One of the "must do"s of Kakadu is Ubirr at sunset and we did it, Grandad being very pleased that he got to the tippytop! Paul did it a bit stressed (that Dom may fall off or either parent may fall over!) and I did it with the same concerns only not weighing nearly so heavy on me, ie totally, tearily, blissfully.
It is hard to find the words to describe this experience. It was the day after my amazing Animal Tracks tour where I had so much fun and felt so whole in all the open space and sky, so I was already a bit tuned in to the land and how it was affecting me. But the strength of the emotion and the tears were quite an embarrassing surprise!
We had been to two ranger talks, during the afternoon at Ubirr, about the artwork, history and culture of the Bininj people and Dom was increasingly restless during those. I had had most of the "keep him quiet and busy" work so for the final talk up on the escarpment I was happy to let him drift off right up to the very top with Paul, Grandad and the big boys. Pat and I stayed and listened to the talk and watched the birds soaring on the updraft around us. Ranger Christian told us about the seasons in this area and the sad story of the loss of the people of the plains in front of us. He finished with this quote from Big Bill Neidjie one of the last true Gagudju men, who was instrumental in setting up Kakudu and opening it up for us all to share...
My people...
Not many,
We getting too old.
Young people...
I don't know if they can hang on to this story
You responsible now.
You got to go with us to Earth,
Might be you can hang on to this story
to this Earth.
I sure felt like I had had a "handover" like no other. I would try to do what Bill asked me to... I said thanks to Christian for his talk and his work as a ranger and he took my blubbing with equanimity. It seems it is not that unusual a response to the experience...
On the walk down Isaac and I spotted a cool new bird, usually only found in western Arnhem Land (the Chestnut-quilled Rock Pigeon) and didn't completely get carried away by mosquitos. Paul had left earlier with the others so the oldies could get down without darkness adding to their troubles! By all accounts they did fine and were glad they did it, although the next morning Ray's bad knee was giving him more curry than usual. We all finished off the grand afternoon with some authentic (really good) Thai at the Border Store at the base of Ubirr. Unusual setting for such great international cuisine! The Aussie bloke who shared the establishment with his Thai wife grew up in Morisset and had lots to chat to Pat and Ray about and made us feel very welcome.
We had been to two ranger talks, during the afternoon at Ubirr, about the artwork, history and culture of the Bininj people and Dom was increasingly restless during those. I had had most of the "keep him quiet and busy" work so for the final talk up on the escarpment I was happy to let him drift off right up to the very top with Paul, Grandad and the big boys. Pat and I stayed and listened to the talk and watched the birds soaring on the updraft around us. Ranger Christian told us about the seasons in this area and the sad story of the loss of the people of the plains in front of us. He finished with this quote from Big Bill Neidjie one of the last true Gagudju men, who was instrumental in setting up Kakudu and opening it up for us all to share...
My people...
Not many,
We getting too old.
Young people...
I don't know if they can hang on to this story
You responsible now.
You got to go with us to Earth,
Might be you can hang on to this story
to this Earth.
I sure felt like I had had a "handover" like no other. I would try to do what Bill asked me to... I said thanks to Christian for his talk and his work as a ranger and he took my blubbing with equanimity. It seems it is not that unusual a response to the experience...
On the walk down Isaac and I spotted a cool new bird, usually only found in western Arnhem Land (the Chestnut-quilled Rock Pigeon) and didn't completely get carried away by mosquitos. Paul had left earlier with the others so the oldies could get down without darkness adding to their troubles! By all accounts they did fine and were glad they did it, although the next morning Ray's bad knee was giving him more curry than usual. We all finished off the grand afternoon with some authentic (really good) Thai at the Border Store at the base of Ubirr. Unusual setting for such great international cuisine! The Aussie bloke who shared the establishment with his Thai wife grew up in Morisset and had lots to chat to Pat and Ray about and made us feel very welcome.
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