Saturday, February 28, 2009
Weekend in Oenpelli
We have food this weekend at Oenpelli, different to last visit, and at the moment we have a red curry bubbling along. Nice veges in the curry and have some local bananas for dessert.
We are exhausted after an incredibly busy workshop in Minyerri this week. So today was always going to be a rest day. It was also a chores day - we have a washing machine in Oenpelli and so this morning we took advantage. Then of course it rained, so we had the washing hanging up in the air con; and then the power browned out so low, it would not even keep the light on. But after a big day, it is all dry.
As you can see the digs we have are quite nice. It's like a cabin you would find at the beach - about 10 feet wide and 25 feet long, with an inside toilet and shower; and a little veranda. There is a very small kitchen with a microwave, desktop burner and an electric frypan. We have a small table and a bed. It's clean too which is not usual. The view from our digs is unbelievable. We have a view across the water to Injalak Hill which has so many colours as the light and mood of the weather changes. It is almost as changing as Uluru. I can see why this place gets so many tourists in the dry. We will be back too. It's too wet to get to the hill this weekend. We had hoped to have an escorted walk up to the paintings.
It's been a report writing day today. We had a huge sleep in and after the "chores", we went for a long walk to the end of the road. The community here is totally surrounded by water. It's an island really, in the middle of very full wetlands. The lagoon just opposite our cabin seems to be at a reasonable level, but further down the road it is extremely wet. It is about 3 K to the end so we walked up to see how people were going - heard a few people were fishing down there.
It was a beautiful walk - what a treat to see the wetlands up close and get closer to the escarpments.
There is no one coming in or going out. This is the road. It stretches for as far as we could see. Its deep enough for people to fish in. There were two families fishing using frogs as bait..... I was a bit amazed at the kids frolicking in the water.... The wetlands are very full of crocs.
The rock formations of the escarpments are spectacular. Some we can not go to because they are sacred sites, but we can walk on the roads near them. I had never been to Arnhem Land before this project and I have been very impressed with the landscapes. Oenpelli has an amazing mixture of environments. It's hard to believe we get paid to come and see this.
Even the flight over was terrific. It was pretty wet on the way from Minyerri to Oenpelli, so the pilot had to scout around storms. This meant we got to see some amazing country and the last half at 2000 feet. It was wonderful - waterfalls, wetlands, huge formations, gorges. Wonderful views, even though it was raining. We loved it and planning a helicopter ride now through the georges when we finish this project. It is actually hard to believe how much water is down there in the wetlands. There is sooooo much more water about since the last time we came here.
We spent a few days in Darwin since our last blog. We bought supplies for the next four weeks and arranged for them to be shipped out to Maningrida and Yirrkala. It was good having coffeeshop treats and catching up with folks. We managed to have some decent sleepins and have our usual visits to rearrange everything in the shed. We also had to buy all new cameras, cause they have all been broken. Think the dust and wet finally got to them. Lucky we lost them close to a visit to Darwin. Got a video camera too, so we have fun making videos and helping others learn to use video too.
We then drove to Katherine, having a meeting at Humpty Doo on the way. We flew from Katherine to Minyerri where we ran an exhausting set of workshops. The deal on arriving in Minyerri was to buzz the house of the community manager and he would come and meet us. Amazingly, this worked. We did have strife getting into the accommodation cause people were away and the person with the "spare" key had gone fishing. We eventually got the policeman to look twice and he found a key. Paul actually left Minyerri with the key in his pocket, so its been a bit of a key saga. He also flew to Darwin with the car keys in his pocket - the car was on Groote Eylandt. Maybe it's time I took control of the keys......
Minyerri was exhausting. We had four days with 30 or so people a day crowding into a room for 10 laptops. Very keen. People just love technology and really take advantage of our time in town. We worked until 7pm one night. It was the most draining time we have had. We got folks making more sophisticated video products which we played on the big screen each afternoon.
Our blog is not full of interesting stories this time. The travelling round is getting pretty routine for us. We move every Wednesday and Saturday morning and write a report in the afternoon for the nameless ones. We do try and get out and enjoy the places we are in, during the afternoons and spend a bit of time setting up if we can.
The most interesting thing yesterday was we went to the Gunbalanya "club" which is open on Friday afternoons from 5-8pm serving mid-strength and light beers. We were invited to pop along by Anthony and Suzette the art centre managers to meet the artists. We met Cruscoe Kurdall who was one of big stars in Ten Canoes. He played the hunter, brother of the main character. He is pretty good looking.... He humbugged Paul for two beers, but it was very interesting talking to him. We've met three of the actors/musicians so far.
We are looking at a 4wd camper at the moment. Organising for an RACQ Inspection this week. Hopefully it will mean we can really retire... or keeping driving to work. let you know when we know.
Hope things are well with family and friends. Keep in touch with us. Its wonderful to get email or Facebook notes from folks. Helps us feel connected.
Much love till next blog.......
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Reward after writing yet another report
We knew there were two major Indigenous communities here and a resort, but had no idea about the size or location of the mining community and the little town. That's how much I bothered to look up... So we have strong next G access and three places to go out to eat. There is even a bakery where we got real bread. Because we are staying in a resort, we can have a beer on site or at the clubs. We have not been able to have any beer since Darwin. Big surprise. Can you believe I had everything organised for our visit, except to find out where the town was or even that there was a town. We had to ask about 4 people before we found it and that was mainly cause I was not looking for a town.
Just in case you wonder if we do any work, some evidence from the Yirkala workshop. I worked with the girls and Paul worked with the boys here (and two women).
The team at Yirrkala.
Before that we had been in Galiwin'ku, a community on an island in the north. It was a pretty large community with many outstations. Some nice places - makes you realise why folks like to live out on their homelands. We were pretty shocked to find out about thefires. We did not know of course, without good Tv, but a facebook friend talked about it and we turned on the tv to be pretty shocked. The digs at Galiwin'ku were "interesting", and had to be shared with about 8 others. Downstairs was non existant, and upstairs had several condemable features, including the state of the floorboards and steps. It was a good pennance for the next two luxury towns such as they are. At least they were towns. The Yirkala beaches
We are actually at the end of the first circuit of the first 8 communities. So later this week we head back to Darwin to restock the supplies, rearrange the shed and do a few days meeting people to organise the next round of the communities and write yet another report.
Looking forward to staying with Marg and John again and having the curry nights.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Sad News
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Gunbalayna and Maningrida
We spent last week in Gunbalayna or Oenpelli which is on the eastern side of Jabiru country. It was wonderful. After the flatter country of the other Arnhem communities, it was terrific to see hills and landscape structures. The colours are just unbelievable. We will go and spend more time in the escarpments next time. We met the guys who do the tours of Injalak Hill ( below) to visit the cave paintings. It should be drier, so we can go. We did visit the art centre and picked up some pressies for people and us. It was fun seeing the art of the people we worked with - added to our respect of their talents.
This view from our accommodation was wonderful. Landscapes all around the famous Injalak Hill in the foreground. We also had very close wetlands, especially in the rain - watching the locals fish from plastic chairs to avoid crocs was a bit of fun! The afternoon walks were just so breathtaking and the bird life was very diverse. We saw so many species. Even Jabirus as we landed.
We had a food disaster - well almost. The shop at Ramingining closed on the Friday and we had run out of most of the Darwin Supplies we brought with us. Then on the trip over it rained and we turned back ( last blog). On arrival into Gunbalanya, it was too late to catch the shop and they were closed to Monday, so I had three left over cooked sausages, two potatoes, a carrot and some dried food and some curry for two days meals. So from now on, I'll make sure we have weekend food.
We also have learned to carry a tea towel, a chux, other cleaning bits and some detergent. We usually have to clean before we can either do the training or live in our digs. Gunbalanya accommodation was an exception, but the training room was awful till we cleaned it. The digs also had a washing machine which was a huge bonus. We have only seen one working washing machine since Darwin.
We loved the flight into Manigrida. The airstrip is rather close to the sea, but not as short as some we experienced in Torres Straits. The community is on the sea and has several lovely beaches. We went fishing and lost 4 lures. I built a album on my Facebook of the beach combing I did. It is rather hard to believe, so I had to get photographic evidence.
Manigrida is a buzzing community and they had two shops, one which had lots of fresh veges and soy milk. We even got another jar of curry. We could have bought a new boat but the BIA Budget does not stretch that far.
We loved the town. So many people doing great stuff. We had involvement from Art centre staff, male and female rangers and the Women's centre. There is more separateness of men and women here that we had not experienced before. I also learned that only women should play the digeridoo, which explains why I am so bad at it.
The Art Centre was breathtaking to walk into. There were incredibly large painted posts, bark and wooden crafts. We are contemplating our next acquistion. We won't make any money this trip if we keep spending. It is so hard to resist when it is so terrific.
We stayed in the Art Cottage which was attached to the Museum. It was amazing! It was so well organised and so beautifully compiled. We were very lucky to be given the keys for the weekend and had two visits. Next time, we will get Marcus, the very talented tour guide to tell us all the stories behind the artefacts and the museum. We also have to get better at this fishing thing.
We are on a diet of good steak now. paul fixed a computer for the manager of the Abattoir, and he was so grateful, he gave us a huge packet of meat. Loving it. if only we had salad to go with it.
Well we left Maningrida and flew to Galiwin'ku today on Elcho Island. More about that next time. Love to all!