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Published: October 6th 2008
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A beautiful morning in Kakadu. It is a bit cooler and the smoky haze from the day before has gone. Ro has gone fishing on a charter that left at 6am. (Ro will blog about his trip later). The rest of us are going to Jabiru and then onto to Ubirr to look at some Aboriginal rock art. Some slight hitches involving forgotten bathers, me and petrol again, and maps left behind, meant that it took us longer to get to Ubirr than we’d planned, but we got there in the end. And it was so worth it!!! Ubirr is on the edge of Arnhem Land and is home to some of the oldest and largest rock art in Australia. Some paintings date back 5000 years. Most of the rock art sites are multi-layered. Apparently it is ok to paint over the top of existing pictures, so sometimes it is difficult to follow the ‘story’ of the paintings. We had a wonderful time listening to a ranger explain one of the rock sites which had two stories, one about warriors fighting each other because a girl from one clan group had eaten Barramundi - breaking a food taboo, and another about
two sisters who played jokes on each other by turning themselves into crocodiles (ginga) and scaring the pants off each other. Eventually the sisters decided to change themselves into ginga permanently and so now, each crocodile has the spirit of the sisters within it. And that’s why crocs are so smart; they know what humans are thinking because they used to be human. Hope I’ve retold this story ok??!! Quite a steep climb up the rocks to a lookout over Arnhem Land. Absolutely spectacular. Very lush green flood plains with pools of water and grasses, and then, over further the East Alligator River, and further still, the rocky escarpment that marks the start of Arnhem Land. It is a very moving view. There was a welcome breeze standing up on the rocks too. We drove slowly back to Jabiru so that I could make it to the servo.
Back to camp just after lunch. So hot there was nothing for it but to get in the pool for the rest of the day. Some interesting characters and happenings at the pool. We were lucky enough to watch a mother Gecko make a nest in the ground, lay 3 eggs in
there, press the eggs down into the soil and then cover them over with soil and leaves. All in full view of gawk kjing people. Speaking of gawking….not sure what the etiquette is in France, but a French couple got ready for their swim by getting their gear off poolside and getting into their togs then and there. I turned around at one point and got a lot more than I’d bargained for. Then there was another entry in the list “Big Attractions”….the world’s biggest pair of budgie smugglers (and possibly the loosest) worn by a man who brought his dental floss to the pool, proceeded to floss, put the floss in his shirt pocket and then bring it out an hour or so later to finish the job.
Ro and Rob cooked up our own version of Beef ‘n Barra for tea which was delish. The heat takes it out of me (out of everyone) so I was pretty early to bed and missed out on the medicinal scotch on ice.
Hi, Ro now and this time I’ve got more to talk about than the fact we “have frogs”. Thursday morning was ‘barra day’ The day for me
to go and catch a whopping big barra on the East Aligator river and adjoining billabongs. On Wednesday I had the big choice - morning or afternoon session. With the temp around 40 degrees it seemed an easy choice - morning 6am - 11am for me. So Thursday morning 5.30 am the alarm went off. I awoke and using incredible zip silencing techniques I left the camp site without waking anyone else up. That’s my story anyway. 5.50 at the pick up point. Met Dean the fishing charter guy and from the start he was all questions “you know how to fish? You caught Barra before? You used an overhead, underarm delivery? Can you cast between your legs and hit the lily pod I tell you to?”. I confirmed I am a legend and I can do it all. The other two people then turned up - a couple from Foster in NSW. He was a phd student studying the habits of Buffalo in Arnhem Land and she a first year medical student of aboriginal origins. This sort of stifled Dean as he could only use his gay and sexist jokes and had to avoid the aboriginal ones. Lucky I
had “ro” printed on the back of my 13 - 13 hat as he was able to use my name for most of the expedition. Although, when front on, he constantly returned to “big fella”. Didn’t really like that and I was starting to think that the the efforts with the personel trainer prior to the trip have been taken over by Rob’s constant reminders of the need for the next beer. Come to think of it the rashy is feeling a little tighter. 5.55 am. I tell Dean about my choice of am or pm. His immediate reply was “if you wanted fish you should have booked the afternoon session”. 0600 and I am advised the tour starts when the shop opens, we pay and we purchase supplies. I bought a bottle of water and wathched the other couple “Bo and Jodie” buy a pack of Kettle chips. I went back and bought another pack for me as I couldn’t bear the thought of them crunching away. 0610 boat is launched. 0620 Watch a fantastic sunrise on the East Aligater with a mist everywhere. Absolutely unbelievable. Fantastic birdlife everywhere. The fishing starts with Jodie being given the rod with
the pink line. Apparently Jane and Glenn Mcgrath had been on the charter a few times and any ladies who come on board use the pink line rod. If it cathes a Barra there is a $5 donation to breast cancer research. 0630 - 1115 fishing, no Barra.
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