Northern teritory

---

---

4-5 May - Katherine

We left Kununurra late morning for our drive to Katherine. We lost 1.5hrs crossing the border into the Northern Territory (haven’t we heard that song before?), but at least we could cross. The Victoria River bridge had only opened up 2 days before after being under water. It’s been a very late wet season this year helped on by Cyclone Monica a couple of weeks ago. There’s still water on the road at most of the creek crossings, and plenty of damage on the roads and bridges where the rivers have flooded. As an example the Victoria River had overtopped the bridge 6 times this season, usually it only happens once or twice. Big wet (as they say up here). It’s delayed allot of things up here including mustering, even the annual mustering parade in Alice Springs had no cows in it because they hadn’t been mustered yet. It’s amazing what you hear about on ABC Local Radio.
Coincidently as I was driving through this rough stock country, one of our favourite Paul Kelly songs, “from little things big things grow”, randomly came up just as Tim was reading about Vincent Lingiari and the Stockmen’s Strike in the Lonely Planet. For those who aren’t aware of this event here’s the cliff’s notes for you;
In the 1960s, Vincent Lingiari was a stockman on the huge Wave Hill station. At this time Aboriginal workers received poor pay (if at all), poor food and accommodation, and would spend months in the bush with the cattle. By contrast, a white stockman received regular and relatively high wages, decent food and accommodation and were allowed to return to the homestead after a week in the bush. A pastoralist therefore usually “employed” many Aboriginal stockmen as they could run their station at a much lower cost.
Lingiari appealed to the North Australian Workers’ Union over the way Aboriginal workers were treated; the NAWU had already applied to the Federal Court for equal wages for Aboriginal people. The Court approved the granting of equal wages in March 1966, but it was not to take effect until 1968.
Lingiari asked the Wave Hill management directly for equal wages but was refused and in August 1966 the Aboriginal stockmen walked off the station and camped at Wattie Creek. They were soon joined by others and before long only stations who not only gave their Aboriginal workers good conditions but also respect were provided with workers by Lingiari and the other Gurindji elders.
For the first time Lingiari and the Gurindji elders had some say in the way they were able to live. This lead to the hope that they could achieve something more important - title to their own land. Lingiari travelled widely throughout the eastern states campaigning for land right and finally made some progress with the Whitlam government in Canberra. In August 1975, Prime Minister Gough Whitlam attended a ceremony at Wattie Creek that resulted in handing over 3200km2 of land by ceremoniously pouring sand into the cupped hands of Lingiari.
Lingiari was awarded the Order of Australia Medal for service to the Aboriginal people.
The next day (Friday) we headed off to Nitmiluk National Park with the plan to canoe through Katherine Gorge. When filling up at the fuel station in town we noticed the NT News headline “Huge Croc Caught in Katherine Gorge”. There goes the canoeing plan!
We did go out there nonetheless and took the grey-army boat trip to the gorge. Overall it was a bit under whelming compared to the likes of Winjana and Karrajini. The commentary was pretty ordinary too. Ho hum.
Back at camp we sat down to dinner and whiled away the night listening to the croc and fishing stories (he was this big!) from some other campers who come to the NT most years to fish for the tasty Barra.
L

6-7 May - Kakadu

Hoping to put the disappointment of Katherine Gorge behind us, we headed to the famous Kakadu National Park to take in some billabongs, waterfalls and Aboriginal culture in Arnhem Land. Unfortunately for us, this big wet was still in force with all but the major roads closed. No waterfalls or Arnhem Land for the roaming Roaches.
From the Katherine end of the park we had a look at both the Bukbukluk and Gungurul lookouts before checking out the Warradjin Aboriginal Cultural Centre. This was obviously a precursor to the cultural centre at Uluru / Kata Tjuta National Park as it was styled similarly with some great displays demonstrating Aboriginal culture in the Kakadu area. There were also a number of stories collected from some of the elders from the area including the beautiful poetry from Bill Neidjie, Gagudju Man.
One of the boards near the end of the exhibit had this poem from Bill which affected me deeply -

Rock stays,
earth stays.

I die and put my bones in cave or earth.
Soon my bones become earth,
all the same.

My spirit has gone back to my country,
my mother.

This story is important.
It won’t change,
it is law.
It is like this earth,
it won’t move.

Ground and rock,
he can’t move.
Cave,
he never move.
No-one can shift that cave,
because it dream.
It story.
It law.

This law,
this country,
this people,
no matter what people,
red, yellow, black or white,
the blood is the same.
Lingo little bit different,
but no matter.
Country,
you in other place.
But the same feeling.
Blood, bone,
all the same.
This story,
this is true story.

My people
all dead.
We only got few left.
That’s all, not many.
We getting too old.

Young people.
I don’t know if they can hang onto this story.

But, now you know this story,
and you’ll be coming to earth.
You’ll be part of earth when you die.
You responsible now.
You got to go with us.
To earth.
Might be you can hang on.
Hang on to this story.
To this earth.

You got children,
grandson.
Might be your grandson will get this story,
keep going,
hang on like I done.

Bill Neidjie

The next morning we got up early to do the Yellow Water Cruise to watch sun rise over the billabong. We had a beautiful clear morning, still, with no wind and we could indeed see the waters reflect yellow in the morning sunrise. Early in the morning you get to see plenty of wildlife with sea eagles, kites, Jabiru, kingfishers, bats and crocs all spotted. We also watched the lily flowers open to the sun as we glided through the paper bark forests.
After the cruise in the morning we drove to Nourlangie Rock (Anbanbang) to see some of the most incredible (and accessible) rock art sites in Australia. There are various styles here including the pre-estuarine period (50,000-8,000 BP), Estuarine Period (8,000-2,000 BP) and Freshwater Period (2,000 to present). Yes, they reckon some paintings could be up to 50,000 years old. They depict various animals and spirits including Namarrgon (lightening man) a very powerful spirit. The stories of Namarrgon and his wife Barrginj belong to this area and are therefore prolific. Interestingly, in one of the stories, when Namarrgon gets badly injured, he turns into a rainbow serpent and goes underground. Where Namarrgon’s blood was spilt and where he dwells is known as sickness country by the local Aboriginal clans. If you go through this country you get sores, your cuts don’t heal, and many people got sick and died. The sickness country closely correlates to the deposits of Uranium in the area. Also within sickness country are deposits of Mercury and Lead which are also being mined.
After leaving Nourlangie Rock we headed to Jabiru to watch the second half of the swans at the local sport and recreation club, before enjoying a swim at our caravan park pool (croc free).
L

8-May - Adelaide River
Monday (8 May) we spent travelling past wetlands and billabongs still in full flood. Also we stopped to take a look at the wetland information centre and nearby jumping crocodile cruises on the Adelaide River.
Yes, jumping crocodiles.
Not only do these things drag people from river banks, death roll them and store them underwater to rot, but they can jump 3m (give or take depending on the size of the croc) into the air. On our croc cruise we got to meet the local legend up close: “Hannibal the Cannibal”, a 70 year old 7m long croc who was over 1.5m wide and weighed in at over 1 tonne! This guy is big! And he can jump 2m out of the water to get meat dangling from a stick 1m away from you in the boat.
After this cruise, we have decided that we’re not swimming anywhere other than caravan park resort pools until we hit Cairns.
L

8-11 May - Darwin

So this is the capital city of NT?
All that we’ve heard about Darwin is true.
1. It’s hot.
The days are hot (30°+) and drops to 24° overnight (if you’re lucky) so we got to bask in plenty of that balmy tropical weather that everyone talks about. Even in May.
2. It’s a bit of a backwater town.
There is no major department store. They do have a small Westfield shopping centre which is advertised as Darwin’s premier shopping experience with about 30 “boutique” stores including Kmart.
There is no business district and the only semblance of a suit is the blue singlet and thongs worn universally throughout Darwin.
There are however plenty of tie-dye clothing supplies, “authentic” aboriginal art stores, and backpacker hostels and bars.
3. The locals don’t care to know about the rest of Australia or the tourist trade it provides.
“Nah mate, we don’t get those papers until between 3 and 4 this arvo.” Add a look of disdain and a muttering of “bloody tourists” under the breath.
4. The NT newspaper always has a croc story on either the front page or at least by page 3
For those familiar with the quality of the Illawarra Mercury, add a few croc stories and you’re in the journalistic ball park.
But maybe I’m being a bit hard on our poor red-necked cousin of a wanna-be capital city.
The wharf area in Darwin has a great food court and bar where you can watch the sun set over Darwin harbour while eating barramundi washed down with cold beer. Not bad.
There are also the Mindle Beach markets every Thursday night during the tourist season which has an eclectic mix of food stalls (like those usually found at major outdoor concerts) music and fire twirlers together with good quality market products including jewellery, art, clothing and of course didgeridoos.
I’m not sure I could live here but it was worth visiting.
L

12-13 May - Litchfield National Park

We drove south out of Darwin and headed into Litchfield National Park for a couple of nights of bush camping. Turning right off the highway, we drove into the small town of Bachelor where a very enthusiastic, older, travelling couple volunteered their time to wax lyrical about the area around them. They had good up to date knowledge of the roads that were open or not and the particular areas which were still accessible. The late wet still had its grip on the land and we would not see the lost world and other waterfalls off the main tracks for this trip. However, for what falls could be seen, there would be allot of water flowing over them. The swimming holes were also clean, fresh and full but watch out for crocs lurking upstream further than they should at this time of year.
We set up camp in a relatively shady spot at the Florence 2WD campsite inside the park and headed down the track to the swimming hole at the bottom of Florence falls. The water was a refreshing relief from another day which was over 30 degrees; the water cool and clear. The two large waterfalls - one cascading over rock shelves, the other plunging from an overhang - kept the deep pool overflowing with a fresh supply of tropical water.
Returning to camp, we met some new neighbours in Tom & Kathy. We sat in the shade drinking chai tea and talking about life in Darwin. They had not long moved up to the territory from country NSW near Orange - and both were in the social work area. From their perspective we gathered a quick insight into the psyche of the isolated outback city.
The next day we drove along to see what we could from the tarred road which included the Wangi and Tolmer falls. Usually the pool below Wangi falls is a popular dry season swimming hole but it was clearly closed. From the safety of the viewing platform we spotted the reason why as a 3 metre croc (a salty) cruised past the steps that led into the pool. There were two spectacular streams rushing white water plunging into the pool, creating that fine spray which the sunlight makes permanent rainbows of. We walked the track that wound its way up over the escarpment, through the canopy of the swampy, temperate rainforest to the top of the falls.
Driving back toward the east, we stopped to see the Tolmer waterfall that was over 40 metres in height and could only be viewed from the safety of a platform across the other side of the deep gorge. We stayed that night in the campground before we packed up and headed out past the magnetic termite mounds.
T

14-15 May Katherine & Tennant Creek

You have to return to Katherine after heading north pretty much because it is the only town of any size you will drive through on the Stuart Highway (and the caravan park had wireless internet). We did however visit the thermal pools on recommendation from the locals that no crocs have been seen for at least a week. These pools are more luke-warm dipping pools than thermal hot springs but were a novelty all the same. We appreciated the cooler nights of the inland as it dropped to a sleeping bag snugly 11 degrees.
What other country in the world is there where you will drive south for over 1000kms before you can turn left (toward anything of significance). The three-ways is where we would turn for Queensland but we decided to travel the short distance on to Tennant Creek and stay the night.
We pulled into a caravan park with signs for the last bushman’s $2 show, grabbed a bite to eat and headed over to the campfire that night to listen to bush poetry by Jimmy - the last bushman. He was quite the character who did not learn to read properly but manages to tell his stories well enough through the rhyming couplets of his bush poetry. Most of them were from when he lived under a gumtree, prospecting in the area. Only in the last 3 years has he had a house with air-conditioning and Foxtel.
Jimmy displayed some bush medicine and prepared bush tucker for us to try, including cooking up a witchery grub. It was just a small sample of what the Australian bush has to offer and the deep knowledge of Aboriginal people about these foods and medicines that they pass down for tens of thousands of years. The grub tasted like peanuts when cooked and had the texture of crispy fried egg whites.
The next morning we filled the car with fuel and a little extra in the jerry can for the headwinds of the road into outback Queensland.
T

---