baht wat...: 41 days in Arnhem Land...

Gamak! We're long overdue for an update...we've had quite an extraordinary Austral winter. Left cold cold Tasmania the end of June in a mad rush of last minute scrambling and headed north for the tropics. There was a rough plan sketched out - two and half days in Darwin to put together 6 weeks worth of supplies, pack it all in a little metal box trailer, and get dropped off in Arnhem Land. Hard to believe we actually pulled this off.

A visual- to get you oriented, we live on that little "heart"shaped island on the south-east corner of the map...we traveled up to the northern territory for this trip

A close up of Arnhem Land, as you can see, there is not much to see....just bush

Snaky rivers meandering thru the landscape

Our friend Brett hauled us and our gear for the 10 hour drive due east - out of Darwin, across endless savanna, through the Kakadu Lowlands, then across the East Alligator River into Aboriginal lands surrounding the Arnhem Plateau. That evening we pulled into Kolorbidahdah outstation, the little "village" of about 10 houses where our friends Joshua and Rahab live and spent the first night by the river. Next morning, we continued the rough jeep track upstream along the Cadell River to Dukaladjarranj - home sweet home for the next 6 weeks.

Brett is driving us from Darwin to Dukalajarin- the water came over our hood or "bonnet" a few times, thank you snorkels

Dukaladjarranj is an Aboriginal campsite in the stunning landscape at the eastern edge of the Arnhem Land Plateau. All around, the tropical savanna is littered with monolithic orange-purple sandstone blocks stacked and toppled and still etched with the ripples of a sea which covered the land over a billion years ago. The intricate and mesmerizing network of outcrops, little canyons and ravines is aptly named the Stone Country, or "Gumbadbad" in the language of this land.

It is through Joshua and Rahab and their uncle Wayne that we're able to visit Dukaladjarranj at all. It was one of Joshua's grandfather Balang's favorite places - his paintings adorn the large stone which sat over our camp, his remains lie hidden in a burial log tucked into the rock's crevices, and his spirit makes this a safe place for Joshua and Rahab's whitefella friends.

Back to the same spot we visited last year, this 1.6 billion year old sandstone holds the bones of Joshua's grandfather, Balang

Our little family, Balang, Bulandjan, Wamud & Wamudjan off to get sugar and powdered milk with a bucket of tea

Brett helped us set up camp, picked up my supervisor who flew into the nearest settlement on the coast, and they spent the first few days getting us settled in. Joshua and Rahab soon joined us, pitching their own camp just downstream with their kids Leanna and Leroy. Around Day 5, Brett and my supervisor bid us adieu, and took the truck back to Darwin - "see you in 5 weeks," Brett would return for us in early August. And there we stayed, under Balang's rock at Dukaladjarranj, with our little trailer and mosquito dome, 6 crates of food and our Aboriginal family to keep company.

home sweet home

Office

Amid steady bouts of fieldwork (which entailed counting trees and lighting savanna fires - more on research here) we settled into life...Get up, get wood, light the fire, make tea, fill the water jugs at the river, put out the solar panels, pack our lunch, hike out to the study site, work, hike back, light a fire, cook dinner, clean up, bathe in the river, bed, then do it all over again...

Clay got skinny, Talia got sick of canned food, and whenever we could we hung out with Joshua, Rahab, Leanna and Leroy and soaked up as much of their language, culture, and lifestyle as we could. It was a hard place to leave.