Thinking about my Top End Trip

This time last week, instead of wearing tracky dacks and a sloppy joe, sitting here at the computer in my study, I was enjoying a mid-day nap in my 'bush bungalow' set in the lush tropical gardens at LakeView Park, Jabiru, before I drove out later that afternoon to climb Nourlangie Rock to watch the sun set. What a difference a week makes, hey?
I'm glad to be home, with Steve, of course, settling back into the reassuring predictability of the routines of life here at Larnook, but the week I had in the Top End, was a bit of magic. That I needed.
So, I've stuck together a few of the photos I took that help me tell my Top End story. Hope you enjoy.

Colour. Vibrant, super-saturated colours of the Top End landscape, this particular part of it being some cascades in a stream on the western edge of Litchfield National Park. Skies of deep, endless blue; reds, yellows and oranges of the earth and rock; the greens of the trees and shrubs and grasses; the greens and blues of the rivers and creeks and waterholes. A landscape of primary colours that loudly declares the tropics. While I was drinking in the colours of a billabong at the foothills of a rocky escarpment I was transported back to my childhood watching In the Wild with Harry Butler on my grandparents' colour television. I had forgotten that part of the absolute magic of that program were the colours so bright and vivid on the television set. Astonishing greens and blues and oranges of landscapes out of which Harry pulled brown tree snakes, crocodiles and frilled lizards.

Colour. Rich and intense again. But more than colour. Sunset over the infinity edge of  the Timor Sea, taken from East Point Reserve, site of army camps during WWII. As an introvert with introspective tendencies, I am drawn to sunsets, happy to sit in quiet contemplation and watch the sinking sun as it soaks the horizon with gold and red and orange. Sunsets are great to think with.
Shutting down one day but with the promise of another to come. I came to the Top End in part because I wanted to feel small in a vast landscape and watching so many spectacular sunsets or climbing to the top of an escarpment and looking out over miles of woodland, allowed me feel tiny in space and time.
My 'companion' on parts of my trip was Eric Worrell, Australia's first 's nake man' and the subject of the book, Snake Bitten, that my colleague Nancy Cushing, and I, wrote a few years ago. Worrell spent a bit of time up in the Northern Territory in the 1940s/early 50s and I had trodden in his footsteps on my last trip here, visiting the paces that he had written about in his book Song of the Snake: war-torn Darwin, Alligator River, Katherine and Mataranka.  This time my steps weren't so deliberate, but Worrell was never all that far away. He had watched the sunsets from East Point many times when he had been stationed there in the war:
"When the glowing sun sinks beneath the shimmering sea and the tropic moon hangs high in the heavens, Darwin teams with night life. The squeaking bark of tiny geckos as they gorge upon the myriads of tiny insects vibrates through the rafters; pandanus and carpet snakes glide through the twisted vines and creepers."

Crocodiles had a far greater presence than I can remember on my previous trip to the Territory, which was about six years ago. I can remember seeing a few but not as many as this trip. I had decided that I needed to go on one of the 'jumping croc' boat tours' as I will be writing about reptiles in tourism shortly, and I wanted to see for myself what these trips were all about. I chose a tour (of the three that are currently operating on the Adelaide River about 50 minutes to the east of Darwin) which advertised itself as 'jumping croc and wildlife tour' thinking that it might be a more ecologically sensitive version. I'm not sure that it was, but it was definitely a crowd-pleaser. No sooner than the 20 or so of us made our way into the aluminium boat (with what I, and my fellow cruisers thought had rather minimal security to protect against the antics of large, hungry,
habituated crocs) than this very big animal, named Terminator, slowly and very deliberately torpedoed its way from the middle of the Adelaide River to the boat. It really was a thrilling moment and one that I would want to experience only from the relative safety of a boat. The croc was around five metres long and seeing it so close was a real rush.
I'm still undecided about the ethics of the cruise - crocs do naturally jump out of water to grab birds and bats from low hanging branches, but they must surely become habituated and lose any fear (if they held any) of boats. More worringly is that they begin to associate boats with food. I would definitely not cruise up this stretch of river in a little dinghy!
The fellow who was the boat operator and guide - very friendly in a Territorian way - knew very little about croc biology or ecology - this tour made no pretences at being educational. He knew how to thrill his audience though, and judging from the reviews on TripAdvisor, the punters are all very happy.

As I said, crocs had a presence throughout the trip, whether watching them in captivity biting ineffectually at the 'Cage of Death' lowered into the pools at Crocosaurus Cove in one of the main streets in Darwin city or seeing them cruising the rivers and billabongs in Kakadu, or eyeing off the locals standing by the edge of the East Alligator River at Cahill's Crossing over to Arnhem Land. There is something different about knowing that you are walking along riverbanks or around the edge of waterholes and billabongs with an animal that regards you as a light lunch. Sure, the bush around here has its potential dangers - highly venomous snakes, poisonous plants - but they use their toxins for protection. The crocs are apex predators and who knows, I may well have been 'stalked' by an unseen crocodile as I walked - carefully I might add - along rivers and billabongs.  Seeing these signs reminded me that I had to be careful and mindful of the potential threat that these animals posed for me.

I was quietly fascinated by the rock art left by Aboriginal people over thousands of years on rock faces, caves and under rock overhangs. I took many photos and I wondered at the stories and symbolism that each represented and of the individuals who actually painted them. This image of the thylacine or Tasmanian Tiger, left a big impression on me. The extinction of this animal is one of Australia's greatest ecological tragedies. How can such a marvellous animal, so unique, so distinctive, so dog-like, be killed to extinction in a matter of a few decades. People kept them as pets, for god's sake. These animals and the Tasmanian devil ranged over much of the mainland prior to the arrival of dingos about 4000 years ago. The prevailing wisdom is that the dingo out competed with the devil and the tiger leading to their extinctions on the mainland, their only refuge being Tasmania, where the dingo didn't get to.  But I wonder, given the parlous state the devil is now in with the facial tumour disease, that the dingo hypothesis might just be too simple, and that perhaps something else, like a disease, might have played a part in their demise.
I was moved by seeing the likeness of this amazing animal, surviving here only as an image rendered in ochre, surveying the floodplain under Ubirr, looking for food with its enduring, relentless, but ineffectual, gaze.

There were of course some moments of disappointment - I didn't like the first place I stayed at in Kakadu, which seemed to be filled with men in their 20s who were staying there for the fishing and who filled up the space of the restaurant with their loud noise (read 'yobbos'), and a couple of mornings were a bit windier than I like, but these are so minor in comparison with the intense pleasures of the trip. I am continually amazed at how much more clarity of thought I have when I am temporarily liberated from the everyday life of work and home and I enjoyed some moments of great inspiration - some of which I have already translated into completed or near completed projects since arriving home at Larnook.

I sat in this rock hole below the Florence Falls in Litchfield National Park, cooling off, looking out into the cobalt blue of the sky, feeling the warmth of the sun and the cool of the water on my skin. And I felt that delicious feeling of freedom, no matter how fleeting it may be, which makes travel to places like this so special. I took my swimmers off and floated naked. I know that I am privileged that I have a life that allows me to experience such joy as this.

Mixed NT Pics#1

 My week in Darwin, Kakadu and Litchfield national parks was perfect. This part of Australia is just so removed from my day to day understandings of what Australia is - in some ways it is another country. From the ancient rock art that adorns rock faces and overhangs in Kakadu to the black kites (a form of raptor like a small eagle) that fly over the city streets of Darwin or the saturated colours of the landscape of reds, greens and blues, it is a stunning place that you can easily lose yourself to.

 Much of Kakadu is made up of this woodland savannah country. The little green car was my hire car - I don't think I've ever driven a green car before.

 Billabongs and wetlands are also important habitats in Kakadu and I was visiting about the middle of the dry season so birds were starting to congregate in the more permanent billabongs, although the huge numbers won't start happening for another month or so. This billabong was in the shadow of Nourlangie Rock.

 Some magpie geese which shared this billabong with green pygmy geese (such great little ducks), egrets, darters, plumed whistling ducks, to name a few...together with...

 this crocodile. I was looking at a flock of whistling ducks and Burdekin ducks when I happened to notice this fellow sunning itself right next to them. This was really my first crocodile sighting outside of organised river cruises when it was just me and the croc. I was able to approach within 5 metres of it (on the landward side of course), but I thought that was sufficient proximity for both of us.

 In Litchfield National Park is an area where two types of termite mounds occur - the magnetic termites which align their mounds on a north-south axis and another form which I have forgotten. Quite a surreal landscape is created from these mounds which are up to five or more metres high.

One of the stunning waterfalls in Litchfield National Park. Perfect swimming holes. So my trip was Darwin: 2 nights, left there on Sunday and travelled to Kakadu via Fogg Dam and Adelaide River croc cruise; Three nights in Kakadu, at three different places: Aurora Kakadu Hotel, which is on the Darwin end of the national park, then on to Aurora Kakadu Lodge in Jabiru, then LakeView Park at Kakadu; two full days exploring Kakadu, including Ubirr, Nourlangie Rock, East Alligator River, Yellow Waters; then on to Litchfield National Park, with the first night at Pandanus Caravan Park, Batchelor and my final night at Litchfield Safari Camp, and then back to Darwin, via Berry Springs and the Territory Wildlife Park.  I want to go back soon!

Mixed NT pics#2

 I visited a number of rock art sites - the first was at Ubirr, which is close to the East Alligator River. This is a beautiful long necked turtle.

 While this is a thylacine. Thylacines, or Tasmanian Tigers, had a distribution across the mainland (as did Tasmanian devils) but both species became extinct on the mainland about 4000 years ago. The dingo, which arrived in Australia about then, is usually credited with their extinction, but I have to wonder if maybe disease also played a part. Anyway, I was very moved to see this rendering of this amazing animal,which now only exists as representations.

 One of the striking aspects of travelling in the NT is the extraordinary intensity of the colours of the landscapes. The colours are just so vivid and vibrant.  The sky is that deep cobalt blue, grasses and shrubs are often bright green.

 And although there weren't a lot of things in flower, there were a few, such as this kurrajong.

 The white of this ghost gum contrasts against the blues, greens and reds of the landscape.

Another amazing rock art site is at Nourlangie Rock, which is to the south of Jabiru.

Mixed NT Pics #3

 This croc cruise on the Adelaide River was able to get rather close to some rather large crocs - this one was somewhere around 4-4.5 metres. We probably saw over a dozen crocs on that 90 minute cruise ranging from three very big fellas like this to some babies and everything in between.

 For me, seeing my first mangrove monitor in the wild was a bigger thrill than the crocs, although seeing the big fellas so close was a rush, I have to say.  I also saw a Merten's water monitor, later in my trip, but it was too fast getting away, so I didn't get a pic.

 We saw a couple of these youngster crocs perched up in trees awaiting the return of the high tide to dislodge them.

 Another river cruise, this one on the East Alligator River, owned and run by a local Aboriginal organisation, Guliyambali Cruises. Very good, cruised up and down a stretch of the river, again, finding a number of crocs at close range, as well as learning about the various uses that local people have made of trees and shrubs. We also landed on the other side of the river, Arnhem Land, and were able to spend about ten minutes here, admiring this beautiful billabong.

 Our guide, Robert, demonstrating his considerable spear throwing skills into the East Alligator River.

Sunset over the floodplain wetlands below Ubirr Rock.

Mixed NT pics#4

 This is a 5m+ estuarine crocodile that was prowling in the Adelaide River about 50 minutes from Darwin.

 I stayed at the LakeView Park Campground, in Jabiru, which is the small township kinda in the middle of Kakadu National Park. These 'tents' are really excellent, very well designed and give you the sense of staying in an upmarket tent. But budget priced - indeed the cheapest night of my entire trip at $110.00/night.

 Wangi Falls on the western edge of Litchfield National Park - a perfect place to cool off. Freshwater crocs occur here but any salties which occasionally turn up after the wet season are removed...hopefully!

 And another perfect cooling off place - the Cascades, which are a series of rock holes along a stream, again on the western edge of Litchfield National Park. Red tailed black cockatoos were flying around and landing in the trees, while I spooked a Merten's water monitor (very easy to do) as I approached the stream.

 Another safari-style tent accommodation, this time at Litchfield Safari Camp, on the western edge of Litchfield National Park. Located a few kms from Wangi Falls and just one km from the Cascades. $150.00/night - but just stayed one night, my last night on my trip.

The sun sets over the Timor Sea from East Point Reserve, Darwin, on my first night.

Top End Next Weeek

I won't be blogging next weekend as I'll be having my Thelma and Louise (without Louise) week in Darwin and surrounds. I'm taking ten days of rec leave and spending seven of them in the NT. Steve is all-to-focussed on his costuming so he can't come, so I'm spending this time having some 'me' time. And being in the Top End to do that, is just super. I've only been up there once, about 5 or 6 years ago, but I loved it. So I'm looking forward to the heat. The crocodiles. The snakes (of course). Snorkelling the crystal clear billabongs and rivers of Litchfield National Park. Exploring some other national parks, whether down at Katherine or Kakadu. Seeing a blood-red sun setting at the infinity edge of the Arafura Sea.
And all I'm taking is carry-on luggage, so I can get off the plane and just keep walking straight out of the airport. Let the adventure begin!
I promise to have some great posts (with pics) in ten days or so.

The duckbill finally makes a splash

Our friend, Michael (aka Piglet) and his partner Murray (who is visiting for the week) were down by our creek this afternoon at just the right time.  They saw a platypus!  Woo hoo! Now, when we first bought Maryville I hoped and hoped and hoped that we would have platypus in the creek but I had given up hope that there were any here. This animal was happily (well I really don't know whether it was happy or not, but one likes to be optimistic) playing in the little rapids that the creek runs through as it passes into the swimming hole. This is fantastic news!
I hope I get to see it in the next few weeks.

The Pleasure of Walking

So as you know, I've recently begun a new Larnook ritual, which is to go for an early morning walk on Sundays from Maryville to the entry to Billen Cliffs Community. It's a very easy stroll and it takes me just on an hour, depending on how may stops I make to investigate some aspect of the landscape, or whether I have a camera with me.
I eased myself out of bed at ten to seven this morning (OK so it's not a terribly early morning walk) and left the house and walked off into the still, misty morning. It wasn't so cold that there had been a frost, but it was still crisp.
As I wandered along Martin's Road I said my early morning "hellos" to a pair of brush turkeys that appear to have taken up residence perilously close to our place; assorted red necked wallabies; and smaller birds like grey fantails and white-eyes (they were called silver-eyes in my earlier years).
It seems that I am now having my most creative ideas on this walk. A few weeks ago I decided that I would edit a book on animal-human interactions in tourism, and so I quickly shot off an email to the publisher that published the book on Slow Tourism that I edited along with my colleagues, Erica Wilson and Simone Fullagar last year, well the year before actually, but it was published last year. My contact at the publisher was enthusiastic and through my efforts it looks like I will have about 15 scholars contributing chapters to this book.  Thanks early morning walk to Billen Cliffs!
And then this morning I spent much of the return walk home piecing together an idea for a grant application which would investigate Australians' attitudes, or more specifically, the historical development of such attitudes and beliefs to eating animals since European colonisation. So how have we ended up as a nation that eats mostly beef, lamb, pig, chicken and fish? Why is goat and horse meat so negatively viewed? And what about the 'bush foods'? What is the basis of the community polarisation around eating kangaroos? Why don't we eat possums? etc.  I think you get the picture.
So as soon as I got back to Maryville I emailed off my colleague, Nancy Cushing, with whom I have written a number of pieces on aspects of human-animal studies, and she emailed me earlier this afternoon, equally as enthused.  Thanks again early morning walk to Billen Cliffs!

Costumising the Phantom of the Opera

This is Costume Designer and Creator Extraordinaire, Steve, standing in what used to be the 'Good Room' or the 'Maryville Room', depending on your disposition. Steve agreed to be co-costume designer and creator for Metropolitan Players' production of Phantom of the Opera, so the room now looks much more like the backstage of a theatre than a room in a house. It's very lush! Creating the costumes for a show with about 50 performers - and with such lavish costumes - has been a herculean task and Steve has literally done little else in his spare time for the past few months. He is on holidays at the moment and his days and nights are spent either on the sewing machine or at his cutting table. He is incredibly focused and while it must be a tremendous feeling of satisfaction to hold a completed costume, the amount of hours involved in very tedious work, is unbelievable.
There's a bunch of us from up here heading down to see the show in September, so it will be fabulous to see these costumes sparkle and shimmer under the lights of the Civic Theatre stage.

Piglet does Donna Hay

Piglet is staying with us for five weeks while he does his 2nd year nursing prac at St Vincents Hospital in Lismore. He's done two weeks with another three to go. He arrived armed with a Donna Hay magazine and an ambition to create a number of her dishes. Well I guess 1 isn't too bad - particularly given that it was this delicious creation, though even Piglet admits that he was a tad heavy-handed on the icing sugar. It was a chocolate meringue cake which was close to divine and wicked at the same time.
We look forward to Piglet opening the magazine again...hint hint

A Venomous Melbourne Trip

My colleague from University of Newcastle. who I research and write with, Nancy Cushing, and I, contributed a couple of essays to the catalogue accompanying an exhibition titled Venom: Fear, Fascination and Discovery, which is at the Medical Museum of University of Melbourne. The official launch of the catalogue, which is really a lavish book, took place a couple of weeks ago (yeah apologies for my tardy blogging) and, very unlike me, I decided to accept the invitation, book my flights, book my accommodation and go.

 Gee I'm glad I did. It was a really wonderful couple of days. The launch of the catalogue was wonderful and included a public lecture on aspects of the history of snake venom and antivenom research. I loved being in a lecture theatre at the Universrity of Melbourne, enjoying a lecture on a topic I'm very interested in. It was brilliant. I stayed in a very nice apartment on Lygon Street and, yeah it was just brilliant from go to wo.

 The following day I visited Melbourne Zoo, where I had a meeting about some possible research in the reptile house, and fingers crossed that will come to something. Prior to the meeting I enjoyed spending an hour or so looking at the reptile exhibits.

 I was intrigued by how little kids now 'stamp collect' images either using their smart phone or their tablet. I don't think I saw any of these kids use an actual camera!

The weather was simply stunning on the Tuesday as I walked from the Zoo back to Melbourne Uni and then down into the CBD where I caught a taxi to Prahran where I spent an hour or so rummaging along the shelves of Andrew Isles Natural History Bookshop. And yes, I bought a few books!