A Trip to Beyound: Pine Creek to Darwin via Kakadu 1999

<body bgcolor="#000000" text="#FFFFFF"> <p align="center"><font size="4">Frames must be enabled in your browser to properly view this page. </font></p> <h2><font color="#FF0000" face="Arial">Pine Creek July 1st 1999 </font></h2> <p><font face="Arial"><strong>Pine Creek is a gold mining town, with scores of old and new mines. We stayed at the BP station Caravan Park. It was old and as not up to date as we have grown to expect. The Pub was across the street and a mob of drunk Aborigines provided the evenings entertainment, trying to prove which was blackest. Pine Creek has good television reception. </strong></font></p> <p><font face="Arial"><strong>Pine Creek is the entrance to the </strong></font><a href="http://www.homeboys-adventures-in-australia.com/vol3/kakadu/kak01.jpg" target="left"><font face="Arial"><b>gateway</b></font></a><font face="Arial"><strong> to the </strong><b>southern end</b><strong> of Kakadu National Park. </strong></font></p> <h2><font color="#FF0000" face="Arial">Kakadu National Park </font></h2> <p><font face="Arial"><strong>The road from Pine Creek is a good two-lane bitumen road passing through young stands of trees and termite mounds that can extend up 6 ft or more. We had seen so many of the red mounds up to this point that these were different and larger. Seeing ant mounds in the bush reminds one of the vista looking across a cemetery, at the tombstones. Perhaps...this is nature's way of creating monuments to the many Aborigines who have roamed this continent. </strong></font></p> <p><font face="Arial"><strong>The first thing Captain Cook saw when he discovered Australia was smoke. The Aborigines use fire as a way of managing the bush and enhance their gathering ability within their own areas. The park department has taken up the low-level fires as a forest floor management tool also. This practice by the Aboriginals causes some problems in townships when fires are set in town.</strong></font></p> <p><font face="Arial"><strong>Kakadu is a national resource not only for the Aborigine clans that still live there but for all Australians as a holiday place that is in someway unique. The clan that claims Kakadu is the Gagudju clan. It costs $15 per person to enter Kakadu. It is unclear whether the National Parks Department receives this money or the Aboriginal clan. This fee is driving many Australians away. They are instead going to Litchfield park which is southwest of Darwin.</strong></font></p> <p><font face="Arial"><strong>The South Alligator River is a major feature of the Kakadu, having </strong></font><a href="http://www.homeboys-adventures-in-australia.com/vol3/kakadu/kak12.jpg" target="left"><font face="Arial"><b>wetlands</b></font></a><font face="Arial"><strong> that are home to hundreds of varieties of birds, like the </strong></font><a href="http://www.homeboys-adventures-in-australia.com/vol3/kakadu/kak13.jpg" target="left"><font face="Arial"><b>Rainbow Bee eater</b></font></a><font face="Arial"><strong> and </strong></font><a href="http://www.homeboys-adventures-in-australia.com/vol3/kakadu/kak05.jpg" target="left"><font face="Arial"><b>flora</b></font></a><font face="Arial"><strong>. During the dry season, millions of birds make the wetlands and swamp their home...with the </strong></font><a href="http://www.homeboys-adventures-in-australia.com/vol3/kakadu/kak03.jpg" target="left"><font face="Arial"><b>crocodiles</b></font></a><font face="Arial"><strong>. There is also a </strong></font><a href="http://www.homeboys-adventures-in-australia.com/vol3/kakadu/kak15.jpg" target="left"><font face="Arial"><b>swamp</b></font></a><font face="Arial"><strong>, where the trees float in the water. Guided boat tours are available and inexpensive.</strong></font></p> <p><font face="Arial"><strong>Our first stop in Kakadu is at </strong></font><a href="http://www.homeboys-adventures-in-australia.com/vol3/kakadu/kak10.jpg" target="left"><font face="Arial"><b>Cooinda</b></font></a><font face="Arial"><strong>. Cooinda is a resort area from which visitors can book excursions like boat rides to see the flora and fauna. Bush trails are all over, where the fit can walk through the park at their own pace seeing special views. Flights are avalible over the area so that an overview of the area in a short period of time can be seen. Of course, caravan parks are available, for campers, and where the </strong></font><a href="http://www.homeboys-adventures-in-australia.com/vol3/kakadu/kak11.jpg" target="left"><font face="Arial"><b>safari buses</b></font></a><font face="Arial"><strong> can pitch the tents and disperse their passengers over the area. </strong></font></p> <p><font face="Arial"><strong>Cooinda is a first class facility with a nice sit-down restaraunt, serving local delicacies like kangaroo, crocodile, barramundi and red snapper. </strong></font></p> <p><font face="Arial"><strong>Other areas very important to travellers are the petrol (gas station), a pub, motel, caravan park with nice amenities (toilets, showers, and laundry facilities), mini-market and telephones. One does not find these all in one place many times when travelling in the bush. Many areas have no television reception and current newspapers. Trying to find out who won at Wimbledon last night can be an anguishing experience since even radio reception is spotty in the bush. Cooinda has no television reception. </strong></font></p> <p><font face="Arial"><strong>Within walking distance is the Gagudju information building which has artifacts of the clans heritage. This type of facility is common in National Parks that encompass Aboriginal land. Since Australia now recognizes native title rights, that according to the law, the white man stole, these are the governments token. The information building houses a historical exhibit of Gagudju history in the land. A major feature is the </strong></font><a href="http://www.homeboys-adventures-in-australia.com/vol3/kakadu/kak02S.jpg" target="left"><font face="Arial"><strong>aboriginal calendar</strong></font></a><font face="Arial"><strong> which points out the important events that occur during the monthly periods.</strong></font></p> <p><font face="Arial"><strong>Don't expect to see real live Aborigines working in the National Parks or the information facilities as those jobs are generally only filled by white Australians....still. Most souvenir shops have proprietors and staff other than Aborigines. White vs. Black is still the rule rather than the exception. According to the Aboriginals, they are still being exploited even though they acknowledge wasting the moneys from the new found wealth, Native Title has given them.</strong></font></p> <h2><font color="#FF0000" face="Arial">Jabiru </font></h2> <p><font face="Arial"><strong>Jabiru is like an oasis in the Kakadu Park. It has all the elements a traveller needs to refresh and replenish. Jabiru lists their awards, on signs leading into town, as "The tidiest city" for many years, proudly. The shops are in one complex along with a video store, Australia Post (the national mail delivery contractor), Newsagent (newsstand), and a nice large supermarket. </strong></font></p> <p><font face="Arial"><strong>The Ranger uranium mine is the main industry and the town was conceived in Canberra as being a duplicate of the Canberra model. The mine has enriched the coffers of the Gagudju community in the amount of $46 million dollars over the past 20 years.</strong></font></p> <p><font face="Arial"><strong>I was looking for the location of the newsagent shop and encountered an Aborigine woman and a younger woman, who was perhaps her daughter. I asked them the location of the newsagent. The younger woman stared intensely into my eyes as I was speaking and both women spoke to one another in soft Aborigine...but did not acknowledge my question. Sensing that perhaps they didn't understand, I gestured the word newspaper. Still, I received no response from them. I thanked them and went off looking again. Later as I was visiting with a lady originally from Gympie in Queensland, I saw the husband of one of the Aborigine women had appeared and was giving them orders in Aborigine....and they were following him...from a safe distance. </strong></font></p> <p><font face="Arial"><strong>It was Saturday, July 3rd and all the shops were closed as is the custom in small towns all across Australia. </strong></font></p> <p><font face="Arial"><strong>At Jabiru, we found the best Caravan Park we have stayed at on the trip. It was the Frontier Kakadu Lodge and Caravan Park at Jabiru. The park is laid out in a layered circle with powered sites around the circle. It is shaded and has bitumen (asphalt) surface for the streets. The amenities are well designed and it has hot water, which is a commodity in short supply in busy caravan parks. The inner circle is where the pool, which is covered with a tropical canopy and the bistro and the bar are located. One could imagine being in Hawaii....when seated at the pool sipping a refreshing drink. </strong></font></p> <p><font face="Arial"><strong>I chatted with Jeni, a girl from England who was in Australia on a working visa. She had been to Melbourne and Perth before coming up to Kakadu and getting a staff job at the resort. She was young. I asked her if she had ever been in love and she replied, "Many times". I asked her what happened and she said that two sets of travel plans don't always mesh. I kiddingly told her to be sure and not get pregnant. She said I sounded like her mother!...:) </strong></font></p> <p><font face="Arial"><strong>Every resort we have stayed at, we've seen tour buses pulling trailers and having multitude of tents at one of their stopovers. </strong></font></p> <p><font face="Arial"><strong>I met a cook for one of the tour buses. She was from Melbourne and got into the touring business by taking a travel guide course at the TAFE (Australian trade school). I observed her cooking some chicken on the gas grills on the back of one of the bus caravans. </strong></font></p> <p><font face="Arial"><strong>The major touring companies, like AAT, have their staffs in uniform, other companies don't require a uniform. Basically, the touring business takes groups from a major city to attractions like Kakadu, Katherine, etc. The fare paid is all-inclusive including meals for how ever many days the tour takes. Most meals are provided. Safari is also used to describe a tour. </strong></font></p> <p><font face="Arial"><strong>Some companies purchase provisions along the way, others purchase them in the city of origin. </strong></font></p> <p><font face="Arial"><strong>Customers erect and take down their own tents on entering and leaving each site. </strong></font></p> <p><font face="Arial"><strong>We booked a riverboat tour on the East Alligator River while we were staying at Jabiru (Jab a roo). The name of the company was </strong></font><a href="http://www.homeboys-adventures-in-australia.com/vol3/kakadu/kak09.jpg" target="left"><font face="Arial"><strong>Guluyambi</strong></font></a><font face="Arial"><strong>. It is owned by Aboriginals.</strong></font></p> <p><font face="Arial"><strong>The East Alligator River divides Arnhem (arn um) land from the Kakadu National Park. Arnhem Land is where the 10,000 or so Aborigines live in an area larger than the size of Europe, pretty much unspoiled from contact with the outside world. A permit is required for travel there and most of Arnhem Land is like it was several thousand years ago. </strong></font></p> <p><a href="http://www.homeboys-adventures-in-australia.com/vol3/kakadu/kak08.jpg" target="left"><font face="Arial"><strong>Daryl</strong></font></a><font face="Arial"><strong>, our Aborigine guide on our boat trip was from Arnhem Land. He gave us insight into some of the customs the clans practice. The elders of the clan administer the law of the clan. Women are dealt with for serious infractions by the breaking of bones. Men are dealt with by being put within a circle of clansmen and being speared with a long serrated spear in the extremities. The crimes that result in punishment, as the result of judgements of the elders, are serious to the clan. Infidelity, stealing and killing are considered offenses. The elders are the fathers, father-in-laws and the grand father. If the offender tries to run away, an attachment that gives more power to the spear is used. If the offender is not caught, his brother or cousin is punished instead. The wounds while sometimes life threatening are most times not. </strong></font></p> <p><font face="Arial"><strong>Aborigines generally will know how to speak two languages, their own clan language and perhaps one of a neighboring clan. If they learn some English, it will be their third language. The Aboriginal ladies Allan and I encountered in Jabiru looking for the newsagent, obviously didn't understand English, or perhaps were not permitted to speak to other men. </strong></font></p> <p><font face="Arial"><strong>The boat trip on the East Alligator River is upstream from Ubirr (OO bir). The alligator rivers were misnamed by the explorer..mistaking the fresh water crocodiles he saw as alligators seen in the exploration of Florida in America. Both fresh and saltwater crocodiles are in the Alligator rivers. Ubirr is know for the </strong></font><a href="http://www.homeboys-adventures-in-australia.com/vol3/kakadu/kak16.jpg" target="left"><font face="Arial"><strong>wall paintings</strong></font></a><font face="Arial"><strong>. The cliffs of Arnhem Land are visible from the East Alligator River, some resembling the </strong></font><a href="http://www.homeboys-adventures-in-australia.com/vol3/kakadu/kak17.jpg" target="left"><font face="Arial"><strong>facial caricatures</strong></font></a><font face="Arial"><strong> of humans and shapes of animals. Other </strong></font><a href="http://www.homeboys-adventures-in-australia.com/vol3/kakadu/kak19.jpg" target="left"><font face="Arial"><strong>wall paintings</strong></font></a><font face="Arial"><strong> are visible from the river. </strong></font><a href="http://www.homeboys-adventures-in-australia.com/vol3/kakadu/kak20.jpg" target="left"><font face="Arial"><strong>Fat crocodiles</strong></font></a><font face="Arial"><strong> are numerous in the river. Perhaps they occasionally feed on a tourist.</strong></font></p> <p><font face="Arial"><strong>Rock and cave painting served a purpose of describing the types of food found in that area, the fish drawings resembled the types of fish caught there, and the flora represented the types of roots or yams and fruits found in that area. For wandering, gathering people like the Aboriginals, this was a billboard menu...with the menu changing as the lands evolved. Ochre and blood were preferred painting fluids. Over time, the ochre on sandstone caused the silica to rise from the sandstone, protecting the painting. </strong></font></p> <p><font face="Arial"><strong>Young aborigine boys from Arnhem Land are brought to the river by their fathers and elders to be taught the aborigine hunting and fishing skills. Daryl said some learn quickly and others have to be taught longer. The leaves of a certain tree when spread over a pool of water will cause the fish to float to the surface due to lack of oxygen. After the fish for the evening meal have been gathered, disturbing the water with induce oxygen back into the water so the remaining fish swim off, revived. Crocodiles are everywhere but aborigines use different methods to coexist in the same waters. Aborigine women for example, can strike stones together underwater and the crocodiles are scared away.</strong></font></p> <h2><font color="#FF0000" face="Arial">Darwin </font></h2> <p><font face="Arial"><strong>We spent a couple of days in Darwin at the Lee Point Caravan Park in Darwin. Darwin is a nice city, reconstructed after a destructive cyclone. Since June through September is winter, the far north is very dry and outside of a few flowering trees, very few flowers were to be seen. </strong></font></p> <p><font face="Arial"><strong>The caravan park is close to the largest mall in Darwin which is Casuarina Shopping Center.</strong></font></p> <p><font face="Arial"><strong>We visited the Military Museum and discovered Darwin's role in World War II. Darwin was attacked by Japanese airplanes shortly after Pearl Harbor and suffered great damage and lose of life. I chatted with the guy in charge and showed him the 'HomeBoy's Adventures' pages on the web. </strong></font></p> <p><font face="Arial"><strong>We also visited the open air mall on Smith Street were I bought a CD from one of the street performers who played a strange two stringed violin, called an er-hu. The CD was by Carl Chang and I have really enjoyed the music, although some might not.</strong></font></p> <p><font face="Arial"><strong>We spent some time at the wharf and watched Australia's new tri-hull amphibious navy ship tie up and observed some blokes fishing. The Australian Navy ship is part of Australia's new </strong></font><a href="http://www.homeboys-adventures-in-australia.com/vol3/dar/dar12.jpg" target="left"><font face="Arial"><strong>"RentANavy"</strong></font></a><font face="Arial"><strong>. Later, the same ship hauled troops to East Timor.</strong></font></p> <p><font face="Arial"><strong>Allan and I rigged up to try our hand at fishing on Buffalo Creek which was close to our caravan park. It was dark when we arrived at the creek and the water had almost disappeared, due to low tide. It was low tide and the tide is about 8 feet here. Allan and I provided a nice meal for the mosquitoes who were very hungry. We caught no fish. </strong></font></p> <p><font face="Arial"><strong>We use our air conditioner in the afternoons when the heat is the hottest. It makes it so much easier to catch a restful nap. </strong></font></p> <p><font face="Arial"><strong>We visited the Darwin Botanical Garden, which is situated across from the casino. The flowers were beautiful. </strong></font><a href="http://www.homeboys-adventures-in-australia.com/vol3/dar/dar01.jpg" target="left"><font face="Arial"><strong>Gerbra Flower</strong></font></a><font face="Arial"><strong>, </strong></font><a href="http://www.homeboys-adventures-in-australia.com/vol3/dar/dar02.jpg" target="left"><font face="Arial"><strong>flower2</strong></font></a><font face="Arial"><strong>, </strong></font><a href="http://www.homeboys-adventures-in-australia.com/vol3/dar/dar03.jpg" target="left"><font face="Arial"><strong>flower3</strong></font></a><font face="Arial"><strong>, </strong></font><a href="http://www.homeboys-adventures-in-australia.com/vol3/dar/dar04.jpg" target="left"><font face="Arial"><strong>Canna1</strong></font></a><font face="Arial"><strong>, </strong></font><a href="http://www.homeboys-adventures-in-australia.com/vol3/dar/dar05.jpg" target="left"><font face="Arial"><strong>Canna5</strong></font></a><font face="Arial"><strong>, </strong></font><a href="http://www.homeboys-adventures-in-australia.com/vol3/dar/dar06.jpg" target="left"><font face="Arial"><strong>canna6</strong></font></a><font face="Arial"><strong>, </strong></font><a href="http://www.homeboys-adventures-in-australia.com/vol3/dar/dar07.jpg" target="left"><font face="Arial"><strong>flower7</strong></font></a><font face="Arial"><strong>, </strong></font><a href="http://www.homeboys-adventures-in-australia.com/vol3/dar/dar08.jpg" target="left"><font face="Arial"><strong>Canna8</strong></font></a><font face="Arial"><strong>, </strong></font><a href="http://www.homeboys-adventures-in-australia.com/vol3/dar/dar10.jpg" target="left"><font face="Arial"><strong>Gerbras</strong></font></a><font face="Arial"><strong>. The </strong></font><a href="http://www.homeboys-adventures-in-australia.com/vol3/dar/dar11.jpg" target="left"><font face="Arial"><strong>Darwin Botanical Gardens fountain</strong></font></a><font face="Arial"><strong> at the Botanical Garden was very nice.</strong></font></p> <p><font face="Arial"><strong>Parliament House which also contains the Northern Territory library has a nice </strong></font><a href="http://www.homeboys-adventures-in-australia.com/vol3/dar/dar13.jpg" target="left"><font face="Arial"><strong>verandah</strong></font></a><font face="Arial"><strong> with the view of the harbor.</strong></font></p> <p><font face="Arial"><strong>Darwin also provides aboriginal services for those too sick to be treated in Arnhem Land. There is a large transient aboriginal population in Darwin, know as 'walkabouts'. Property crime such as breaking and entering seems to dominate local news.</strong></font></p> <p><a href="http://www.homeboys-adventures-in-australia.com/vol3/indexe.html" target="_top"><font face="Arial Black">Next Page of Diary</font></a></p> </p> </body>