A Very Good Friday Part 2

From Yellow Waters to the mystic beauty of Nourlangie, where Aboriginal people are believed to have sheltered from storms and the heat. One of the great tragedies of our heavy tread upon the Earth is that the people who lived here, the Warramal clan, were decimated after Europeans came and are now extinct. As such, no one is left alive to tell the stories of the artwork that remains on the rock walls. The art is very special of course and, being comparatively modern, is quite distinct: there is a tradition of painting over older artworks so older paintings can be seen behind the more modern versions. However, what is special about Nourlangie is that it has an old, ancient feel to it. This feel pervades all of Kakadu from the floodpains through to the layered walls of the escarpment. This land is so ancient you can feel its great age surrounding you.

I had some initial reservations about showing the art but have decided to. I've had a look around the net and there seem to be photos of it everywhere. If I find I've made a mistake I'll take it down later but for now here is some art from Nourlangie.

After viewing the main gallery, we clambered up to the lookout for the view. It being around 3:30pm now and nearly 40 degrees, I was, to put it bluntly, buggered. I admired the view then staggered back to the bus to down another litre of water. I had a headache, bad sign, but honestly could not have drunk more water than I did. I drank more than 5 litres and it still wasn't enough.

All finished for the day, the tour bus dropped me off at my accommodation, which rather surprisingly turned out to be a really nice self-contained cabin just outside of Jabiru in a spread-out complex with a pool and bistro. Big shout out to the nice man at Kakadu Lodge who moved heaven and earth to get me a gluten-free meal. I was feeling weary and unwell by this time and it was very welcome. Ate dinner, finished the inevitable "I'm on holiday" Terry Pratchett novel and went to bed at the late hours of...7:30pm. No joke. Bye bye good Friday.

A Very Good Friday

Friday morning, 6am and man was it was hot. And yeah, I know, it's Darwin so it's always hot. But lately it has been genuinely hot. 25 degrees, apparent temperature with humidity 31 degrees. At 6am. Up here, that's about half an hour before sunrise. I stood on the driveway
sweating for all of about 5 minutes before whisked away in air-conditioned comfort to Kakadu.

You know, I have a traditional aversion to coach tours. The only reason I compromised this time round was that it's the only company that takes you to Ubirr (arguably the best rock-art site in the park) in the Wet. The road's still flooded at this time of year so no cars can get through. I have to say, our driver was very knowledgable and I quite enjoyed the three-hour drive down.

So, what's to say about Kakadu that hasn't already been said. It's 20,000 sq km of National Park. It's World Heritage Listed for both natural and cultural reasons, making it only one of about 6 such sites in the world (really should look that up but it's something like that). The name "Kakadu" is from Gagadju, a language that no longer has any living speakers. The Park consists mainly of Aboriginal land leased back to the government and jointly managed by the traditional owners. Most of it is Savannah or woodlands. This time of year, many of the floodplains are covered with water but they're draining fast and will soon be normal ground.

Photo: Photo from South Alligator River of Yellow Waters Floodplain. The bird in the tree is drying its wings after fishing.

Our first stop was actually the Warradjan Aboriginal Cultural Centre near Cooinda. I must admit I wasn't expecting much and was pleasantly surprised. The building is designed in the shape of pig-nosed turtle and the displays are about local flora and fauna in terms of their traditional cultural uses. It also has creation myths, an outline of the local tribes' kinship system (including both moieties and skin names) and I really enjoyed my time there.

After the cultural centre, it was off to Yellow Water Wetlands for a cruise with a fantastic guide. Most of the guides and rangers that work in the park are traditional owners and as such are amazingly knowledgable. Not so much wildlife around in the Wet, they all congregate around the remaining billabongs in the Dry, but the cruise was definitely worth it for the eerie paper-bark swamp and the vista of floodplains. The photo below is of the paperbark swamp. It definitely doesn't capture it, unfortunately.

No Easter Eggs for Miss Chubby this year

Wow, it's been a busy couple of weeks. Uni has started and the idiot who took a full-time study load as well as working full-time spends her whole time doing assignments or walking round and round her desk in the time-honoured manner of all procrastinators. Having said that, I really DID need to do that laundry, that floor needed to be mopped and what's the point of studying if I don't have another cup of coffee?

But none of that matters today because it is Easter Sunday and I'm a little sad. This year, I didn't do my mad dash home for Easter as I set aside this time to see the Top End. That's right. I put aside the study books, the familial responsibilities and the Trepang Farming (long story regarding the only Uni assignment I've ever written that involves the word "penis" and not in a metaphorical, semiotic, feminist-studies way) and hit Kakadu.


I spent Good Friday and yesterday touring around in 40 degree heat with a mere 90% humidity and got to see the top three on my Kakadu hit list, Ubirr, Nourlangie and Yellow Waters, and some other stuff as well.

I have a load of photos so I'm going to divide this post up into separate pieces. Thankfully, I'm not sunburnt and exhausted this morning, like I was when in Katherine, so I intend to produce complete sentences, spell words correctly and not generally babble incoherently.

I'm such a teeny weeny bear...

Haven't put a photo from the Dave files up here for a while so here he is: being held in the hand of my lovely assistant (I totally don't remember her name) in front of the Great Pyramid of Giza circa March 2002.

Typical hazy Cairo environs day, unfortunately.

Egypt is pretty amazing. I definitely want to go back.

Sorry

Today we honour the Indigenous peoples of this land, the oldest continuing cultures in human history.

We reflect on their past mistreatment.

We reflect in particular on the mistreatment of those who were Stolen Generations – this blemished chapter in our nation’s history.

The time has now come for the nation to turn a new page in Australia’s history by righting the wrongs of the past and so moving forward with confidence to the future.

We apologise for the laws and policies of successive Parliaments and governments that have inflicted profound grief, suffering and loss on these our fellow Australians.

We apologise especially for the removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families, their communities and their country.

For the pain, suffering and hurt of these Stolen Generations, their descendants and for their families left behind, we say sorry.

To the mothers and the fathers, the brothers and the sisters, for the breaking up of families and communities, we say sorry.

And for the indignity and degradation thus inflicted on a proud people and a proud culture, we say sorry.

We the Parliament of Australia respectfully request that this apology be received in the spirit in which it is offered as part of the healing of the nation.

For the future we take heart; resolving that this new page in the history of our great continent can now be written.

We today take this first step by acknowledging the past and laying claim to a future that embraces all Australians.

A future where this Parliament resolves that the injustices of the past must never, never happen again.

A future where we harness the determination of all Australians, Indigenous and non-Indigenous, to close the gap that lies between us in life expectancy, educational achievement and economic opportunity.

A future where we embrace the possibility of new solutions to enduring problems where old approaches have failed.

A future based on mutual respect, mutual resolve and mutual responsibility.

A future where all Australians, whatever their origins, are truly equal partners, with equal opportunities and with an equal stake in shaping the next chapter in the history of this great country, Australia.

Kevin Rudd
February 13, 2008


EDITED 03/04/09: Want to contribute to discussion about important issues such as the Stolen Generation and overcoming Indigenous disadvantage? Join me over at www.galtha.blogspot.com.

I Am...? You Are...? We Are...?

What is Australia Day anyway?

God knows. Aside from representing the ultimate in Australian pragmatism (celebrating the real one would mean we lost a public holiday because January 1 is also New Year’s Day), what else is it? Invasion day? Well yes, absolutely. Triple J hottest 100 day? Considering a few things that have happened in the last few years, I’d also have to go for Yobbo Day.

Exacerbating the confusion is the aforementioned issue of the date. I mean, celebrating the Federation of our nation now that would be one thing. But celebrating the first establishment of a penal colony on a continent that was already populated?

Woo hoo.

Anyway, this entry is not about the philosophical conundrum that is our nation’s identity: there’s always Anzac Day for that.

No, this entry is about my Australia Day. I’m celebrating today by a road trip, the Hottest 100 (I'm up to Number 10) and some of the most beautiful sights in our country. Today I drove down to Katherine and toured the Gorge in Nitmiluk National Park.

Moving to Darwin so close to the Wet, I had decided to wait until the Dry before getting out of Darwin and doing the sights. But the thought of spending a long-weekend by myself in my Unit with perhaps the odd East Point Reserve walk left me slightly cold. Screw the wet - I'm out of here!

I left Darwin around 6am and drove straight down to Litchfield National Park, near Batchelor. Only a hour from Darwin to the Park entrance, the Buley Rockhole is a favourite weekend hangout for Darwinites.

I'd been meaning to get down here for weeks so was glad to finally make it. I had my caffeine fix at a Caravan Park and then headed to the Termite Mounds. The mounds are made by both Magnetic and Cathedral Termites and are very impressive. Unfortunately, the photo doesn't quite capture the majestic beauty of the mounds. It's almost like a cemetary full of silent headstones that are found to team with life when you approach.

(Triple J Hottest 100 song number 8...and counting down).

From the termites to the Buley Rockpool, which was magical this early in the morning. Only 8am, no one else was there and the pool's bubbling serenity was all for me...oh, and the Goanna.

Apparently, the pool is teeming with visitors in the Dry, so I'm very lucky.

Small photo problem there, which took a while and now it's - NUMBER 4. It's, that song. Oh, what's that song? You know, Jon Butler Trio..."Life's not about what's better than..." Actually, I think it's called "Better Than"... Good to see JBT up there 'cause they are truly exceptional.

Where was I? Florence Falls. Just up the road from Buley is Florence Falls. Unfortunately the plunge pool is closed this time of year but there's a lovely lookout and 1km walk back to the carpark, which was great.

It was 9:30am by then and I drove off to the Adelaide River War Cemetary, which was...well, it was a War Cemetary. Beautiful, well-kept gardens and graves of people who died too young.

And now we're gearing up for Number 2. It is...Silverchair with one of my favourite songs - Straight Lines. Yay!

Already past 10am, I powered on to Katherine and booked into my motel before scooting off to the Gorge for a cruise.

What can I say about Katherine Gorge except...Wow! and I'm sorry that words should fail me so horribly at this stage. It was almost indescribably beautiful.

Seeing my photos when I came back was disappointing because they didn't capture it. What would be beautiful would be cruising down there alone. You can canoe the Gorge in the Dry and I think this would be wondeful. Just padding quietly through this impressively serene canyon, red and brown stone towering above the water.

And now I'm back in my room typing this out and watching a Top End storm roll in. Daniel John's is being commiserated for only coming second and they're about to announce Number 1.

Ok, I'd prefer a BBQ, a beer and the family but this has been a pretty good Australia Day (whatever that is).

And Number 1 is...wow they're really dragging it out...drum roll...it is...

Muse: Knights of Cydonia

Happy Invasion Day, everyone

This little piggy went to...

On a Saturday morning in Darwin, there’s only one thing to do and that’s Parap Markets. While it’s not a patch on Mindel for atmosphere and Rapid Creek markets (Sunday morning) is definitely the place for fresh fruit and veg, Parap are open all-year round and locals literally flock to buy delicious food, arts and crafts. And I will admit to a fondness for the ‘Soy Whip’ the local lassi place makes...Yum!

Here’s some more photos of the favourite Saturday morning hangout for a city of 100,000 people.

Apropos of nothing

I've stumbled across a fantastic blog, one I know many members of my family would enjoy. A gentleman in England has put up his ancestor's war letters exactly 90 years after they were written. WW1: Experiences of an English Soldier

The blog has an astonishing readership of people breathlessly waiting Pte Harry's next letter. Will he make it home? I'm only up to the end of 1917 (2007) myself, but the blog is ongoing so I don't think the ending is spoilt yet, however some comments have led me to think it doesn't have a very happy ending.

The morning after the night before

All things considered, I have come through my "first cyclone" relatively unscathed. I didn't even lose power. Tropical Cyclone Helen has passed south of Darwin and is starting to degrade into a Category 1 cyclone. It's expected to become a tropical low later this morning.

Aside from the whistling from the cyclonic winds, last night was uneventful. All I can say is thank goodness for the portable music revolution. I went back to bed about 2am or so and hooked myself up to my MP3 player of unspecified brand. Listening to music, I went off to sleep and didn't wake until my parents rang at 6am to make sure I was still alive.

After the cyclone and my unfortunate moisture problem that caused mould to grow all down one of my walls while I was away over Christmas, I almost feel like a local.

Gone with the wind? Let's hope not.

How does this begin?

It's 1:30 am and the soundtrack of my life is the roaring gusts of wind: 130kmph.

Cyclone Helen, Category 2, is roaring around my ears, although Darwin is still far from the epicentre. It is expected to pass just south of the city, however, so more fun will ensue over the next day. I'm all prepared, with canned food, gluten-free snacks, water, a torch and spare batteries, candles, matches and a portable radio.

Having said that, I still have power! Amazing and welcome. I went to sleep this evening about 9:30pm but slept fitfully until 1:15am when the winds struck. I'm surprisingly hot, mainly because the whole place is shut up.

I'm watching TV, monitoring the weather and wishing I had some friends hanging out on Facebook at the moment. The sound of gale-force winds is one of the eeriest in the world. Oh, I forgot to add the most important provisions: a copy of Orhan Pamuk's "My Name is Red" and the first five Discworld novels.

The lights dimmed slightly so I'll sign off and try to write later. Adieu