Day 24 - Crocodiles

Wow, what an incredible 24 hours I’ve had. It’s almost like the “second impressions” theme all over again. Once you accept your fate that you’re going to be hot and sweaty, it’s not so bad. It’s like you learn to love being miserable (or at least not mind it so much). Plus, I got out of the city. I always feel better leaving a city.

Lee Casting Her Fishing Line

I branched out to some parks along the ocean on the north side of Darwin. I found a small group of young men playing cricket on the beach and some others operating remote control sailboats on a lake. Then my best find of all, a lovely woman named Lee and some aborigines fishing along the shore.

Lee was once from Darwin but had been living for years in Tasmania. She just moved back to Darwin and wanted to try her luck fishing (nostalgia). She was once a professional photographer and described her past dream job when she was flown around remote Northern Territory bush communities to take pictures 25 years ago. She now has a collection of photos with historical significance and is in the process of converting them to digital images (from film). She also worked in the health system and is intimately familiar with the aboriginal culture. Since we were close to the aborigines nearby, and I was taking photos, she assisted me in getting permission to take photographs of the mob hauling in a sting ray and butchering it. Through Lee, I was allowed further into their space than I otherwise would have been.

The Mob Hauling in a Sting Ray (Greg holds the tail)

A “mob” is what you call a group that looks out for each other. “Long grass” is what you call a homeless person. There are many mobs of long grasses in the area and most are aborigine. Some however are “balinda”, meaning “white man” (which can be either derogatory or demonstrative depending on how it’s used). There was a balinda with this mob named Greg. Greg said he was the only white man in this mob.

Lee and I probably spent a couple hours together, interfacing with other fishermen and users of the park. It was a beautiful scene, and I just “let go”, enjoying my time with them for as long as it would last. Lee and I had a pleasant, natural feeling connection. I'm very happy to have met her.

Teenage Girls Riding Horses into the Ocean

Some teenage girls rode horses through the park, and I ran to take a photo. Then I saw them further down the beach taking the horses out into the ocean for a swim, so I ran to take more photos. It was a lovely scene. I’m not sure why (even after questioning them about it), but they weren’t afraid of the box jelly fish that are potentially deadly and present in these waters this time of year.

Lightning over Darwin

As it was starting to get dark, a thunderstorm began developing over Darwin. I grabbed my tripod and set up the camera in hopes of capturing lighting. Lee said goodbye, Greg had left, and other park users were trickling away too. The aborigine mob gathered nearer to me to watch the sunset (they sleep and live in this area)

I kept my apparent attention and camera pointed towards the storm, but my observations were also to the mob (about 50 feet behind and beside me). They were happy. They were talking excitedly in their native tongue with occasional english mixed in. I think every one of them was speaking at once. It was quite a ruckus. I heard Happy New Year and Merry Christmas many times. They almost seem simple in their view of the world – like children.

Because of how the afternoon had unfolded, I was now a close and unobtrusive observer of the aborigine, and I felt fortunate for the opportunity. I saw more self-respect and initiative from these aborigines as compared to those within downtown Darwin, and the effect is that I am now more interested in them as a people than I was 24 hours ago.

The Mob Butchering a Sting Ray

This morning I did an hour’s run at 7:00 a.m., in an attempt to beat the sun. I found a path that wound through the natural jungle. I’ve been apprehensively wondering what Australian jungle might be like, and it turned out to be pleasant. There were no signs of poisonous or ferocious critters as one might imagine. (That’s not to say that they didn’t see me though!) I was absolutely drenched with my own sweat afterwards. I was as wet as if I had just stepped out of the shower. I wrung out my own hair, and sweat poured forth as if from a wet bath towel.

Crocodile in the Adelaide River

I got some photos of wild crocodiles, on the Adelaide River about an hour’s drive south of Darwin. The charter boat company did a great job. The company frequents the same area/crocs and uses meat to lure them over to the boat. In the mix was a water python made available for holding to anyone not wearing bug dope or sunscreen lotion. A young girl bravely stepped forward, and I took her picture with a smile. Another treat was the feeding of these birds called “kites” from the deck of the river boat. A young woman with the charter boat company would throw little chunks of meat into the air and a group of kites rhythmically swooped-in one-by-one to catch them before they hit the water.

There are no crows here. Once I thought I heard one, but it was a human baby.

“Billabong” is an aboriginal word for “waterhole”.

The charter boat captain told us to be very careful swimming in any billabongs, and that if you come upon one with children already out playing in the water it’s probably safe. He said children make good decoys because the croc’s go for the smallest and the brightest.