Walker Creek

Great camp site just a short drive out of Darwin.

Big thanks to my friends at Darwin Bushwalking club for organizing an easy overnighter  suitable for the kids.

The waking was easy, the campsite clean and the creek still full of crystal clear flowing water.

10/10

County fair...dinkum

990 km drive for a day at the fair.


True! We drove down to Tennant Creek just to go to the Show.
Sounds a bit extreme doesn't it? But it seemed like a good idea at the time. 2 weeks into a 4 week school holidays, 2 kids ratty with cabin fever and high likelihood of  a domestic dispute. Why not throw the whole circus into the car and head south?

When we first discussed the idea of going to TC I had thought this could be a chance to catch up with some of the people fighting against the nuclear waste dump at Muckaty Station... Turned out that campaign had been won just a week or so before we left Darwin! No complaints about that. There was a victory celebration but it happened before we arrived. Congratulations to all those involved in the campaign and particularly the Warlmanpa people.

Once again I'm not much in the mood for writing but thought I'd post a few photos from the trip.

We left Darwin at about 4am and made Katherine by 7:30am, had some breaky and drove on to Dunmarra roadhouse and more fuel.

Mataranka big fig... headed south

Land raper at Dunmara Roadhouse... I wonder what they're going trash with that? (Frackers?)

Made TC with plenty of daylight to spare.


Next day Friday the Tennant Creek Show. After a very cold 8 degree night we spend the morning hugging our coffee mugs and once the chill had worn off checked out the view from the lookout. We hit the show some time after 1pm. The Tennant Creek show only runs for one day and I swear if we hadn't done our research we could have spent the week there and not had any idea it was even on. There appeared to be no advertising around the town at all. The (white) locals we spoke to seemed to think there was no point holding the show since the miners had left town but judging by the amount of soft toys and show bags I saw leaving the place I doubt the rest of the mostly Aboriginal population would agree. There seemed to be enough people around to fill the showgrounds and sideshow alley was pretty lively, there were kids everywhere and the place had the feel of a fair dinkum carnival. It was quite a fun day. I'd recommend TC show to any southerners traveling north to get a sense of an Australia that exists in many of the towns they pass through but rarely allow to touch them as they pass.

At the Tennant Creek Show.

We broke camp by 9am Saturday morning and headed up to Mataranka and the Bitter Springs for three nights camping by our favorite swimming hole. The nights were mild, water clear and warm. Caught a good whip cracking show at the Homestead, swam our hearts out and generally chilled for two full days.

Big moon at Mataranka

The caravan park experience is weird. 1,000s of retired grey nomads trucking along in their new 4x4 luxury vehicles towing immaculate caravans with all the best gear. Every rig is meticulously washed once they set up camp. You don't see them at the local shops (or at the Show) they  travel from camp to camp, inspect each other's outfits then settle down for sundowners and gossip, bravado and comparing road notes. Basically which caravan park they'll stop at next, what towns they'll glide through and glance at from behind the tinted windows of their motorized isolation tanks. Hoarding their food till the next big town where supermarket rewards cards can be used, their hard earned money will never see the till of the empty stores in desolate towns they pass through...  Their sleek  aerodynamic designed rigs slip passed dusky drinkers waiting for the early openers raising silent plumes of dust from desolate gutter of towns they'll tick off on the great road trip of 2014!

I bite my tongue after trying to stop Sam from spending money in the local store... "We need our money for fuel!" Shit! Damn... Did I say that? Am I just like them? This drive will take us months to pay off but 1,000s of people pass through this town cashed up enough to leave their homes and travel around at their leisure in brand new trucks and vans but not a cent to spare for the local businesses! Hell spend up babe.
What the hell are we doing here anyway?

Home by Tuesday afternoon. 2,400 km under our belts and about 3 months worth of fuel burned! Yes it's great to get away but bothers me the amount of fuel we used. All along the road we saw road trains carrying fuel to supply the hungry tourist muticas traveling up and down that highway.


The whole time I was humming to myself County Fair by Bruce Springsteen. 4 of us in the car. Me my wife and 2 kids... In 2,400 km they only let me choose one song! I chose this one and they kicked up so much fuss I had to turn it off out of respect for the Boss! What is wrong with these people!? They wouldn't let me listen to it in the car but they can't stop me posting it here!

Backyard Bivouac

Last night I had some fun with the kids in the back yard. We build a cubby house, or to be more accurate, a bivouac.

A bivouac is a temporary shelter made out of whatever you can find close by.

It's the middle of the school holidays and the kids have actually been playing outside and as human nature dictates they're obsessed with building a shelter... It's instinctive, if you leave a kid outside for long enough they will start gathering stuff and build a house!

I wanted my dinner but my eldest child started to throw a wobbly because I had to dismantle the tent we had in the yard. We thought about it for a little while, looked around the yard, and this is what we came up with.

 

 

 Materials: 

- folding ladder

- 6 x 6 tarp

- two bamboo poles (taken from the veggie garden which was not doing too well anyway)

- 5 pieces of string 

- 3 tent pegs

- couple of cushions

Time taken:

6 minutes

 

Presto! The best bivouac we've ever made. Dad's popularity rating leaps from tolerated buffoon to beloved hero parent no.1 in record time. We actually had to call the kids into the house long after dark! I couldn't believe it!

Living in the  tropics I think this quote is fairly apt:

Bivouac

Bivouacking is miserable work in a wet or unhealthy climate, but in a dry and healthy one, there is no question of it's superiority over tenting. Men who sleep habitually in the open breathe fresher air and are far more imbued with the spirit of wild life, than those who pass the night within the stuffy enclosure of a tent.

The art of Travel.

 (Quoted by Tahir Shah in the book 'House of the Tiger King-The quest for a lost Inca City'. )

When I was young some mates and I used to sleep out in the bush a bit in a fairly makeshift shelter. Mostly made out of branches but we could usually find a bit of tin for the roof. It was a bit unnerving though when we discovered scorpions under our groundsheet!

Since then I haven't done much rough camping although I've been lucky enough to visit Elcho Island during the dry season to attend a Cross Cultural Mediation Program, where I much prefer to sleep outside under the stars than to share a tent with 4 other smelly participants. I've slept on the ground, It's pretty comfortable on the cliff edge or on the ceremonial beach sand after a few hours of dancing! Usually though once the tents are set up, I grab my fold out bed (Bloody luxury!) and set it up a couple of meters away from the tents and keep all my gear on top so it doesn't blow away when the dry wind sweeps across the island during the day. The nights are absolutely magic outside I don't get why the others don't do it. I always hear them complaining when someone farts or snores. From my bed I look up through the stars and into the eyes of God! True! Out doors is so much sweeter than indoors... unless it's the wet season.

Murray's bivouac - Flight of the Conchords

Bivoac.What a funny word. Kids love turning the house inside out and turning the furniture into tunnels, caves and of course bivouacs. I used to do this as a kid but if you're a fan of Flight of the Conchords you'll know that this even adults can have fun making a bivouac indoors. ;) 

Ever since I saw Series two, episode 4 of  'Flight of the Conchords', the word bivouac has caused me to break into hysterics! Actually if you're a fan this episode also has the song 'Friends' on it.

In this scene Murray senses that Jermaine and Bret aren't much into building bivouacs. He asks in all seriousness: "You think building a bivouac is childish?"

 They do but later you see Jermain perfecting the construction of the bivouac which they didn't dismantle when Murray left. I am lucky. As a parent I can declare the building of indoor bivouacs out of bed sheets and cushions as childish but still engage in the activity if I want to and even get points for being a 'Good Dad'. 

Ha! Happy bivouacking kiddies!

Unlikely miles

The relaxing weekend that never was!
It was meant to be a four day long weekend family retreat. We were going to roast marshmallows on the fire!
Plan as much as you like sometimes The Fates have other ideas!

We headed off late on Friday planning to spend a long long weekend at a Cattle Station/camp site just south of Adelaide River. Well... actually four days including a brief interruption, where by we all jump back in the car on Saturday so Dad (I) can attend his sailing lesson and then drive back before it gets dark.... But besides that we were meant to be sitting back watching horses poo and eating marshmallows by the fire!



It happened that this weekend was the week of the Adelaide River Show. Held at by the Adelaide River Show Society... or (ARSS), we really wanted to go but were diverted by forces more powerful!



Well the first thing that went wrong was I left the darn marshmallows at home which threw a major spanner in the works! At least we saw the Ghan crossing Adelaide River bridge... worth a few points with the kids but definitely not as much as marshmallows!

Then the expensive battery operated lantern fizzed out and we had no light... ,we were advised that under no circumstances should we drink the water... (which we'd been drinking over the past 2 days), then at sometime around midnight we are woken up by the police and advised that we are camped in an official disaster area and we'd have to leave first thing in the morning! Apparently risk of poisoning. I expect the matter has been in the news but I won't elaborate.

As we were preparing to leave we were humbugged by a media helicopter which amused the kids for about 5 minutes but essentially was just plain annoying.



We figured it'd be nice to visit Kakadu so headed off toward Pine Creek, scoffed a pie, bought a hot coffee each... (for the adults) and wandered over to the big windmill to stretch our legs. Out front of the museum/library we happened across the old Furphy portable water tank with a strange inscription on the side. The information plaque beside it explained that what many people assume is Arabic script is actually a 'Temperance' message in 'Pitman's Shorthand' and reads "Water is the gift of God, but beer and whiskey are concoctions of the devil, come and have a drink of water" Cool Eh! We were both quite impressed... I mean in this day and age of controlled drinking programs and various other state endorsed attempts to 'reduce harm' caused by drinking, it seems quite quirky and odd to see a private firm expressing such a blatantly anti alcohol message... however I guess they were in direct competition with producers of beer and whiskey... and I suppose carts such as the one that carried the Furphy water tank are what was referred to as 'The Wagon' or the Water Wagon.

Off we go again and it's up the Kakadu Highway and into the big park. I hadn't been that way for ages and thought it would be a great road to ride on a motorbike or bicycle. We were soon running out of fuel so stopped at the Mary River Roadhouse, nothing much to comment on there except they still make sure you pay for your fuel before filling the tank, and I saw the most immaculate Norton Commando I think I've ever seen so far from a major town and not a drop of oil staining the bitumen beneath it! Drooling I drove on!

...I think it's at about this point that we'd actually blown our meager budget.

I realized somewhere along this road that I'm totally over driving! Now all I want to do is toast marshmallows on the fire and read a book! What on earth are we doing spending all this time on the road?! As I drove I kept spying spots along the way where I'd camp if I were cycling... The kids were getting restless in the back and we just looked at each other and asked why are we doing this?

We found a quiet camp area with plenty of space, a free fire site and plenty of fresh water... time to set up camp. Hallelujah! Set up the camp again, lay out the rugs, set the kettle, light the fire and we're settled again. That camp was just what we needed, if only we could have stayed a few days, I think we would all have begun to unwind.

We didn't stay of course! Time to pull up the camp and off we go again at some time around 10:00am. Rolling down the road, this time a little slower, slightly more relaxed and at ease. Visited a few of the quieter camp sites we hadn't been to before and discovered some pretty decent places to visit next time. There was time enough for a walk at one of the famous rock art sites, the one near the Anbangbang area which is no longer called what we used to call it and unfortunately I can't remember it's name now.

Used the last of our cash to buy fuel from a temporary petrol station at Jabiru, rolled on down the road, picked up the dog on the way home, saw 7 Jabiru (birds) on the way and lurched the car into the driveway with the fuel light flashing and just over a thousand ks on the trip meter... Stinking of smoke and sweat, a few scratches from collecting firewood and feeling somewhat more content than we should.

Oh yeh... we found the marshmallows and scoffed the lot down in seconds! There was frantic clawing at the packet and demonic laughter in the air!

Philosophy or wisdom gained?

When approaching the road, even if it's a familiar one, don't assume you know where it leads!

Djambarrpuyngu bible dedication weekend

Bible Dedication Celebration Weekend Galiwin'ku Elcho Island




People waving flags



Welcome signs were hanging from poles along the main street


Translation Center

Thanks to my new job I had the great privilege of Attending the Djambarrpunyngu bible dedication at Galiwin'ku on Elcho Island this weekend. The event marks the completion of thirty years translation work of the New Testament from English into Djambarrpunyngu (a Yolngu Language).

Elcho Island is located in the far North East of Arnhem Land. Arnhem land is an Aboriginal Reserve in the Northern Territory of Australia and the traditional home of Yolngu Clans for 100's of generations.

This was the first time I have visited this part of Australia and it was a rare treat. Due to it's remoteness and the fact that it is in the middle of an Aboriginal reserve (Arnhem Land), most Balanda wouldn't have the opportunity to visit. (Not necessarily a bad thing for Yolngu)

Men dancing with flags (I wasn't sure about the significance of this)


Kids running with flags

The community on Elcho went out of their way to make this event an incredibly moving, intense and unforgettable event for all who attended. Their hospitality was outstanding and the weekend was crammed with colours, music, food and a strong feeling of celebration. The community really came together, and visitors were made to feel welcome and included.


Translation team and contributors

The event was a marathon of services, ceremonies and speeches beginning in the early afternoon on Saturday and running well into the night only to begin again at 9:30 on Sunday continuing until fairly late in the afternoon. There were a lot of people to be acknowledged and each was given an opportunity to share their experience, hopes and dreams. People mingled and chatted as mobs of kids, Yolngu and Balanda played in the sand. Everyone seemed happy and proud of this great achievement.


Silk flags of all kinds of design



It seemed to me that the important thing about this weekend is that people in this community who have been Christians for many years; and who live in a town that came into existence as a Methodist Mission, now have the opportunity to read the Bible in their own language. I am not an expert on Christianity and have no idea how it has been presented to Yolngu people by Missionaries over the years. However surely it must be a liberating thing to be able to read or listen to the stories of a book that has had so much impact on their lives in a language that they truly understand.

Sam's old bike... I sent it over on the Barge and left it on the Island to be of use


Temporary shelter

I chose to camp at Elcho rather than be billeted to someones home. The opportunity to camp out in this amazing part of the world was impossible to resist. I wasn't disappointed! The camp site was on high ground with a perfect view overlooking a fantastic beach! The ground was flat and dry and the elevation and breeze meant there were no sand flies or mozzies! On Saturday night I rolled out my mat and slept comfortably on the ground, with the sound of the Arafura Sea lapping at the shore of a rarely visited beach and no city lights to obstruct my view of a perfect starry night.


View from camp


For more photos see The Flying Bible Man's Photo gallery