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Published: August 8th 2007
Current mood: Confused... it just aint propper Football!!
Score: Imalu Tigers 12.4 (76) Muluwurri Magpies 25.6 (156) ........ Its just no good boys or is it understandable!!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY HARRY, I MISS YOU GIGGLER!!
Well well well...... i had a reasonably relaxed first break from the island. We were flew off on the Friday morning as this was the end of my shift but for alot of the guys there was an added bonus of a christmas party, Yes thats right...... its an ozzie tradition doing things a little late it would seem hahahah! (they are just tooo relaxed) Ahh balls kids you can get your pressies in August ay.. you dont really need them now?!!?!?
So off we flew to get home at around 8am just in time to see Some TV before heading into town to pay the rent and catch up with a few guys from Darwin!! Good to see a few of them but a shame to see many had left (fiona i hope to see you again soon) So after doing not so much walking and paying out my hard walked wages i got back to the house to get
a few films out and chill with Brett for a few hours! The plan for the night time was to hit the town and see what this christmas party was all about! Leaving things late as per usual in this travelling lifestyle i missed the meal but instead partook in a liquid alternative. A tooheys Extra Dry... Very nice indeed after the 10th one hahaha! So over to the Cav where i spend alot of time when i Darwin myself and Brett hooked up with a few guys before feeling the Burn, Hitting the Vic for a few more and a stagger through Macdonalds on route to my Den!
The next Morning i woke feeling well Rough as i hadn't touched a drop of beer in nearly two weeks! Im off it i thought! For the remainder of the day i lay there like a dick feeling sorry for myself whilst getting up occasionally to finish of the last of my tetleys tea bags! (Thank you gorgeous you did me proud there miss you heaps as the ozzies would say)
So you all know me im lying around huffing and puffing as im super bored so to find
something to do i got up and sorted through all of the micelanious paper i had collated whilst travelling! All done now what can i do im thinking?!?!?!?! AHHHHHHhhh ill go get more toothpaste! So i woke brett up on the sofa and said to him im popping out so he decided to come with me! On route we decided to pass woolies and pop into the Cav to see who is in and wether it was worth having a beer or two as it was a saturday night. Tooheys after Tooheys the babble began to flow and before i knew it i was on route home $500 down but with a Camper van to my Name!! Thats right i Have a Camper van! But no Toothpast! Typical Saturday night ay?!!?
On the Sunday morning i was up and on my way to the Airport by 9.30am! Today folkes is the day of the Year!! the one true day the Tiwi's Love!! Grand Final Day! Bathurst island!!
Its almost like a national Holiday for the the Tiwi's. Bathurst is open to everyone without permit for one day a year and it was this day thankfully! The bonus for
me was as i was invited through work my flight was free and so was the food and drink for the day!! Ive landed the sweetest of jobs! So arriving at the airport i hook up with Rob and the Guys, We all jump on the Plane and arrive on the island half an hour later!
First impressions was how crazey it was to see so many peple scattered about the place!! Normally the group consists of three or four! So rocking up at the Pitch i get to see that its an Oval kind of shape! Wierd i thought! Then after recieving grief from the lads about how what we call foootball, Should be called soccer i then witness the Abo's punching the Oval ball to each other as well as kicking it!! This is why Soccer is Supposed to be football guys....... WE USE OUR FEET THROUGH OUT!!!
Anyway..... We meet up with the croud and we get under our tarp to get out of the sun! Right behind the Goal..... this is going to be interesting i think! Watching all of the crowds arrive was so much fun for me! It was great to see
the barage of colour... Young and old... Male and female all in Masive support for the two Island teams! Tribal Dancing... Kids Kicking the Ball like they were pros, barefooted might i add it was a phenominal start to a great Sunday afternoon finish! Its just a shame the Imalu tigers lost as this was who we were in support of! Prior to the Game there were various events including Showboating of Colours... Skydivers coming into the oval bringing in the match ball.... announcments for the finals and randomly happy things just going on in Charity to the Islands! It was Great! As kick off approached.. the pitch cleared and the teams got set for a grueling 80 minutes of four quarters! Highlights from the game below:
'Muluwurri was determined to put as big a gap as possible between themselves and Imalu with an eight-goal opening term, with Owen Henry in great touch on a wing.
But the Tigers weren't daunted by the four-goal lead at quarter-time and they brought it back to 12 points before Michael Wilson and Jose Puruntatameri kicked steadying goals.
After half-time the Magpies were relentless in their charge to put Imalu out
Its all about the Little guys though!! They are the future Talent
of the game, kicking the first six goals of the half.
Palipuaminni finished with four goals, as did Michael Ray Wilson and Daniel Stassi, while Graham Puruntatameri kicked three goals for the Tigers.'
quoted by: http://www.ntnews.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,7034,21487399%255E13569,00.html
In Between Intervals and goals the Pitch would be mobbed by photographers and fans all dancing and chanting for the team they were following! The exciteiment just grew and grew it seemed for the Tiwi's but unfortunately for me not really being able to follow the game was a little bit of a pain! I prefer Propper Football! Simply watching the surrounding support and Fun was enough for me! In a box... THIS IS WHAT I AM HERE TO SEE. I love the experience ive been given literally on a plate!
So the Game comes to an end and not really phased by the loss as i would have been when the Villa always seemed to cock up we left for our adjoining boats between the islands! Back to melville for Some dinner (Sunday Roast with competitive Crispy Crackling.) Barbara you better proove your self soon maybe you
should fly out to proove these guys wrong and claim your number one position?!!?!?. After dinner i went for a bit of sleep to get ready for my shift at 6am on the Monday morning!! Ooooh the joy! You know i loves it!!
So the week started out with the Basic sorting of sites we would visit for the week as possibilities only due to excessive rainfall on the island! We are still waiting for the camping to start. The monday and tuesday were a little bit bit different for me! Usually, as im not qualified i get to go out with Rob and make a few decisions based on wether the ground or the routes for the walk are good enough for the day but the monday in question i was as good as in charge! I went out with a guy called Chris who knows what he's doing but is as new to it as me (but with Qualifications) So off we go in the Troopy (jeep) to this site up in the middle of the island called Andra 12 where we were to walk the typical 10km in search of Rainforest through the creeks!! The day
went great and i got to make the route decisions which is
cool as ive only been here 14 days working! We did however run into a bunch of Grazing Buffalo that we startled and they ran in all directions!! The worrying thing about these are that they must weigh about a tonne and when you can only hear them running through the Bush without Visuals its hard to see which way they are coming from or going for that matter!! Politely i shit myself! Running for the nearest tree myself and chris just stood there til the crashing had stopped! Not even twenty metres of walking after the crashing began again!! OOOOoooh this was twitchy hahahah nevermind that time they never came back! The walk went well and we got back to the car! Home we went for some well earned dinner and abit of desert! I tell you what guys the food here is overly sufficient! To much of a good thing some may say!
The second day was pretty much the same going back to the same site but this time with Rob i guess to check how we had got on!! On our say so
from the day before we had almost as good as rejected the block but we needed official checking! OOOOoh and we got it!! My first Rejection... and let me tell you it doesnt happen often hahah i wish!!
So Day three. Wednesday morning and my biggest walk yet! 17km. All before 3pm! And might i add the funniest day ive had in Australia!
I got to the office at 6am to be given the choice of a big walk or a small walk! Before i could even speak my mate Boof jumped in with he would be taking the Small walk so fine by that i got set up for a big Day! Thank god my boots are dry i thought! Not that it ever lasts long out here!
So rigged up for the day we get out to the Jeep (myself and Rob) and head out to a site that was abit different to others! The deal was that instead of normally getting most of the way by road and then walking we had to get to the site i was working on with Chris earlier in the week and walk through the entire block before
even reaching our Second Target! This meant that even before the Manditory 10km walk we would do to get around a Boundary we would first have to walk that far to get there just to begin! Well almost!
Pulling up at the road side the heavens opened so after listening to more and more music, avoiding the inevitable, we eventually got our bags on and off we trooped! Across Bush land of the typical kind.... Through the Wet land and bush myself and chris were chased through by Buffalo.... And onto the trails of a creek.... we thought! As Rob had forgot the maps we wernt really sure what creek we were crossing or for that fact how many there would be to help orientation. Now i think i must explain a thing or two about Melville island!! Apart from the sea being deadly with Box Jelly Fish and Sharks all of the reans and creeks of any big size including the coast lines and river mouths all hold Crocodiles of both Fresh and Salt water Variety! So as we hit this Marsh wet land and are literally walking through masssive areas of swamp like terain along side of
the creek Rob reminds me that we shouold be looking out For Crocs or at least be keeping them in mind!! I love this whole Keep things in mind speech! Just love it! After telling me that is it likely my mind will be on the lovely trees and surrounding Greenery!?@@? Please Give me some credit!
So waiding through Mud and slush over the ankle high hahaha we were in Commando mode watching for every little thing that moved..... Live Logs if you get my drift and Deep puddles with the occasional Snake! I should be on Danger money! Finally we found a crossing.... A bit of a verge steppy stoned across the creek that Rob had already braved to try and Waid through but was too deep to manage so grabbing onto surrounding trees we stepped on the Pandanas grass routes to the other side!! Happy days.... for about ten minutes!! As i said earlier we didnt know how many creeks there were! So pulling up to another Creek side it now seemed that from the Gps readings this was the one we had saw earlier on the maps in the office! Ahh Balls i though just when
the Crocodile Possible Stalking had stopped!
In a rage of Confidence i battled through the fear and opened my mouth maybe a little to soon! As we already had walked miles i said to Rob the deal was this! If in 50 metres of walking we havnt found a good place to cross we are risking it and swimming! Being a danger Man he though this was wicked so off we went bottling it after 50 but within 70 we had stopped! There was this tree partl;y bent over the creek that if climbed on correctly we could walk half and easily jump the rest of the way! Getting back was another question! Balls to this i said if there is crocs in there they will get us (being all brave) so de bagging and getting all the gear in the ruck sacks Rob walked to the side of the creek to throw his bag across! One, two three and his bag was hurled through the air and cleared the water by miles! Happy days! So he walks towards the tree to get over to the other side! As he had just passed me i began to swing my
bag hahahah but like an English Bowler in a good Cricket match i threw my bag hi into the air seeing instantly the bag wasnt going to make it hahaha Guys the river was not even 2 metres wide hahahahah
So landing on the Bank just in the water the current grabs the Bag and slowly pulls it into the faster flowing Current hahaha Im on the side line saying im going (one step closer) im going (another step closer) and just about to dive rob shouts im gone Taking his first step into the water! On his second step however He completely disapeered hahahaha i nearly pissed my self his Hat stayed ontop of the water and as he returned to the surface his head found the hat for a perfect fit hahahahah so funny!! The current had grabbed him though so he was a good two to three meters down streem hahaha so clambering out in fear of crocs i was in tears at him then having to try and get over a tree that was difficult with my crying fit giggles hahahah Rob your a star son you made the day hahahah! So jumping across he
shouted at me you Mad Bastard laughing his arse off! We rawed for a while myself loosing my breath hahahah so soaked he decides to grab some lunch!! The Plastic boxes we use to put our food in had smashed so my nicely prepped Sarnies were discusting! I got abit of Soily filling but the rest was sickening! For the entire day i got Grapes! I was starving hahahah
The walk continued and turned out to be the Hardest walk ive ver done! We were literally walking through Mud that at times literally Swallowed me up to my waist to Robs high amusement! The Feet were crippled but the Van was in sight after numerous detours trying to avoid the Marsh lands! I tell you what guys this Job would make TV in its finest!
For the remainder of the week we were all at a lost end as with rain the roads on the island were out so every one who was on them got bogged! The best way to get through a boring day is to go fishing! Or as it was this time it turned out to be more like Crabbing! We got four and
a few little fish! All good for a days work!! Nothing but love for the way the Tiwi's nock up abit of tucker too!! Its a great experience!!! Im living a travelling dream!
So until the Next one who knows what will appear amongst my stories but the Good News for now is ive avoided the leaches!! Im hoping not to bore you all sensless with my working Stories Im hoping to Hit a fair bit of the Northern Territory! Now i have my Van ill be on the road im Nissan Nomad Style!
Love to you all guys i miss you all so so much! Cant wait for your emails and comments they make me giggle as much as i hope some of my stories do you!
Love from a Brummy...... The best kind!
Niki xxx
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Alex
non-member comment
A Camper Van???
Niki - I thought you couldn't drive! I thought you'd need those skills to manoeuvre the van???? :-) You're not boring us at all with your stories, they are great - they make me giggle. Am so happy you are making the most of yor experience. Take care of your self love Al. x