We’re just past the halfway point on our Arnhem Land adventure and now beginning our exploration of east Arnhem Land, specifically the Gove Peninsula, from our base at the Walkabout Lodge & Tavern located in the middle of Nhulunbuy.  This map shows the various trips we took during the week we were based in Nhulunbuy.

The first foray was to Cape Arnhem and as there were size issues with our van we rode with Denise and Steve in their 4WD. It was a long day with challenging sand driving as we visited one of the most remote beach areas in Australia, most of which was superbly beautiful.

With some spare time in Nhulunbuy we could catch up on chores.  A cheeky bird got into our van and left a mess on our bed so I had extra washing chores to do. The afternoon saw us visit Rainbow Beach and get in a nice beach walk before we had a session with the owner of the hotel who talked about the history of Arnhem Land and the aboriginal people who live there. He showed us the deep harbor in town and the secenic lookout tower.  Nice to get some local flavor.

The next highlight was a drive to Yirrkala to visit the Buku-Larrngay Mulka Art Centre.  It was established in 1976 and is one of the oldest and most celebrated Indigenous community controlled art centres.

We had a look at the nationally treasured Yirrkala Church Panels and learned the story of their history. Amazing to see and no photos were allowed.  The two Church Panels (each 12 feet tall and four feet wide) were painted in 1962/63 with the sacred designs of clans in the Yirrkala region. As we learned, the Yolngu society is divided into two moieties -Dhuwa and Yirritja- and so too are the Church Panels.  Since the paintings mapped Yolngu rights in land, they were the first significant “land rights” statement documenting Aboriginal custodianship of their country. These panels were the forerunners of the famous Yirrkala Bark Petition sent to Canberra in 1963.  The more aboriginal history we learn in our travels, the more I feel ashamed for what has been done to the traditional owners and the more I marvel at their continued interest in sharing their culture with non-aboriginal people.

After another lovely beach stop for lunch we visited Garanhan Beach or Wurrwurrwuy, where a unique cluster of stone arrangements or stone pictures records the trade between the Yolngu people of Arnhem Land and Macassans from Indonesia that existed for several centuries until 1907, when the SA government enforced a customs duty on traded goods.  The stone pictures illustrate praus (Indonesian boats), fireplaces (for cauldrons to boil trepang), fish traps, houses and trepang (beche-de-mer or sea cucumber).

To finish off another full-on day we were promised a swim at Goanna Lagoon. A group of young aboriginal boys and their teachers were enjoying themselves so much there, that we opted out of a swim and just watched their antics.

Returning to town, we had to pick up our rental vehicle for a weekend away where we couldn’t take our van. We were going from being the ones in the most luxurious vehicle to having no accommodation and carrying our food, crockery and clothes in two bags.  That night we all went to the Boat Club for sunset and dinner.  Missed the sunset but got dinner in the beer garden overlooking the sea.  The next three days were incredibly memorable and a big bit of cultural immersion so that will start the next blog post.