Brett, Motel Care-taker, Broken Hill Wilyakali / Barkindji Country

I met Brett one morning when he unlocked the pool gate for me at the motel, he said I was crazy to swim in the morning when it’s only twenty four degrees out, unless I was hungover.

Brett spent his thirties in prison for stabbing a drug dealer who wouldn’t stop selling to his nephew. He’s forty three now and works as a caretaker at the motel. He told me that he’s saving his money to buy a house an hour up the road in Menindee - he’s found one that’s abandoned and full of squatters, which he reckons he can get for about $60,000. Then he plans to semi retire and live by the lake.