A Tawny frogmouth, often mistaken for an owl. Mat: “They’re beautiful and so well camouflaged.”
Story by Julie Nance, photos and video: Mat van der Aa
Mat van der Aa swapped detonating explosives in the Air Force for life as an outdoor educator and guide. His ‘office’ is the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area, and his mission is to inspire teenagers to respect and love the bush as much as he does. The lower Mountains resident shares some of his favourite wildlife photos and videos, including his most memorable moment – a Superb Lyrebird mimicking other birds and dancing.
Mat immerses himself in nature every week and enjoys motivating young people to gain the physical and psychological benefits he does.
Mat was having a rough day when he chanced upon a lyrebird on Prince Henry Cliff walk in Katoomba. He had spotted lyrebirds in the bush plenty of times but this was the first time he saw one dance. The biggest bonus was being able to sit and watch its performance for 15 minutes.
“It actually moved me quite a lot,” Mat says. “I was a little bit emotional driving home and it was one of the coolest things I’ve ever witnessed. It was magical.”
Carol Probets, Blue Mountains birding guide of more than 30 years, explains what the lyrebird is doing in each of the videos:
Video 1: This is a typical stream of mimicry of other bird calls interspersed with the lyrebird’s own territorial song. Other bird calls include Pied Currawong, Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo, Laughing Kookaburra, Eastern Whipbird, Grey Shrike-thrush and Satin Bowerbird.
Video 2: Male lyrebirds generally display on a scratched-up mound of earth, but they also display on logs and in trees, as this bird is doing. Here, his tail is inverted over his body and spread wide. You can see the right lyrate feather is broken off with only a short stub remaining. A new feather will grow the next time the bird moults. The repeated clicking sound is part of the bird’s normal breeding display and may serve as an invitation to females.
Q and A with Mat
You are a 19-year veteran of both the Army and Air Force, the latter part working in explosive ordinance disposal. That sounds more nerve-racking than your current role.
I wanted to give back to society. Defence around the world has put a lot of explosives out there and I wanted to get rid of at least some of them. It didn’t end up agreeing with my body so I thought of another path and that’s what I’m doing now.
I help facilitate school camps and Duke of Edinburgh programs which involve a hike but at times a paddle too or just a paddle program.
It has an emphasis on service, volunteering, learning new skills and sport. It’s an adventurous journey which basically puts the students outside their comfort zone and builds resilience. I get to have fun and run around in the bush as well. For the school camps I run activities including confidence courses, kayaking, canoeing, bushwalking, abseiling, climbing, a bit of archery and an obstacle course.
Mat climbing in his spare time: “I grew up on a dairy farm in New Zealand. Since moving to the Blueys, I’ve developed a strong appreciation of the Australian bush.”
How important is connecting to nature for you?
It’s integral to good mental health. We’ve come a long way from sticks and stones and having to run our prey down but we didn’t evolve to live inside four walls.
I just know that previously dealing with depression and anxiety, if I’m out in nature it really helps. A Sydney Red Gum loves a good hug and it’s super nice when it’s a really hot day and the tree is quite cool. It’s the same if I’m in a kayak, canoe or on a stand-up board; you realise you are very small in the grand scheme of things. While my problems are very real, they don’t particularly matter a whole lot to everything else that’s going on. Being out in nature just gives you a bit of perspective every now and then.
“Some kind of cool caterpillar. He was just down below Martin’s Lookout where there’s a rock climbing crag, Slab World.”
Are students nervous in the bush?
I obviously do a brief on snakes before we start running around. All the usual things like stop and back away slowly. Snakes aren’t by nature aggressive and they’re not going to attack unless you step on them or they feel threatened or cornered. Normally though, they’ll go the other way quite quickly.
You definitely get a lot of squeals with spiders and that’s something we have to drum into students, that a spider is not an emergency. Don’t wake us up if there’s a spider in your tent.
Diamond python: “That was the second one I saw that morning. You respect their space and they won’t enter yours.”
What on earth is that? Mat: “Sawfly larvae. They love gum leaves.”
What do you like most about sharing your bush playground with students?
A lot of kids are book smart but don’t venture outside much. Some haven’t been exposed to the bush at all. At the start of a camp everything seems very unachievable to them. When we’ve gone up a hill, down into a saddle and back up and you’re sitting there looking back at the hill; it’s not particularly high by an adult’s standards but these kids look back in disbelief. And then there’s a little light in their eyes like ‘I just did that. I can do these things’. It’s pretty cool to watch the evolution of the thoughts in their minds and the looks on their faces.
The group I had last week, it was wonderful watching the growth from the first day to the fourth day of camp when they were leaving. I like being able to impart a little bit of love and curiosity about the environment, how to have minimal impact and all the different animals we come across.
This story has been produced as part of a Bioregional Collaboration for Planetary Health and is supported by the Disaster Risk Reduction Fund (DRRF). The DRRF is jointly funded by the Australian and New South Wales governments.
How can we engage our hearing to connect more deeply to nature around us? Join us at the Planetary Health Wellness Weekend on 28 February and 1st March to hear from one of the most inspiring and engaging presenters we’ve ever had at the Planetary Health Centre. Author and acoustic ecologist Andrew Skeoch will guide us into hearing the languages of nature. Learn how we can develop our auditory awareness, identify species by ear, recognise behaviours and repertoire, and find empathy with the voices of other beings. Andrew’s presentations are an immersive weaving of evocative recordings, fascinating spectrogram analysis and original ideas. You’ll hear the natural environment around you in a whole new way. Each morning at the Wellness Weekend Andrew will also lead Deep Listening Immersive Field Workshops demonstrating how to increase your sensitive auditory perceptions of the extraordinary natural world around us. Tickets available here (link in profile): https://events.humanitix.com/planetary-health-wellness-weekend
This event has been made possible because of the generous support of Greater Blue Mountains Rotary and the Katoomba and Upper Blue Mountains Bendigo Community Bank.
We are looking forward to this (Em)power(ing) tools presentation being delivered by Robyn Catchlove, Sherlie McMillan, Suzie van Opdorp and Teja Brooks Pribac at our Planetary Health Day on Sat 28 Feb. It`s free but you need to register to attend here (link in profile): https://events.humanitix.com/planetary-health-wellness-weekend
This interactive presentation explores an unexpected but deeply empowering practice: using power tools. With the help of co-presenters and their favourite tools, the session demystifies DIY and shows how accessible practical skills really are. Beyond the satisfaction of building and repairing, working with power tools fosters confidence, patience, and problem-solving skills. It can also be financially empowering, reducing dependence on paid labour, and reinforces the belief that challenges—practical and personal alike—can be worked through with focus, persistence, and curiosity. This session invites participants to reconsider what empowerment can look like, and how hands-on making can translate into resilience in everyday life.
It`s one of many events during our Planetary Health Wellness Weekend at the Planetary Health Centre in Katoomba on 28 Feb and 1 March and has been organised in collaboration with Rotarians 4 Planetary Health and Greater Blue Mountains Rotary
Medicine and healthcare is changing. Join Dr Madhu Tamilarasan, a Lithgow based GP and sports medicine doctor on Sat 28 Feb at our Planetary Health Day and Wellness Weekend, for a conversation about Lifestyle Medicine. The tagline for her practice is "General practice done differently". The practice is encouraging physical activity in the community because research clearly shows that going from no exercise to just 10 minutes of physical activity per day is where the biggest health benefits come from. Any patient who attends an appointment by "active transport" - such as walking, running, cycling - instead of by motorised transport, receives a small discount on their consultation fee that day. Lifestyle medicine focuses on treating the root causes of disease rather than just managing symptoms. Register here to attend Dr Tamilarasan`s session to learn more about its benefits for individuals, community and globally (link in profile): https://events.humanitix.com/planetary-health-wellness-weekend
Places are booking out quickly for the inspiring talks and workshops at the Planetary Health Wellness Weekend in Katoomba on Sat 28 Feb and Sun 1 March. View the full program and register to attend here (link in profile): https://events.humanitix.com/planetary-health-wellness-weekend
Each morning, you have the chance to join Andrew Skeoch, renowned wildlife sound recordist and author of `Deep Listening to Nature`, for an immersive workshop and walk to hear the intricate conversations happening in the natural world around us.
There will also be: • nature journalling • mindfulness • creativity • (Em)power(ing) tools • Ikebana • Shared Reading • Tai Chi and Qigong • Chair Yoga • Mental Health First Aid • exercise, sleep and your health • how to share loss and grieving for and with animals • and a celebration of the many faith-based groups in the Blue Mountains focused on healing our land, healing ourselves.
A huge thank you to Greater Blue Mountains Rotary and Katoomba and Upper Blue Mountains Bendigo Community Bank for sponsoring this wonderful weekend.
We’d love you to join the Planetary Health Centre for an inspiring Planetary Health Wellness Weekend on Saturday 28 February and Sunday 1st March in Katoomba! We’ve collaborated with Rotarians 4 Planetary Health (part of Greater Blue Mountains Rotary) and the Blue Mountains Interfaith Group, to create a program focused on the many ways we can improve our physical, mental, spiritual and emotional health in a weekend of community and nature connection, talks, workshops, stalls and delicious food.
The weekend kicks off with our third Planetary Health Day on Saturday and finishes with an Interfaith Gathering on Sunday.
Each morning, you have the chance to join Andrew Skeoch, renowned wildlife sound recordist and author of `Deep Listening to Nature`, for an immersive workshop and walk to hear the intricate conversations happening in the natural world around us.
View the full program and register to attend here (link in profile):
• Deep Listening immersive field workshops • Mental Health First Aid • nature journalling • mindfulness • creativity • (Em)power(ing) tools • Ikebana • Shared Reading • Tai Chi and Qigong • Chair Yoga • exercise, sleep and your health • how to share loss and grieving for and with animals • and a celebration of the many faith-based groups in the Blue Mountains focused on healing our land, healing ourselves.
A huge thank you to Greater Blue Mountains Rotary and Katoomba and Upper Blue Mountains Bendigo Community Bank for sponsoring this wonderful weekend.
We had a thoroughly enjoyable final Skill Share Saturday for the year yesterday with Qigong, Fashion Upcycling, Seed Saving and Bushcare! We shared seeds from local gardens and harvested carrots, as well as Mizuna, Broad Bean, Daikon and Land Cress seeds from the Planetary Health garden. We then packaged up (and shared) our first Upper Mountains Seed Savers packs for our fledgling Seed Bank. In Bushcare it`s very exciting to see whole new areas of the Planetary Health Precinct open up as we remove invasive weeds. It`s been a year of great progress as we`ve restored habitat for wildlife and given local native plants the opportunity to flourish and re-establish on the site.
Join the Planetary Health Centre this Sat 6 Dec for the last Skill Share Saturday of the year: Qigong at 9am, Seed Saving & Gardening Group at 10am, and Bushcare at 1.30pm. One perfect day with great company, great coffee and food, and great steps for living a healthy balanced life, while also contributing to the health of our planet for present and future generations. All ages welcome!
Registration links in profile and below.
Register for Qigong here: https://bit.ly/48wlHjD Register for Seed Saving & Gardening here: https://bit.ly/4prcRe7 Register for Bushcare here: https://bit.ly/4oAFDrz
We have a rare opportunity to learn about the newest and best possible ways to support family and community members struggling with mental health issues, at a free talk and afternoon tea provided by Upper Blue Mountains Sunrise Rotary at the Planetary Health Centre at 2pm this Saturday 29 Nov. Hear from Peter Joseph AM, Chair of the Black Dog Institute, and Professor Helen Christensen AO, Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science and former Executive Director and Chief Scientist at the Black Dog Institute. They`ll be in conversation with journalist Emma Rossi. Dr Christensen is a pioneer in using the internet to reach young people struggling with depression. Her digital mental health interventions are used by millions globally, delivering evidence-based therapy for depression, anxiety, and suicide prevention. Her research uses data from smartphones and wearables – like movement, screen use, and sleep – to detect early signs of mental health issues. Bookings essential here (link in profile): https://bit.ly/4oOnYxz
This Saturday Sherlie McMillan from Rotarians 4 Planetary Health will be running a workshop on How to use a sewing machine from 9am at the Planetary Health Centre in Katoomba. Learn how to set up a machine, service it, troubleshoot when it`s not sewing correctly, and learn some basic sewing skills.
Bookings essential here (link in profile): https://events.humanitix.com/how-to-use-your-sewing-machine
NB. This class is a prerequisite for our very popular Fashion Upcycling classes held once a month.
We`re thrilled to announce that Professor Helen Christensen, a pioneer in using the internet to reach young people struggling with depression, will be joining the conversation with Peter Joseph AM from the Black Dog Institute and journalist Emma Rossi at the Planetary Health Centre at 2pm this Saturday 29 November. Helen was the Executive Director and Chief Scientist for the Black Dog Institute for 10 years and has now been elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science. Her digital mental health interventions are used by millions globally, delivering evidence-based therapy for depression, anxiety, and suicide prevention. Her research uses data from smartphones and wearables – like movement, screen use, and sleep – to detect early signs of mental health issues. This free event is being co-hosted by Upper Blue Mountains Sunrise Rotary and the Blue Mountains Planetary Health Initiative. Afternoon tea will be provided. Bookings essential here (link in profile): https://bit.ly/4oOnYxz
Human composting is increasingly being legalised around the world. Read about it in Katoomba Area Local News here (link in profile): https://www.katoombalocalnews.com/legalising-human-composting/
If you’d like to see this option available in NSW you can now sign a live petition to the NSW Parliament here (link in profile): https://bit.ly/43QIHbz
Thanks to everyone who contributed to deliver a fantastic Disaster Risk Awareness Expo and Family Day yesterday. @mark_greenhill_mayor opened the event at which we celebrated the 13th birthday of Betty the Asbestos Education House; @firecoat_au demonstrated and launched its range of fire retardant products that can help protect homes, gardens and even electricity poles; the Bushfire Retrofit Toolkit was launched; Santa arrived and delighted young and old; and @plantinspired99 and Action for Animals fed us all with a delicious plant-based sausage sizzle. The day was filled with talks, workshops, stalls and the sharing of a huge amount of expertise to keep us, and the other species we share our planet with, safe and healthy! @southkatoomba.rfb @nswses @fireandrescuensw @nswrfs @redcrossleura @redcrossau @shelter.building.design @firehalo.au @asbestosawareness @amelie_ecology @bbagsbluemtns @wireswildliferescue @handsheartfeet
Julie Nance is a community storyteller with the Blue Mountains Planetary Health Initiative. In her coverage of the Lower Mountains area, she brings 30 years’ experience in communications, publishing and journalism.
After specialising in health and social issues as a journalist, Julie led creative teams in the government and not-for-profit sectors including the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission, YMCA NSW, Cancer Council NSW and The Children’s Hospital at Westmead.
Julie is passionate about empowering people with quality information to help them make informed choices.
Blue Mountains Planetary Health Centre will host the Disaster Risk Awareness Expo and Family Day on Saturday, 22 November, offering a fun and informative day focused on building safer, healthier and more resilient communities.
