writes:
Sometimes, just sometimes, when building a Soundtrail, the central storyteller drops into place and everything else fits around them. The unusual story of 87 year old Merlene Coates-Freeman is one such agent within the mix of the up-and-coming Miles Soundtrail.
A natural storyteller, Merlene’s love for the small west Queensland town began with a boating accident on local Dogwood Creek in 1940. At six years old, Merlene found her way into the arms of someone who saved her. But her 23 year old mother, Daphne Duffel, wasn’t so lucky.
Estranged from her father, Merlene was raised by her grand aunt Lily Duffel. “Oh she was tickled pink,” Merlene says with great pragmatism and a love for her aunt who stuck by her. “She only had me, she didn’t have children. I was her daughter, her granddaughter.
I was poor little Merlene with no mummy and no daddy. The whole town spoiled me.
And so the journey of discovery continues and we will let you know when the Miles Soundtrail is available for download and experience.