The Gagudju Thing

Hello dear blogsters.... I hope you aren't too cold where-ever you are - because it's above 30 degrees and humid here... and the pool beckons!

Yesterday we packed up and left Jabiru and drove the short 60 km hop across to Cooinda (otherwise known as Yellow Waters.... and in aboriginal language Ngurrungurrudjba). We set up in a lovely, shady camp spot and then headed over to the pool for a swim. The pool here is pretty fantastic - a huge hunk of water with great shade and a spa pool attached. The toilets beside the pool are worth a look too - they look like something out of the Flinstones!

When the sun started to go down we really had to lay on the mozzie repellant - poor Dad and Uncle John are still recovering from the bites they got 2 nights ago at Alligator River. The younguns cooked dinner for us - scrummy jaffles. Mum and I were very rude and disappeared just as dinner was ready.... we went over to listen to the ranger talk on the animal life of Kakadu (very interesting..... particularly liked the possum-like critter where the males only live to 1 year old... they get to 9 months old and get the urge to mate.... then that's ALL they do for the next couple of months, they forget about eating and resting and basically mate themselves to death..... leaving the glowingly pregnant females with all of the food and shelter to themselves.... needless to say the females live on!) Anyway, dinner was good!

This morning we were all up early as Uncle John, Dad and Lachlan had to head out on their barramundi fishing trip at 5.45. Mum, Sam, Danni and I left on our Yellow Water cruise at the slightly more decent hour of 6.25 am. It was quite a sight to see both Danni and Lachlan up and out of bed before the sun!!!!!!!

The sunrise cruise was just magnificent..... as the sun was rising over one side of the water, the full moon was setting on the other side. We very quickly saw our first crocodile in the water (no chance we would even THINK about swimming here). We were to see many more crocodiles during this cruise. We also saw a Jabiru feeding in the shallow water - what enormous birds these are! In the picture below you can see a Jabiru in the background, and a croc in the water in front.It would be impossible to describe the many wonderful birds we saw... but some highlights were the many varieties of duck (some with ducklings), egrets, kingfishers, cormorants, magpie geese, white bellied sea eagles and the little "jesus birds" which seem to walk on water.

We were stunned at the size of the sea-eagle nest, but then even more gob-smacked when we saw the Jabiru nest (it's in the middle of the photo - between the two trees).

We went in close to have a look at the huge flocks of whistling ducks (thousands and thousands of birds) and were lucky enough to see a magnificent sea-eagle perched on a tree above us.

The landscape was awesome and the reflections of the trees in the still water made for some fantastic photos.

We got back from our boat trip and did the boring jobs like cleaning up and doing the washing. It was quite hot and we tried not to expend too much energy. The blokes got back from their fishing trip, quite hot and tired. They had a fun morning and caught about 10 barramundi - but had to throw them all back as they were just under the legal size. They also saw a heap of crocs and some fantastic scenery.

After lunch I headed off on my own little adventure. I went out on a "Animal Tracks" adventure, spending the afternoon and early evening with a wonderful aboriginal woman called Patsy. Patsy comes from Arnhem Land and has lived all of her life in the traditional way of her people. She took us out to find food. First we went down to a creek and dug for mussells.

Then we went out to the woodland and she showed us how to pick the right sandy palms and then chop into them to remove the heart (very yummy).

Then Patsy found grubs in the bottom of some acacias - I have no idea how she knew which trees and where in the trees - but she seemed able to walk straight up to a tree and hack into it and pull out a grub.

After this we went down to the billabong and Patsy showed us how to pull in lillies and lilly pods. The lily stems taste a bit like celery - you just have to peel them and eat them. The lily pods have seeds in them which taste fantastic - you just have to squeeze them out. It's a good source of readily available food.

Next we went and pulled some paperbark of the trees to make our bush oven. Lots of mozzies here!

Finally, we came to our "camp" site - a beautiful spot beside the billabong. Patsy made a bush oven with hot rocks and then she pulled out some meat to cook. The aborigines have hunting rights in Kakadu and Patsy and her family hunt their own food. Patsy pulled out a hunk of crocodile (complete with skin), water buffalo and 2 barramundi. These all went on the fire (on a bed of leaves) and were covered with the paperbark and a heap of coals.

While the meat was cooking, Patsy pulled out her fire making gear and got a French Guy and I to make fire with her. She also pulled out some of her handcrafts. She is making the most beautiful bag out of cordage and bird feathers - absolutely stunning. She also had some paintings and weaving - what a skilled woman!

Soon the food was cooked and we feasted on all the food we had collected and the meat Patsy bought with her. I even ate the grub! (it tasted like a cross between corn and bone marrow)

We ate as the sun set - in the beautiful way it does in this part of Australia. What a beautiful end to a wonderful day.

To any of my Bello friends reading this - I will be home in 4 weeks and I will need a home to come home too. If you know of anyone with a place to rent - can you email me and let me know please.

Hi to PJ - great to talk to you yesterday. Hi to Margaret - hope you made it home safely.