On the road

This is a bit of a pictorial blog. It's been a big couple of weeks since we picked up the camper and its pretty hard to describe what we are up to, so maybe some pictures will help.

Nimmo and Naire drove the camper from Ipswich to us in Darwin. We met Nimmo on our usual 24 hour whirlwind visit to town. (Naire had to fly home suddenly to see her mum). In that 24 hours we flew in from Nguiu, repacked everything from the Pelican cases and shed into the van and the pelican cases, shipped the cases back home, cleaned out the shed, bought a month's supplies including food and then had a BBQ for all our Darwin friends. We washed clothes and packed the van, slept and drove away.

It's hard to believe that we have our 10 laptops, a printer, network, modems etc, four weeks supplies of paper, toners ect as well as food, kitchen gear,clothes and fishing gear. We even have some books to read. There is also a washing drum, spare stove, fridge/freezer and all our toys. We also have a solar panel and far too many dollars worth of rewiring to make everything 12volt. So off we headed to Minyerri via Butterfly George for a Saturday night camp.

After Minyerri, and a two day workshop, we headed off to Ngukurr via Roper Bar. Since it was an official travel work day, we could only go fishing at lunch time while we passed the crossing. Well we did have lunch. We did not catch anything but it was fun to fish at lunch time. Roper Bar is a nice spot. Good camp too. Need a boat really to use the area well (apparanently).

We had a wonderful visit to Ngukurr, for two more days and had a great time looking through the art gallery. We managed to keep the budget under control. We were given two beautiful books about the local people and artists for befriending folks and helping restore some wonderful old photos of Ngukurr. We hope to go back to Ngukurr. There is much more to do there.

On the weekend, we headed over to Borroloola for what turned out to be, pretty special time. It's a pretty big drive for two days with millions of corrugations and dozens of creek crossings. Ironically, the first is across the Wilton River (pictured above). At least this one had a concrete causeway. Most didn't.

It was pretty amazing as a drive cause the books we were given were all about the country through which we were driving. It certainly added much significance and it is almost impossible to describe how differently you see the country when you are told the Indigenous stories. They really are complex. The songlines, clan group lines and country define different maps of the land. One book we were given gives a glimpse into that complexity, describes the map drawing projects from Ngukurr and the art which tells some of the story. The Laws around story telling, land ownership, even permitted bloodlines are really very deeply woven into the culture and connected to land. So we saw the country really differently as we passed through Marranbala country and the edge of Alawa land that we had spent much time in. Tourists who visit this land get such a diminished view of it, it is pretty not worth the effort for them.

As an aside, before I continue this story, I must mention we had to drive 60 K around to the other side of the river at Ngukurr. Google maps and our Shaun would have had us crossing the Roper River at a very wide crocodile invested spot. I got lost trying to follow a map but Paul seemed to know where he was. We had to retreat back to the Roper River crossing and while there decided to visit the Roper River store. This may be hard to believe but this shed was the best of the shops we had seen since Katherine two weeks ago. Vegemite is $6.50. We bought a loaf of bread.

Loved the sign near Roper Bar crossing. Its' amazing when on the road for so long, how much you look forward to seeing a sign. It was nice to know we were on the right track. And good to know Borooloola was in front of us and not behind us.

While in Ngukurr we had met a teacher who told us about an important lagoon, Lomarieum Lagoon. It was featured in our book as a special place and we had begun to understand how it was the centre of some intersecting songlines and a place where people from different tribes could meet. It was a happy ceremony place but also part of the creation story of Arnhem Land which begins in part, at Injalak Hill at Oenpelli. This teacher Pat, who was once married to alocal man, invited us to meet her at the Lagoon with some of the local Indigenous elders. As it turned out they were the custodians of the Marranbala Country through which we were driving.

So we ended up all sitting on the ground learning much more than we ever anticipated. The two local men signed our book and talked to us about the extent of the Marranbala Country, amongst other things. Both were also artists and gave us an insight into painting now and long ago and also told us about what could not be told through painting and how this was enforced.

Donald went off for a while to find some wire (goodness knows where) and came back and made a spear and a womera to throw the spear. He then gave young Isacc who was with Pat for the day, a lesson in throwing it. He also showed us how to scare crocodile when you want to retrieve lilly bulbs - not something we wanted to copy. (Later that night we heard a gigantic crocodile jaw snap right where he was "demonstrating" and very near our camp.)

Donald gave Paul and I permission to stay on his land and pass through his country. So we made a great camp beside Lomarieum lagoon which is the most amazing lagoon I have seen. No wonder it is a special place. Not sure I will hang up our bones there but. Might use the Burial poles we have sent home instead.

Paul is practicing for his retirement next week. Our new books are on the table. Sunset was remarkable and the variety of bird life was pretty stunning. See the mountains of Ngukurr in the background.




Next morning we drove through the Nathan River Road and checked out some of the camping and fishing shots along the way - they were all quite familiar now.


The rivers here are just stunning and it was very hard to keep driving. We did stop here at Towns River and have a fish. Paul caught a barra for lunch. It was pretty neat eating fish caught only 15 minutes before. We actually could nor believe we had the places to ourselves. The Nathan River Road is pretty bad and no caravans would make it. 4WD campers and trailers were camped in some spots but the place was pretty empty. The road gave us a bit of grief. Lost the bolt to the step somewhere and got a few rattles, but it was not too bad. The corregates made slosh out of any soft veges we had. The extended mirrors bounced all over the place. the truck looks like it went through a dust storm.



After our Barra lunch we drove on for over 100K to arrive at the ranger station in the middle of Limen National Park. We found Butterfly Springs, which had a waterfall feeding into a great lagoon which we could swim in. I waited till a goanna which was having a swim had safely retreated. There was again, no-one around, so we were able to swim in the nic. Butterfly George and Butterfly Springs have both been good places for a private swim....


The rock formations here were amazing. We were told there were caves with paintings in them there, but we did not stay over night, so could not explore. We really must come back and explore more. Be glad to stop work and writing reports so we can enjoy more of the country.

We called into the Southern Lost City for a cuppa. Only 5 K off the road. Well we got bogged in the sand and had to dig our way in. A poo shovel and the dustpan are no replacement for a proper shovel. It was not too bad as the sand was dry, loose and very easy to shift. Now Paul knows the clearance on the Hilux.....

So we arrived at Borroloola at last, very tired. Lucky Betty the caravan park manager took pity on us and fed us dinner which was a treat. We are still at Borroloola as I write this.

It's been a great workshop. The art centre closes at 4.00pm each day and so we have had an early mark to go fishing. We have found the river crossing is the best place. I managed to catch a barra - a beauty. We now have some barra meals in the freezer, as well as enjoying a huge meal of barra just after I caught it. Didn't even change out of the work gear to go fishing. Unlikely garb!


So now we head out tomorrow to Robinson River and camp for a week along the way. We have been given local permission for a few spots that will be deserted, cause people need permission to be there, so expect to have a nice quiet week. We will turn up at Robinson River Community next Monday and run two days of workshops. That will be our last one! Yahoo! We are actually officially finished now but we volunteered to do one more.

Then we head off to Townsville via Lawn Hill George. So we are off air until late next week. no phone or internet at Robinson River, even in the community. So much for the promise of phones and Internet for all Australians.... Hope no-one needs us. Stay safe, healthy and happy. We'll fill you in on all the fish next time.

The week that was

I am truly amazed we get paid to travel like this. We have had quite an amazing time the last few weeks traveling to and forth around the Tiwi's. This week we began in Milikapati (and we were stranded at the airport without a lift). It was after that, a great visit. It began with the locals who could not decide if they'd take a public holiday or not for Anzac Day. It does not matter what the big island in the south wants to do, Tiwi islanders can make up their own rules. So Monday had a late start while we found out if we could get into our venue. Monday's are always a late start on Milikapti anyway. We can't seem to get started til 10.00 on Mondays at Milikapti.

The next trick was getting over to Pirlangimpi. We organised for the plane to come at 4pm and it came at 9am. Nevertheless, off we went having a record pack up of our 250Kg in 15 mins. We did not have a lift organised for that time of day, but thanks to the flexibility of Art Centre Chris, we were not stranded at the airport.

We love the lodge at Pirlangimpi and the incredible cooking of the team there. Fish and more fish every night, done differently every time. Paul also enjoyed crab, squid, and prawns. To say nothing of the setting. The sunsets are pretty fantastic and we loved the lure flicking practice we had most nights on the boat landing or the nearby beach. I caught a dead crab and my own lure back. I had lost one and caught it 10 minutes later. Also got a swarm of sandfly bites to keep me amused for the rest of the week.

The bird life at Pirlangimpi was prolific to say the least. Hundreds of Rainbow bee eaters. The white breasted eagle which landed every day for dinner and the swarms of red wing parrots added to our glee.

The family who live at the lodge have pet emus. We musta heard the story three times about the day they got out from the local kids who follow us everywhere we go. They were quite interesting as pets. They also had other pet parrots, two pet bats, a dog that chased hornets for fun, a cat and what seemed like several other dogs. It was hard to tell who belonged to what dog and which were strays or camp dogs.

The area in front of the lodge is deep enough for a big ship. There was an art cruise lobbed in while we were there - big excitement for the island, especially the art centres. Nearly as much excitement as the ship load of Indonesian boat people who were apprehended just off the point while we were there. Then we saw patrol boat activity looking for more.

Flying to Pirlangimpi was the usual wonderful trip. Ben came over and again helped us haul our gear in and out of the plane. We are getting pretty fond of the Barrier Boys. It will be a sad time next Friday when we have our last flight. We start trucking after that. We were again stranded at the airport but Dave the airport manager gave us a lift in return for a feed on Weds. No amount of organisation solves lift problems on the Tiwi's.



Its hard to believe but the Tiwi's are the second largest island in Australia next to Tasmania. We really believe it when you fly over parts of it.

The people we work with really make our trip. We make lots of friends and have a few wins and a few heart aches. Paul had to help a lady restore a photo of a son who had died from a stinger on the beach. We can't put his photo up, but boy Paul did a great restoration job.

On Milikapti we met Sharna who had run away from school and was languishing a bit. Not willing to go back to school and no suitable school in the village. Some locals encouraged her to come to our workshops and asked us to keep an eye on her. It took four days and two visits before we even got a smile out of her. She was so beautiful, to us, at last. She would hardly engage when we explained how to do things, cause she just did not want to be taught. Bad experience of teachers we guess. So we gave her little tasks and let her play constantly without any criticism or interference and gradually, gradually she started to blossum. She is a good learner. She was in the end teaching other kids how to do things and sneaking use of our gear and software when we were 'not' looking. Paul managed to catch her smiling and on the last day, she was sitting for a while with her arm around me. It would have been good to spend more time with her. She needs opportunity, not school! She wants to learn, not be taught. We find that a bit actually amongst the young people here.

The workshop at Pirlangimpi was surprising too. We met some wonderful young women from the art centre - leaders for the next generation; already on the Art Centre Board and the territory ANKAAA board. We helped them think about using technology for their Board business and also think about exerting pressure to improve the web site of their art centre. Donna and Josephine will certainly be forces to be reckoned with as they mature. It was great to be a little part of their technology journey.

We also met Gilberta and Lucinda. Gilberta was a very young woman with 2.3 children and also looking after her sister cousin Lucinda who had had a pretty horrible year after being ophaned when her mother died. Lucinda is almost deaf and considered to be mentally disabled. Well I don't know about that. Gilberta asked me "outside" if she could bring Lucinda in and let Lucinda just listen to music. When I spotted her, I found her using Picassa to browse photos. I gave her a camera and off she went clicking happily. In the end she made photo callages and did some digital scapbooking. By showing her one skill at a time, she accumulated knowledge and repeated multiple steps on day 2 with no trouble. We helped restore photos of her parents and she made very beautiful momentos through scrapbooking with Powerpoint. Then she made a movie. I think we found a technology hook for her. She would really blossum with her own computer. Just two/three of the stories of the week that was.

We have one more week on the Tiwi's before heading to Darwin Friday to pick up the truck off Nimmo if he will give it back. then we head deep inland again to Minyerri.

Hope everyone at home is having fun and not too cold.