3 August 2016

Since the last Log we have travelled up to Darwin and spent time in Kakadu a national park bigger than Wales or New Jersey.  The weather has ben hot and humid and the country sparsely populated by people but full of crocodiles and things that would like to eat or at least kill you.

The Weather and Seasons

• The western idea of four seasons namely winter, spring, summer and autumn has no relevance in Kakadu. The modern Australians up here, the non-indigenous ones, think of two seasons, wet and dry.  It rains in the wet and it doesn’t rain in the dry; pretty simple.  To the people who have lived here for maybe 50,000 years there are six seasons and they don’t breakdown into a simple 2 months for each season and their names are difficult to pronounce without practice.  They are:

Gudjewg                                   December to March                                              The wet

Banggerreng                           April                                                                               Transition from monsoon

Yegge                                          May to June                                                               Cool weather, good time to                                         burn

Wurrgeng                                June to August                                                         The cool dry season

Gurrung                                    August to October                                                 The hot dry season

Gunumeleng                          October to December                                          Pre monsoon, we call it the build up.

 

• I think we could learn something from the Kakadu people and I think it’s time to let go of the association with the weather and agriculture to define the seasons. A more modern definition of seasons might be the following breakdown:

Travellin	June to September	Go somewhere to escape the cold
Doin	September to October	Get overdue stuff done from Travellin season
Gardenin	October to December	Get veggie garden ready and plant tomatoes etc
Chillin	January to March	Barbeques, relaxation and watch for bushfires
Fixin	April to May	A good time for maintenance and prep for Travellin

These seasons define our current modus operandi however they might be just a little too parochial for general acceptance.  Regardless, I think it’s time for the conversation.

We Are Strange Beings

• The vast majority of Australians live along the coast or are in relatively close proximity to the ocean. And yet so many head out into the outback and remote places on this continent, for what purpose you ask? They go there so they can seek out isolated water holes, waterfalls or maybe billabongs with crocodiles.  Some of these features only last part of the year.  So we drive enormous distances to see Emma Gorge, or Kings Canyon, the Pentecost River maybe Edith Falls or Twin Falls and Jim Jim Falls.  We walk Kings Canyon and maybe camp at Wangi    Its seems we are in a constant need to find  landscapes that include water even though most live right by the ocean.  Is it that we evolved from the oceans and we are pinning for the good old days?

The Savannah

• The forest and tree cover is so different to the southern states. There are no big trees or trees of great age and no fallen trees on the ground.  There is no tangle of old fallen trees or old tree stumps.  The savannah looks like all the trees are maybe 40 years old.  Why is this?  We are told that traditional burning by indigenous people have shaped the landscape.  I would like to differ; its bloody termites that shape this country.  Once they attack a tree its doomed to be completely eaten out, it then falls and it finally finished off by the termites and fire.  Of course the little blitters give us probably Australia’s only unique musical instrument the didgeridoo.  The didgeridoo is made from tree trunks hollowed out  by termites and I while am guessing there is no Stradivarius of termite species  maybe different timbers give different tones.
• In our neighbourhood if there was a bushfire it would be attended by many fire trucks who would stay with it until the fire was extinguished and then for days after to ensure there was no reignition. Not so up here.  Fires are lit and left to burn wherever they might go.  It not unusual in the burning season (now) to drive by a fire with substantial flames just by the road and not a soul in sight.

Travellers and Road Intelligence

• When meeting people up here the two questions you ask at all introductions are ie. where are you from and where are you headed. The answers to these questions then allow you to decide whether these people have information you need, like what’s the road between Borroloola and Hells Gate like? Even then their information needs a date stamp.  They might say ‘Oh its fine’ you then inquire ‘when did you drive that stretch?’  ‘Oh about six weeks ago ‘.  This is  practically useless information.  Road conditions change so fast.  These questions are however accepted social etiquette in all campgrounds.
• There are websites that you can access for road conditions. Typically they only report Open or Closed.  Maybe Road Works between X and Y.  And that’s it.  This information is neither timely nor is it useful.  I asked a ranger ‘What’s the road to Jim Jim Falls like?’  His reply ‘Fine, if don’t mind destroying your car’.  This is the information you need.  It turned out he was on the money.  The literature said ‘Deep water crossing’.  Deep can be very subjective, what’s deep for me might be a doddle for others.  It turned out deep was 0.8 metre which would mean the water would come in through the doors of the car and I would have needed a blind on the grill. We took a 4WD tour to Jim Jim falls.
• I called a police station at Borroloola for a road report and his answer ‘people are getting through’. Does this mean they got through with the assistance of a tow truck, or they got through with their marriage intact or they got through alive.  I love it, not sure what to make of this information but his statement is somehow compelling.  The only solution, regardless of the information you collect; you have to drive the road yourself.

Time Frames

• They keep telling us this is an ancient landscape and it all becomes too easy to dismiss until you start to think – yes I know not a good idea.
• The sandstone around here is about 1.2 billion years old and embedded in the sandstone are eroded quartz river pebbles that are another 1 billion years old making them over 2 billion years old. These rocks were around well before any life evolved so there are no fossils and yet they are only half the age of earth.  Well it amazes me.
• In terms of human habitation we were looking at art that has been found to be 20,000 years old.  The gallery with the 20k year old art also had art painted throughout the past 20k years, right up to the early 1960s.  This art records changing weather patterns, sea levels and local animals.  One site records a Diprotodon and they haven’t been around for a very, very long time.  Yep, two verys and that is a long time ago.

Swimming Pool Etiquette

• The swimming pool at the campground provided noodles. I just wanted one.  Two little kids each had four noodles and there were none spare.  They knew they had corned the noodle supply and they knew I wanted one.  They also knew they would never give up one of their noddles.  I waited.  The kids tired of the pool and got out to find their mum and dad.  The noddles were abandoned.  I made my move; two noddles, one for Barb and one for me.  Others grabbed a noodle and the abandoned noodle pile diminished.  The two kids returned to find fewer noodles, they cast a glance across the pool and saw me with a noodle and glared as only little kids can.  I knew I had done wrong but I had a noodle!

That’s it, we are now headed for the next stage of the trip, the Savannah Way and Queensland.