November 2019 – Page 2

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.

This is the map of the area we were exploring around Nhulunbuy on the Gove Peninsula.

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.

An endless array of sand dunes to cross over between our beach drives.

We parked on this beautiful beach, went exploring, climbed sandhills and had a bbq lunch.

Interesting rock formations to explore and we had the place to ourselves.

I scrambled up to the top of this high sand dune.

This was the view from the top of the dune.

So many beautiful beaches. Steve and Denise with their 4 WD.

As part of their commitment to be a positive force when they visit Arhnem Land, our tour group, Great Divide Tours, got us to pick up rubbish on the beach.

Denise found a baby turtle in the rubbish we were collecting. She put him into the sea so he had a chance of survival, but he looked very tiny.

With all that sand driving, the only one to get bogged on the beach was Neill, our guide. With Maxx tracks and some pushing he got out quite easily.

In a short period of time we collected many bags of rubbish and took them into town.

We called ourselves the Fearless Four for our radio calls. This was taken in the bush where we aired the tyres up to go back to town on the sealed roads. It was a very long day of challenging 4 wheeldriving and we got back in the dark.

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.

Rainbow beach with its colorful cliffs. They would be more colorful if we’d been there on a bright sunny day.

Our info session at the harbor in Nhulunbuy.

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.

Upon arrival we were greeted with two very large, impressive murals on buildings next to the Art Centre, honoring the land rights pioneers.

Inside the art centre a woman is working on a large painting.

This internationally renowned art centre exhibits and sells bark paintings, memorial poles, fibrework, handmade jewellery and limited edition prints.

These are the memorial poles (larrakitj). A bit big to take home. They also had lots of didjeridus (yidaki).

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.

As we drove out we saw how the trees were ‘barked’ or had their bark stripped for the bark paintings.

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).

The beach and rocky shelf that overlook the Gulf of Carpentaria, near the stone pictures

Stone picture of trepang (beche-de-mer or sea cucumber) which were collected by the Macassans to sell to Chinese traders. They are known as a Chinese delicacy and an aphrodisiac. The Macassans traded knives, axes, fish hooks, glass, cloth, tobacco and rice with the aborigines.

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.

These young boys were jumping in, spearing cherim (like crayfish) and having a great time. Looks like they develop their hunting skills early on.

The spring-fed Goanna Lagoon was a beautiful unmarked spot, which we could never find again.

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.

Month: November 2019

Exploring Nhulunbuy and East Arnhem Land