Day 32 – Saturday 2/6/2012 – Katherine Day
1
I woke up and got dressed. We went straight
to the markets. They were very disappointing because there was hardly anything
there. I got a bacon roll, Dad got a banana smoothie and Mum got a banana and
mango one. We drove to “Top Didj” for a cultural experience. We had a look at
the art gallery. It had some good paintings including a duck! It was 3D
too! The property manager, Alex, gave us
a wrist band saying “Dalabon”, Manuel’s tribe. Manuel was the indigenous tour
guide. He talked about his language and his culture along with him being born
in the bush in Arnahm Land and that he was 15 when he saw his first white man.
Then we did a painting. Step 1: do a
black boarder, step 2: Black outline, step 3: White outline, step 4: white
cross hatch, step 5: white Dalabon tribe cross hatch where you have to put 4
lines, gap, 4 lines, gap, step 6: colour cross hatch, step 7: touch up. I did a
yam, Mum an emu and Dad a croc but Lachie did a kangaroo! It was fun and
challenging, the crosshatching was actually done with a piece of grass. The
colours we used were white, called Dim, red, called marammaram and yellow and
black. I can’t remember what they were called. I was so proud when I finished
it! We moved on to the fire lighting. You light a fire by getting 2 certain
twigs from the C?????? tree. They were probably the first memory stick type
because the holes left behind remind them of the reason the fire was made. To
light a fire you rubbed 1 stick into another to make an ember. You then
transfer the ember onto some dry grass where it will burn.
We got to the final event, spear throwing!
It was at a kangaroo! We got to use a womera as well which made it easier! I
threw it a long way but not very accurately. Mum got it between his legs! We
finished up and thanked Alex and Manual for a lovely morning. We got Lachie a
book or aboriginal art and headed back.
We had lunch back at the tent. I got on my
bike and we went for a family bike ride. We started off as a family going up 2
leg testers at a very steep angle and then me and Mum sped off! We came to a
gravelly circle and took a left turn, but it was wrong. We kept cycling and
turned around after 9 kilometres. We arrived back home after an 18 kilometre
ride exhausted. I had a quick swim, had dinner and went to bed.
Day 33 – Sunday 3/6/2012 – Katherine Day 2
I got woken up early by Dad and got
dressed. I had breaky while driving to Nit Nit Dreaming 2 Gorge Cultural Cruise
at Katherine Gorge. We arrived and boarded the boat. The gorge was like a ¼
full bowl of water carving its way through where it chooses to go. The gorge
was surrounded by towering cliffs of rock and limestone. In the wet season it
rises another 4 metres higher and in the floods of 1981 it rose 20 metres
higher flooding the town where they found a 4.1 metre crocodile in the meat
department of the supermarket!
There wasn’t really much to see on the
first gorge. We had a walk to the next gorge where there still wasn’t much. I
saw a garage for a canoe and Dad took a photo of the photo that is put in each
magazine advertising the gorge. We also saw a cliff face with a swamp up the
top, and water coming down the bottom. It would have been lovely to drink and
some of the purest water you would ever see. It would have been cleared of all
the dirt particles when they stuck to the sandstone. Some of the trees are
pushed on an angle facing downstream from the force of the water. There was
also a whirlpool in the wet season because of the force of the water. It carved
the bottom deeper. We turned around at the end and went back to the 2nd
gorge and walked through to the first! We saw a rock art painting of a mimi
spirit. We went back to the 1st gorge and I saw a crocodile! It
looked just like a log. We walked back to the visitor centre and me and Lachie
sat down to watch a slideshow. We went back to the car for lunch and I then
began a 1.8 kilometre walk to a look out. It was a very steep and rocky climb
and we all handled it well. It was relieving getting to the top. It gave us a
wonderful view of the gorge. A lady took a photo of our family and we headed
back along a sandy path to the car. We drove back and me and Mum went for a
bike ride. Mum is a champion! We went up the two leg testers again and rode
along the path to the gravel circle where we took a wrong turn yesterday. We
went along the train bridge this time and turned left to follow the river down.
It was a lot cooler than yesterday. There was a lot of backburning done next to
the path we followed! It was kind of creepy going right next to them. We got to
Knotts Crossing and turned around. We stopped for a quick drink and kept going.
Mum carried my bike over some glass on the path. I arrived home exhausted but
satisfied after a 10km ride! We went down to the springs. They were quite murky
so we didn’t stay long. We had a shower, had dinner and went to bed.
Day 34 – Monday 4/6/2012 – Katherine to
Kununurra
We woke up and got dressed. We packed up
the tent and had toast for breaky. We got in the car and drove to Timber Creek.
We filled up with petrol and headed off again. I got out at the border and had
a photo taken in front of the border sign of Western Australia. We stopped at
the Quarantine station to chuck out any fruit and vegetables. We had none as we
ate it on the way. We drove to Lake Argyle, crossing the Ord River. We got out
and went to the lookout supplying an exquisite view over the vast blue lake
surrounded by mountain peaks making it out of the water! It was wonderful. We
drove across the dam wall. I got out of the car and walked over to get a closer
look. The dam wall is made of stone piled on each other. We drove to the camp
site and set up quickly because it was getting dark. Luckily for us the time in
Western Australia is 2 hours earlier than the east coast so we had extra time.
I got bread with Mum. We came back and had dinner, a shower and bed.
FACT: You are not allowed to cross some
borders with fruit, vegetables or honey as they may contain little bugs that
are prevented in the next state. Quarantine stations are to make sure this
happens.
Day 35 – Tuesday 5/6/2012 – Kununurra Day 1
I woke up and had breaky, bacon and eggs. I
played car races with Lachie. I read for a bit and went to the tourist info
centre. We went and did a lap of the valley. Kununurra is set in a valley in
the East Kimberlies. We went to Ivanhoe Crossing. It used to be open but now it
is too dangerous. It is a pretty dam. We saw the orchards of Sandalwood trees.
We went into the sandalwood showroom and tried on some skin care products. They
felt and smelt nice! We drove to the orchards and had a look at the
disappointing range of products. We got some watermelon and left for another
market. It was disappointing. We got some bananas. We did some shopping and
then I read a bit. I had nibbles with Greg, Jenny and Matthew. Dad, Mum, Greg
and Jenny had a conversation about what a Webber barbeque can do. I had dinner
and went to bed.
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