NT - Darwin / Kakadu / Galiwin'ku (Elcho Island) / to WA

It appears the time interval between blog posts is increasing exponentially as we travel around Australia.  If that bothers you, sorry about that.

I've divided this one into 4 bits to cover our 8 weeks or so in the NT.

Darwin

Helen found a 3 week locum position at an Aboriginal Health Service called Danila Dilba in Palmerston (about 25 minutes south of central Darwin).  The intention was to work in a setting that's different to her suburban practice in Sydney and it certainly was.  She loved the experience and learning new stuff about medicine, and this was a great introduction to working in indigenous health.  The job came with accomodation in central Darwin in a serviced apartment and we enjoyed real beds, running water and loads of restaurants.

Adam and I explored various museums, a couple of local springs and spend a fair bit of time at the waterfront wave pool.  There are some beautiful beaches but you're not supposed to swim due to crocs.

On the weekends we visited the local crocodile park, Litchfield National Park, and other local attractions.

Interesting fact - the name Palmerston was first given to a settlement about 50 km NE of the current Darwin on Adam Bay.  That settlement was abandoned and a new settlement called Palmerston was created next to Port Darwin in 1869.  This settlement was renamed Darwin in 1911.  In about 1980 a new town was planned 20km from Darwin and, in an act demonstrating a profound lack of imagination, the name Palmerston was chosen.

Our room is half way up on the left.

A baby croc - even at this size they need to have their mouth taped shut.

Adam enjoying the wave pool.

I needed to replace the rear wheel bearings and the Darwin Men's Shed were happy to accommodate me in their carpark.  A very friendly crew and knock-off time is strictly 4pm with beers in the lunchroom.

Adam keeping fit.

Helen at work.

Mindil Markets - absolutely packed with not a lot of physical distancing and certainly no masks!

Kakadu

Kakadu has the reputation of being pretty incredible, and it was.  Highlights were the rock art at Ubirr, Jim Jim falls and a cruise on the East Alligator River.  Non-highlights were the mozzies, especially the first night camped next to a billabong.

At the Ubirr rock art site we got chatting to one of the National Park rangers and ended up having a guided tour for the next hour or so.

Crocodiles in the East Alligator River at the Cahills Crossing.  (There are no alligators in the East, West or South Alligator Rivers; early European explorers didn't notice they were actually crocodiles.)

On the way to Jim Jim Falls.

Jim Jim falls in the distance (without any water falling because it's the dry season and hasn't rained for a few months)

Swimming at Jim Jim falls - it was just me and, according to the people who had just left, a friendly freshwater croc.

Another swimming spot at Barramundi Falls.

A huge lagoon at I-forget-where

More water and cool scenery

Galiwin'ku (Elcho Island)

Helen organised a second 3-week locum position at Marthakal Homelands Health Service, based in Galuwin'ku in East Arnhemland.   (Galiwinku is also known as Elcho Island because Dutch explorers didn't think to ask the locals what the place was called).  Marthakal is set up to service communities ("homelands") outside of the main town in other areas of the island as well as a number on the mainland, so the work involves light plane and 4WD travel.  Consultations were conducted in a mix of Yolngu language and broken English - the Aboriginal health worker / liaison colleagues were invaluable.  There is a lot of skin (strep) infections and scabies, kids with sore ears, and chronic health issues such as diabetes, heart disease, rheumatic heart disease, chronic airways disease (smoking rates of at least 50%).  She managed to get some Covid vaccinations done too - it's challenging maintaining the cold chain for the whole day in 35deg!

Adam and I spent our time exploring bits of the island near town, walking to the shops, hanging out with people we met along the way and going to various beaches.  We also spent a few days at the local school seeing how they operate.  Most days we had access to a car.

Helen's first full day on the job started with "This is your plane for the day".

The view out the window on the way to work.

There was a dentist and assistant visiting at the same time as us.  The dentist was a very keen fisherman and so on the first weekend we went to a beautiful spot that looked (on Google Earth) like it might have potential - it did!  We cooked some of his winnings on the beach.

Beautiful coastline.

Driving along the sand-dunes.,  The smoke is because the land is burnt every year or two in a patchwork pattern to reduce the risk of severe bushfires.

The remnants of what looks like quite a big meal left on the beach.

A small lagoon immediately behind one of the sand-dunes.

Mangrove-lined estuary on one of the creeks.

Sunsets across the ocean.  (Very special and unusual for east-coast dwellers like us!)

By the second weekend I had found some Yongu friends who were happy to make me a new Yidaki (Didgeridoo).  It was an all day trip that included traveling half way up the island to their homeland area (it's not polite to chop down someone else's trees) and some afternoon hunting for mud crabs.

First find a tree by looking and tapping to see if it's hollow and then perhaps chop it down.

Earnest discussions about whether or not this one was good enough (it wasn't) and what else it could be used for.  David on the right was project leader but Charlie had a lot of input.

Eventually we found one that the termites had had a fair go at.

We relocated to the beach - removing the bark.

We needed to make a mouthpiece with a smaller hole to make it usable.

The tide was right for fishing, so David and Charlie picked up the spear and womera and off they went for a couple of hours.  (You can just see them walking in the water.)

They didn't find any stingrays or fish but there were heaps of mud crabs a few oysters and mangrove worms (which I didn't try).

Cooking mud crabs - it's important to remove their legs so they don't run away when put onto the fire.

3 weeks went by really fast. Farewell photo: Helen and her work mates (and Adam)

And then we headed back to Darwin.

To WA via Katherine

After our time in Galiwinku we headed to Katherine Gorge (Nitmiluk NP) for a couple of nights before looking to cross the border into WA.  Helen forgot to remove her mask after the boat trip up the gorge to reach the start of the kayaking!  (There had been 1 Covid case in a fly-in worker in Katherine via Darwin).

As we headed west there were more rivers.  Victoria River:

Early European explorers camped next to the river near this boab for a few months.  We saw many boabs that are significantly larger than this one that must be hundreds of years old.

They are pretty weird looking trees!

Keep River National Park - sandstone outcrops, just beautiful.

And at last to the border, to be met by friendly WA police ("When were you last in NSW?") and an officious quarantine officer.  (No fruit/ veg to cross the border. We'd eaten or cooked pretty much everything he was interested in, except that the washed lettuce leaves needed to be doused in salad dressing before he would let them through.)  And so into the 7th state / territory...