Tjapukai / Wwoof #5


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Oceania » Australia » Western Australia » Perth » Melville
February 26th 2011
Published: February 27th 2011
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Nar then!

Im writing this blog on a very turbulent flight from Cairns to Perth, so please accept my apologies if my writing is a bit wonky ;-)

We last blogged in Airlie Beach, which already seems an age ago. Everything seems like a distant memory when you're traveling around, even if it's only a few days. We made our last long bus journey to Cairns, an overnight one so it wasn't too bad... Apart from the fat bus driver who decided to talk every half an hour through the night. Safe to say we're happy to have no more bus journeys for a while!! We arrived in Cairns and headed for our hostel, which was also the last hostel we have to stay in! See the trend? We explored the centre of Cairns and found that you can easily do it in a day as it's only a very small city, but that suited us! We had a swimming pool in the hostel and the weather was touching 35 degrees so we just sat round the pool and chilled out. We ventured out to see if we could plan something for the day after, and we found out that an Aboriginal Cultural Centre was 15 minutes out of town, so we decided on that. Cairns is the first place we've been able to do something like this, which is astounding considering that we're talking about the indigenous people of this land. We hadn't seen many if not any Aboriginies until we arrived in Cairns, which didn't surprise us as we'd already been told that they'd been cornered in around here. We've also found that the integration of the indigenous people is still a very real problem in Australia and it seems to have been swept under the carpet by the government.

So, the next day we headed to Tjapukai Cultural Park. Unfornately, due to Cyclone Yasi, we were unable to do the outdoor activities so everything was done indoors, but it didn't hamper our experience as we loved it. We learnt all manner of things, including how to make and use a didjeridoo, the story of the European invasion and the way the Aboriginies were treated, the way they survived in the forest (including making a fire, their diet and their hunting techniques) and we were also treated to a dance and creation performance. Pretty amazing stuff. We watched a short documentary on aboriginal history and what I found humbling was the way the Aboriginal people spoke about the way the Europeans destroyed their ancestors lives yet here they were, telling this very story to Europeans today. Obviously it's a means of income; the native dress was certainly for our entertainment too. We were both very glad we'd been able to gain an insight in to Indigenous Australia and we learnt a great deal from it. Amber's only been wanting to do this for about two and a half months. When the men spoke of hunting it was always in the present tense which was a little confusing until they mentioned that they still do hunt today, perhaps a little differently i.e with knives and guns!

 It was interesting to hear other travellers speak of the aboriginal people. Crimes committed against tourists is a bit of an issue but obviously not broadcast to the world. And the accessibility of alcohol is a problem; in areas with a high aboriginal population you can't buy a bottle of wine for less than thirty pounds, the high price tag being a detterent. We've found that fellow travellers have been too eager to critise. I would be pretty pissed off if my land was taken, ancestors killed, traditions destroyed and then to rub salt in the wounds the most sacred aboriginal land to be ooggled at by a bunch of foreigners. Errr hello!   

So, on to Wwoof #5!! After the Cultural Park we headed to the coach station to meet our host for the next few days. Our host was a lovely Brazilian lady who also had her daughter and 4 year old grandson living with her. We settled in to their family life quickly, as with all families we've stayed with it's been so easy to integrate in to their lives. Our first day was a day off so we planned on going to the local rainforest, but ended up doing nothing but watching Borat and making tea! It was nice to just relax in the comfort of a home. The next day we were able to get out in the garden and get our hands dirty! I was able to strim the lawn and chop some banana trees to bits so I was well chuffed, whilst Amber and our host got on with weeding and pruning
Strimming away!Strimming away!Strimming away!

Or 'whipper-snipping' as they call it out here?!
the garden, and after 8 hours solid work it looked cracking! This was the only bit of garden work we were able to do though, as for the next 3 days it poured and poured with rain. Some Wwoof hosts tell you to find somewhere else to go as most of the work they provide is outdoors, so we were very happy when our host asked us to paint some pictures for us! Well, Amber was happy but I hadn't done any form of art since leaving school so I didn't know what to expect! Cut a long story short, I'm still as shite at art as I always was at school, and Amber literally nailed it. She produced 5 pieces of canvas art and they were fantastic! I produced one, and in the words of our host, it was "not too bad, but not too good either"! So I spent quite a bit of time watching movies and doing puzzles with the grandson whilst Vincent Van Coleman got her groove on. We spent a wonderful 5 days with our host, she was a very inquisitive woman who asked a lot of questions about us and spoke with such life experience and wisdom. We also ate some cracking Brazilian food which is also a bonus!

So, we left for Perth this afternoon, our final destination in Australia. From the Boxing Day Ashes to catching a snake, from painting a cabin to rafting around The Whitsundays, we've absolutely loved the East Coast. West Coast here we come!!

Love to all,

Mat and Amber

xXx


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1st March 2011

Matt i love your Aboriginal outfit in the didjeridoo shot!!.........xx

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