Today we had short drive. We had to backtrack a little bit because we wanted to go to Douglas Hot Springs. We got a nice bush camp site with a camp fire place. After we set up we went to Fenton WWll air field. In the war USA airforces and RAAF used it for flying to attack Japanese forces In the islands. Some of the planes crashed at the air field and the Japanese also bombed it. We saw some parts of the old crashed planes. On the way to the Hot Springs we saw some Brahman cattle. They have humps one their back. When we got to the Hot Springs we couldn’t believe that it can be so hot that you can hardly stand there then if you take a step it can be freezing cold. It was only deep enough to sit and stand not swim. The water can get up to 60 degrees. We went home and had chicken roast in the camp oven that Mum made and I made some damper to go with it.
Tess

Today we left Jabiru and drove to Gunlom, still in Kakadu. The last 37kms were very bumpy, and we were a bit nervous because of our previous wheel mishap! But it was all fine and we got to a nice campsite, with a view of the Gunlom waterfall and shady trees. We had the soup that Mum made yesterday from left over roast for lunch. It was very nice!
After lunch we walked to the Gunlom Falls. It was only a bit more than a kilometre, but it was very steep and rocky! At the top we had a swim. We could swim there because crocodiles can’t get up that high! The pool was at the top of the waterfall and it was an amazing view! It was really nice swimming in the cool water! We swam there for a bit then walked back down to the caravan park. We had sausages cooked on the camp fire for tea, they were very nice!
Tara

After the boat tour we went to the cafe just near the tour place for a buffet breakfast, it was included in the boat tour! It was really yummy! They had a selection of fruit also some scrambled eggs, bacon, baked beans, cereal, breads, juices, hash brown and yoghurt!
We then came back to the caravan park and had a swim in the pool, lucky it was almost an hours drive back to the caravan park, otherwise we would have sunk! It was really fun in the pool!
Around 2 o’clock we drove to a place where we were going on another boat tour, a more cultural one this time.

An aboriginal man was the tour guide/boat driver. He told us lots about the aboriginal culture. One of the things he showed us were spears. There was one spear that was made from a Hibiscus branch, I got to hold it, and it was amazingly light! Perhaps it was about as light as a stainless steel fork. The Hibiscus tree is used for many things. They use the flower to cure an upset tummy. They can’t pick them straight from the tree, it has to fall off the tree and float down the river and change to a light red colour before they eat the whole thing to cure an upset tummy. Also it can be used for a cold, they use the branches for fire sticks. To make fire with the sticks they have a stick with a little hole in it which they would put a bit of sand and then they have another stick that they put in the hole and rubbed it to creat friction. When smoke start the tip the hot sand out onto dry leaves and twigs to start the fire. They make rope from the bark.

Another plant was the pandanas. They use the leaves for weaving, they use the roots for paint brushes, they bash the end of the root down so that it splays out. The women use the roots to carry the fire. The roots are so good for carrying the fire that it could last through a cyclone! Men must not carry fire, only light it. Men must not do any woman’s work and visa versa. If, for example a woman was to light a fire with the fire sticks, or even touch the fire sticks, she would be punished, but only punished by a woman. Women punish women and men punish men. That’s just one example of how different their culture is to ours!

In the paper bark trees, sometimes there are knots in the branches, they can get water out of them, by using a spear to stab it, once they have drunk the water they must patch it up for the next person to drink. If they are caught not patching it up they would get a spear in the leg. They can also use the paper bark for nappies and toilet paper, plates to eat off, rafts to get across rivers, they use the leaves to flavour their cooking, which mum did the following night, it was very nice! They also use the bark for an anti septic bandage by pouring water over it and keeping it moist for 7-10 days.

We saw a snake swim across the river! You might be able to see it’s head in one of the pictures below.

We also stepped into Arnhem Land! Arnhem Land is a place reserved for Aboriginals, no white people are allowed there with out special permission, but because we were with the tour guide, it was okay.

When an aboriginal elder dies everything stops and ceremony begins. Ceremonies can last up to two years because they have to be repeated if not done correctly. One part of the ceremony is to paint ochre finger marks around where the deceased elder had been. This is done around things like cars, trees, building and posts. We had been seeing these marks around and wondering what they were. It is to cleanse the areas so that their sprit can rome freely.

After the tour we drove to a place called Ubirri, where we could see some rock art. We listened to a talk by one of the park’s rangers. I really liked the paintings. They were done in reds, browns and yellows, these were the main colours. There were some paintings that were up really high. She told us about a spirit that the aboriginals believe brought down the high rock so that they could paint on it, then put it back up. The same spirits can also take people, if they upset them.
There, we also watched the sunset. It was really nice.

There is a map of Australia showing the many aboriginal countries below. They are not allowed to enter other countries unless they are trading or meeting. The common meeting country is Arrente, (the triangular blue one in the middle.) Alice Springs is inside the Arrente country. To get into what is now known as Alice Springs, for a meeting, the men can walk through the gap in the mountains. But, the women and children have to go over the mountain!

Boh Boh Ballandar (farewell white man)

Tara
Sorry about the mix up with days.

See the pink patch? They’ve taken bark off the tree for a plate. Also the brown stripes on the tree are from the ceremonies.

Us in Arnhem land!

We had to leave at 5.30 to get to the boat sunrise tour. We drove from Jabiru to Yellow-Waters. When we got there we all boarded the boat. The boat started at Yellow-Water Billabong and then went to the South Alligator River. Back in the 1800s a sea captain saw Crocodiles in the river and called it Alligator river, because he had just been to America. The difference between an Alligator and a Crocodile is that when an alligator closes its mouth, you can’t see the teeth, where as when a Crocodile does, you can! Crocodiles are also a lot more aggressive. Though they look so docile, except for the ancient and evil look on their face. If they were to take an animal they would drag them into the water and turn them around, then shack them so vigorously that limbs would fall off. I can’t imagine that it would be a pleasant experience. You can usually tell wether they are male or female by their size, males are generally larger, they can be up to 6 metres and can live up to 100 years!

See if you can find the two dragon flys on the crocodile!

Look at his teeth!

These are some of the birds we saw!

Intermediate Egret

Comb-Crested Jacana (Jesus bird, because it Walks on water!)

Magpie geese, having mothers club, with a Little Pied Cormorant!

A female Darter hanging her wings out to dry! Notice she has webbed feet!

Azure Kingfisher

Australian White Ibis

White Bellied Sea Eagle

Rufous Night Heron

Radjah Shelduck

Royal Spoon Bill

Peaceful Dove

Pacific Black Duck or Grey Teal?

Plumed Whistling Ducks, there were ‘undreds of ’em!

Rainbow Bee Eater

Australian Pelican

Whistling Kite

We also saw a few Golden Tree Snakes. They were really hard to spot because they were so well camouflaged, can you see it in the photo?

There were also some Lotus Water Lilies. The leaves were so big and water proof that the Aboriginals use them to carry up to 1 liter of water! The seed pods look like shower heads, and the actual flowers are really beautiful!

Judging by the look of the photos, I think Mum has become a bit of a twitcher…
Tara

Today we had a short drive to Kakadu. We left Darwin early and it was very foggy when we went through the swamp areas. On the way we stopped at The Bark Hut. There we saw a buffalo and two emus (not wild). There was also an old bashed up land rover that was used to catch buffalos. This was a very dangerous job. We also saw an old rusty land cruiser where a buffalo’s horn went through the door and into the passenger’s leg. When we got to Jabiru where we were staying we went for a walk on a bush track to the Bowali Visiter Center. There we had a look through the displays with things like wild life in them. Then we came home. We had a BBQ for Dinner.
Tess

PS Sorry no photos today, but plenty tomorrow.

We had a lazy morning, then, in the afternoon we went to the wave pool. We really like the wave pool, it is fun as! While we were there they had a power surge. So they couldn’t put the waves on for about 40 minutes, but that was okay! My Favourite wave cycle was one that I called the Coober Pedy waves, because it was like there were mounds of water every where. The deeper we went the bigger the mounds got and we just floated over them on the blown up rings.
We had Spaghetti bolognese for dinner back at the van. Yum!
Tara

We had to get the car into Volkswagen for a service early in the morning. We caught the bus to the whalf where we ate some breakfast then had a little walk around. After walking around for a bit we went to the wave pool! It was really fun! They turn the waves on for 20 minutes then off for 10 minutes. They have 10 different wave cycles that they put on. There were blown up rings and boogie boards that you could sit on, I really enjoyed it! The water was nice and cold!
We picked up the car then the spare caravan wheel and went back to the van. We just stayed around the van for the rest of the afternoon. Mum really wanted to taste some mud crab because she had heard they were really good, so we sat on the wharf and had tea. While we were there we were lucky enough to see some fire works!! They were spectacular!
The answer to the quiz on the last blog is: An automatic potato peeler!
Tara
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Today we had to see if Darwin Jayco had a spare wheel the same size as ours. They had the right size wheel. We are going to pick it up tomorrow after we check if it is the right size. On the way in there were people waiting on the side of the road so we asked what it was. It was the V8’s coming through on trucks. We watched it but all you could see were trucks not the cars. . We then went to the war museum. It had things from the bombing in Darwin in WWll. It had a fake little wooden cannon that in the war they were used to trick the enemy flying over. The enemy would think they are real and that Darwin was better defended than it really was. We watched this little movie type thing about the war and the bombing of Darwin. Next we went to a different museum that had a part about cyclone Tracy. There was this room that you go in and it is like you are in the cyclone because it is dark and there is the sound of a cyclone. There were also bits of rooms from war time, just before the cyclone and just after the cyclone. Then we went to the Mindil Market for dinner. It was packed. First we had a look at the stalls then had a look at the sun set on the beach. It was nice. We then got some dinner and had it before going home.
Tess
Do you know what the thing in the 2nd photo is? Clue – it was used in WWll. The answer will be in the next blog. ;