If you have been following us for a while you might be wondering why Noonameena?

The property was called Moonya when we first purchased it in the early 2000s and prior to that it was owned by another Bicheno local – Carl Trost – since the 1980s. Before that we think an English couple had lived there since the 1950s. Sadly, we have no knowledge of who lived there prior to this.

At least as far back as the 1980s it has been known as Moonya – we don’t know how it got this name or where it came from but we were pretty sure it wasn’t a local Trouwerner name.

It is important for us to pay our respects to the original inhabitants of the land that our development rests on, so we reached out to members of the melythina tiakana warrana community, descendants of the North East tebrakuna  people, for advice.

The respected academic and aboriginal elder Patsy Cameron has helped us choose the name Noonameena, which was recorded in the 19th Century as a local word used to describe a bush resting place. We think it’s a fitting description for what we are aiming to achieve.

We are also using Trouwerner to refer to Tasmania and it’s original inhabitants rather than Lutruwita or Palawa as Trouwerner is believed to be the local name for the island of Tasmania.