Weekends with a difference

Our "normal" weekends here are quiet and restful.  I like to wander out with binoculars after a reasonably early breakfast, suitably coated with toxic chemicals, and look at birds (must wear shoes and socks next time - I didn't like ants crawling in the gaps of the sandals).  When it gets too hot, head for home, then out to the women's centre for a coffee and chat with whoever's there, then a swim!  The rest of the weekend is quiet. Moving the sprinkler, reading, maybe a DVD, maybe a walk on the beach to watch the sunset, sometimes a BBQ as well.

We quite enjoy the quiet pace. Very restful, and a contrast from home.  However, the last two have been rather different!

Mid July, Andy turned 30!  So we went in to Darwin on Friday after work.  Andy, Cathy, Georgi and Isabel had travelled in from Nhulunbuy the day before, and settled in to the apartment.  And Rikky flew up from freezing Melbourne on Friday too!  It was so good to all be together to celebrate, and just catch up.  Tim and I were able to meet up with Dave & Julie Pugh/ U'Ren, Rikky met an old classmate who's in Darwin, and Andy did a tandem skydive (birthday present from Cathy!).

Then yesterday, I went "out bush" for a picnic with Lis, a part time, long term doctor here, and 8 of the older women.  One of them is one of the traditional owners of the place we went to - a beach site, accessible by 4WD (Lis drove one car, I drove the other - sliding along sandy tracks was a bit out of my comfort zone. Lis's advice: just don't stop. The women in my car said: it's ok, you won't get bogged..)

It was a fabulous day.  Stephanie in my car played music on her phone: one minute, a funeral song for her cousin - "it's about his country, that's my mother's country." And when a bird song sounded, "That's his dreaming."  Next song, "Hey Jude".

A fire was going in no time, we had tea, and food Lis had prepared.  Then half of us went looking for longbums (pronounced longboms... I had thought that was a language word, but it's English - I wonder if it means they have a very long tail.. ).  They are "ku thaali" in Murrinpatha, and are shellfish in a conical shell, found in the mangroves at low tide.

The mangroves!  You could easily get lost in there!  It's like a forest, with the added complication of mud up to the ankles (or more) and the round mangrove shoots sticking up everywhere - bit hard on the soft feet of this white woman.  I really appreciated how the others looked after me, telling me what to do, calling me to keep coming, and explaining what to do.
We collected firewood close to the car, and on getting back to the others, sat round the rekindled fire and cooked the longbums -

just throw them on and stir with a stick.  How can you tell when they're done?  "The bubbles come out, then the head comes out!"  Then, just move them out of the fire, and when cool enough to eat, hit them (often with another one) to break them open and pull out the creature.  It's green!  But don't eat too much of it's "long bum" - "you might get diarrhoea".  I tried one, it was good.

We packed up and drove towards home - along the sand dunes - tried fishing at the gas plant landing. Some of the older women wanted to go home, so Lis took them, and I stayed with the others.  The 5 of us caught one fish, and a very small one at that (not sure if it went back in, or not).  From there, we headed home.
What a great day!  I came back tired and very dirty, with a few minor scratches, but no bites and no sunburn.  I loved listening to the women talking in Murrinpatha (but wish I could understand it!) - and so appreciated how they explained things to me and chatted.  Lis sometimes organises an overnight camp with them - now that would be fun...