gerburgkamm

Before leaving in the afternoon I visited Coco’s art gallery. We talked for a long time. He explained some of the aboriginal art to me and played a tune on the didgeridoo. 

Look at the dots in a painting! Everything is seen from above: trees, clumps of spinifex grass, animal footprints; look at the lines representing twisting rivers, snakes, at the “U” shape representing a man or a woman seated around a ceremonial site, illustrated by circles. 

Margo Birnberg, What is Aboriginal art? JB, 2017

The imprint of a hand might mean, “I was here at a ceremonial gathering” or it might show possession of the area. 

I am here

I was here

A good Lesson

Abstract art! Coco showed me another picture, a stylized painting of women with their breasts pointing upward. “What does it mean?“ (as opposed to breasts pointing downward) “They are young”, obviously. “What does it mean?” Being young, with young breasts. “Ready for marriage” is my first thought, “young, beautiful, desirable”. Everybody thinks that and Coco knows it. “NO, it means NOT to be given in marriage,” he says, “too young, not yet ready for marriage. Too dangerous, she would die during childbirth.” The underlying message: “See, how women were respected, how life was cherished in traditional Aboriginal culture!”

And I keep thinking that worldwide child marriage is on the rise again, that girls under 15 years of age are five times more likely to die during pregnancy and childbirth, that pregnancy is the leading cause of death for 15 – 19 year olds.

Bye bye Katherine

girls will always be girls, Katherine River, my bus

Luckily, the overnight bus was half empty and I could stretch out over the aisle to the next row and got some sleep. Not like a bed but okay.

Roadside stop in Dunmarra, midnight. People are still around. There is a man in an electric wheelchair with a young dingo as his pet. He had found him as a baby on the highway and is raising him like a dog. The lively little creature raced around and  jumped up at me, with his owner saying: “He likes you! He doesn’t do this with strangers.”  Who would have thought that I was going to be liked by a dingo. I liked the little animal, too, and I really hope his friendship with the man in the wheelchair is going to last forever. (it’s quite an uncommon thing that a wild dingo gets domesticated forever, I was told later).

Dunmarra Wayside Inn

Next and last stop: Aileron Roadhouse,

135 km north of Alice Springs (almost on the Tropic of Capricorn), where we were due to arrive at 5.15 a.m. And the nights were getting colder. Half an hours time for coffee and toilet. Unexciting!

Go out and look around the Aileron Roadhouse on Stuart Highway:                        absolutely fascinating!

 Sunrise! I still had ten minutes (or so I thought and went along the highway) …

Desert Mermaid and her Lover, by local artist Marc Egan

… to take pictures of the huge sculptures of the Anmatjere Man (17 m high), Woman and Child.

The Anmatjere people have named the sculpture after Charlie Quartpot Ngwarray who once lived in this area. He was an important man, a leader and a rainmaker.

Anmatjere Woman and Child

A sudden rumble of the bus engine, I looked over my camera and couldn’t believe it. The bus was leaving without me. My luggage … on the bus, distance to Alice Springs: (135 km but) I didn’t know that, bus ticket: payed, next bus: who knows when; in the middle of nowhere, of never never, Aileron Roadhouse: everybody still asleep … I started running down the highway – my green shoulder bag dangling on my left side, my camera around my neck – shouting “stop, stop stop stooooooop!” At four o’clock in the morning!              Passing by the roadhouse I saw a young man jump on his quad and speed toward the highway, he slowed down at my side and said: “hop on!” … didn’t have to say that twice, we raced after the bus, me holding on to his windbreaker, my shoulder bag flapping behind me. Next thing I know, I was boarding the bus. Thaaaank youuuu!

The bus driver: “I didn’t see you!”                                                                                                      What the heck do you mean, you didn’t see me? You left at least two minutes early, you didn’t count the passengers … Nevertheless, I gave him a monnalisa-type smile: “Thank you”.  (God only knows the reason that we meet and share a smile …)

Glad to be on the bus again

Alice Springs in the morning, Alice Backpackers Lodge, a bit on the outskirts. The sentence on the car is funny, in my case, completely untrue. 

Getting to know Alice Springs

You walk around, look for something familiar (like an Italian restaurant), an ANZAC Hill (Lest we forget), a view over the whole town, a church …

View from ANZAC Hill over Alice Springs, Smith Street, West McDonnell Ranges and the Gap

I knew it, I knew I shouldn’t have walked through the dry riverbed: you get dusty shoes and feet, there may be venomous critters popping up from under the sand or out of shrubs, there maybe people with unfriendly feelings … but I thought it was a shortcut so I did, I went right through the riverbed. It was a shortcut but a hard one, the sand was soft and difficult to walk on. 

I liked the riverbed

Started taking pictures

All of a sudden, someone yelling at the top of her voice: “What are you doing, takin’ pictures of people, don’t take pictures, you are not allowed to take pictures …”                     I looked up and saw a group of Aboriginal women gathering around me. “I’m not taking pictures of people,” I said calmly, “I have taken a picture of a tree. That is not forbidden.”  One of the ladies, a very angry one: “You are a liar, you are a liar, not true, you take picture of people.” To tell the truth, I would have liked to take pictures of people, I was dying to be able to get someone Aboriginal in front of my camera instead of trees, trees, trees. In my camera I showed them the tree I had just photographed. “Oh wonderful, oh what a beautiful tree …” the ladies got enthusiastic, excited, friendlier. “Now you take picture of us.” The friendlier part of the group got together and had their picture taken. Then the other ladies got a bit envious and had their picture taken, too. I promised Miss Caroline, the nicest of all of them, to let them have the prints, one for each. So they would get what they want and I got what I wanted. Thumbs up.

The friendly ladies

all of them together

There is also a footpath through the riverbed, but … you don’t meet interesting people there

Cheers until next time

Gerburg

On a Greyhound to Alice Springs you get an idea of the outback, of it’s vastness, its uniformity and diversity. Going non stop from Darwin to Alice takes roughly 22 hours. Katherine, only 4 hours south east of Darwin, is a small pioneer town in the outback that offers things to see and do for at least 2 days.

Bye bye Darwin. Waiting at the bus station looking forward to a loooong ride, yet not my longest ever. My memory goes back to a Greyhound trip from San Francisco to New York, non-stop, just one hour’s time in Salt Lake City to see the Mormon temples, in all more than 3 days (and nights, that’s when your spinal column stops being a column even at the age of 21), meeting the weirdest people, it WAS an experience!

Two backpacker ladies almost my age joined me. They were going to Katherine to start from there on the Jatbula Trail, a five-day hike through Savannah grasslands and rain forests, passing by waterfalls and rock escarpments, sounds fantastic. The ladies asked me to have an eye on their luggage, while they went downtown to have a cup of coffee. I must look trustworthy even in raggedy travel clothes. Australia is a country where people don’t seem to be so hooked on watching the NEWS all the time. Do they have any idea, how baaad this world actually is? The ladies came back with a nice mug of hot coffee for me. The bus got more than half full and left on time, to the minute!

Look out of the window, let the scenery pass by, relax, in spite of … some rows behind me, two young girls jabbering away endlessly with each other, on the phone, with each other again, at the peak of their voices in … guess what language? The two ladies look at me astounded, silently mimicking question marks. I nod my head, form my lips as if to say the name of the language, the only one that I would understand at 2 km distance. I point my index fingers to my ears and soundlessly form the words: “… and I understand every word of it!” I can see, the ladies are glad, they don’t.

After 4 hours, arrival in [kath-er-in, kath-rin], which the bus driver keeps pronouncing [kath-er-ain].

This is my new home for 2 nights: Coco’s Backpackers Hostel.

Coco and his friends watch television, sports programs, when I arrived it was Rugby time. I immediately started bragging about my rugby-playing son. Later, in a more confidential moment, I let them know that I’d appreciate a news broadcast from time to time.

Nitmiluk means cicada dreaming and the park is 30 km north-east of Katherine. You have to have a car to get there or someone who takes you there.

The lounge is under the trees

This is what’s so nice about hosteling, you talk about the problem and sooner or later a solution turns up. Like someone by the name of Jack might go looking for a job out there around Nitmiluk and give you a lift to the park, you just share in the fuel. In the end he got together a couple of women on his pick-up truck and took us there. He said he would pick us up again in the afternoon.

From the signs along the way you learn about the myths, about the name Nitmiluk and others.

Nabilil and his Journey to Nitmiluk

Nabilil (Nah-bill-il), a dragon-like creation being from the Jawoyn “Dreamtime” or Burr, is said to have camped here at the entrance to the Gorge. (The word “Dreaming” means the origins of something.)

• Nabilil began his journey from the west at a place near Wadeye (Port Keats).

• The country through which Nabilil travelled was very dry and so in the dilly bag, in which he carried his fire sticks, he also carried water. Garrakla are the limestone formations on each side of the Stuart Highway north of Katherine through which Nabilil passed. Nabilil visited Wurliwurliynjang a mosquito dreaming place in Katherine (near today’s Council offices).

• Not far from here, at the blue-tongued dreaming place at Yerreljlrrin and Wun-gurri, thirsty birds tried to catch Nabilil to get the water. Lumbuk, the pigeon, Wakwak the crow and Garrkayn the brown hawk all tried but failed. Nabilil was too clever for them.

• When Nabilil arrived here, he decided to camp. After hearing the song of the cicada “Nit Nit Nitnit!” Nabilil called the place Nitmiluk.

Butterfly Gorge and back takes about 4 hours. It gets hot around midday, there will be little or no shade so bring along at least 3 litres of water, a hat, sun-cream, something to eat and take a photo of the map above. If you don’t have these things, buy them at the Visitors’ Centre, you NEED them. The employees provide valuable information, too. The gorge was declared croc free as far as salties are concerned, only the water would be a bit muddy. Who cares. We had to get there first.

Three litres would be fine if one didn’t get hit by bat or bird droppings.

Oh shit! That feels really hot and burns the skin. I frantically poured water over my arm. Bat droppings are actually very similar to rat droppings. What I had on my arm and t-shirt was far too liquid, so it may have been bat urine which is caustic and can corrode metal. It left a mark on my arm. The sun was burning down, I had used up so much water, I was thinking of giving up and going back … but look at the scenery.

Jawoyn Law  —  Stories from the Burr

The story of Nabilil, told along this Walk, is one of many Jawoyn stories that are part of Jawoyn Law. These stories explain how the world was made and give the rules for proper behavior.

During the time Jawoyn people call the Burr, creation beings that take the form of humans, animals, or plants brought the landscape to life by putting themselves in the country. These creation beings named many places and specified dangerous areas to avoid. Some of the stories about these Jawoyn creation beings are presented here.

Bula – Creator of the land

Bula is the most important Jawoyn creation being who first created the land. He transformed the landscape through his actions and left his image as paintings in rock shelters. North of Katherine he finally went underground. The area, known as “Sickness Country”, is very dangerous and should not be disturbed for fear that fire and earthquakes will destroy the earth. Seismic activity and other land disturbances in the Sickness Country are of great concern to the Jawoyn people.

Bolung – the Giver and Destroyer

Bolung, the Rainbow Serpent, is not only a life giver but also a destroyer. It is important not to disturb Bolung as this may cause lightning or monsoonal floods. Bolung sits in the deep pools of the Second Gorge, where Jawoyn people should not fish or drink the water. Only a small number of fish can be taken from nearby pools and any extra should be thrown back to appease Bolung.

I put my trust in the map (see above), in the water tanks charted on the map (I knew the tanks might be empty or the water old) and went on.

The water was there and it was drinkable. At the second tank my travel companions, two French Swiss women, and I split up. They had chosen the route which was described as longer and more challenging. I was quite happy with the easier one. We agreed to meet at the Butterfly Gorge and go back together.

Alone in the wilderness 

no people no noise no internet  

Being on my own I had the opportunity to slow down and take as many pictures of the path as I liked.

At the sign Butterfly Gorge 1.7 km I thought I was almost there, but the path was getting narrow and shady, difficult to follow and challenging for tired legs and a protesting knee.

Distance: 3,4 km, correct, Grade: 3 – moderate (real feel >4), Time: 2 hours (it’s good I read that on my way back)

Down I went to the gorge, lots of butterflies on the way but I didn’t manage to get a shot of them:

An exhausting walk! The reward: the narrowest beach all to myself, too narrow to sit down or to change into a swim suit, and a refreshing swim in the murky water with all my clothes on. I swam out to have a look around the rocks to see if the two Swiss women were there, but the next bay was just a bare rock escarpment. 

Being alone and not knowing what else – apart from crocs – might be under water, I swam back and avoided splashing about too much.

The walk back seemed endless. I met the two Swiss women who were more than an hour behind schedule and told me their path had been unexpectedly difficult. 

I met a group of young chaps from Germany and the USA, one of them with a bloody wound but nevertheless in good spirits. I’m convinced, it’s standing up to nature that makes you tough and keeps you from fussing.

Where is this leading to?

Endless means at some point you stop taking picture until …

I was on my last legs when from somewhere I heard a boy shout: “Oh look, Mum and Dad, an upside-down-tree!”

 Surprise, I saw 2 Baobabs, oops in Australia they say Boab (did they not get that name right either?). I thought, upside-down-trees existed only in Africa.

At the Visitors’ Centre I rested my aching feet, treated myself to a nice cup of coffee, the device on the table with number 13 signals, when your coffee is ready, and … enjoyed all the achievements of civilization.

On the way back Jack talked to me about Coco. The owner of the hostel had lived with Aborigines for years and knew a lot about their culture. He warmly recommended that I’d talk to him before leaving. First thing on my “to-do-list” for the next day, a look at Coco’s art gallery and didgeridoo collection, .

I love my hat from Nitmiluk

Cheers Gerburg

Beach Pool & Plunge Pool Walk,

this is where I started to kind of understand the age limit for the trip, remember, over 40 not welcome.

Not tough yet

Features: Follow Jim Jim Creek through monsoon forest to beach pool and plunge pool at the base of dramatic escarpment walls. (personal comment: It’s not the walls that are dramatic, it’s the ground on which you walk)

The easy part, on the difficult stretches I didn’t take pictures, I had to hold on to something all the time.

Distance: 2 km return (personal comment: practically a stone’s throw)

?Did I mention, we all had to indicate a next of kin to get notified just in case …

I never understood how crocs could be in the river but then not in the pool (maybe we were just lucky). Behind the sign, Pandanus Spiralis, screw pine or screw palm, looks like a giant pineapple

Duration: Allow 3 hours (personal comment: this is how long it would take you if you were in your < forties, in good shape, wearing hiking boots, born and raised in Austria (no kangaroos in A!), had spent all the week ends of your life hiking in the mountains …)

This young Austrian (see comment above) carried my bag on the way back, oh thaaaank youuuuu !!!!!

Grade: Moderately difficult, involves scrambling over boulders, which can be slippery. (personal comment: define mo-de-rate)

moderately difficult, if you can take your time

And finally you get there

Jim Jim Falls: white beach, beach pool and behind the big rock, center right, the plunge pool, in the back the Falls

On the beach: go down on your knees, worship nature, thank your kneecap, your cruciate ligament, your meniscus that you made it, change into your swim suit and go. The beach pool is cold (our guide says “fresh”, I stick to cold until …), swim to the rock barrier that separates the beach pool from the plunge pool, climb over the slippery rocks, dip into the plunge pool (now THAT IS cold), swim, concentrate on breathing, think of people who go swimming in Lake Baikal (that’s on the other side of the earth), keep breathing, control your heart-beat, make sure it doesn’t stop, move slowly but move, in the end, sit under the waterfall and enjoy the co-ho-ho-oldest water coming down on your head and shoulders. Then swim back. 

This is something you’ll do up to the age of 62, at the age of 63 you probably won’t.

bye bye Jim Jim Falls

fruit of the screw pine (see comment above)

On our way back we stopped at a roadside souvenir shop. You could buy didgeridoos and other colourful handcraft and works of art there.

In the first picture you see a didgeridoo split in half and learn how to distinguish the real thing from the fabricated one. The real one was caved out by termites and is very irregular inside. That’s the way it has to be to make that wonderful, weird sound. Kids start learning with simple bamboo instruments to get practice in circular breathing.

Next letter: travelling from Darwin to Alice Springs by Greyhound and getting lost right at the Tropic of Capricorn

cheers Gerburg

The Rock Stars

In Dreamtime, when everything came into being, the huge Rainbow Serpent came from below the ground and passed through the area creating ridges, mountains, gorges and leaving distinct traces where it passed.

Our guide explaining that members of neighbouring tribes are now taking care of the land Ubirr as the earlier inhabitants are not there anymore. The missing photos were of rangers who passed away.

For some music to accompany your reading click here: didgeridoo music  and turn back to the post while listening

More Rock Paintings

Read the story and learn a lesson in good behaviour 

This painting of Mabuyu (and a long-neck-turtle to the right under his spear) reminds Traditional Owners to tell a story which warns against stealing

Have a close look at the menu, fish, fish, fish, mainly Barramundi

Drastic lesson: Mabuyu was dragging his catch on a string after fishing when a greedy person cut the string and stole his fish. That night Mabuyu waited until the thieves had eaten his fish and were camped inside their cave near the East Alligator River. Then he blocked the cave with a huge rock.    

“Next morning they never came out. Because they pinched it, they got punished, kids, ladies and men, all dead … finished.” Bill Neidjie

(for goodness’sake)

Now, when you grow up with a story like that, you think twice before breaking the law or a taboo. If the punishment for stealing fish leads to the annihilation of your whole clan, you wouldn’t expect anyone to steal anything from anybody, right? let alone to steal land, culture, children, you wouldn’t expect that until it’s happening. There are a couple of gruesome indigenous stories about the consequences of breaking tribal rules that make your hair stand on end, but when you visit the Hyde Park Barracks Museum in Sydney, you’ll see that Europeans weren’t exactly gentle-hearted in dealing with their lawbreakers either. (later in my last letter)

long-neck-turtle, I don’t remember if it was part of the menu, too

Walking right through Crocodile Dundee country up to the mountain top.

On my way to the most gorgeous sunset

More educational rock paintings: Laws to live by (tough!)

This picture reminds Traditional Owners of a story about a young girl who broke traditional food taboos by eating Barramundi at the wrong time of her life. She was punished too severely and a battle between clans followed, killing many people.

Young boys are told this story by older men pointing spears at them.

On top of the mountain

my shadow is getting longer

The winter sun is setting slowly and it’s getting cold 

 Sunset overlooking the wetlands, the Nardab floodplain, from the the rocks of Ubirr

(I just couldn’t get enough of it)

Good Night